Mari Mari Cultural Village

On our last day we went on a group tour to Mari Mari Cultural Village, about half and hour's drive outside Kota Kinabalu. Lots of minibuses were disgorging their loads of tourists at the front gate. Despite the large numbers of package visits, something not top of my wishlist, the place is a fun and interactive way to see the background to how life was for the main indigenous groups some fifty years ago.

After avoiding being bulldozed by pushy Chinese tour groups, we settled down to enjoy the village. Beside a stream in a leafy valley, half a dozen traditional houses are ranged along a trail.

As we visit each one in turn, we get to see traditional food being prepared, taste samples; appreciate the ingenious use of local bamboo and other woods in construction of buildings and utensils; get to bounce on a quirky wooden dance floor (the dance activity displaced a gecko chasing a spider in the roof so that both fell on my neck in quick succession!); experience headhunter etiquette; and finish off with a musical and dance show with bright costumes and funky musical instruments.