Tony travels to Malaysia to fulfill a decade-old promise to return to the Iban longhouse of Entalau deep in the jungles of Borneo. The Iban - one of Malaysia's oldest ethnic groups - once enjoyed a truly formidable reputation as trackers, warriors and ritualistic takers of heads. They were and continue to be wanderers, valuing the bejalai - a tradition where every tribesman must set out from the longhouse of his birth to learn, to bring something back. Each tattoo an Iban gets over the course of his life represents a different experience, a different journey. Ten long years and another life ago, and over many shots of rice whiskey, Tony promised his new Iban friends one day he’d return for Gawai, the annual Rice Harvest Festival. He begins by retracing his steps in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city. Rising up out of steaming, equatorial jungle, KL is a chaotic, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, modern metropolis of Malay, Chinese and Indian. It's the perfect place for a wandering soul, hungry from the long plane ride, to dive right in to the sights, sounds, smells and flavors of South East Asia.
Anthony Bourdain was broadcast on SBS ONE at Tuesday 19 November 2019, 11:35.