Annah Rais Longhouse is located at about 60km away from Kuching City, Sarawak, or better known as Borneo Island in the western world. It is a large & old Bidayuh Tribe's Longhouse that houses over 80 families. Majority of the villager there are still live in a traditional way of longhouse's living. They plant paddy, cocoa, pepper, rubber & etc. for living.

Annah Rais longhouse in Sarawak has a written history of 175 years old (over 500 years old of unwritten history, which counting to approximately 8 generations old) to date. Many tourists from all over the world come to visit Annah Rais Longhouse everyday, & they just fascinated with the traditional way of living here.

Tucked away at the foothills of legendary Mount Santubong, 35 km from Kuching is Sarawak's fascinating cultural showcase, the award winning "Sarawak Cultural Village" which is also the venue for the World Harvest Festival and the Rainforest World Music Festival, an internationally renowned festival.

This living museum is wholly owned by the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) depicts the heritage of the major racial groups in Sarawak and conveniently portrays their respective lifestyle amidst 14 acres of tropical vegetation.

Here, it is possible to see Sarawak's ethnic diversity at a glance. The handicraft is both bewildering and tempting, including the Kain Songket (Malay cloth with gold inlay), Pua Kumbu (Iban housewives textiles), Melanau Terendak (sunhat), Bidayuh tambok (basket), Iban parang (swords), Orang Ulu wood carving and Chinese ceramics.

The 45-minute cultural performance of songs, dances and entertainment is something you will not want to miss during your visit to Sarawak.

A great tour option from Kuching is an overnight stay at Serubah Longhouse, home to Iban people. The best way to get there is to travel by bus to Lemanak Jetty and then board a longboa for a one hour trip down the Lemanak River before arriving at the doorstep of the longhouse. The trip down the river takes you through some peaceful, picturesque countryside.

After an amazing boat ride passing lush vegetation along the Lemanak River, the Serubah Longhouse comes into view. And its not hard to understand why it is called a longhouse. The communal gallery stretches for 100 metres. Off the gallery are the private quarters where families eat and sleep. Initially the gallery appears bare until we see hessian bags hanging from pillars outside the living quarters. But it is what is in the hessian bags that surprises - human skulls. While headhunting has now ceased, the skulls are kept as traditonal reminders of the past.

Perhaps the highlight of a visit to Serubah Longhouse is the evening cultural performance. Welcomed with glasses of a highly potent alcoholic drink by the head of the household, one will be treated to traditional dancing and singing by the Iban inhabitants of the longhouse

Menyang Tais is a contemporary, living, Iban Longhouse located on the Ulu Ai River, a 4.5 hour drive and 40 minute boat journey from Kuching (Kucing) the capital of Sarawak.

At Menyang Tais, the natural rythms of life continue much as they always have for the Iban tribe, living along the river banks deep into the forested interior of Borneo, but have adjusted to the modern era. This is not a museum piece artificially maintained in a foregone era for the amusement of tourists.  This is how Iban people really live in the 21st century... but you are still welcome to visit and share a genuine experience.

The longhouse roof is now made from corrugated zinc, not atap, and electricity is provided by generators.  Many of the fishermen's boats have outboard motors, and television aerials can be seen towering over the roof on high poles.

A visit to Menyang Tais is an oportunity to have genuine encounter with Iban folk, to go fishing weith them, collecting fruit from the forest, and generally mucking in with the daily chores of the Iban people. In the evenings you can share locally produced "tuak" and participatre in the communal entertainment: dance, music and banter

The Iban, the largest of the 22 tribal groups in Sarawak, are originally from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). They began emigrating to present day Sarawak 3 to 4 centuries ago. The Ibans, whose name was synonymous with headhunting in the old days, were highly successful in their military prowess, dominating all the other tribes in Sarawak.

Culturally, the Iban are one of the most vibrant ethnic groups. Their superb woven textiles of which are intimately tied to their headhunting rituals, rank in artistry and technique with the finest Persian carpets. The rural communities still practise the ancient form of swidden, or slash and burn, agriculture and are intimately connected with the land.

As you would expect, a visit to an Iban longhouse has become a key component  for tourists to Sarawak, and some of the longhouses on the Skrang and Lemenak Rivers have come to resemble a human zoo with tourists flocking by the boat load visit longhouses unnaturally preserved for the tourist camera.  This is not where we go.

In contrast, the Nanga Sumpa longhouse is a living example of an Iban community who have embraced a form of respectful, low volume, tourism where visitors meet the local Iban on equal terms and the local people are free to blend their traditional way of life with the benefits of contemporary living.