Kiulu Farmstay

Kiulu Farmstay is a community-run homestay in the Kiulu Valley, an hour from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Accommodation is simple: bamboo-built lodges and homestay rooms by the river, most without television, wifi or phone signal. It's best to get stuck in here, rice paddy planting, rice sieving, traditional blowpipe shooting, jungle trekking and swimming in the river, with a local guide on hand.

Run across three villages and developed by Borneo Eco Tours, the farmstay creates local jobs in guiding, cooking and housekeeping rather than through outside investment. Income from every stay goes back into the Kiulu community through MUKEST, the local women's cooperative, which also makes handicrafts sold on site.