I arrived in Borneo about noon yesterday. The hub for access to Malaysian Borneo is Kota Kinabalu (KK), situated on the north coast. Last night I finally got a chance to meet many of the other specialists in ant biology and ecology around town and in the hotel. I'm not sure how many countries are represented in total but they are from everywhere (US, China, Kirghistan, Finland, Australia, France, Iran etc.). In a couple of hours we will all fly out for Lahad Datu and then drive in trucks into the Danum Conservation Area.If I had written this post earlier yesterday I would have been pretty negative about KK. It is much more rural and economically disadvantaged as compared to Kuala Lumpur. Granted, the city was bombed out of existence twice during the second world war, but still, most buildings are in poor condition. It is extremely humid and hot here(I pulled out my camera a few minutes ago and the lens immediately fogged over, I wiped it off and it fogged over again before I could take a picture) and a walk past the markets, which are everywhere, brings the smell of fish and meat that are sitting out in the sun. Occasionally you also get the extremely nauseating smell of Durian, a fruit found in Borneo that is reported to have an incredibly great taste (I tried some in Kuala Lumpur but it wasn't fresh and the taste pretty much went with the smell). You are not allowed to take it into taxis or into hotels.
Last night I had a better look at KK (despite a driving tropical rain), travelling through the city with some biologists that were familiar with what the city had to offer. At a restaurant we ate in last night, we were able to watch the cooks making noodles. From a square block of dough, they can make perhaps 50 or so meter long noodles with about 6 flicks of their hands. Quite a skill. Granted, I have no idea what half of the things I've been eating actually are, but so far it has been great. You simply don't eat anything not cooked or that you cannot peel.
The photo above is looking north into the South China Sea. There are some islands just offshore that are obvious in the picture, but what you probably cannot see is that along the shore is a massive floating city of boats. In the photo below you see a typical market.
