GATE WAY BORDER INDONESIA - MALAYSIA OF WEST KALIMANTAN

Happy Gawai

It is going to be a long holiday here in Sarawak so I'm going to be away for a while. Actually just going back to visit the parents to celebrate the 29th years anniversary on the 1st June. It is the same day of the Gawai Dayak celebration. The word Gawai means a ritual or festival whereas Dayak is a collective name for the native ethnics of Sarawak;Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, Lun Bawang and others. Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means "Dayak Festival". Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this day. Such visit is more known as "ngabang" in Iban dialect. Relatives and visitors are served with rice wine or tuak and chicken cooked in bamboo as well as other traditional delicacies at the many ''open houses".

Kapuas Rivers in Pontianak

The Kapuas River, at about 1143 km is the longest river in Indonesia, connecting Pontianak with the Sanggau, Sintang, and Kapuas Hulu Regencies. Among the branches of the Kapuas River are the Landak, Kubu, Punggur, Melawi, and Sekayam Rivers. It is also the world's longest river on an island.

Iban Tattoos

For Borneo's Dayak peoples, spirits embody everything: animals, plants, and humans, Krutak explained. Many groups have drawn on this power by using images from nature in their tattoos, creating a composite of floral motifs using plants with curative or protective powers and powerful animal images.

Tattoos are created by artists who consult spirit guides to reveal a design. Among Borneo's Kayan people, women are the artists, a hereditary position passed from mother to daughter. Among the Iban, the largest and most feared indigenous group in Borneo, men apply the tattoos.

These tattoos are blue-black, made of soot or powdered charcoal, substances thought to ward off malevolent spirits. Some groups spike their pigment with charms—a ground-up piece of a meteorite or shard of animal bone—to make their tattoos even more powerful.

For the outline, the artist attaches up to five bamboo splinters or European needles to a stick. After dipping them in pigment, he or she taps them into the skin with a mallet. Solid areas are filled in with a circular configuration of 15 to 20 needles.

Ritual Tattooing

Traditionally, Dayak tattooing was performed in a sacred ritual among gathered tribe members. Among the Ngaju Dayak, Krutak said, the tattoo artist began with a sacrifice to ancestor spirits, killing a chicken or other fowl and spilling its blood.

After a period of chanting, the artist started an extremely painful tattooing process that often lasted six or eight hours. Some tattoos were applied over many weeks.

For coming-of-age tattoo rituals, the village men dressed in bark-cloth. This cloth, made from the paper mulberry tree, also draped corpses and was worn by widows.

Tattooing, like other initiation rites, symbolized both a passing away and a new beginning, a death and a life.

Head-hunting Tattoos

One Dayak group, the Iban, believe that the soul inhabits the head. Therefore, taking the head of one's enemy gives you their soul. Taking the head also conferred your victim's status, skill and power, which helped ensure farming success and fertility among the tribe.

Upon return from a successful head-hunting raid, participants were promptly recognized with tattoos inked on their fingers, usually images of anthropomorphic animals.

Head-hunting was made illegal over a century ago—but even today, an occasional head is still taken.
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Traveling To Thailand

By Pauline Go

People who have visited Thailand feel a sense of timelessness. Imbued with the cultural influence on one hand and the natural beauty on the other, it takes time for many to adjust to their original surroundings once they return from Thailand.

Words fail to describe this enchanting place. Yes, indeed it is a magical place. There can be many names for this place - the land of beauty, the land of bounty, the land of culture, the land of spirituality, the land of exotic cuisine, the land of smiles, or the land of excitement!

Food is considered divine here because you can get variety of food, ranging from roadside vendors selling chicken and sausages to even grasshoppers and cockroaches. As unbelievable the range of food may sound, it is true. So, brace yourself to be the connoisseur of all kinds of food if you plan to visit Thailand.

Add to that, you can actually stay in Thailand on a shoestring budget. One can easily book a hotel at prices as cheap as 5 dollars. Of course, there are expensive hotels too, but then it is the traveler’s choice to take his or her pick of hotels.

It is a place that will beckon you repeatedly because the people are nice, ever smiling, and very hospitable in nature. It is a place that is resplendent with culture and heritage. It is place that never ceases to surprise and astonish you. It is a place that is welcome to all those who want to revel in the lap of nature and spirituality.

Check Out More Articles: Thailand Travel Information, Best Thai Restaurant Guide & Thai Food Recipes, Bangkok Guide 4 Week , Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pauline_Go

Five Romantic Vacation Ideas

By Steven Gillman

What makes a vacation romantic? Let's start with examples before definitions. Here are a few romantic vacation ideas.

An ocean cruise is certainly a classic romantic vacation. Why not escape it all - even the sight of land. Isolated together out at sea, in the comfort of a cruise ship - that can be very romantic. There are a couple things to consider, though, if you want to keep the romance going.

First, thoroughly investigate and talk about your options. Perhaps you both were assuming the other wanted a traditional warm-water cruise, when in reality you both would love to watch whales and glaciers on an Alaskan cruise. It's not just about the many possible destinations, either. There are different styles of cruises, from pure sightseeing ones to more active ones to "party boats." Be sure the cruise has activities that you'll enjoy participating in together.

You also need to be sure you budget enough so money worries don't steal the romance from the vacation. Think about what you'll be doing, both on and off the ship. It isn't romantic to run out of money on a vacation, and cruise ship bars are notoriously expensive.

Romantic vacations might include train rides, if you both like to relax and take in the scenery. The Royal Gorge Train, here in Canon City, Colorado, for example, takes you for a stunning ride through the gorge and along the Arkansas river. The dining cars serve great meals and the windows on some cars co overhead, so you can easily take in the view above.

Budget Romantic Vacation Ideas

The sun, sand, and the sound of the waves can relax you and take away the stress and worry of "everyday life," but beach vacations can get pricey. If money is tight, you can do like we did in northern Florida. We camped in our conversion van at a state campground on the beach. Our days were spent collecting shells together, swimming, and flying a kite. One evening we took our chairs down by the water to watch the sunset. The beaches of the Great Lakes are another great place for a romantic vacation, and are even more affordable.

Another low-cost romantic vacation idea is to rent the little cabins that can be found in many state parks. Wilderness State Park in northern Michigan, for example, has cabins that are closer to the beach, and those that require you to hike into the woods a few miles. They are reasonable, and you can pack in good food and a bottle of wine to add to the romance.

It can be very affordable and romantic to spend some time together in a small town that is surrounded by beautiful scenery. Some of our favorites include Lone Pine, California, Anaconda, Montana, Silverton, Colorado, and Marquette, Michigan. Try wandering the streets of walkable small towns, exploring the woods and fields around them, eating in local cafes and going to classic small-town theaters. For my wife and I, this is one of our favorite romantic vacation ideas.

Steve Gillman hit the road at sixteen, and traveled the U.S. and Mexico alone at 17. Now 42, he travels with his wife Ana, whom he met in Ecuador. For travel stories, tips and a free Travel Secrets e-book, visit: http://www.EverythingAboutTravel.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Gillman

Koh Phi Phi Paradise Lost!

By Fred Tittle

If you want to keep secretes, kill everybody who knows. The same could be said if you want to ruin a good thing tell somebody about it. If you want the whole world to know feature it in a movie. The islands of the Koh Phi Phi island group in southern Thailand were featured in the movie The Beach. If you are not familiar with the story line, some young travelers discover this fantastic spot in Thailand and decide to make their version of utopia and keep it secrete at all costs, had they been successful this would still be a small island group that few but the most hardy backpackers would visit.

When the movie The Beach was made here there were not many that knew about this beautiful island group of Stonehenge like monoliths that stick out of the pond like waters of the Andaman Sea. Clad in deep jungle greenery they have a forbidding yet enticing aura about them. The white sand beaches look like everyone's picture of tropical paradise with palm trees thick at the top with green pods of coconuts waiting to drop their sweet milk for thirsty travelers.

Today the thirsty travelers come in the form of herds of young backpackers which jam the center of the dog bone shaped main island at night milling in streams propelled by the ever present urban thump. By day these hordes descend on the beaches and lay in clumps of self basting & baking kids. Bars, stores, coffee shops, travel agents, discos even a very popular 7-11 feed the needs of these adventure seekers many of whom sport bandages and crutches from spills and thrills of rock climbing, cliff jumping and jungle expeditions to find water falls.

The waters around Koh Phi Phi are not safe not because of the animals in the water but because of the poor water treatment Streptococcus a particular nasty skin eating bug is around and other ailments as well so it pays to take care of even the smallest scratches here so that you don't end up in the emergency room having pieces of skin cut out.

The other thing to watch out for is your wallet as they are firm believers in price fixing from internet to scuba diving they have some of the highest prices in Thailand and they do not negotiate at all if you are a bargain seeker give this place a wide berth. Cheap hotels in every sense of the term are priced like 3 star hotels else where we did not see any places that delivered value to price with the exceptions of The Phi Phi Hotel which was quoting off season rates seemed to be the only hotel that had a clue.

In the period before the islands here became famous this was a great place to come and hang out for weeks at a time, today however it is another paradise lost.

Fred's new project http://www.CheapCharliesHotels.com where he reviews cheap hotels , budget guest houses, discount accommodations and cheap international flights, but is really an excuse to go scuba diving on vacation more, Fred is in Phnom Penh Cambodia planning his next adventure travel tour. Keep up to date with Fred and to view some great pictures go to http://www.cheapcharlieshotels.com/blog/Cheapcharlieshotelsasiadiscountflightsvisa Fred Tittle has lived and worked in holiday vacation resorts his entire life, from Lake Geneva's Playboy Club, as a rock jock for KSPN FM in Aspen Colorado, he became a PADI Pro Scuba Diver in Hawaii, diving on Maui, Kauai, Kona on the big island, and Waikiki on Oahu. He founded Eco Adventures South East Asia in Sihanoukville Cambodia. he still teaches SSI and PADI scuba diving courses and runs liveaboards in the gulf of Thailand and Asia adventure tours, http://www.ecosea.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fred_Tittle