My 15 - Cowboys of the East

"You can tell a true cowboy by the type of horse he rides."
- Cowboy Proverb

District Mosque
Kota Belud, Sabah

In Sabah, locals do have what they called as 'Tamu', a gathering of locals especially farmers, fishermans and artists to sell their product among each other and to the outsiders. It's a way for them to gain income. Tamu basically like an open market but it's more vibrant and fascinating compared to night-market in Peninsular.

Each town had their own specialities like Kudat fame for their coconut product, Kota Marudu for their corns and etc. One of the biggest tamu is and always be in Kota Belud, situated about 70km from Kota Kinabalu. The town location is the middle point between Kota Kinabalu to towns in the nothern site (namely Kota Marudu, Kudat and Pitas).

Wan Rusydi infront one of the stall in 'Tamu'

Kota Belud is famous for their anual event - 'Tamu Besar' or big market as what they called. Usually it takes place in October each year. Tamu Besar is not a usual open market. Here you can find swords with good craftmenship, 'gong' (I even been told by my friend that each village has their own gong trademark), and others. You can even bargain for live animals like cow, goat and buffalo. This is the only town in Sabah you can find animals like goat, cow, buffalo, horse and chicken on the road - roaming freely and sometime dangerous to the road-user.

From left : Some Bajaus riding horses during the cultural show; even small children won't miss a chance to ride horse during this time.

In this event also you guys can enjoy the traditional show on what the town famous for - Cowboys of the East. Majority people here are among Bajau that renown for their great skills with horses. Even small children age 3 - 5 years are able to ride horse. So guys - mark your calendar in October each year when you want to join this great event.

Cool Cowboy