Where are the headhunters?

I don't know what we were thinking. Even though we knew better, I think Peter and I were both expecting to land on a mud runway in the jungle when we arrived in Borneo. We were startled and impressed with Kota Kinabalu, a shiny organized city with new cars and sensible traffic (though they do drive on the wrong side of the road). And even though we felt like trailblazers, it turns out we are not the only white faces with backpacks tromping around Malaysia. There is a good hostel scene here and our ten dollar a night room comes with breakfast and full use of an extensive library. We had an exceptional dinner at an Indian café as soon as we got into town and with a belly full of dhal and okra we decided that so far Borneo is fantastic. We did get off to a rather rough start the morning we left when our discount airline lost our reservation to Manila. We were able to buy another ticket for later in the day, but that caused for some panic when we got to Manila because our discount airline to Malaysia left from Clark airfield, approximately 1.5 to 4 hours away from the city. A very expensive cab ride assured that we made our flight and we left the Philippines under the watchful smoky eye of a clearly decapitated Mt. Pinatubo.

Sabah has a fascinating mix of cultures and we are still trying to figure out how things can be so different while we are still so close to the Philippines (closest points between the two are only 20 miles apart). But while the Philippines has the guilty reign of Catholicism and the simple laid back lives of the poor, Muslim Malaysia is surprisingly rich, somewhat decadent, and decidedly more subdued. Spices, rubber, oil, and hardwood timber have assured Borneo a solid place in trading society for something close to a thousand years and the money still seems to be flowing into this island where somehow there still are rather large chunks of untouched land. Add Muslim Indians, Filipino pirates, and savvy Chinese merchants to the fascinating cultural mix of the native populations and you can see why Malaysian Borneo is a truly unique destination. We are enjoying the ride so far, but soon we will leave Kota Kinabalu with its comforting familiars (Rolls Royce, Idaho potatoes, etc.) and surprising treats and commence our explorations of wilder places.