Full Circle
Day 110: Nanga Sumpa, Sarawak

One hour later. Have just returned from an instructive, enjoyable, possibly unforgettable walk up the hill with Emong. He showed me the profusion of plants and trees in the forest and how almost every human need can be supplied if you know what to look for. There is a seven-candlestick flower whose leaf cures ringworm, a leaf called petai, which when ground up and taken cleanses the kidney, the ilbepi tree which produces a valuable emulsifying agent being gathered by a German cosmetic company and another tree, the pendok, a thin strip of whose bark is strong enough to carry a weight of fifty kilograms. At the top of the hill we came across a small burial area. A few Heineken bottles, a can of Coke and some dusty jam jars lay around cracked and crumbling graves. When I ask Emong why such a sacred place is so badly looked after, he tells me that the mess is deliberate. The Iban believe that a well-tended graveyard means you are happy that the people in it are dead.
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PALIN'S GUIDES
- Series: Full Circle
- Day: 110
- Country/sea: Malaysia
- Place: Nanga Sumpa
- Book page no: 157
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