Pa Lungan

Life moves at its own pace in Bario with no compromise for visitors on a tight timescale.  Douglas' promise that he would get a guide to come and see me at De Plateau Homestay finally materialised on my second morning there, by which time I was climbing the walls with frustration.  Liam is an amiable middle aged local kelabit who has returned to his roots after taking a "package" from Shell down on the coast.  He quickly disabused me about the availability of guides and trekking routes, which have dwindled as a result of logging activity.  During a chat with Liam I conceived a plan to walk to the village of Pa Lungan about twelve kilometres away, on a track which can be managed without a guide.

I set off soon after my meet with Liam and followed his fairly vague directions.  It turned out to be a delightful walk through a small village, alongside quiet streams and paddies and into gentle woodland.  I had expected a track negotiable by four-wheel drives, but the trail turned out to be for water buffalo drawn sleds only.  Despite carrying a ten-kilo rucksack my damaged knee held up well and after four hours I arrived at Pa Lungan followed by a curious water buffalo.

 It's a little hamlet of twenty or so houses, a church and about a hundred people.  A wonderfully peaceful spot far, far off the beaten track.  Liam had recommended the Batu Ritung Homestay run by Madam Supang, so I made my way straight there, knocking on the front door a little anxiously, a lone traveller from God knows where.

Supang came to the door as if I had been long-expected and showed me to a simple room on the upper floor of the large wooden house.  Shortly after, her husband took me on a short tour of the village megaliths, said to range in age from two thousand to six hundred years old.  En route we took in some clumps of pitcher plants, which he took delight in describing in detail.  That evening I dined with the two of them, being, unsurprisingly, the only guest.  The food was a superbly prepared range of local vegetables, harvested from what Supang likes to call the "jungle supermarket", Bario rice and chicken.

I went to bed early and content and was happy to dive under the blanket when the generator died at about ten o'clock, the lights flickered off and peace descended.