3 1.3: The Settlemen

As I trudged on the path; the vast pond or should I call it a natural reservoir on my left and rows and rows of coconut trees on the right slowly being replaced by other fruit-bearing trees such as jackfruit, mangoes and other trees that I cannot make out their types at all. Numerous birds were either flocking around or flying with their companions in the clear blue sky casually with the indications that no predator or human had disturbed their dwelling. Birds of different species of such like pigeons, mynahs, and parrots are only known to me while a wide variety of avian are still ignorant as they are not of much interest to me in the first place.

Looking at the plantation on my right, I strongly felt that humans on this era had painstakingly planted them in a very uniform manner and rows that stood as if they were soldiers in a parade. Their green lush at times was unable to hide the still unripe and recognizable fruits hanging heavy on the tiny branches. Strangely enough, I did not find any ripe or rotten fruits on the ground; its as if there are people who nurtured these trees and maintained them with utmost care.

The sun in the sky had risen to a nearly vertical position that indicates one thing; noon is coming. As I continue to trudge on towards the "civilization", the reservoir on my left had passed by and now the path on my left was replaced by various trees thus provide a cooling shade with its umbrella-like foliage above. The path snaked to the right slightly and now I saw fences made with bamboo with the thickness of a man's forearm and at the height of roughly 1 meter.

"There should be people around here by the look of the fences around the path." I thought to myself. I trudged on and the closer I get to the source of the trailing smoke in the sky the faster I trudged on. The sight before me widened slowly until I reached a clearing and at the end of the clearing I see CIVILIZATION! I felt so thankful that my knees nearly give way and made me want to sink to the ground. As far as my eyes can see, the sight of neatly lined rows of wooden houses on stilts gave me a sensation that I had traveled back into the past. Not just the nearby past but WAY PAST a few centuries.

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The house's walls were made from thick bamboo poles that were sliced into half and entwined and crisscrossed with one another to make a sturdy wall without any wire or screws to bind them except for a horizontal piece in the middle to hold them together. The architectural design of the houses was simple and it's very well ventilated on hot summer days and nights.

Every single house was built on a half meter stilts above the ground, indicates to prevent water damage due to floods as well as storage of knick-knacks underneath the houses. I saw a few rattan woven baskets meant to carry groceries as well as cone-shaped rattan is woven baskets to hold chicken inside it.

A 3 steps flight of wooden yet sturdy staircase was built from the ground that leads to the main door of the house.

A brown earthen huge human-sized claypot was placed near the foot of the staircase either to store drinking water or as a means to wash one's feet before entering the house.

Beside every house, there were at least 4 poles than that stuck to the ground and 2 horizontal lines were stretched in between with a few laundries hanged on to it; lightly flapping in the wind. Also, I saw a few dried fish being hung in that manner.

The thatched roofs on the houses were very simple indeed. Made entirely by woven coconut leaves, it was a very good waterproof kind of shelter even though it may seem to be highly combustible in case of mischief. Other than that, the maintenance of the structures was very simple, non-time consuming and very practical at that time.

In the middle of the courtyard, I saw several women clad only by a wrapping cloth over their bodies while leaving the shoulders and part of their legs to be exposed to the sun and environment. The wrap cloths were made of vibrant colors thus making a stark contrast with its rather primitive surroundings. There were 3 women wielding a long wooden stick and were thumping away on a large, deep and hollow earthen mortar on the ground; presumably, they were crushing grains or ingredients with it. Totally there were about 5 groups of women currently at work encircling a huge stack of firewood meant for a bonfire during the night.