I set off on Saturday morning and had a 2 hour drive twisting around and down the Crocker mountain range. I hadn't really remembered just how high we are up here in Ranau. About half way down the mountains the scenery started changing and I saw lots of padi fields; the farmers planting rice;water buffalo and many more traditional wooden houses on stilts. My destination was Keninghau which is a large town on the plain, west of Ranau, and apart from shops there seemed to be little else of note to see. I was however visiting a friend and in the evening we went to the Lantern Festival/ concert at a Chinese Primary school that she works at. It was a huge event and the hall was absolutely packed with parents and families, with the VIP's at the front sitting in sofas! There were lots of events but the highlights for us were the children's Malaysian national costume competition and then the traditional dancing of the Murut tribe which apparently is rarely seen except in tourist areas. There were about 15 men banging gongs while the men and women danced, which included some very quick and nifty footwork jumping over long bamboo poles. It was incredibly well organised and everything worked like clockwork -even the audience were well-behaved!
waoohh!!
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