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TRANS BORNEO CHALLENGING 2006

TRANS BORNEO CHALLENGING

Jacek Pałkiewicz
2006-10-23 12:15:53

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Peering though the dusky light at the half naked girl, her breasts jutting out bravely, my head rubs against the coconuts hanging in a rattan net under the roof of the hut. A second later I realize that they are coconuts at all, but human skulls enveloped in a dusty spider’s web, darkened by cooking smoke. This macabre evidence of intertribal warfare, so frequently described in adventure stories, fails to awaken my sympathy for the victims. My only emotion is deadly, paralyzing fear. I don’t even react to the salamat tidur, tuan!, good night sir, that is directed toward me. Clasping the hunting rifle to my chest, I didn’t sleep a wink all night.

In the morning, when an aging warrior tells of his achievements in battle in a melancholy voice, demonstrating how he twisted the hair of his victims around his fist and with two strong blows of the mandau, a type of machete, removed their heads, I have reason to doubt if the panjamon procedure has really fallen into disuse. In order to gain trust and favor, from the very beginning we keep in mind the canon of savoir vivre among the natives. I want to believe that the bag of gifts will assist us in winning their hearts. Missionaries agree that this age old practice was abandoned long ago, but nonetheless…supposedly various things happen during intertribal wars. Either way, I, a seasoned adventurer, after returning to civilization, was truly grateful to be alive.

It was here, not far from the source of the Kapuas in 1824 that Major George Muller, leader of a Dutch government mission, was murdered by fearsome Dayaks. Eleven of the Javan soldiers who accompanied him also lost their lives. Today his name lives on in one of the local mountain chains, whose highest peak is Longnawan at nearly 3,000 m above sea level. This was also the final resting place for British inspector Bruce Sandilands in 1975 after he was abandoned by porters.

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