One afternoon in Taman Negara I took a boat trip up the main river to "shoot the rapid" and to visit an Orang Asli village. There was a series of seven rapids that we passed through in our motorized boat. I don't have any good photos of the rapids because any time we got in rough water the boat became swamped with water drenching everything. I kept my camera safely put away whenever there was any risk.
Heading up the river.
Rainforest along the river.
Today about 200 Orang Asli who are allowed to live in Taman Negara. Originally, the Orang Asli were nomadic, moving around the park gathering natural resources, relying solely on the forest to meet all of their needs. Today they live in small established villages. I think that they try to put their villages close to the tourist areas because visits by tourists have become a source of income. In addition, they make some income by harvesting timber and by selling good to tourists. They use this money to buy supplies, such as rice, from nearby stores so they no longer live exclusively off of forest products.
The Orang Asli we visited in the park are members of the Batek tribe. We were fortunate that our small tour group, only three people, was led by a guide who came from that village so he was able to tell us a lot about their lives. These villages receive a lot of visitors so many of the villagers moved into their huts when we arrived. I can imagine that they get tired of being gawked at all day. Although I did not want to be a "gawker", I was fascinated by seeing their very basic (read "primitive") living conditions. I am sure that none of these children ever had, or ever will, see the inside of a school room. Malaysia's goal is to achieve "high income nation status" by 2020 and the Batek are still living in grass huts! Seems like a long way left to go. I think that many Orang Asli are finding the rapid transition from the rainforest to modern society to be quite difficult. There was a very young girl carrying her baby around. I wonder what that kid's life will be like?
When we first arrived some of the villagers were still out and about...
but many moved inside to get out of sight.
I guess that plastic tarps are a big advance over thatched roofs in a rainforest.
This little girl was the only person who would let me take their photo.
The day after we visited the Orang Asli village we saw a group from the village in Kuala Tahan picking up supplies.
Heading home.
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