​​The local government in Pangkalan Bun (the nearest "city") TO Kumai had arranged
a tour to the town as well as a welcome ceremony by local officials and lunch at a
traditional Dayak Indian longhouse
 
We were also treated to a variety of dances

I was asked to say a few words on behalf of the group and thanked them for their hospitality,

their warm welcome and freindship.

We were also taken upriver by local wooden boats that use a very basic single cylinder
deisel engine linked to a long shaft and propellor, no gears,clutch or electrics.
While the indigenous Dayak indians live inland, the Maluys live along the river
building their houses on stilts and their toilets on logs over the river.

The locals use the river for bathing, washing and cooking and we are unsure as to where they think

the human waste from these thunderbox toilets goes to!

As well as local wooden boats there are a number of small, fast, GRP speedboats that are used as

taxis, taking people far inland upriver and into the jungle villages. When we took our river trip

to the Tanjung Puting NP we saw these small speedboats full of people and loaded down with boxes

sacks, pipes and many other things.

 ​