Visiting the Orang Asli

The morning part of the program, the canopy walk and jungle trek, having been completed, we had a break for a couple of hours. This gave plenty of time for lunch, as well as making plans to move on the next day. I had been asking around at the places by the river about how to get from Taman Negara to Penang. I had heard that it was possible. However, I kept hearing things like, “Well, first you take our shuttle down to Jerantut. There you will change buses for another little town south of there. In that town you can change buses again for the one to Penang at 11:00 at night.” That sounded needlessly complicated and involved an overnight bus. Not my idea of a very good way to go. But I had heard that there was a fairly simple way to get to Penang. So I kept looking around. I was prepared to hop from town to town, if that's what it took. I was also prepared to go back to the Cameron Highlands and hop from there. Then I happened by the tourist information office in town. On their wall, they advertised a bus transfer to Penang that left in the morning and arrived late in the afternoon. Perfect!! So I went in and booked that during the break in the rainforest activities I had signed up for. Then I got some rest as it had been a hot and sweaty morning. My overpriced accommodation at least had air conditioning as part of the deal, which was a real advantage on a day like that.

After resting for a bit, it was time to head back down to the pier for the next portion of the program. It was time to shoot the rapids. The river between the town and the park was quite shallow, but it was running fairly fast. This made for the perfect conditions for some rapids in the water, where the river descended to a new level quickly. If it also narrowed a bit, this would make the rapids even better. We had been told to bring a swim suit and to make sure to either put things that couldn't get wet into a plastic bag they had on the boats or to leave them behind, as we WOULD be getting wet. This was fairly clear. This also probably meant that even if the rapids weren't all that exciting, there would be shenanigans that would ensure people would get wet. I only brought my camera with me, but I put it into the bag on the boat.

And we did get wet. The boats got only partially loaded, so there were three of them in total. And they went on strafing runs. Boat paddles, feet, hands, and bucket and receptacles of various sorts were put to use to put as much water as possible onto the occupants of the boats. It was quite the spectacle. It was also the case that the rapids didn't really contribute to anyone really getting wet at all. It was certainly no white water rafting river, at least around the area of the town (which was called Kuala Tahan). We got through the last rapid, then turned around and headed for the village of the native people who occupy the national park rainforest area, the Orang Asli.

Here's the skinny on the natives. They are nomadic. Every once in a while, if they run out of food or if one of the village dies, they will move somewhere else. (This can be a problem for the companies running tours to the villages. There are times when they go and nobody is there. But the people of the villages do go and sell food and crafts and other stuff in the town, so the tour operators have the chance to ask where the village is now and still be able to find them.) They used to live completely off the rainforest. That included clothes and other thing like that. But now they have manufactured clothing and such. They still hunt in the traditional manner, although they also make purchases from town of vegetables and other things like that. They have also learned an appreciation for money and have learned some money management skills. They are the only people allowed to live and use the protected rainforest. With all of the villages put together, there are around 600 of the Orang Asli. The tour companies ask the villages if they will permit a visit. If the villagers say yes, groups can visit. But if they villagers say no, then there is no visit. (But other villages are asked and might say yes instead.) I kind of like that part the best. When the villages say yes, it isn't because they like to feel like curiosities. It's because they are proud to show off their skills and way of life.

When we arrived in the village, this information (plus more that I can't recall) was explained to us. Then we were given demonstrations of fire starting techniques, dart making techniques, and then dart blowing techniques (which we were allowed to give a go as well). For the fire starting, there was none of that rubbing two sticks together for a while and letting the friction take its toll. The took a piece of wood with a groove cut into it. Intersecting the groove, a hole was cut through the piece of wood. A strip of rattan was put into the groove in the piece of wood and drawn back and forth. The friction against the wood quickly rubbed some embers through the hole, with smoke and heat. The embers were placed into a bunch of kindling and then blown into a fire. The time taken for this process was about 65 seconds, from the beginning of the drawing the rattan against the wood to the starting of the fire in the kindling!!

Then our demonstrator showed us how to attach some balsa wood to their hunting darts using natural glue (that apparently beats superglue for being sticky and even causing problems if you get some on your skin) and a sandpaper leaf from the forest. (The things we have forgotten as we have gotten technologically 'advanced' never ceases to amaze me. If someone were to turn off electricity somehow, we would die in droves. The ones who would survive are the ones who either had some of this knowledge or were resourceful enough to learn it quickly.)

Then we were shown the technique for shooting darts through blowpipes. Those things can really move. It took our demonstrator three tries to get 'dinner.'

This was my go at it. When I made my shot, the blowpipe dipped just a bit as I blew. It's the one on the bottom, under the bear. So I missed, but I was quite close for a first try, if I do say so myself.

After the blowpipe demonstration, we were given a few minutes to look around the village. Then it was off to a swimming hole downstream where there was some frolicking. I had put my camera back in the plastic sack and didn't bother to get it out, but there was a swinging rope where people were doing amazing flips into the water. I didn't give that a go. My arms are not strong enough to hold myself in a swing like that. I would have done a face plant into the sand, I'm sure.

And then it was back to town for dinner and a rest. When we arrived, I decided to go for the night jungle walk. This short trek was focussing more on insects and spiders and other creepy crawlies. It sounded like fun.