Tranquility and serenity had inspired our urge to explore Borneo's rainforest. Borneo rainforest is about 140 million years old making it one of the oldest rainforests in the world with thousands of flowering species, plants, trees, terrestrial mammals, resident birds and orangutans.
Note: To get the most out from this article, try listening to the audio below 'Now Playing' Borneo's enchanting natural orchestra voices of the wild.
Its tropical mountain cloud forest is truly enchanting and will guarantee to mesmerize your senses. The forested landscapes adorned with marvelous green mountains and windy valleys is a lifetime adventure into the interior of Borneo. The sounds of thunder in the background raise up a perfect ambiance to bring us back to the past.
This is the centre of the evolution and distribution of many endemic species of plants and animals. For us this is a hidden sanctuary in the primitive world that only the indigenous people living in this part of the world will fully understand and treasure.
We try to capture the imagination by going into the interior of this lush rainforest to listen to the musical tunes of the surrounding nature made up by the forest inhabitants. For this reason, we simply called this the sounds of Borneo's rainforest.
Borneo had earned its hallmark as the land of the headhunters in the olden days. With some luck you may get a chance to try out one of their traditional weapon - the blow pipe with a lethal poisonous dart to kill small animals or to immobilize larger beasts.
Living With Nature
The Borneo rainforest is one of the few remaining natural habitats in the world. This rainforest is also an important refuge for many endemic forest species and is one of nature's wonder that brought us here. Therefore, a retreat in jungle living is a must to harmonize ourselves with nature elements while experiencing Borneo at its best.
Life in Borneo's forest canopy is filled with rare and exotic wildlife. To see this, you must get close to the life here. There's nothing more interesting than to listen mindfully to the continuous sounds of wildlife in a rainforest like this. Of course it's better if you can get yourself higher up to the trees.
Have you every try to imagine mammals, creatures and insects roaming the land, swinging on canopy treetops, or flying high up in the sky? This is the place for this kind of nature living and you can get to see some of this marvelous canopy experience from the height of a tree house.
Borneo is also home to communities of indigenous people such as the Dayak, Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Orang Ulu, etc. It is a must to try to visit the longhouse dwelling to some of the most fearsome headhunters of Borneo.
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Ibans are a branch of the Dayak peoples of Borner. In Malaysia, most Ibans are located in Sarawak, a small portion in Sabah and some in west Malaysia. They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks.
Weather in the rainforest can be very unpredictable. This is one of the wettest place on earth with constant rains. One minute it is sunny and without warning the tropical rain can start pouring in to soak your day up with dampness.
Heavy clouds ready to deliver downpours of rain - that same rain had been sustaining the forests and keeping them healthy in the endless cycle of life. Perhaps this will explain why the rains is so important to keep planet earth ecosystem stabilize.
Longhouses
This section will highlight some of the longhouses from different tribes in the interior of Borneo. Houses made of woods and bamboos from the natural resources are very interesting for first-timers. Lifespan of these wooden longhouses are not more than 20 years because of the nomadic pattern of the Iban and Dayak in search for fertile land to do farming and hunting.
Real human skulls hanging on the roof beam inside an Iban longhouse is a common sight if you were to visit the remote interiors. This old headhunting tradition is no longer being practiced today and therefore it's safe to visit one of those longhouses.
Ibans were renowned for practicing headhunting and tribal/territorial expansion and had a fearsome reputation as a strong and successful warring tribe in the olden days. Since the arrival of Europeans and the subsequent British colonization of the area, headhunting gradually faded out of practice although many tribal customs, practices and language continued till this day.
The Iban population is concentrated in Sarawak,Brunei, and in the West Kalimantan region of Indonesia. They live in these longhouses.
It's very enchanting to see a colorful display of traditional Iban's costume. Ladies if you think the costume outfit looks really cool wait till you put it on. A typical Iban lady costume will consist of Kain Batating (Petticoat with decorated bells at the bottom end), Rawai Tinggi (High Corset with Rattan Coils inserted with small Brass Rings), Sugu Tinggi (High headgear), Marik Empang (Beaded Chain), Selampai (Long Scalp), Lampit (Silver Belt), Tumpak (Armlet), Gelang kaki (Anklet), Antin Perak (Silver stud earrings), and Buah pauh purse.
Warrior Tattoos
The indigenous tribes would differentiate themselves from one with the other using symbolic tattoos on their body. Tattooing auspicious motives such as mystical animal, birds, etc. all over their body signify bravery as a warrior in this culture.
Sadly, deforestation activities had resulted many of Borneo's animal and plant species becoming increasingly endangered and even extinct, mostly as a result of their rainforest habitat loss due to human actions.
The objective of this travel article is to pass a message to readers it is the right thing to treasure planet earth more than ever. Simply because we can help preserve these wonderful nature for future generations until the world ends (read A Prophecy Into The Future).
There's only so much you can grasp about the importance of rainforest preservation until you have experience a new breath of life by living next to creatures, nocturnal mammals, birds, etc. right here in Borneo.
Now come the interesting part in the aspect of talisman to bring along on this type of wildlife trip. Khun Paen is not on the plan because we don't want to unnecessary bring out the charming attraction to attract those beautiful tribal girls.
Thinking about the dangers and witchcraft practices in this remote forest interiors, a hermit Lersi amulet had been my companion throughout my stay in this wild rustic Borneo expedition.
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