Gawai Special Package in Sarawak

Sarawak Gawai Travel Packages

A Gawai Special Package in Sarawak was launched on the 18h of May 2012 for the locals and foreigners who wish to have this one of a kind experience.

Before I begin, many may ask, what is Gawai? Gawai is the local Harvest Festival celebrated throughout the entire month of June, where the official Gawai Dayak Day starts on the 1st of June.

Marked as the thanksgiving day for a good harvest where local Dayaks plan for the upcoming farming season. A Gawai is also a very merry occasion that is celebrated for days and weeks around various areas.

Gawai Packages in Sarawak

The Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong, Kuching, is now offering a unique experience for guests to learn, participate and experience in many of the cultural activities of the ethnic people of Sarawak here.

Themed as the 'Gawai Special Package' guest can stay overnight at the village to fully be hands-on on the daily life of the people. Please click on the pictures to see the full-size photo.

Sarawak Bidayuh House
The new Bidayuh Longhouse and Baruk

The Gawai Special Package starts on the day you arrive, where you will participate and witness the setting up of the 'Pun Ranyal' or Tree of Fortune.

Next, a 'Miring' or welcoming ceremony will be conducted with a 'Lemambang', a poem chanter by the village headman.

It concludes with a toast of 'Ai Pengayu' or long life toast with local rice wine at the Bidayuh Longhouse.

Miring Ceremony conducted by the village chief

Left - Iban warrior doing the Ngajat Lesong Dance, Right - Bidayuh woman in traditional costume.

A Melanau girl doing the traditional dance at the Sarawak Cultural Village show

Once you have settled into your room at the Bidayuh Longhouse, you will have several other activities, including a Penan Jungle Trek, where it takes you around the foot of Mount Santubong.

This is a basic trek that takes about an hour, led by trained guides. At this trek, you will most likely see flora and fauna related to the rainforest here. Pitcher plants, insects, birds, and some larger animals that reside around here if you are lucky. 

Right after the trekking, you will proceed to the theatre to catch the amazing cultural show where performers from four ethnic groups will showcase their culture via dances and performances. This is one of the shows that you should not miss at the Sarawak Cultural Village.

The first day ends with a series of hands-on cooking activities where you learn how to make Ayam Pansoh (Pansoh Chicken) and Midin (Fern Vegetable), where it is cooked in bamboo over the fire.

A 'Makan Bergulai' or Iban style dinner is also experienced while it ends with a 'Ngiling Tikai', a ceremony where you roll the mat and call it a day.

Orang Ulu Longhouse

The following day, a traditional 'Mirup Lekadchang' breakfast is conducted at the traditional Orang Ulu Longhouse, where you get to experience how these tribesmen had their morning meal before going out into the jungles.

After breakfast, a general tour of the village is conducted, where you will visit each of the tribe longhouses here.

 Orang Ulu playing the Sape

Baruk house of the Bidayuh Warriors

Melanau Longhouse
 
 Iban Longhouse

Gawai Special Package Price

Overall, this experience is available in three packages. The main package is a 2D/1N experience at RM399 per person. The package does not include air flights or transfers from the airport.

Only the stay and all activities at the Sarawak Cultural Village. The itinerary will be:

Day 1
01.00PM - Check-in and briefing
01.30PM - Miring, Lemambang and Ngirup Ai Pengayu ceremonies
02.00PM - Jungle Trekking at the foot of Mount Santubong
04.00PM - Cultural Show at SCV
05.00PM - Berapi Kitai - Cooking Iban Style
07.00PM - Makai Bergulai- Iban style dinner
08.00PM - Arts appreciation with music and dance lesson
10.00PM - Ngiling Tikai - End of Gawai
11.00PM - Supper

Day 2
08.00AM - Mirup Lekadchang breakfast Orang Ulu style
09.00AM - Cultural Village Tour
11.00AM - Ngadu Penganan - Iban traditional cooking lesson
12.30PM - Ende Nenek Kayuh Na'an - Bidayuh style mother's cooking
01.00PM - Check out of SCV

Sarawakian kids dressed in various tribe attire

  Left - Bang Kedibang Bulem, Right - Gawai Special Package poster

One of the highlights that we experienced was singing some traditional Bidayuh songs. A well-known song called Bang Kedibang Bulem about a mother going for harvest and asking her eldest daughter to look after her younger sister.

The music was simple with traditional gongs and leather drums and done at the Rumah Baruk or Baruk House in the village.


For my accommodation, it was fairly decent. After all, it was a longhouse style stay, so there were multiple rooms where some units had air conditioning while other options were with a fan.

The air condition rooms had an attached bathroom, while the others had a common bathroom. They are clean and well maintained.

The rooms are all located in the Bidayuh Longhouse, built on a hill slope in the village. We had our dinner at the verandah of the longhouse on low tables with cushions as chairs. 

Rooms inside the Bidayuh Longhouse
The Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching is spread over a 17-acre site and is the only 'Living Museum' in Southeast Asia and an award-winning tourist attraction.

Since 1989, they combine history, tradition, architecture, and lifestyle to give the guest a full multicultural ethnic experience in one place.

Conclusion

You can also read about my other articles on each of the ethnic tribes around Sarawak, namely the Iban People, Penan Tribe, Bidayuh People, Melanau peopleand the Orang Ulu people.

If you are visiting Kuching in Sarawak in May and June and would like to experience this one-of-a-kind stay, you can contact Sarawak Borneo Tours as they are the official website that handles the bookings for the Gawai Special Package in Sarawak.

Malaysia Asia

Blogging since 2007, but writing online since 1997. I belong to the 1st generation of worldwide bloggers, which is of course old-school. Since 2008, I created Malaysia Asia and this travel, flood, gadget and lifestyle blog has won numerous physical awards from tourism boards around Malaysia. (Not those online awards). After 12 years of blogging, I have semi-retired and now blog about things I like, do product reviews and enjoy life. My work has been featured in Lonely Planet, CNN Travel, Yahoo Travel, Wall Street Journal, and many other international publications. Find out more about me and thank you.

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