Location : Kampung Tuba, Ulu Sebuyau, Simunjan District, Samarahan Division, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Tuba folks sure wake up early. When in Iban territory, late sleepers don’t last long. Their prized ‘manok sabung’ or game fowls will make sure you rise before the sun does. Despite the banning of cock fighting in Sarawak more than 4 decades ago, this popular Iban pastime is still very much alive in the villages. These proud and handsome cocks like to make their presence felt first thing in the morning with their notorious crowing.

adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, indigenous native, Non Government Organization, orang asal asli, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, cock fighting, headhunter, bird, pua kumbu,
Bereng with blue legs and white spurs very rare indeed
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Lovely white ear lobes, hardly seen nowadays

While the team of kitchen experts got busy preparing breakfast/brunch, some of us took a stroll (my 3rd) round the village.

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Preparing breakfast
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Fired mee hoon / rice noddles

As I explored more I noticed more things which I missed out the day before. Among them interesting plants, a dug out lovely belian boat and the one and only 6m tall stilted pigsty. That must be some classy pigs going only for high rise apartment.

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Different type of hibiscus?

adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, orang asal asli, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, Flora, flowers, nature, plants,

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Another rare plant
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Dug out belian boat
adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer
High rise pigsty
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Trophies from their headhunting days
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From days gone by, the remains from their original longhouse

adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer

adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer
Drying pepper
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White pepper processing
adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer
Tuba ladies doing their morning laundry
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Local industry : Pua kumbu tops for man (1) & ladies (2)
adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, indigenous native, Non Government Organization, orang asal asli, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, cock fighting, headhunter, bird, pua kumbu,
Eda bought these 2 parakeets to be released. RM20 for their freedom!

The morning session was pretty short with just a handful of patients to take care of. Goody bags and soft toys prepared by Eda the hairtstylist and her team were distributed to the screaming kids. A very noisy but happy occasion. There was a surplus of goody bags so Charlie and the team moved on to the other neighbouring longhouses to make the kids there happy too. Thumbs up to Eda & the Gang.

adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity
Bringing the goody bags to the other longhouses

adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity

adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity

adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity
Distributing gifts at the Seventh-day Adventist Church
adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity
……and soft toys in addition to the goody bags.
adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity
Terima Kasih

As a parting favour to Tuba folks so they could help themselves, I gave a demonstration on how to make their own tapping tool from bamboo. Hopefully on the next trip I can impart more knowledge to those who are keen to learn more about The Magic Bamboo healing technique.

adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity
TheMagicBamboo disciples
adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity
Make your own MagicBamboo demo
adventure, authentic, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer, village, Malaysia, charity
Many villagers here suffer from pain on their soles. So here’s how you can have a quick relieve using a half bamboo to stretch the calf muscle

Time to pack up and hit the waterfall. The second day’s weather was such a big contrast to the day before. It was hot, sunny with blue skies. We bade our farewells to our lovely host, the residents of Rumah Ngumbang for such a memorable mission.

adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer
Saying goodbye

adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer Tuai Rumah or Headman Ngumbang personally came with the convoy to the waterfall. Unfortunately, the waterfall was not as impressive as I had hoped for. With all the erosion from tree cutting and oil palm planting, the river was heavily silted. Oh well, that is the price of development. Some of us had a quickie dip anyway before doing the 20min hike back to the car. One final goodbye and we parted ways.

adventure, authentic, Community Service, dayak, medical seva, native, Non Government Organization, Non Profit Organization, orang asal asli, Pantu, rural, samarahan, Sebangan, Simunjan, traditional, tribal, tribe, volunteer
Going to waterfall
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Bukit (hill) Lesong on a fine day
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Short trek to waterfall

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Tuai Rumah Ngumbang at left

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At the waterfall

Thankful for a trip to a village that could have been wiped out from the surface of the earth had it not been for Tuai Rumah Ngumbang and his fellow villagers winning a legal stand off with the government because someone up there was eyeing their rocky hills to turn it into a private quarry. As usual that “someone’s” modus operandi would be to earmark the whole area for ‘national park’ development as a decoy to dislodge these villages. Luckily, our courts restored our trust in humanity. The government have since lost numerous cases of similar ‘land grabbing’ in Sarawak under the veil of dams and national parks. Thanks to that victory the continued existence of Tuba was restored and our visit made possible. Special thanks again to all volunteers and villagers of Rumah Ngumbang who helped. A very Merry Gawai to all. Cheers…….oooooooooh HA!

To see more photos, please click our FACEBOOK PAGE

Also please check out our posts on Day 1

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