The Rainforest World Music Festival, 3 of the best days ever

(Katie - 7/31)

If anyone is still checking this blog, hello! And, sorry for the long hiatus. Despite the heading, Michael and I are actually in Kota Kinabalu, the capitol of one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. The city is named after nearby Mount Kinabalu, one of the highest mountains in Southeast Asia. Our original plan was to climb the mountain, but since we discovered that there is a two-month waiting list for that, we're going to an island to snorkel and camp instead. Life can be so rough.

Anyway, since it has been so long since we've updated, I decided to dedicate this blog entry to one of my favorite experiences of the last few months, and really a major highlight of the trip so far: the 3-day music festival in the rainforest near Kuching, Borneo. Hence the incorrect city and entry date information above.

We had planned to go to this festival before we started our trip, we recruited our new friend Sebatian whom we met in Cambodia, and we had even convinced our friend James from back home to come across planet and meet us out here for the event. Needless to say, our expectations were high. It was even better than we anticipated.

The festival brought amazingly talented bands from all over the world together to Sarawak Cultural Village, a venue with stages built right into the edge of the jungle and ancient-style traditional houses for daytime workshops. It was a beautiful setting to see the way people express themselves through music, from preserving dying musical traditions to creating brand-new fusions of styles, from every corner of the globe.

I particularly liked a Malaysian/Indian/Australian band that played all sorts of music, from traditional Malaysian songs to jazz. They were really cool, I bought their CD. Michael's favorite band was a Portuguese traditional/hard rock group. There was also an awesome band from Tanzania that, according to the emcee, had to walk three days to reach the airport to get to the festival. They made all their own instruments out of electrical cords and wires and other found objects, and played with so much unbridled joy and energy it was contagious.

Speaking of contagious, the orgaziners were clearly worried about starting an international H1N1 outbreak and talked about face masks and hand santizer at every opportunity. It added a weird kind of surrealism to the events, especially when they asked everyone in the crowd to wear a mask while they took an audience picture. PR, I guess?

... well THAT defeats the purpose a little, don't you think?

Anyway, we didn't come down with swine/bird/monkey or any other type of flu. Even if we had, it would have been worth it. We met some really incredible people, spent a long weekend in gorgeous surroundings, learned a lot about music, and just crazy amounts of fun dancing barefoot in the mud to exotic music.

written by

katieandmichael on July 12, 2009 from Kuching, Malaysia

from the travel blog: Katie and Michael's Travel Blog

Send a Compliment

It's so great to hear from you! The music festival sounds wonderful--were there any performers there that you had heard of before? And maybe I'm the first to read the latest entry, or at least the first to comment! I sent an Email to your Dad before I even finished reading it, and will let Jenn & Greg know in a few minutes. Love you! --Mom

written by Mary Beth Barron on July 31, 2009

Happy to hear that you and Michael are doing well and having wonderful experiences. Look forward to the pictures - Love Dad

written by Kirk Barron on July 31, 2009

wow. how fun!!! glad to know you guys are doing well. miss you

written by Angie Merriman on July 31, 2009

comment on this...