Borneo adventure

As a guest of the Iban, one writer braves the Malaysian jungle

Perched on the toilet seat, I am not alone. A marauding army of ants are charging through the gap beneath the door on some SAS-style raid. Above me, a red and black spider tauntingly sits in its web less than three feet from my head.

It's poisonous. I know this, because our guide ominously warned us about the effects of being bitten by a similar-looking arachnid found lurking outside the shower cubicle door yesterday. Despite this, he failed to remove the deadly eight-legged foe. And now it's back, staring at me malevolently from its new lair as I frantically pull up my trousers.

Welcome to the jungle

We're deep within the Borneo rainforest, a four-hour car drive and a 30-minute dugout canoe boat trip up the murky-coloured Lemanak River from Kuching, the capital of the island’s easternmost state of Sarawak.

My husband and I have booked a three-day excursion to the Serubah longhouse in order to experience the culture of the Iban, Sarawak’s largest ethnic group.  The previous night, we’d been warmly greeted in the longhouse – a stilted wooden building with a 600ft long hallway at its communal heart. Around us, daily life unfolded. A toddler banged a drum, two kids played badminton, a man strummed his guitar, dogs padded around, and women, young and old, chatted on woven mats. To one side, 22 doors led to private family quarters. As we walked down the hallway, admiring tribal masks, knives and spears on the walls, a door occasionally swung open to reveal the glare of a TV screen or a sofa. Modern comforts may be part of today’s longhouse life, however, a 200-year-old blackened skull hanging from a rafter in the roof – a trophy from the Iban’s head-hunter days – proved there was still a healthy respect for the past.

Meeting the Iban

Sitting cross-legged on the floor as we drank tuak (home brewed rice wine), the 97-year-old former chief appeared wearing a magnificent feather headdress, yellow tunic, silver bangles, beaded necklace, and a large knife attached to a belt.  His arms were decorated with faded tattoos while a striking cobra design snaked....

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