Kota Kinabalu, Borneo – Sunday 11th March

Borneo is the world’s third largest island after Australia and Greenland and, we were told, provides 40% of the world’s oxygen – just as well they have stopped the logging industry (in Sabah at least).  There are three countries represented on Borneo - Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.  Kota Kinabalu, (also known as KK) is the capital of Sabah, one of the 14 provinces of Malaysia and about the size of Ireland – it is just north of the equator and has a climate between 22C and 32C and so far has mercifully escaped major flooding and earthquakes. 

The Sabah area was under the control of Brunei, but was ceded to the British and became British North Borneo after James Brook arrived in the 1840s and brought an end to piracy.  At that time the pirates, who lived on their boats and are now transformed into sea gipsies,  used to attack all the ships trading with Brunei and James Brook managed to persuade the local tribes ( head hunters) to put their energies into attacking pirates rather than each other.  The head hunters were later on persuaded to give up their head hunting ways by missionaries – a difficult task because the tradition was that a woman would not marry a young man until he had made at least one kill and had the skull to hang up in his house.  The area is still predominantly Christian  (56%) and attracts Christians from other parts of Malaysia.  During the second world war, the capital (then known as Jesselton) was taken over by the Japanese and it was virtually destroyed by bombing, it was named Kota Kinabalu after the biggest local mountain after Sabah became part of Malaysia when it gained its independence in 1963. 

First View of Borneo

Village of stilt houses on the water

We arrived early in the morning and managed to catch the mountain (hopefully it is Mt. Kinabalu) in the sunrise.  We could also see lots of villages of stilt house gathered on the islands opposite the main port.  There was a lovely welcoming committee of dancers and warriors waiting for us as we came off the ship and we were given a bead necklace each.  We walked into the town, which is not at all picturesque, with concrete malls, lots of small shops and cafes and an indoor market – it is apparently very fast growing as tourism is rapidly developing.  There was also a Sunday market along the street.  However, what it lacked in beauty was made up by very friendly local people – with no hassle from the traders and very good prices in the markets – lower than Kuala Lumpur.  We did a bit of shopping, but the highlight for me was a Cadbury’s chocolate-dipped ice cream  from a Macdonald’s ice-cream stall – haven’t seen those in England!

Kadazan Warriors

In the afternoon we went on a trip to the Monosopiad cultural village which has been built in 1996 by the Kadazan/Dusun tribe in their own village around the (reconstructed) house of the warrior Monosopiad who was famous 300 years ago as a great warrior.  He collected 42 skulls of the champions of other tribes (this apparently involved killing all of the champion’s men first so represents a considerable muder toll).  The skulls are preserved in the rafters of the house, interspersed with dried palm leaves which help to keep the spirits quiet.  

Some of Monosopiad's Skulls

We watched some dancing and music and then had the opportunity to watch traditional crafts – we tasted rice wine and some local food, but drew the line at the big live grubs (actually the locals prefer them barbecued these days!).  We could also have tried using the blow pipes to burst balloons – but I reckoned I would be useless at it.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon and great to see the enthusiasm of the young descendants of Monosopiad to keep the culture alive.

After this brief visit we want to come back, see more of the local islands and the interior  and make the trip to see the indigenous Orangutans and Proboscis Monkeys – probably soon before the area gets further developed and prices go up!

Next stop Hong Kong on 14^th March