By D’Drift Team
LUBOK ANTU, July 12: A dog named Karau was the first to welcome us to Batang Ai National Park headquarters.
Even before the boat carrying the D’Drift Team arrived at the jetty, from afar, we saw Karau sprinting down the hill excitedly to see what the ruckus was about.
He stood there and watched as our boat was moored to the dock and then as we alighted from it.
As if he was the ‘person-in-charge’, he inspected each and every one of our arrivals and welcomed us generously by vigourously wagging his tail.
Duties done, he ran off to rejoin his friends when the actual person-in-charge, park warden Addrin Anding and his team came down from their office to greet us.
Including the two boatmen, Salang and Sirai, there are altogether seven permanent Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) staff despatched to take care of Batang Ai National Park.
We immediately began our jungle trekking activity at the secondary forest just beside the headquarters.
To and fro, the Tuai Rumah ipang trail took two hours to traverse. Hiking difficulty was moderate for us, but definitely a literal stroll in the park for more experienced hiking hobbyists.
After the exercise, we visited the headquarters office for a tea break. We continued to chit-chat among ourselves until about 2pm before we returned to the Nanga Ukom longhouse.
10yo Mitin has never tasted prawns
Mitin is a 10-year-old boy from Nanga Ukom who has never tasted prawns before.
The waters at Batang Ai are only suitable to breed fish such as tengkadak, baong, and tilapia. So, seeing prawns on the dining table is rare.
What many of us see as a common dish, is a luxury to some of the children in Nanga Ukom.
The D’Drift Team’s dinner was prepared by Anthony and Jonathan from CPH Travel, who also arranged for our accommodation here.
They had brought some ingredients from town, so we had the privilege of eating mixed vegetables, stir-fried ‘paku’, soy sauce pork, and tomato prawns.
There were still some prawns uneaten when we were done with dinner. Mitin’s mother then quietly approached the dining table and politely asked if she could get just one or two prawns for her son to sample.
“My son has never eaten prawns before. Because we don’t have prawns here,” she told us.
Her eyes were brimming with tears when we offered her the rest of the prawns.
10-feet square of Internet coverage
Right outside our room at the very end of the 36-door Nanga Ukom longhouse, there is a 10-feet square patch where Internet connectivity is available.
Sadly enough, stepping away from that particular spot would mean zero Internet connection anywhere else.
Despite that, the stay at Nanga Ukom was fairly comfortable. Facilities-wise, the water is clean while mosquito nets, towels and soaps are provided.
The food is delicious and the Iban folks here are extremely friendly and hospitable. Handicraft lovers will find many reasons to indulge themselves in a shopping spree here as there are souvenirs up for sale along the entire longhouse.
Today is the ninth day and the penultimate day of the D’Drift 2022 trip. Tomorrow, we will be heading back to Kuching and that will mark the end of DayakDaily’s annual trip. — DayakDaily
Related articles:
Travelogue, Day 1 – Anaconda hunt in Engkilili
Travelogue, Day 2 – Engkilili’s century-old red temple — ‘1/15 Fraction Company’
Travelogue, Day 3 – Let Sibu Street Art be world-renowned like Penang’s
Travelogue, Day 4 – Found in Tatau: Any guesses on what these trees are called?
Travelogue, Day 5 – Checking up on wild boar Robin, and testing Jendela’s WiFi Hotspot in rural areas
Travelogue Day 6 – Four-hour intense ‘bull ride’ to Lusong Laku
Travelogue Day 7 – Traditional Sarawak-Japanese cuisine fusion: Wiggling sago worms on sushi
Travelogue, Day 8 – Japan, South Korea use manganese slag by-product to build roads, but Malaysia calls it waste
Travelogue, Day 10 – ‘Kopi o’, ‘kopi o peng’ in Tatau, Samalaju cost RM2.50, most expensive so far this trip
