Have you been to Sarawak before? If you have not, I would encourage you to stop by at the Sarawak Cultural Village and add to your wish list whenever you are travelling to Sarawak.
When you enter the village, you will first spot a longhouse at the far end of the entrance area.
You will need to decide whether to take the safe walking lane or challenge yourself to walk onto the wooden bridge made of thick bamboo stick crisscrossing each other. All of my friends and I decided to go on the bridge to test our balance. Thankfully I made it safely on the other side!
If I could recall, I think we visited about five to six different longhouses. My favourite one is the Orang Ulu Longhouse. I was mesmerized at the patterns and motif on the doors and pillars.
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They look very significant and might imitate the Iban tattoos on the headhunters.
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While visiting the Orang Ulu longhouse, they performed their own tribal dance with soothing Sapeh music playing at the back. Sapeh is a type of musical instrument made from wood and it is a traditional lute of the Orang Ulu community.
I was also amazed at the tribal weavers weaving each colourful string. It looks really satisfying to see the movement of the weaving.
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There are also pieces of jewellery and colourful clothing displayed and we are allowed to purchase them.
Halfway visiting the longhouses, we had to grab our seats in the theatre as there will be a dance performance by different tribes. There are lots of people going to watch the performance so it would be better to come early.
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Throughout my visit to the Sarawak Cultural Village, I realized that their culture is totally different from our Malaysian culture. Although Sarawak is our brother country, their way of living is very unique and it surprises me. It is different from the modern culture that we are exposed to today. I like how they still preserve their culture and share it with the tourist.
