The Far Side of the World, Pt 11

Having survived a slightly hair-raising encounter with the tribes of Papua New Guinea, it's March 1976, and Tony Reavley's discovering the joys of the Philippines.

29-03-76

3,000 ft above sea level: Banuaue, Philippines

Dear Alan, Jean, Cyril, Bert & any other fortunate readers

Sorry about the delay in this month's epistle. We've had a rather hectic schedule since I last wrote from [Papua New Guinea], hence the delay. The day after I wrote, we regretfully left fascinating P.N.G. and flew over the border in a decrepit DC3 to Indonesian West Irian. Stopped three days in Jayapura after our flight from P.N.G (these names won't mean much to you unless you have a map, I'm afraid). Then another flight to unlovely Jakarta, [South East] Asia's most oppressive city. Had to spend two nights here and were woken with unfailing regularity at 4am by the nearby mosque. Indonesia is predominantly Muslim and the speakers call the faithful to prayer five times a day. They don't give you a chance unless you've had ten pints of Guinness the night before.

We took a trip from Kuching north to Sibu by express boat. Very noisy and fast but effective. From Sibu we went up the dirty, brown Rejang river to Kapit. Stopped several days contemplating which of the many long-houses to visit. Eventually we took a boat up to one of the Iban long-houses. Better known as Sea-Dyaks, the Ibans have a bloodthirsty background and only thirty years ago were still practising headhunters and pirates. We took gifts to the people; mainly cigarettes, booze and sweets unfortunately, as this is apparently appreciated more than anything else.

They were beautifully tattooed. Here, it's an art form, and nothing like the rubbish you see in England where tattooing is very crude in comparison. The men had strange "Beatle haircuts", a fringe at the front and a pigtail at the back. Some had tattoos on their knuckles including the head-man. Each tattooed knuckle represents a head taken in battle and some men had all eight knuckles tattooed. We ate, seated on mats on the bamboo floor, everyone helping themselves from the dishes. Afterwards we were entertained outside on the verandah by four girls playing gongs and drums while some of the children danced individually. Several boys danced as well, slowly and gracefully, but we learned that the men and women never dance together. Baz and I each had to give a short, individual dance greeted by laughs and wild applause. We slept with the head-man and his family in their own room. Rather an eerie feeling sleeping on the floor next to the very old head-man with his tattooed knuckles. As expected, we didn't sleep too well with a pig grunting below, a catfight, a couple of dogfights, and the old people intermittently snoring. After visiting these people, I sometimes wonder who the savages really are, we or they?

We now had a prolonged battle with immigration similar to our previous encounter with immigration in Sabah back in May '74 (which we won). Once again we were officially deported after a near punch-up in one of the offices. The Malaysians will give you two weeks' visa and extending this successfully means having the patience of a saint and the fortitude of a rhinoceros. Unfortunately, we blew our cool. It's a long story, but we ended up having to beat a hasty retreat over the border into Brunei.

We had a flight booked out to Manila. The Philippines are really good. The people are very friendly, especially the girls. With all the Americans here (who are, for a change, very popular) the girls all go for white men in a big way; even for Baz and myself! We stopped at Baguio where fruit is incredibly cheap. However, the BIG news from the Philippines is San Miguel, the Manila-brewed beer. It has to be THE cheapest in the world. A 320cc bottle (just over half a pint) costs a mere 6 pence from the local supermarket! If you want to drink it in a bar or cafe, it's about 8-9 pence. It's strong, and for 50 pence you can get well and truly plastered. Before you rush to your travel agent I'll remind you that the fare is around £500 single! Suggest you scrap plans for the Comrades Marathon and come out here instead where the beer flows like water and the girls are amongst the most beautiful in Asia!

Regards to everyone

Tony