Borneo 2001 - Longhouse in Bario


Contents Kelabit Highlands Longhouse in Bario	301 321

313. Longhouse in Bario
In another longhouse a Swedish woman was living, wanting to write a book about the Kelabits. That longhouse was very different from the one we just visited. It was very big and spacious, and a lot lighter inside.
Living in a longhouse doesn't mean that everybody live together. A typical longhouse consists of common kitchen building, like the one on this picture. In this building, every family has their own fireplace. In addition, every family has one or more private bedrooms. In this case, the bedrooms are located in another building. A longhouse usually also have a party room, about the same size as the kitchen area, but without fireplaces. It is used only when there is something to celebrate.
After the dinner, our host picked out his blowpipe. It looked difficult, but it wasn't. One just had to exhale like blowing out candles in a cake, and the wooden arrow would easily penetrate a centimetre or more into the wall of the house. Aiming was a bit more difficult but we all managed to hit the tapioca on the wall.