Penampang

A Kadazan day out at St Michael's, Monsopiad and Donggongon market

Spend a day in Penampang, next to Kota Kinabalu, on Kadazan culture. Start at St Michael's Church, the second-oldest stone church in Sabah, drive up the Moyog river to Monsopiad Cultural Village, browse Donggongon market at midday, and visit Hongkod Koisaan, the Kadazandusun Cultural Association's centre, in the afternoon.

Midday. Head back down to Donggongon. Its local market is the place to see wild ferns, jungle fruit, river fish and rice from the hill farms. Eat lunch at a local stall.

Afternoon. Stop at Hongkod Koisaan, the Kadazandusun Cultural Association's unity centre, where traditional houses of different groups stand in the grounds. Then visit the Sabah Art Gallery, with more than 3,000 works in a green building shaped like a woven basket.

Evening. Return to Kota Kinabalu for sunset on the waterfront, or stay at a Moyog homestay for a home-cooked Kadazan dinner.

Hinava, tuhau pickle and tapai rice wine

Kadazan cooking leans on sourness, fermentation and very fresh fish. Try hinava, raw fish cured in lime juice with chilli, shallot, ginger and grated bambangan seed, and tuhau, a wild ginger pickle. Tapai rice wine is served from jars, and the food stalls at Hongkod Koisaan are the best place to taste all of them.

Tuhau, a pickle made from the stem of a wild ginger plant, has a sharp, pungent smell that divides visitors but it is served with almost every rice meal. Bambangan, a wild mango, is pickled with salt and its grated seed.

Drinks are central. Tapai is a fermented rice wine served from jars, often through bamboo straws at celebrations, while lihing is a sweeter, stronger rice wine that some families still brew at home. Both appear everywhere during Kaamatan, along with montoku, a distilled rice spirit.

The best places to taste these are the food stalls in the Hongkod Koisaan grounds during May, the Donggongon market and the small kedai kopi of the town. Homestays in the valley often serve pinasakan (river fish braised with sour fruit) and wild ferns. Many Kadazan families are Christian, so pork dishes are common here, unlike in much of Malaysia.

What the 30 and 31 May Kaamatan finale at Hongkod Koisaan involves

Kaamatan, the Kadazandusun harvest festival, ends with the state celebration at Hongkod Koisaan in Penampang on 30 and 31 May, both public holidays in Sabah. Villages hold their own thanksgivings through May, and the headline event of the finale is the Unduk Ngadau pageant, crowned in honour of Huminodun. Arrive by mid-morning.

Kaamatan honours Huminodun, the daughter of the creator Kinoingan, whose sacrifice in Kadazandusun tradition gave people rice. Our Kaamatan Harvest Festival page covers the programme in detail.

The headline event is the Unduk Ngadau pageant, crowned in honour of Huminodun, alongside the Sugandoi singing contest, traditional sports, sumazau dancing and rows of food and rice-wine stalls. Bobohizan, the ritual priestesses, may perform the magavau ceremony to call back the rice spirit, Bambaazon.

Arrive by mid-morning on the final day, carry water and an umbrella for sun or showers, and take Grab, because parking is hard to find. The rest of the year, the drier months from February to April are the easiest time for the Moyog valley and the Crocker foothills, while October to January brings heavy rain. Combine Penampang with Kota Kinabalu or a trip east to Sandakan.