Blogs from Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 5

This morning, I spent the day on a walking tour of Kuching - the capital of Sarawak- the name is said to have derived from the Malay word for cat, kucing and is known as 'cat city', as a result there are a few cat statues dotted around, but surprisingly very few cats! We set off from the hotel and quickly ended up in a really small alley way which links 2 of the old streets in this area together, half way down the alley we found the Indian Muslim Mosque which is pretty well hidden and was the first in Sarawak, built in 1837. After a few photos, we headed off to Gambier Street with numerous spice and textile shops; the smells from the herbs and spices was amazing as you walked on by. Part ... read more

With a couple of days to go I thought I should get my blog set up ready for the first day. Right now, I'm feeling incredibly excited (and a little nervous) and I still have lots to do before I set off next week. Suppose I'd best start packing! Catch you on the other side...... read more

EXPLORING KUCHING Kuching the capital of Sarawak (population 600,000) is a mixture of old and new - wooden houses on stilts in the Kampung on the north bank of the River Sarawak and high rise offices, malls, hotels and big houses on the south bank. There are new super air conditioned designer malls and small shops, street stores and markets. We visit the museum which gives an overview of Sarawak’s natural history and cultural development. It is interesting to see stuffed specimens of all the creatures I had seen on the rainforest adventure. Sadly artefacts from the Niah Caves are in store due to museum restoration work. I contact a former curator of the museum, and go along to a ‘Friends of the Sarawak Museum’, event about Tom Harrisson who set up the original museum. He ... read more

MIRI TO SIBU & KUCHING (Now safely home - but-Just catching up on my blogs!) These long journeys, as part of our 1000 mile trip from Kotal Kinabalu in Sabah, through Brunei to Kuching in Sarawak, make us appreciate the size, scale and the landscape of the Island of Borneo, the 3rd largest island in the world after Australia and Greenland. Ruth and I catch a local bus from Niah Junction on the road beyond Miri to Sibu. It is very comfortable - just 3 armchair seats across each row. A 5 hour journey with 2 stops. Typical Sarawak scenery - miles of oil palm plantations with occasional purpose built longhouse accommodation for workers and scrappy secondary forest. Little agriculture or industry apart from a few palm oil refineries. The road has few cars but many ... read more

Divided into 3 countries, Borneo is something of a cult tourist hit. It's not so much the urban attractions, although there are obviously cities on this island, but rather the alternative that lures those tourists in. Welcome to the jungle. Borneo's jungle comes in 50 shades of green (there has to be a sequel book in there somewhere) that is clamorous and alive enough to evoke, perhaps falsely, a sense of immortality. We chose Kuching as our landing point partly because the city seemed exotic in its own right and partly because it is on the doorstep of forest that houses 2 tropical rainforest wildlife dignitaries. Borneo is Orangutang and Proboscis Monkey country and we had our eyes on a sitting with both. Turns out Kuching is a charming town with a languid riverside setting and ... read more