This is the Bamboo Palace at Magick River (completed May 2005): airy, cool veranda, two spacious bedrooms,
bath/toilet downstairs, plus mini-kitchen. Lots of friends have had a great time overnighting here.
Most stay one or two nights; some a whole month or more. Last October, Peter Walker rented a room for 3 weeks
which he turned into a video editing suite - complete with iMac and even WiFi so he could Skype his family back home!
Only problem was the leaky thatched roof - a small miscalculation on the part of Yam Kokok,
my Orang Asli architect/contractor, which resulted in the slope of the roof not being steep enough,
causing rain to sog up the leaves instead of running off swiftly.
To keep his iMac dry Peter placed an umbrella over it every time he went out.
As the leaky roof will soon cause the bamboo flooring to rot, the problem has to be fixed right away.
On New Year's Day 2008 the project to Raise The Roof by at least 4 feet was launched.
Phase One consists of Yam Kokok, his wife, and a few other Aslis going out to gather and weave bertam leaves into roof thatching.
I figure they will need 1,500-2,000 pieces. Every morning I chauffeur them in my van about 3 miles up the road to a spot
where Yam Kokok noticed a large grove of mature bertam palms yielding 12-ft long leaves.
The women pack uncooked rice and tapioca to bake in bamboo tubes and spend the entire day working at their own pace,
weaving the leaves and happily chatting. The process is labor-intensive but the Asli seem to really enjoy
doing things the old-fashioned way - camping out in the forest, gathering and cooking, not rushing to meet any specific deadline,
just doing what has to be done so the Bamboo Palace can have a brand new roof with significantly steeper slopes.
I have set aside RM2,000 (USD585) for the new roof and at least 90% of that goes into paying everybody a daily wage.
Unfortunately, that leaves me with hardly anything to live on over the next couple of months.
Which is why I've initiated this "Raise The Roof!" campaign
to solicit advance bookings for the Bamboo Palace @ RM25 (USD7.50) per person per day
(which includes tea/coffee and broadband access from your hammock!)
Friends from abroad who feel like contributing may regard this as a donation towards keeping
Magick River's transformational portal alive (or you may view it as planting the seed for a future visit!)
If you're a bit financially stressed yourself, goodwill donations from as little as RM10 or USD5 will be gratefully accepted.
If this exercises raises more funds than immediately required, the surplus will be channeled
into the Bamboo Palace Upgrade Plan which should result in a better finished ground floor and bath! :-)
Malaysian friends please deposit directly to MAYBANK SAVINGS ACCT #112-071-252584
(acct. holder Lee Kit Fong) and everybody else can do it via PayPal:
After you've done so, kindly email me the details so I can keep a record against future
Bamboo Palace visits! Thank you so very much :-)
Infinite Rainbow Blessings & Full-Spectrum Love,
Antares
~^@^~
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