Top 20 fun things to enjoy in Kota Kinabalu! (4. Haggle at the Sunday Morning Market)

It’s Sunday morning and we’re in downtown Kota Kinabalu at the Sunday Morning Market. As the name suggests, the tamu (Open market) is open every Sunday from about 6am-1pm in Jalan Gaya (Gaya Street).

The market is a local institution that has been around for as long as anyone can remember and probably started in the early part of the last century when under British rule as North Borneo, Gaya Street was Bond Street in what was then Jesselton.

There are many stalls selling exotic local fruits

Gaya Street Sunday Morning Market - What to buy

There are hundreds of stalls and here’s some ideas of some of the best buys and I’ve tried to restrict suggestions to items produced locally here in Sabah.

Fiona has a stall near to the Jesselton Hotel selling soap made by her family. The main ingredient is coconut oil (from Kudat and Sandakan) and the soap is available in a number of locally sourced ‘flavours’ including honey, seaweed, mugwort, rosemary and coffee. Genuinely home-made it’s a great authentic gift to take home.

You’ll find a number of stalls selling clothes including brightly dyed sarongs that are very comfortable to wear in the tropical heat. Some are produced locally in Sabah but the majority are made in Indonesia.

I must make mention of Mr. Poolohgasingham or ‘The Man Below the Wind’. Of Indian heritage he lives south of Kota Kinabalu in the small coastal town of Papar and is a self-taught Chinese calligrapher. To watch him on his stall practicing his art is to watch a skilled artisan at work. An unusual, personalised and practical gift to take home to family and friends are bookmarks that contain the recipient’s name beautifully and elegantly hand-written in English and Mandarin.

Also recommended are Sabah dry biscuits which are delicious. Many stalls sell any number of exotic local fruits that you should sample and coffee beans and powder grown locally in the small town of Tenom that it is renowned for its coffee are available. If you’re hot and thirsty after all the browsing how about a refreshing freshly pressed juice such as Mango or Sugarcane?

Happy browsing and don’t forget to haggle!

Top Tip for Visitors:

Act like a local and arrive early, say around 8 a.m. to avoid the crowds and the midday heat.

If your tour is in Kota Kinabalu on a Sunday Blue Kinabalu will always try to accommodate a visit to Gaya Street Market.

About Martin

Martin is a British expat living in Kota Kinabalu who arranges tailored tours within Sabah primarily for British and Western tourists on behalf of Blue Kinabalu Travel Agency. Please help spread the word about beautiful Sabah and share this post using the social share buttons below.