Location : Desa Datah Diaan, Kecamatan Putussibau Utara, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu, Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia.
Every since our very first trip to Kapuas Hulu (Festival Danau Sentarum), we had been told of the Kayan community in the district of Mendalam. With an extra day in hand before the Gawai celebration we went in search of this elusive tribe.

We had no idea yet how to get there but according to info given to us as we drove to Putusibbau, we needed to get to the junction of Mupa. Unfortunately, we could not nail Mupa on Google map, so we had to engage the expert service of Madame Tina who is a friend as well as a very active tour operator in Kapuas Hulu. Driving her own car, she led us to the recently completed Mupa bridge and the rest of the way we ventured on our own.


On a trial and error mission we made our way slowly sometimes hesitant if we took the right turn or not.


At some point we made a stop to snap some photos and it was here that our angel came to the rescue. It came in the form of Mr Lihang who was on a motorcycle on his way back to his village. We stopped him to ask for directions and he kindly invited us to his village called Mendalam Pagung, Desa Datah Diaan. Prayer answered.





We had a good tour of the village and had lunch thanks to Lihang’s sister Angelika.




The biggest surprise here was to discover an American lady who had been staying in their house for the last two months working on the translation of Kayan stories as compiled by the Kayan pastor of the village. Next……..Gawai proper
Rumah Adat Lung Linge Hatung





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This is so nice!
Thanks Chad