プライベートツアーカンプン・ギプシ・サバ州文化村コタキナバル

Wow - this was beyond my expectations. This is not a touristy tour - this is a chance to see into the daily lives of the water village communities. Our guide Faiez was excellent, he clearly knows many of the village elders and is well respected there. He answered all my questions thoughtfully and helped us understand the different ethnic groups and challenges they face. It was good to visit two seperate types of villages - one that has access to education and government support eg health services vs the village where most people are stateless and can’t access support. It was a stark contrast. My daughter and I took away many learnings and lessons from this tour. Practical things to note - in the second village you need to be comfortable walking on very haphazard pathways. We found it part of the experience but wouldn’t be suitable for those unsteady on their feet or for those with very young children. Also we didn’t do the dress up - but this wasn’t important for us and I definitely preferred more time in the villages. I would love to take some sports equipment with me if I went back again eg balls for the kids. I have already recommended this tour to a number of other families as it is one that will leave a lasting memory.

We booked this trip (at 4pm for about 1.5 hours) & Faiez took us out to three stilt villages: Palau Gaya - formal Malay Village Sea Gypsies - informal individual houses Pondo Palau Gaya - the displaced (mostly Philippino) people's village Faiez was super helpful, friendly & informative and the tour was really interesting. The Malay village is pretty well organised and they have the most fantastic flower displays, made from waste water bottles (apparently there is a prize for the best decorated house / area). People were friendly & welcoming & and we got to walk around much of the village. The other 2 villages are highly informal and as, stateless people, much less organised, with few (if any) services provided by the government. All of the people were friendly & welcoming, but please understand that this is proper developing world tourism. If you are easily offended by facing the reality of people living in poverty (like a previous reviewer!), which is the case for millions of poor people living in developing countries, then this is not the tour for you. However, it is important that privileged rich travellers understand the reality of life for many poorer people around the world, generally through no fault of their own. I would highly recommend this tour, it was professional, informative, interesting & very enjoyable.

+4

Was such a great experience. Very respectful and learnt so much.

A truly wonderful tour and a fantastic experience for our whole family! Our guide was extremely friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. He explained a lot about life in the fishing village, the local culture, and the people, giving us a very authentic insight into everyday life there. Our guide took plenty of time for us and even took some great family photos along the way. We were also offered fresh fruit and drinks, which was a really nice touch. We felt very welcome and comfortable throughout the entire tour. It was interesting, personal, and a great way to experience a different side of Kota Kinabalu. A memorable family experience that we would definitely recommend. Five stars from us!

I got to visit the malay gipsi and philipines gipsi villages, see the differences and learn a lot about them. Faiez was an amazing guide and his friend was a really good photographer! They made me feel save throughout the whole tour as a woman solo traveler and answered all questions I had and beyond! He even went with me to the handicraft and durian market after the tour!

This tour is the best of the best. Very eye opening. Thankyou Nat n Faiz for the experience . Thankyou for the pictures too.

So organized and trustworthy, thank you so much for this tour, i enjoy so much and felt so much joy, professional and friendly people, of course will book again with this great company Had a wonderful experience with them Thank you so much

Jay was amazing and very knowledgeable. He allowed us to engage with the locals respectfully and was kind. The school group (12 total on Jay’s boat) were all thankful for being able to see the communities living on the water.

We had a lovely experience on this tour! Our guide knows a lot about Sabah, the Bajou people and their lifestyles, so we got a very interesting little sneak peek into this truly unique culture. Communication with our guide and organizing overall was really smooth, he made sure we were comfortable and in-the-know throughout the whole day. 10/10 would recommend.

What an amazing tour and the way how to explore the local community and see the real life of those people living on the water. Victor as our tour guide was amazing, he explained us a lot and he was doing his job really well! I would 100% recommend this tour. Despite it was only 1 hour, we have seen 3 villages and were able to watch the local life.

+1