I took a 15-minute boat ride from Long Dunin to Long Subeng along the Tinjar river with our local assmblyman YB Lihan. Long Subeng is only accessible by river, although Long Dunin is accessible by road from Miri-which is about 5-hour back breaking journey by 4WD vehicle through treacherous logging roads.You might be wondering why the black faces. Well, it's the custom of the tribal people in the olden days when visitors leave the longhouse, the maidens would use soot from cooking pots to blacken the faces of the male visitors- a way of saying goodbye. It is believed that the visitors would have fond memories of their visit and the blacken faces would remind them of the ones who did the good job. So the next time you visit a tribal longhouse in Baram be prepared for this age-old custom of saying goodbye. One thing though, you can retaliate by blackening the faces of your attackers, that is if you can get your hands on the cooking pots and all...
