I'm still wondering is there a Murut longhouse that still using the original traditional housing material out the in Sabah interior. Me and John did the trip of in search of the original Murut longhouse in 2006. I would say that, it was a great trip to the interior area of Sabah and great experience. But we didn't manage to find the longhouse that still in original material. The whole trip was very rewarding in terms of knowledge of the murut people. I've learned so many things there. First thing that surprise was the cemetery of the Murut in Salungai area, it was look like a five star cemetery. When we cruising along the river, we saw the cemetery along it and it look like a house! not as big as normal house but I can see that they really put so much work on one single cemetery. making it look like a real house.
In Sapulut we visited the old Japanese school which looks very very old. There was a big termite mount on the side of it. The school was being by the Japanese to teach Japanese language and culture of Japan to the local people there. The building certainly has the Japanese feature where the front has a rising Sun like where they put the sign written "February 1942". There was no sign of restoration of the building which I think it is need to be preserve. It tells the history of that place.
We were on The boat journey to the Silungai Longhouse after almost two and a half hours driving on a bumpy road. Some part of the boat ride we had to face some rapids.
The night we arrived there, we had a little chit chat with the people in the longhouse. I talk to one of the Murut guy there and asking him about the house that we were looking for and he said that in Sabah there is no more left the type of house that we looking of. But in Kalimantan Indonesia still there few left. Kalimantan Indonesia is only about 2hours boat ride from the village that we were staying overnight but we couldn't go to.
The people in that village are mostly hunter. "Hunting Dog" are still been use even until now. Home made gun was used for hunting wild boars replacing the blow pipe and poison dart. The people has been hunting in the rainforest which include the area of Maliau Basin for many many years.
I tried to document as many things as possible about the people and the history of the place that time. One of the interesting story was about Captain Franz Xavier Witti, an Austrian guy who work for the British North Borneo Chartered Company who traveled into the interior of Borneo and gives name to some of the station in that area. He died in a hand of the Murut tribe where one day he traveled along the river going toward Indonesia with few Ibans. They where ambush by the Murut rebellion throwing spears from above them. One Iban escaped to tell the story. Witty was beheaded and the body was been chop into many pieces taken by th Murut as a trophy. The place where Witti was killed has been name as Witti Range and because of his body has been spread all over the mountain range.
This is how we sleep at the longhouse. Sleeping at the hall way where the villagers walk pass through.
We also went to the Batu Punggul to make some photograph .
There are so many story to tell about the journey. I hope I'll be able to write more about it in Borneo Geographic. I will write again about it some other time.
