There were 24 of us in the group. The visit was organised by a Neighbourhood Committee. Sister Monica and myself were glad that they have invited us to join, even though we are not residents of that 'neighbourhood' area. 90 MRinggit that included (1) bus-fare (Miri/Mukah) (2) 1 night hotel accommodation (3) insurance (4) 3 meals: lunch/dinner/breakfast (5) river-cruise and (6) a visit to another town, Dalata was very very good.
Mukah, a place associated with the Melanau people and their staple food, sago - Sister Monica and myself have never been there before. So this was an oppportunity, even though this means a bus ride of 417 km to and 417 km back. This was only half the distance of bus ride from Miri to Kuching - 827 km, that we took on last week!
Our first visit was the Lamin Dana (a Melanau cultural site). In Melanau, 'Lamin' means house and 'Dana' means tall. We are impressed by the house and the rooms, which is opened to tourists to stay.
After a light refreshment at the Lamin Dana restaurant, we were taken on a cruise along the Tellian river. I was with 3 others in a speedboat while the rest were in other boats. Along the river, I saw quite a number of logs, tied together along the way. I think we asked the boatman quite a number of times whether they were sago trunks and somehow he didn't hear us or we didn't understood him until almost the end of the cruise that they were sago trunks! And so I missed taking a picture of them!
There were children playing in the water, on the bridges, verandahs. Our boatman brought us to this vertical tall structure - it was an old Melanau burial place!
Saturday, 3 May 2006
Sago is produced from Mukah. It is famous for it. Can't leave Mukah without getting some of the products made from it! I like the 'Terbaloi" (a kind of sago biscuits) especially.And so we went to the market to see what we can buy to take home.
Sago worms! Roasted ones! Life ones! Or choose them from the ones crawling in the pile of sago trunk dust! They said sago worms are delicious and good for the eyes! I am bespectacled - maybe they are trying to get me to buy them. True to not - I don't know, but they are too wriggly for my liking! The dead ones (roasted) - dark coloured ones, that are packed in the plastic, don't appeal to me either!
We still have time to explore elsewhere and the driver didn't mind to take us to Dalat, an hour drive from Mukah, for a minimal fee.The river that flows along the town of Dalat. One could take the speed boat to Sibu, the capital of Sarawak's 3rd division.
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