22nd September 2025 Joy
This is a sunset scene with Gunung Mulu in the distance, featuring eight colourful boats. These boats would ferry visitors and tourists along Sungai Melingu.
During one of our boat trips to Clearwater Cave, we stopped at Batu Bungan Penan Handicraft market where local crafts such as baskets, bags, doilies, placemats, and floor mats made from coarse and fine rattan were displayed. Eagle feathers were used for headgear and coloured beads fashioned into necklaces and bracelets.
The village housed homes and a longhouse where I discovered seed beads used by Penan craftswomen, especially those involved in weaving projects. They use seeds from the Job’s Tears plant; tear-shaped, hard seeds that are employed to make necklaces. The tough outer casing of the seeds is removed, and then the seeds are drilled and strung; mine is long and interwoven.
This is one of my many visits to Mulu National Park – a World Heritage Site. Expect plenty of walking and amazing sightings as you explore Mulu. If you haven’t yet, do visit.