March 2, 2018 – Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu is the gateway to remarkably preserved indigenous cultures on the island of Borneo. During your visit, you’ll get a fascinating glimpse of the island’s traditional ways. Named for the stunning Mt. Kinabalu that rises to jagged heights, Kota Kinabalu is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Today’s modern city was built after Jesselton, as Kota Kinabalu was once known, was destroyed during World War II. One of Malaysia’s first national parks, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of lush and mountainous terrain that hosts orangutans and 4,500 other species of flora and fauna, lies to the west.

As we got off the ship they did have a band and some dancers.

I think I neglected to mention yesterday that these two countries are predominately Muslin, so knees and shoulders must be covered by both men and women. So it is very warm on these tours.

Today we took a tour of the Mari Cultural Village. We got on a tour bus at the port and the village was about 45 minutes away. The Mari Mari Cultural Village is situated amidst a remote forest setting in Kionsom, Inanam; away from the hustling and bustling city. Its surrounding atmosphere may faintly remind you of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Lost World’ in the Sabahan sense.

In the village, we were introduced to various traditional homes of Sabahan ethnic communities—the Bajau, Lundayeh, Murut, Rungus and Dusun—which are built by descendants of the tribes which they represent.

For that split moment, Indiana Jones came to mind as we saw the wooden roped bridge over a stream which led us to the main grounds of the Mari Mari Cultural Village. Since I do not do bridges, here is bridge, Steve on the bridge taking a picture of me and me walking around taking a picture of him. Now things started to look much clearer as a man-made path led us to our first encounter with the local Sabahan Tribes.

A Kadazan-Dusun traditional home was the first of the ethnic tribes along the path. Made entirely using traditional methods, one could walk around and inside exploring this unique home. Seeing the rooms and how they lived with actual ethnic items located around the home. Just so you know, the Kadazan Dusun tribe is the largest of the ethnic groups in Sabah Borneo.

Going in through the front door and exiting through a side door brought us to the live demonstrations of how the Kadazan-Dusun people cooked back in the day. They would use a hollow bamboo the size of a 20 cent coin to blow at the fire while cooking food in larger hollow bamboo tubes. At another section, traditional rice wine or Tapai was made using old methods. A table is available for tasting this potent local drink in little bamboo cups for visitors here. Without hesitation, we each had one.

Next down the path was the amazing Rungus traditional house. Slightly on the longer dimensions, the Rungus who are a sub-group of the Kadazan-Dusun people tend to live in multiple communities under one roof.  A longhouse head would be the leader of each community. 

From a distance, the Rungus Longhouse looks like a semi fort for protection but actually the design is quite similar to the Ibans of Sarawak with exceptions of tradition and a few changes here and there. They are more a craft and musically inclined tribe with lots of communal gatherings among the neighbors.

Here they demonstrated how they were able to create fire without using matches. They use the bark of the bamboo as the starter fuel and rub a stick across the bamboo to get a spark.

Another smaller ethnic tribe called the Lundayeh or Lun Bawang is featured at the cultural village. These tribes people are usually found between the border of Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan and are well known stone carvers and landscape artists numbering to about 10,000. They are also known as Orang Darat (Upper or Hinter Land People) while some refer to these ethnic tribe as Lun Daye.

Simple ethnic home looking like a Malay Kampung house, the Lundayeh build them on stilts. An open kitchen, veranda and rooms are found throughout the house. Livestock like chickens, birds and pigs are kept in hand weaved baskets around the home while they are also hunters and fishermen. Unique thing about the tribe is that the men wear jackets made of tree barks called kuyu talun and you can see some of the examples hung on the house walls. The Lundayah also called their language Buri Lun Bawang or Buri Tau. Here we saw them making the vests and the rope that they use to make their clothing.

The Lundayah tribe are also known as hill people who indulge in farming activities and are excellent landscapers. Just outside the traditional house, a large aligator was created in a mound form on the ground. 

As the second largest ethnic group of Sabah, the Bajau people tend to live closer to the sea areas of Sabah Borneo. There are the Sea Bajau's and also the Land Bajau's while the display here was for the land tribe who are expert horsemen while the women have excellent weaving and needlework skills.

Looking like a wooden bungalow, the Bajau house sits on stilts with a wooden overall architecture. Nipah leaves are used for the roofing and some parts of the walls, while livestock and other necessities are kept under the house. Inside, a traditional Bajau Wedding mock up is demonstrated with various colors of fabrics being used.

The local Bajau people were demonstrating some traditional cooking where air  was blown via a bamboo into the hot flames beneath the pot or wok. Here, a Bajau girl was seen cooking some local cakes, deep frying them for sampling among the visitors. I tried a few of them and must say that they actually taste quite good.

Lastly, we visited the third largest tribe of Sabah which are the Murut or Hill People who were once known as the fierce Headhunters of Sabah who according to spiritual beliefs, a man could only get married after he presented at least one head to the family of the desired girl. A similar style of living like the Rungus, the Murut longhouses are usually built on hilly areas therefore stilts of various lengths are used in construction here. 

Here in the house they dance on a handmade Lansaran, a traditional trampoline-like floor. Above the trampoline are gifts that the warriors must be able to reach to fulfill what I asked. For example, if they want to marry the persons daughter they must jump and get the gift from the roof.

Before entering the Murut part of the village, one person from our group who had been designate the leader had to be questioned by the Murut Chief. We had to walk in a single line up to the entrance of their village and all were scrutinized to make sure we were not bringing in weapons.

After visiting their house, we were given a demonstration of their blow pipes. It is made of a hard wood and is a very long tube, which they put what looks like a flat plate at the end the arrow comes out. The arrow is relatively small, as you will see in these photos.

Lastly, we came across the cultural performance area where ethnic traditional shows are done in the open air. Various tribes got on stage and performed their respective dances for us.