With a wide range of shopping malls in Kota Kinabalu, Gaya Street Sunday Market remains a prime destination for locals and tourists-alike.
Gaya Street has transformed into a vibrant marketplace over the years. In the early 1920s, local farmers and fishermen met once a week at Bond Street (former name for Gaya Street) to barter their produces with the immigrant Chinese, Indonesian and Filipino traders.
Today the weekly pedestrian market remains the place for small petty traders and farmers to sell their products to city dwellers. Every Sunday morning, the street is closed off to traffic since 5:30AM until noon.
You can get almost everything under shady trees and over-sized umbrellas. The variety of merchandises on sale is beyond one’s imagination. Items are ranging from pets to souvenirs, herbs, antiques, collectibles, vegetables, fruits and plants.
The fun is when people moving at a snail pace along the narrow stretch of the marketplace. The aroma of Tenom coffee freshly grind fill the air. The local delicacies on sale are taste-tempting. Tired with walking, you can get a foot massage right at the pavement of Gaya Street.
This is the place you get to know the local population when entire families enjoy a Sunday outing!