People usually spend Christmas Eve with their loved ones in a nice restaurant. Me, I climb mountains and discover human skulls. How’s that for romantic? Not that I’m complaining. Kind of makes my life seem exciting. Maybe discover is not the right word to use. After all, I didn’t dig it up. Anyway…
A few weeks ago around Christmas, I accepted an assignment to accompany a Japanese writer and a photographer to Kundasang, a famous hill resort located in the shadows of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo. They were here to do research and take photos for an article for a Japanese magazine. An entire issue will be dedicated to the World Heritage sites in Malaysia, and Kinabalu Park, being Malaysia’s first UNESCO World Heritage, of course had to be there. The writer was Ms Akiko, a freelance travel writer who has written a lot about Malaysia. I had already met her before about a month back, when we went to the Turtle Islands together, and it was good to see her again. The photographer was Mr Yokotsuka, a famous nature photographer in Japan, and he too has been to Borneo many times, including to some places that I have never been before like Imbak Valley and Maliau Basin. It was an honor to work with them. My job was to facilitate their every need and to liaise with the local people. In other words, I carry their bags.
22nd December 2008 22:20
Met up with Ms Akiko and Mr Yokotsuka at the airport and discovered what it was exactly that I was supposed to do. They wanted to do a story with a different perspective. Instead of the usual Mount Kinabalu travel story, they wanted to go into the villages at the foothill of the mountain and interview the local people to find out what they think about Mount Kinabalu having attained World Heritage status and how it has affected their life. Instead of the usual views of Mount Kinabalu that can be found on post cards and which every Tom, Dick and Jason with a camera has taken, they wanted a unique photo of the mountain. One that has never been captured before, or at least never been published before. And we had 3 days to do so. Sounds like fun.
23rd December 2008 6:30am
We left early this morning as views of the mountain are best in the morning. But the conditions weren’t very good today. The mountain was already covered by the clouds even at this early hour. Stopped for a photo at the bridge across Mengkabong River, one of the most scenic spots in Sabah. Then, we had breakfast before proceeding to Tuaran town for photos at the open-air tamu (market). Akiko had her first taste of the betel nut that is still common among the elderly people here. One and a half hours later, we were at the Kinabalu Park Headquarters. It was too late for photography today, so we changed plans and decided to do the interview first.

Mengkabong River
It was probably best not to just barge into a village and grab the first person we meet. Friendly as the local Dusun people are, they are very shy and might not open up to strangers. We went to the Kinabalu Park Headquarters hoping to find a mountain guide or porter to take us into the village instead. Like the sherpas of Nepal, a mountain guide accompanies people who want to climb up the 4,095m high mountain. A 2-day climb that would leave me with a limp for a week after, it is literally a walk in the park for the mountain guides and porters. I have seen 12-year olds carrying luggage for fit men twice their size and age. Living on the slopes of the mountain has given the Dusun people incredible stamina and power.
It was a bit late by the time we reached the Park, but luckily for us, there was still one mountain guide who has not gone up the mountain yet. Her name was Doina, one of the very few women in this tough job. A 44-year old mother of 4 children aged between 18 and 25, Doina is also one of the best in the business. She has taken part in the Mount Kinabalu Climbathon (a tough 21-km race to the peak of the mountain and back) 7 times! Even better, she lived near Bundu Tuhan, one of the villages closest to the Park Headquarters. She was willing to take us to her house and village. And she offered a bonus as well. She asked us if we wanted to see human skulls. She said that in a matter-of-fact way. The way a woman would ask you if you want to see photos of her grandchildren.
And so we went to Bundu Tuhan. The name of this place evokes fear itself. In Malay, Tuhan translates as God. But that is not the real meaning. The Dusun people have their own language, and Bundu is the name of a kind of tree with fruits, while Tuhan means landslide. The turning to the village is on the right side of the road just before reaching the Kinabalu Park Headquarters. It is a road with lots of uphill and downhill slopes, and the entire valley is just the sort of place that you would imagine a mountain village to be like. The houses are scattered across the valley, with each cluster of houses having their own name. Bundu Tuhan is the biggest village here and is usually used to refer to the entire valley. Doina lived in a place called Gondohon.

Finally, we reached the place where the skulls were located. There were six skulls all together and they were put in a post-box like wooden container in a clearing by the side of the road. In case you didn’t know, the people of Borneo were famous for being headhunters a few centuries ago. You take my head, I take yours. You want to marry me, give me a skull as proof of your bravery. That sort of thing. But according to Doina, the skulls here were not that ancient. She said that they were about 80 years old and that the skulls belonged to the Japanese who had their heads chopped off because they did bad things to the local people. Considering that I was bringing Japanese guests, it was not exactly the sort of thing that you want to tell them. But I have always treated history as history and gave the facts straight. It was not like Doina sprang this on me. She had already told me this from the beginning.


After taking photos of the skulls, we proceeded to Doina’s house where Akiko asked Doina questions about the myths and legends of the mountain. We then went to her neighbour’s house for an interview with an older person to get more stories. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the neighbour’s name. The neighbour was a former mountain guide as well. He didn’t know his exact age because they didn’t have birth certificates when he was born. He could not speak Malay, and Doina had to translate for him. It was strange to meet someone from my own country who can’t speak my language. But these people were born in a time before Malaysia existed.

Doina introduced her daughters to Akiko

Doina's neighbour
I had a headache that night and went to sleep early. I had never experienced such pain before. I was still recovering from a cold, and that could be the cause of the headache. Or it could be the curse of the skulls…
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