Home DESTINATION CENTRAL KALIMANTAN TENGAH 中加里曼丹 Rumah Betang Toyoi Longhouse, Tumbang Malahoi, Kalimantan Tengah Travel

Rumah Betang Toyoi Longhouse, Tumbang Malahoi, Kalimantan Tengah Travel

April 23, 2017

Location : Desa Tumbang Malahoi, Kecamatan Rungan, Kabupaten Gunung Mas, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia.

We woke up well before the break of dawn to catch the freshness of the cool morning air. Sitting at the belian staircase watching the sun rays slowly lighting up the sky.

authentic, indigenous, Borneo, 中加里曼丹, Desa Tumbang Malahoi, Gunung Mas, Rumah Betang Toyoi, culture, budaya, Dayak Ngaju, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, tribe, village — Belian staircase

adventure, authentic, sculptures, 中加里曼丹, Tumbang Malahoi, Gunung Mas, traditional, Rumah Betang Toyoi, budaya, Dayak Ngaju, native, Obyek wisata, Sandung, Tourism, travel guide, tribe, — One of the twin sculptures guarding the staircase. The other was stolen in the middle of a rainy night. If you meet the other twin somewhere in Bali you’d know it is stolen property

authentic, Borneo, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, budaya, Dayak Ngaju, native, homestay, Obyek wisata, Tourism, travel guide, tribal, tribe, village, Palangka Raya, culture, — Beautiful morning sky, well worth the trouble of getting up early

authentic, indigenous, backpackers, Borneo, Central Kalimantan, Desa Tumbang Malahoi, Gunung Mas, Palangka Raya, culture, budaya, Dayak Ngaju, native, Obyek wisata, travel guide, tribal, traditional, — This longhouse is almost 70 years old

authentic, indigenous, backpackers, Central Kalimantan, 中加里曼丹, Gunung Mas, Rungan, Rumah Betang Toyoi, budaya, Dayak Ngaju, native, homestay, Obyek wisata, travel guide, tribal, village — A must

Breakfast was prepared early for the long journey totaling 11 hrs with some breaks along the way of course.

indigenous, backpackers, Borneo, 中加里曼丹, Indonesia, Desa Tumbang Malahoi, Gunung Mas, Rungan, Rumah Betang Toyoi, budaya, native, longhouse, Tourism, tourist attraction, tribe, village — Bony’s mom preparing our breakfast

authentic, indigenous, backpackers, Borneo, 中加里曼丹, Desa Tumbang Malahoi, Gunung Mas, Rumah Betang Toyoi, culture, Dayak Ngaju, native, homestay, longhouse, Obyek wisata, travel guide, budaya, — Morning booster-first round

Our top priority before setting out was to drop by the house which had the hibiscus mutabilis to see with our eyes if indeed the flower would be white in the morning. True indeed for most of the flowers except for the ones that were wilting. For the wilted pink ones, the intriguing colour change was irreversible. Seeing was believing.

hibiscus mutabilis, backpackers, 中加里曼丹, Desa Tumbang Malahoi, Gunung Mas, Rungan, Rumah Betang Toyoi, Dayak Ngaju, homestay, longhouse, Obyek wisata, Tourism, travel guide, — Interesting plant hibiscus mutabilis. Our very first encounter with this mysterious hibiscus mutabilis, wihite in the morning but turns pink in the afternoon

adventure, motorbike ride, authentic, indigenous, Borneo, 中加里曼丹, Desa Tumbang Malahoi, Gunung Mas, Rungan, Rumah Betang Toyoi, culture, Dayak Ngaju, homestay, tourist attraction, tribe, village — Start our journey back to Palangka Raya

With our curiosity satisfied the journey began. The first two hours through roller coaster gravel road was the toughest in my life. But I slowly got the hang of it that even my other half said she was quite impressed with my performance. Little did she know that my arms and wrists were breaking apart. It was stressful, mentally and physically challenging. Man, I needed more caffeine to sustain the adrenalin supply. After enduring the punishing two hours came the nice smooth freshly tarred road. Such a relief but a deceptive couple of kilometers only. The rest of the way was reasonably good until the town of Kurun. From there onwards you would never know when the next hole would appear in front of your motorbike. The most dangerous were the ones right at the top of the hills outside vision range. At some blind corners there would be white sand brought by overflowing rainwater from the gold mining nearby which could easily have caused skidding for 2 wheelers. At some point along the ride I knew my sunglasses fell off but I could not afford to stop or even slow down to avoid the risk of being run over by a vehicle behind. Only divine intervention could have brought us back alive to Palangka. Thanked God. Next stop Kurun town.

Rumah Betang (Longhouse) Toyoi