Monday, August 06, 2007

Semai of Ulu Geroh

The settlement of the indigenous Semai community at Ulu Geroh. The carpet grass makes this look like part of the Shire.



Some houses are still made from bamboo for the walls and flooring. The bamboo is split and "flatten" to give it a bigger surface area. It gets pretty cold here at night and the gaps from the bamboo walls gives lots of ventilation. Walking on raised bamboo flooring takes getting used to as the floor sags when you put your weight on it. However, it won't break unless one is grossly overweight!




The Semai are friendly and mostly camera shy. Most attempts to shoot them had them covering their faces or some just simply ran off! To get the pictures, shoot fast and from afar before they realize it.




No Deuter, Karrimor or Tatonka backpacks for them. Almost everything is carried with the rattan basket with simple shoulder straps.




It is the durian fruiting season now and the locals are doing brisk business gathering the fruits to sell. Oh, the durians here are absolutely yummy!




To check for a good fruit, use the nose and shake it a bit. Not too sure why the shake tho. This guys is probably doing a last minute check to ensure only the good ones make it for sale.




These look like middleman buying up the stock to be re-sold at the nearby towns.




I hope this fler don't use his catapult on the birds and other wildlife.




You can spot him a mile off with his big smile. One of the 3 Semai guides with Green Badge and the friendliest person around. One never ceases to be amazed with his keen eyesight and knowledge of the surroundings. He'll show you stuff that you would just pass over even if you had looked for it.

5 comments:

DweezelJazz said...

Wow, the grass and houses are beautiful. Thank you for showing something of how it is there.

moggie said...

wonderful series on the Semai! particularly like the candid one of ngah on the bike. can almost see merry and pippin coming out of one of the houses in the 'shire'.

LadyHawk said...

i really really love our local 'shire' .. you captured it beautifully

Madwag said...

wow... thanks for this pic set... really educational and beautiful.. now I want to taste that fruit...what does it taste like?

Divemuster said...

madwag, Durian is a seasonal fruit and I don't know how to descibe its taste. It cannot be compared to anything but many here have dubbed it King of the Fruits.

I guess Ladyhawk's description fits it best; its either you like it, or hate it. Best to come and decide for yourself which side of the line you stand ;-)