Kota Kinabalu hosts a well known Sunday Market each week, when Gaya Street is closed to vehicles and becomes a pedestrian mecca.  We found that among the usual tourist goods there was plenty of food, drink, and other items that were clearly aimed more at locals.  I’ll pretty much leave the photos to tell the story.

Our next stop for the day was the Sabah State Museum.  We discovered that this was actually a very large complex.  We spent a few hours in the main building – we’ll need to return another time to visit the rest (the Science and Technology Centre, the Heritage Village, Ethno-Botanical Garden and the Sabah Islamic Civilization Museum). The Main Building is designed after a traditional Rungus longhouse; inside are the Ethnography, Natural History, Ceramics, Archaeology and History Galleries that showcase the rich and diverse culture and history of Sabah. The Main Building also houses the Marble Hall for temporary exhibitions.  The current temporary exhibition is a tribute to His Excellency the Governor of Sabah.

There was an exhibition on the Bornean rhinoceros.  Sadly this species is now extinct in Malaysia – the last rhino died in November.

Borneo is home to a number of endangered species.  ‘Habitat destruction through deforestation is one of the greatest threats.  I’m quite certain that I’ll be writing more about the animals and the environment in future blog posts.

The museum has an excellent textiles collection, gathering together examples of textiles made and worn by different tribes, along with explanations of how the different textiles are created.  Linangkit embroidery is especially beautiful.  Bamboo weaving is used to produce items that are both functional and decorative.  I’m finding that google isn’t as helpful as I’d like in finding out more about Bornean arts and crafts; however there were some excellent reference books in the comprehensive collection at the Museum shop.

There is also an excellent collection of musical instruments – and we even got the opportunity to have a try at playing some of them!

There was also plenty of information about the headhunters of Borneo.   The headhunters in Borneo were active until approximately one century ago. Various tribes, including Sarawak’s Iban and Sabah’s Murut and Kadazan-Dusun brought fear to the early British colonialists. Victorian Britain nicknamed the land ‘Barbaric Borneo’ which was fitting for the nature of the indigenous tribes. Some collected an enemy warrior’s head to take home as a trophy or as proof of their victory. Others had to murder and bring the skull back to the village for permission to marry. Regardless of the motive, the practice of headhunting in Borneo has both intrigued and instilled fear in outsiders for generations. Visitors can enter the former longhouses and see skulls still dangling from the roofs. Even today, the occasional rural community still looks after a head captured by their ancestors.

One of the upstairs galleries contained an excellent collection of ceramics – or as the girls put it, ‘pots.  Pots in sand.  Big pots.  Smaller pots.  And some plates’.

By early afternoon we were exhausted!  There’s only so much information and activity that you can cram into your brain.  Time for more ice-creams and an afternoon binge watching Anne with an E.  Stella cries at some stage in every episode.  So do I, actually…

We head off on the next stage of our holiday early on Monday morning – a five night private tour arranged through Sticky Rice Travel.  We’ll be in the air at about the same time as this blog post goes live!  I’m not sure what wi-fi access will be like along the way, so may be taking a short blog break while we’re travelling into the jungle.