Kuching

Kuching is the capital of the state of Sarawak, Malaysia’s biggest states. We were to spend 4 nights in Kuching. We stayed at The Waterfront Hotel which was a nice modern hotel sharing the same building with a large shopping centre complete with two Foodcourts and an amusement arcade. Needless to say where our favourite hangout spot was.

While in Kuching we went to an Orangutan conservation park (the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre) to see those great apes. There was a feeding session and we were lucky enough to see 6 orang-utans amongst which a big male aged 38 and weighing north of 100kg. Seeing this animal sitting next to a park ranger gave a good perspective of how large and powerful they are.

38 yrs old - 100kg+

We also visited the Bako National Park. It takes a taxi and a boatride of about 1.5 h to get to the park. We hired a guide and it was a good idea because we saw many things we would have missed had it not been for him.

Rock formations

The girls walked fine, although I carried Lea for a bit. There was 100% humidity and a soaring 35°C ... needless to say we had our daily exercise already on trail 1.We saw some interesting fauna like a small poisonous viper, wild boars, all kinds of birds and a couple of monitor lizards. What we saw a lot of was monkeys, a macaque even helped himself to one of our sandwich bags and left unceremoniously.

Walking through the dense rainforest

All but one of the beaches in the park are out of bounds for swimming because crocodiles may feed in those waters. All in all it was a rather uneventful day and we retuned home sun-battered and tired.

The day was not over though as we hopped on for a 1.5h river cruise up and down the Sarawak River that runs through Kuching. It was both interesting and relaxing as we ploughed our way on this huge boat. During the second half of the trip we had a show: a cultural dance very similar to our experience in the Sarawak Cultural Village, only less elaborate and shorter.

A river bus across the Sarawak River

We had a great dinner at Le’Pau restaurant which serves traditional Sarawak meals. Roxana’s choice was a hit: Prawn Lepus, with the Lepus being a kind of bamboo shoot having a light version of a ginger flavour. We liked it so much that we went there again the following day.

On our last day in Kuching we took it very easy. After breakfast we headed to the Brooke’s Gallery. Kuching and Sarawak have been ruled for just over a century by 3 generations of Brookes. James Brooke a Royal Navy veteran came to Kuching search of adventure on a private undertaking. Once in Kuching, which at the time was under the rule of the Sultanate of Brunei, James Brooke helped crush a rebellion and was granted complete political and economic control of a part of the Sarawak territory. He was henceforth known as the "White Rajah".

James Brooke, a.k.a. The White Rajah left his mark in Kuching

Three generations of Brookes proceeded to administer the region with great gusto and master strategy. They embraced a lot of the local traditions and even based the court system on the existing one, while banning punishments they deemed barbaric such as amputations. They learnt the local customs and language and formed a government with local chiefs holding ministerial offices.

They used their influence at the court in England to gain favours and secure good business but made sure to maintain a safe distance guaranteeing freedom and avoiding interference. They were patrons of art and promoted education of the locals and championed women empowerment in the 19th and 20th century.

The bottom line is that they are highly regarded and seem to have done good.

Our first month of adventures is drawing to an end and it coincides with us leaving Malaysia. We thoroughly enjoyed travelling across this country with its friendly people, delicious and affordable food, great nature, deep rooted culture and formidable diversity. We say "Selamat Ringgal" (bye bye) to you Malaysia and say thank you in the very elegant Malaysian way: hand on the heart and bowing. 

For more pictures of Kuching