I lost him ;But I Found Tranquility -KABULONGOU- Part 1

For some close friends who have been following what i was up to... it has been a jagged period for me during the past few months. No, not the jungle trail and the rocky stream, but the tired soul and turning point in life that i have to deal with.. Closing another chapter and opening a new chapter again...Anyway, i replace this lost by trying to find my tranquility.Physically i am so strong that i want to fight with the wild boar if i see any in the interior of the jungle while doing my fam trip assignment. I was so ready, that i felt there is nothing else i can do but to release my anger to the wild. Indeed, i found KABULONGOU... yes KA- BU- LO- NGOU, the hidden waterfall seems conveying his message to me. So, here i was inspired to write about this hidden waterfall...

To make it short, this hidden waterfall is located far deep inside Kg. Saliku, Nabawan. More details of Nabawan HERE. We drove on a muddy and slippery road for about 30 minutes, and our boat were laying behind the truck .. further with almost 20 minutes raft to the trail starting point.

Murutian are famous with their boat making skills, what more handling their boat with passion and care, it seems, the boat is more significant then their life..Well, pictures speaks a thousand words.. here are some photos i took during my expedition with the Murutian.

Carrying the boat down to the stream using their buffalo strength has already triggered my concern. Look at the rocky path and the slippery stone.. i was just wondering if this raft is going to work!

And then, they asked me to sit in the boat and they said

" Jaga-jaga Kau, duduk tengah -tengah yia" which interprets to

" Becareful OK, and sit in the middle"

WHAT?? Does that mean they are not coming in with me??!

and yes, they will be out side in the rapid maneuvering the boat ..!

This is the kind of raft that is absolutely strange to me, it wasn't the one at PADAS RIVER which i use to raft together with my team mates before !

Below: This is Rezon- to him this rapid is just a water splash, ensuring my camera did not get wet is his priority, even though i told him my camera is waterproof, yet he still insist in making his job well done.

This two musketeers are Pailin and Johanis, they are playful and keep teasing me on boat capsized incident.. instead of worrying and listening to their boat captain,they seems enjoying the water more then anyone else.

And yes, these are the two commanders, Uncle Lapan and Amilik. Everyone listen to them so the boat don't collide to the stone around the rapid.

Challenges ahead.....

And splash ! and paddle and splash and paddle (only with a small wooden paddler)

I was just shouting and closing my eyes.. when i see this big stone ahead of our boat.. and i can only hear Uncle Amilik shouted " Pasioki ! Pasioki ! " in Murut language which literally means

" Hurry! Hurry!"

Finally, we made it... and across the point is the starting trail to the hidden water fall...

So, this is where it begins...

A journey to Tranquility......

I end here for my dinner break .... be back for Part II

Life with the Murutian ( The Jungle Hunters)

This has been a long planned trip... Together with a very old friend cum ex boss of mine.. Datuk Richard Gunting ( A Murutian Warrior ), I finally made a point to visit his village in Kg. Saliku - Sapulut.

Sapulut is located at the interior of Sabah, about 133 KM away from Kota Kinabalu City, taking us about 4 hours to arrive. In between, one pit stop at Keningau to have our main shopping for groceries and food.

We were welcomed by bundle of village kids, lunch were already prepared and at my surprise Bruce ( A canadian nature lover) was already there waiting for us ..... and this is how the Murutian life begins....

I was observing the white board and this is what i found,

Children trying to introduce themselves to Bruce through drawing. Even one boy draw himself hunting a wild boar.. thats their

life hood.

And at the back of the house, the men are delegating their fruitful hunting result of the day. Separating them among families and its gonna be their meals

for the rest of the week.

Bruce, the villagers favorite teacher was enjoying learning his rhythmic gong with the guys while the kids ( below) were following my footsteps on their dance. For them this is life, and love.

"The Murut are mainly found in Keningau, Tenom, Pensiangan and minority in Kalabakan and kinabatangan. Traditionally they live in the long houses with a unique feature; the lansaran; an indegenous trampoline; the Murut villages are built along the river, they are expert boatmakers and animal hunters. In the ancient days, head hunting was part of their initiation rites. a young man could get married when he had vanquished his first enemy."

Sources from Sabah Travel Guide.com

However nowadays with the rural development projects, logging activities as well as tourism industry bunging into the interior side of Sabah, some of the ancient activities has disolve due to the economy changes.

For them, a daily boat ride along the rapid shoot is a lively hood of a Murutian. Bringing you with their handmade boat is something they are so proud of and their sincerity came from the wisdom and wrinkles along the solid muscle yet skinny body.

A young guy like Dejohn is never an exceptional in maneuvering the boat. The young one are always battling around the boat while the old one will give commands so they know what to do in putting the boat to a correct position.

This is the Murutian Life.. a totally different experience with them in Sapulot. They live like there is no tomorrow, they work as hard as they love their families...

EAT , PRAY , LOVE.... motto of life...