Borneo

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17 to 23rd of January.

Sabah (North Eastern Borneo), and Sarawak (North Western Borneo) are the two largest states in the Malaysian Federation. They also represent approx 1/3 of the area of the island of Borneo. Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the World. The locals call it “the land below the wind”. It is a region that has not been hit by earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, or volcanoes.

This pair of states is fascinating, and is a must see for your bucket list. Especially the Niah Caves located just West of Miri, Sarawak. I’ll describe the caves later.

Sabah, and especially Sarawak are home to HUGE palm plantations. Hundreds of square kilometers. Palm oil, a big export item, is produced from the fruit of the palm tree. It is used for applications ranging from cooking oil to bio diesel.

Early history of Northern Borneo is not well known. There was little if any written history prior to the Europeans coming. The merchant Arabs knew of this land rich in precious stones, gold, oil and spices. Kublai Khan invaded Borneo, and the Chinese had settlements here dating back to the 1300’s. The Portuguese visited in the 1500’s, and then the British in the 17th, and 18th centuries. In the 1880’s, the Chartered Company began exploiting the land of Northern Borneo. The Dutch colonized Indonesia, and hence South Borneo. Oddly enough, there are a large number of Christians here. This legacy dates back to the missions that existed during the colonial period.

Dec 07th 1941, Pearl Harbor is bombed. The next day, the U.S. declare war on Japan and Germany/Italy. During the second World war, the Japanese occupied Sabah and Sarawak from January 1942 till the end of the war in 1945. The Japanese were ruthless, cruel and opportunistic. They invaded Northern Borneo, a British colony, to grab its rubber production, timber, tin and other riches. During their occupation, the Japanese utilized POW’s to build landing strips, some of which are the sites of today’s airports. In 1945, the Japanese forced 1800 Australian and 600 British POW’s to walk through the rainforest barefoot, malnourished, dehydrated, overworked and without medicine. The walk began in Sandakan, and was destined for Ranau. This was called the infamous “Death march”. Out of POW’s that began the walk in January 1945, only 6 had survived by May! During these grueling months, the Allies had begun air raids on Borneo, and the Japanese knew they were losing the war.

Trivia: in 1942, the Americans produced 60,000 planes, 45,000 tanks, and 8,000,000 tons of ships. In 1943, 125,000 planes, 75,000 tanks, and 11M tons of ships. What does this have to do with Borneo…. well nothing.

Kota Kinabalu region, Sabah

Sabah means good morning in Arabic. The land of Sabah likely meant “it is a good place to start a new life”. Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah (North East Borneo). It has a population of approx 300,000 people. Sabah, has a population of about 4M, including about 1M illegal Indonesians and Philippinos. Of the official residents, over 50 % are Islamic or Buddhist, approx 10% are Catholic, 30% are Christian of various denominations. Over 60% of its tourism comes from Malaysia! Also on the list are Singaporeans, Honk Kong Chinese, Taiwanese, Aussies and Europeans. With the World economic slowdown, Sabah had a drop of approx 3% in tourism in 2009. Just a rounding error in my view, seeing as parts of Africa were down over 50%!

90% of Malaysia’s petrol comes from Sabah. It is probably important to mention that Brunei is also located on the North coast of Borneo, sandwiched between Sabah and Sarawak. Exports of rubber and palm oil are also a very important part of Sabah’s export revenues. Imported building materials are expensive here. A decent 1000 sq ft house here would cost about 160,000 Ringgit, or about $50,000 CAD at current exchange rates. For $120,000 CAD, you can have a beautiful single family home, and for $200,000, a mansion. It is important to remember that the basic salary in Borneo is approx 500MR (Ringgit) per month, about $160 CAD, average salary is approx $280 / month, and an executive salary just under $1,000/ month. The cost of living is generally higher than what people earn. Most people need 2 jobs to make ends meet. You need a 20% down payment to be eligible for a mortgage. A liter of gas cost about $0.60 CAD, whereas in Brunei, it costs about $0.20 CAD. Ouch!

There are approx 35 tribes found in Sabah, and 72 sub tribes. Sub tribes consist of metis, or mixed blood natives. The locals used to be called Dayas. In ancient times, most villages were located near rivers. There are a large number of rivers here. The rivers were used for transport, fishing, irrigation and a source of water. Also in the old days, headhunting was practiced here. This was normal in warfare, and allowed tribes to frighten strangers off of their lands. Borneo is also the land of blow pipes. Ah yes, the poison darts shot at a distance of approx 20 m by an expert marksman. We were told they could shoot darts as much as 80m. Hmmm?

Just South of Kota Kinabalu (Kota means city or town, Kinabalu means >>>), one can find Mount Kinabalu, a World Heritage site since 2000. It is 4,095m in height. Tourists like to climb Mount Kinabalu, It is not as difficult as Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Kinabalu is the highest peak between the Himalayas and the Snow Mountains of New Guinea. Most tourists climb the first 1500 m the first day, stay overnight in a hostel, then climb the rest early the next morning, and come back down to the park entrance by the end of the second day. Approx 45,000 climb every year, not everyone to the top. Every year in late October, there is a race from the park entrance to the peak and back down again. The Park entrance is 1563 m in altitude. The Park itself is larger than Singapore. The record for the 2500 m climb, is 2 hours and 37 minutes! The climb takes the climber through 4 climate zones, from lowland, to the summit zone. There is more than one trail to the summit, each offering a different climbing experience.

Not too far from Mount Kinabalu, 40 km, one can visit the “Poring hot springs”. Many people like to bathe in the warm spring waters, but my wife and I are not crazy about soaking in human soup. What is fun is the walk up to the canopy walkway. It is a bit of a climb to get there, but the walkway (narrow suspended bridge) is almost 160m long, and over 40m high. The locals in Sabah are always friendly, and quick with a smile.

Borneo is home to the world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia. The largest found was 1m in diameter. It requires 15 months to bud, but lasts only 7 days in bloom. Parks will post an announcement when a Rafflesia is about to bloom.

Sandakan

Sandakan was the site of a small Suluk village. In 1879, this largely uninhabited jungle and mangrove area boasted one of the most beautiful natural harbors in this part of the World. In 1883, the British North Borneo Chartered Company moved its capital here, spurring a building frenzy. Sandakan was a very important port from where logs and timber were exported. Photos showing Sandakan before the 2cd World war demonstrate that this was a modern, prosperous town. It was flattened during the second World War. In June 1945, the town virtually ceased to exist, and the capital was moved to Kota Kinabalu. Today, Sandakan and the surroundings boast approx a population of 500,000, plus up to 100,000 illegal immigrants. The South Western tip of the Philippines is a mere 40 km away. This week, the U.S. Embassy issued a travel advisory stating that some of the nearby islands where scuba diving is exceptional, were possibly risky for foreign tourists. The Embassy stated, to the Malay Government’s dismay, that criminal and terrorist attacks and or kidnappings were possible. The islands of Mabul and Semporna were identified. WOW, that was very near to where we were staying. NBo such attack has happened in over 10 years, and the local Police are ever vigilant.

The first stop upon arrival was the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary. It is the largest Orang Utan sanctuary in the World. These Pongo Pygmaeus are approximately 96% similar to our human genes. At 10:00am, there is a “feeding” for the Orang Utans. This is the rainy season, and is not the best time to see Orang Utans. Out of the 300 + Orang Utans in the Sanctuary, we only saw one female named Britt. A little disappointing, but this is part of the game when one seeks to observe wild animals in their natural habitat.
Around Sandakan, there are several World class scuba diving destinations. The rainy season is not the best time to come because the water is not as clear as during the dry season. During the rainy season, the rivers dump a large amount of sedimentation into the sea, and this causes the sea to be a little murky. Ballerinas island is an important turtle breeding park. The best dive spots are Lankayan island, Mabul island and Sipadan.

A neat experience was a cruise on the Lower Kinabatangan river. This river is 560 km long, and is said to have the largest concentration of wildlife in Malaysia. Hornbills, rhinos, huge monitor lizards, crocs, and various types of monkeys. One of the funniest to look at is the Proboscis monkey. The males have huge comic strip type noses, and love to hang around on the trees close to the rivers. We had lunch in Abai, a water town that has been located here for pver 130 years. We wish we could have overnighted in an eco “resort” lodge in Sukau. You can go out for afternoon cruises to observe nature, go river fishing, or go out for night cruises. The sightings of nocturnal animals is apparently amazing, not to mention the spectacular show from thousands of fireflies flying around you. Instead, we stayed at the Sepilok Nature Resort overnight, though Sukau would have been better considering we were only in the Sandakan region for 24hrs. We should have been here for several days.

Bottom line, if you like nature, and adventure, you need to come to Sabah for a good week to 10 days if you wish to truly enjoy what this magnificent state has to offer. And, the people are VERY hospitable
Our travel agency, Synergy Tours, did a pretty bad job of our schedule. They sent us from Sandakan out in the extreme East of the island, to Kuching, on the very West of Sarawak, to end up in Miri. This is like flying from Montreal to Toronto via Winnipeg?! Once in Kuching, we were a little surprised to see that we did not have time to visit the city and its surroundings. We made a few executive decisions, and made changes to our itinerary to have the opportunity to discover a little more about Western Sarawak.

Kuching, Sarawak

Kuching is the capital of Sarawak. Sarawak boasts 29 tribes, the largest being the Iban at 39% of total population, and the Chinese at 27%. Kuching is a city straddling a river, with South Kuching being the business centre and old town. North Kuching is residential. The current mayor of South Kuching is YBHG Tuan Haji Mohamed Atei bin Abang Medaan. OK, let’s break that down. YBHG is Yang Ber Bahagia! It is title that means “We wish him happiness”. Tuan means “Sir”, Haji means that Mohamed is a Muslim, and he has visited Mecca for his “at least “ once in his lifetime pilgrimage. Mohamed Atei is his name, bin means “son of”, and Abang Medaan is his father. When his father passes away, the bin Abang Medaan is dropped. Now you know!

45 minutes from downtown Kuching, one can visit the Bako National Park. We did not have the chance to see it. The brochure has this to say:
“The journey takes you past beautiful nipah palms, coconut plantations and mangrove swamps. A unique
feature of Bako is the way nature has delightfully combined spectacular landscape of steep coastline cliffs, weather?eroded rock formations and wave?beaten sea stacks with abundant flora and fauna, wildlife and a thriving mangrove swamp. It is a rare place that should please even the most demanding photographer or wildlife and nature enthusiast.

Bako supports several types of distinct vegetation ? open shrub land and hardy flora at the plateau of the hill range changing to lush and tall rainforest trees and plants and lowland dipterocarp forest on the slopes and finally to casuarinas and mangrove trees along the coast.

It is also home to numerous species of birds, snakes and animals such as the proboscis monkeys, long tailed macaques, wild boars, sambar deers and monitor lizards.

Another must see is the Sarawak Cultural Village. It is approx 45 min from Kuching, and is a collection of families from different tribes living as they do in their native villages.

Kuching boasts a neat viewing platform at the Kuching Civic Centre, where one can see the city. We stayed at the beautiful Pullman hotel, only opened 2 months ago. A visit of the Sarawak museum is well worth the 30 min it takes to walk around. It covers wildlife, culture and art. Some of the tribes that live in the backwoods, live in Long Houses. These houses are built on stilts, are side by side, and can be as long as 200 identical size “houses” long. The houses share a communal balcony covered by a roof, an outer balcony, and the individual dwellings. Communal living at its best. Near some of the tribal villages, it is possible to find sacred “Ceremonial Poles”, called Orang Ulu’s. These poles look similar to North American Totem poles. They were used once upon a time as memorials to a dead former important tribe member. Other poles were used for rituals related to head hunting, farming, hunting and initiations for young men.
The most expensive fish one can buy here costs about $100 CAD per kilo from the fisherman, and much much more in a restaurant. It is called the Empurau fish. Another delicacy of Kuching is the layer cake. They have a multitude of cake layering with plenty of exotic colors and designs. We will download a bunch of photos as soon as we can.

After a much too short a stay in Kuching, we took the one hour flight back East towards Miri. From the airplane window, a striking sight are the vast palm tree plantations. HUNDREDS of square kilometers of neatly aligned palm trees. The palm trees on these plantations produce clusters of fruit (over 100 kg for mature palm trees) from which palm oil is produced. Also, a few minutes before landing at Miri, one sees a huge rocky outcropping a few hundreds of meters high, and several square kilometers in size. As it turns out, this outcropping is the famous site of the Niah caves. Malaysia have been trying to have the Niah caves declared as a UNESCO World heritage site.

Miri

The first oil well in Malaysia was discovered in Miri by Canadian Engineers. The well is now a historical site, on what used to be called Canada hill. The old rig has been reserved and is affectionately called “The Old Lady”. There is a lot to see and do in the Miri region, but unfortunately, we were there for a mere 40 hours.
Niah Caves

The most memorable site for Francine and I were the Niah caves. I had dreamt of visiting the caves for 25 years, since reading a book by the curator of the Sarawak Museum, Mr Tom Harrison on the archeological digs he led at Niah. The story of how Harrison discovered the caves is fascinating, but beyond the scope of this blog. A brochure describing the park describes it as follows:

“The park's main claim to fame is its role as one of the birthplaces of civilization in the region. The oldest modern human remains discovered in Southeast Asia were found at Niah, making the park one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.

Forty thousand years ago, the Niah Great Cave sheltered human life. Here lies the oldest human remains in Southeast Asia, along with many other relics of prehistoric man. Today the Cave is home only to bats, swiftlets and other specially adapted forms of life. However, a few locals still venture into the dark interior to collect guano (bird and bat droppings used as fertilizer) and bird's nest.

The famous Painted Cave is another highlight of the visit to Niah Cave. Here, little human-like figures drawn in red hematite watch over a gravesite where the bodies of the dead were each laid in its own boat-shaped coffin. The Great Cave and Painted Cave have been declared as National Historical Monuments.
The Caves are accessible via a raised plank walk that winds through lowland forest vibrant with birds and butterflies

In 1958, a discovery was made which confirmed Niah's place as a site of major archaeological significance. Harrisson and his team unearthed a skull which was estimated to be 40,000 years old. The find was at first ridiculed by the scientific community, for it was the skull of a modern human (homo sapiens), and it was widely believed that Borneo was settled much later. However, as dating techniques improved and as more evidence of the settlement of Southeast Asia and Australasia came to light, Harrison was proved right.
What is most interesting about Niah, however is the continued human presence over tens of thousands of years and sophistication of societies that gradually developed there. A large burial site further into the mouth of the cave had clearly been used from Paleolithic times right up to the modern era, as late as 1400 Ad. The earliest graves found in the deepest levels, were simple shallow graves without adornment. Yet moving up through the layer, coffins and urns appeared along with grave goods such as pottery, textiles and ornaments and even glass and metal items, which came comparatively late to Borneo.”

The walk from the Park entrance is 3.5km though a thick tropical rainforest. Amazing! The walk to the cave entrance, and the climb into the cave are accessible by people in very good physical condition. Once we reach the main cave, the sight is surreal. The cave entrance is so large, a Boeing 747 would look like a dinky toy inside! Inside the main cave, one can find a house built by Harrisson’s archeological search team. 50 years ago, trekking to the caves, and exploring the caves must have been quite an adventure. Upon arrival at the cave, one can see bamboo and wooden poles/ladders hanging from the roof of the cave more than 60m from the floor. These are placed by guanocollectors who have been earning a living from the cave for many generations. It is estimated that half million swiftlets that live in the cave make their nests from twigs, plants and their own salivary secretions and when the nests are cleaned and cooked they produce the famous Chinese birds nest soup.

From the main cave to the painted cave, is another 2 km of climbing and going down stairs built many years ago, and not always well maintained. The surface of the walkways and stairs is slippery (bat and bird excrement built up over thousands of years), and in some places wet. It is a very difficult trek, and you need a flashlight!

On the way back from the caves, we stopped at a long house village. Fascinating visit. We spent time speaking with the village’s chairman, and visiting this longhouse. It had 46 doors (houses), and was over 200m long! The village also boasts 2 other long houses. The total is over 100 doors. The communal hall was located the length of the house, and in front of each dwelling. The communal hall was the full 220m+ long, by approx 8m wide. Quite a sight! Family and neighbors basically hang out in this communal hall. From the young to the elders. It is customary for the tribe members to wear tattoos. Some are quite intricate. The photos I shot were amazing.

Near Miri, you can also discover a Crocodile Park. These are usually not too interesting, but the park outside of Miri is an exception. Not only can you see hundreds of crocs, some up to 5 m long, but you can buy croc meat as well! They also have an interesting cross-section of indigenous animals such as the Borneo bear, the bearcat, and a non flying bird that resembles a small ostrich. Worth the 30 mn visit. You can even fish tilapia in a pond adjacent to the park. Aquaculture is very popular in Asia.

Well folks, that’s it for Borneo. We weren’t here long enough to truly enjoy this magnificent land. There is so much to see and do. I think we’ll be back!

After Borneo, we visited Penang. I’ll rest from the blog for a week. We’ll report on Viet Nam next.
Ciao

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