Just returned from the local “Monsopiad Cultural Village”- twas ace! We didn’t really know what to expect cause the teachers and students I spoke to about it said there isn’t much to do there but turns out they were severely mistaken. On arrival, we were greeted by women in Kadazan (tribe of Penampang) dress and paid our RM50 entrance fee and headed to a sexy wooden seating area. Twas all tribal and ethnicy. The village was revamped in 1996 to resemble a museum, in memory of a tribal man, Monsopiad, who was a famous Kadazan Head Hunter and lived over 300 years ago. We received a “welcome drink” in a little glass (like a shot glass) made out of bamboo. I didn’t expect it to be alcoholic (being in a Muslim country and all) and was worried it might taste vile so I downed it as fast as poss. Turned out to be oober strong rice wine so there was a bit of spluttering that I successfully concealed. Luckily the place was deserted apart from Aman and I and the staff, who were all dressed up. After our drink, we went to a really nice large, open, wooden hut- with a stage and cushions to sit on. We chatted to the 2 girls that were going to be our guides and one of them told us she was an ex student from DPM and only left the school last year, so she knew the GAP students that were there before us. We then watched 3 cultural dances performed by the Kadazan people on stage and after each one, the girls described the dance and the tribal dress worn. The girls wore special belts made from ancient coins and the men wore dried bamboo leaves at their sides, as well as some funky head gear (you’ll be able to see in my photos). After the first dance, we were joined by 2 men from London, who were filming a documentary thing to promote Malaysia as a destination to visit. They had all of their fancy filming equipment with them so Aman and I were caught on camera throughout the performance. We were asked to join in after each dance so we learnt the Kadazan style dancing then got a go of dancing between the bamboo sticks (which was going really well until they picked up the pace and I nearly got my feet trapped!) Was great fun though. The girls then took us on a tour of the village- it was set up like a museum so artifacts were displayed en route. There was an ancient rock that was supposedly hundreds of years old and brought to the village (from Gaya Island). It contained a sprit, which was to protect the people of the village. Around the rock, there were bamboo sticks with cup shaped bits at the top. The girls said these were to hold the skulls after head hunting and the skulls were hung above the bamboo until the brains etc seeped down and once the skulls had dried out, they were transported to the “House of skulls”. We then continued to the “House of Skulls”. Obviously we removed our shoes (as you do before you enter any room in Malaysia) and had to say the sentence that was written above the door. It was in Kadazan and meant “Sorry to my ancestors” since we were entering someone else’s property without their permission and also to make sure we lost any bad spirits that may enter with us. There weren’t as many skulls inside as I expected. There were about 45 hanging from the roof by dried bamboo along with offerings of food to the spirits made in the latest “ceremony”. There were photographs around the room of the descendants of Monsopiad, who continue to carry on the traditional rituals in the “House of Skulls”- i.e. giving offerings to the spirits. Head Hunting is no longer carried out in East Malaysia but I wouldn’t say the same about Brunei or Indonesian Borneo. We continued to the rice making quarters. We were shown the traditional equipment, which are drawn by with water buffalo to sew the rice paddies. We took it in turns to grind the rice using a traditional mortar- the pestle was huge and very heavy. There were various ways of separating the different parts of the rice. There was a room containing a huge container of rice, made from bamboo. In this room there were 3 little bats hanging from the ceiling and they were soo cute. I don’t know what they were doing awake during the day but it’s the first time I’ve seen bats so close and they really were the cutest. We then headed for the “games” part of the tour. We used the traditional “Slingshot” to fire at targets. The Kadazan tribe obviously use this for hunting and to strike enemies. We also learned to use the funky dart shooter. Like a long piece of bamboo or wood, then you put a poisoned dart inside, aim for the target and blow. Was surprisingly easy to aim that one and fire a long distance. The tribe gets the poison for the darts from frogs, snakes and some poisonous plants. We then used traditional stilts, again made from bamboo. I remembered I used to be amazing at stilts when I was wee- so was highly embarrassing when I couldn’t even take 2 steps on the bamboo ones. The girls then showed us how a type of tree, related to the palm tree is used in loadsa different ways. They showed us how to grind the wood to made saw-dusty stuff, which is then distilled to make some odd fermented thing you can either eat or drink. They then showed us that if you leave the wood for a while, a beastie will lay its eggs in it, which then grown into grubs, which are edible. I thought the girl said “grapes” and she was like- “Oh! Here’s one- wow, it’s really big”. So I was like, “cool, a big grape”, then she pulled out this maahuusive squirming grub- exactly like the ones in “I’m a Celebrity”. Yum. I held it and felt like its innards were constantly convulsing- not too pleasant. They then showed us different ways in which the same tree is used- i.e, the leaves are weaved and used to made panels for the roof. We moved on to see a traditional Kadazan house, where we had a go playing on the gongs and percussion instruments- like their version of a glockenspiel. Then to the suspension bridge, which was ab fab. Took us over the river (‘milo” colour again). Over the river there was a jungle trek available and we saw a water buffalo tied to a tree next to a local’s house. We headed back for a bite to eat then got changed into some traditional Kadazan tribal gear. Was great fun- the girls did our hair and we wore all of the jingly and beaded jewelry- took forever to put it all on. Took loadsa snapshots and the manager of the center took some on his fancy camera as well (he’s gona email me the pics). Finally we headed to the gift shop, where I got a traditional Kadazan beaded bracelet saying “experience” in the Kadazan language (I had ordered it earlier in the day and the staff hand made it for me by then). Also gota funky hand made scarf thing, well more of a banner to put on my wall, saying- “Sabah- Land Below the Wind”, cause that’s what Sabah is always referred too.