Kota Belud's Annual Market - the Tamu Besar

Last weekend, a group of us went to the annual Big Market (Tamu Besar) in Kota Belud, a small town about 45 minutes' drive north of Kota Kinabalu. It's great going to the weekly Sunday market at any time - but this Big Market has an even livelier atmosphere and provides the background to the inevitable speeches, cultural performances and the selection of the young woman who represents the spirit of this event.

What caught my eye this time were the wrappings that were being used - such as folded and boiled leaves, some tied together and others fixed with toothpicks. They are all like magical bundles - what lies inside? And they feel so different from any of the wrappings we're used to dealing with. Then there's the golden glow of the batter that covers the freshly fried bananas draining over the wok. What could be more appetising!

I also enjoyed the lovely patterns made by the items on display - such as the drinks on sale with such 'interesting' colours that you even hesitate to try them! The bundles of local cigarette papers are beautifully done, as are the limes and rambutans displayed on the inevitable bit of newspaper in front of the woman selling them. The ikan bilis (or dried anchovies) are another tasty item on sale everywhere - great with cabbage!


The Kota Belud market is used to receiving a lot of visitors, so taking photos is not unusual. There are different reactions to it, of course, with some people preferring not to have their picture taken and others asking you to! The faces are etched with a life that we can hardly imagine and yet the smiles are all somehow the same! The different styles of head coverings are always a source of interest and I particularly like the traditional woven hats that are still worn a lot, although mainly by older women.

The highlight of the Tamu Besar is the display by the Bajau horsemen which is on the Sunday afternoon. The Bajau people form one of the larger groups of indigenous people in Sabah and most are Muslim. They have a tradition of keeping ponies and decorating them in a kind of mediaeval livery on special occasions. This year, to honour the 1 Malaysia theme, everyone who was riding also carried a full-sized flag. It was a wonderful sight! Children were put on the horses for the first time and little boys also tried on the traditional headdress. The horses looked incredible with even their ears covered - and many with a string of bells around their necks that sounded terrific as they moved around. As with the head coverings at the market, the men's headdresses can be done in a variety of ways, but they all look quite regal - even when the wearer gives the 'v' sign or the thumbs up in the picture!
The Tamu Besar was advertised as a two-day event so we decided to stay overnight at the Kota Belud Travelers' Lodge, which was fine. Very nice people working there. Not much happened on the first day, but that gave us time to wander around and try the many snacks that are on sale around the parade ground. The main events are held on the Sunday morning and afternoon. The speeches and cultural dances are held at the market place and then the display by the Bajau horsemen - and the buffalo races! - take place in the parade ground, a central field in the middle of town.

If you have any questions or comments, please send them to us at: jude@astsabah.com or ron@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!

May - Harvest Festival Month in Sabah!

Pest Ka'amatan is the Harvest Festival Month of May which stems from a tradition centred around rice and thanking the gods for a good harvest. This year the celebrations started in Papar, a small town about 40 minutes south of Kota Kinabalu.

The main ethnic group in Papar are the Kadazan. They were dressed in their finery for this day, looking wonderful from top to toe! Both men and women wear basic black velvet that is highlighted with gold buttons and braid. It looks stunning! You can see also that some women have frothy white blouses showing at the neckline and top their dress off with very finely woven hats that have fluffy decorations on top. Their hair is tied up in a scarf under the hat. The men wear a regal-looking headdress made from a square of hand-woven cloth that is rolled and folded into shape.

One of the wonderful aspects of these cultural events in Sabah is that everyone is involved - town folk and village folk, young and old. The children are involved in playing gongs, drums and bamboo flutes, as well as taking part in the dancing. And while it isn't unusual to see mixed groups of men and women playing gongs, this was the first time I had seen an all-woman gong team!

The festivities of the first week continued back in KK with a 'cultural extravaganza' put on by the Sabah Tourism Board (among others). This year the theme was 'Mystical Sabah' and the show was fantastic, involving 600 performers! My camera couldn't possibly do it justice!

But as well as that, there was a handicraft and food showcase where there were fascinating displays and demonstrations of local handicrafts from all over Sabah. The word 'demonstrations' isn't really accurate as these talented men and women were just carrying on with the work that they had brought from home! In the picture above, you can see one of the Papar hats being made from plant fibre. The woman making it is apparently the last one from that area who knows how to do it - but as people in Sabah are very aware of the importance of preserving and handing on their cultural traditions, I am sure that someone else will be learning. The fineness of the weaving in these hats has to be seen to be believed!
The woman on the left is embroidering a head cloth to be worn by a Rungus man. These are wonderful pieces of work as they are double-sided, in this case with yellow on one side and the usual black on the other, and richly worked.

Sitting next to her was a gong-maker from the same area and behind him you can see a completed head scarf.

These are only a few of the incredible artisans you can see in Sabah. On our tours, we go to a variety of Rungus villages north of Kota Kinabalu where there is a 'One Village One Industry' project and you can see these crafts being developed on a daily basis.

More later! If you have any questions or comments, please let us know at: ron@astsabah.com and jude@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!

The Annual Big Market in Kota Belud

In October there is a 'Tamu Besar' or big market in Kota Belud, just a 40-minute drive north of Kota Kinabalu. It runs over two days, instead of the regular half-day Sunday market, and provides a real spectacle, especially on the second day.

Of course, you can't settle down to anything before you've had a drink and a snack and everywhere you go in Sabah, you can find fried bananas and local cakes. Nothing goes so well with a cup of coffee (or a glass of coffee - depends where you get it!). The bananas we had were being fried as we waited and were absolutely delicious - crunchy on the outside and then with that flash of banana in the middle.

And Kota Belud is wonderfully picturesque because it's so traditional. Look at the woman selling tobacco (in the middle of the pictures above). The tobacco is interesting, for one thing, and then her hat is just lovely! There were a lot of women wearing a variety of different hats - but I'm going to save those pictures for another time! We went to the Tamu Besar on both Saturday and Sunday - but Sunday afternoon was the Real Thing. This was when the Bajau horsemen were on display. They are really incredible. A visual feast! There is something so exotic - and somehow mediaeval - about the silk, the colours, the decoration of the horses. Wonderful! This is an event for local people - it's not put on for tourists - and so there are things we still need to learn about it. For example, the 150 or so horsemen did a lot of manoeuvres - concentric rings and that sort of thing - that they had obviously practised. They were directed by two older men and worked around a man who sat on his horse in the middle of the field - perhaps the local chief - who was accompanied by two young boys on their horses - perhaps his sons. As we make friends with people in Kota Belud, we will be able to learn more about this fabulous event - and then let you know!

If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with either of us: ron@astsabah.com and jude@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!