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Published: November 12th 2007
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Sunset on Kurching Waterfront
A lovely place just to chill out on an evening Kuching is symbolised by the Cat and the city makes the most of this with statues of Cats in many of the park areas.
Unfortunately I spent most my time looking at four walls of Alai Backpackers B&B after catching flu and been laid low (cat napping!) for 6 of the 10 days I spent in Kurching. I was looking to have been pointed at Alai Backpackers as a place to stay because from the start I was welcomed like family by Vivian and Tony and so when I fell ill I received plenty of care and so didn't suffer any of the usual horrendous of been ill away from home and having no TLC.
I loved Kuching. The waterfront area was a picture at sunset and as I started to recover and manage to walk short distances the host of little Art and Craft Shops provided a great distraction and only a short walk back when needed. Kurching is very big on its Arts and Craft reputation and definitely the place to pick up a interesting item or two for your home unless you are backpacking and you are already overweight with your luggage for budget airline flights
River Transport in Kurching
Took the local transport across the river to the less touristy side of the river and keep getting hit with excess baggage charges then it is strictly a case of window shopping.
Evenings sees the
waterfront come alive with musicians and at the top end you can even listen to some traditional singing and dancing (though not to everyone’s taste).
One day to a
Taboung to the other side of the river to wander around the living areas and a good way to get away from the more touristy bank. I spent a very pleasant afternoon wandering around the streets here and ended up having lots of conversations which usually revolved around where I was from, how long had I been here etc.
Whilst still not too well I went along with one of the girls who was staying at the B&B who had decided to have a tattoo done whilst in Sarawak in the traditional method - not by machine which sounds painful enough but by tapping a needle with a small hammer. If you think tattoos are a modern thing then check out
Sarawak tribal tattoos - the Headhunter tribes traditionally are covered with tattoos all with significant meaning and placement. Jez a tattoo artist couldn't resist one more (actually
two) in the land of tattoos. It was fascinating to watch but that is as far as it went - I am no warrior and so decided to leave my skin just as it is but I have to say Jez's tattoos looked pretty good even in it took most of a afternoon to decide where to place them. Me I remained as the official photographer.
As I finally recovered enough strength to go further a field I visited the Sarawak Cultural Village to get a glimpse at the Longhouses that Sarawak is famous - slightly lacks the atmosphere of visiting the living and working Longhouses dotted around Sarawak but in light that I would probably not see a real, living breathing longhouse community before I had to leave as it takes time to find someone to take you a longhouse that is not part of the tourist circuit. The Sarawak Cultural Village showed a wide range of the different tribes longhouses and there are demonstrations of the traditional skills by members of the tribes. It was a worthwhile visit and a good way to see a longhouse if you are short on time. And I came back with
Jez preparing for her tattoo
Fascinating to watch the tattoo process and all the decision making involved my head intact - if you wonder about this comment it is because the tribes of Sarawak are the famous Headhunters and in days gone by then there is a chance that your head may have been the price you paid for visiting.
As it happened the very next day I did manage a visit to a
Longhouse Community at the end of a day spent visiting part of Sarawak’s countryside right on the border with Indonesian Borneo when I was invited along with a few people meet in the bar the night before and who were hiring a care for the day along with our friend and guide. Luckily it was a 4-wheel drive as some of the tracks we negotiated were pretty rough but we were shown some of the local plants and food we could eat. We successfully harvested a Tapioca plant after a hot climb up a hill behind a bemused farmer.
The
Tapioca plant and some other goodies from vegetables to fish and chicken were cooked in a traditional method on Bamboo over a smoky fire whilst we bathed in a icy stream to cool off. As part of the experience I helped
prepare the food which did involve preparing some shrimps by de-heading them, as a vegetarian this was a none too pleasant experience and I can safely say that I will be remaining a vegetarian as a result. The resulting meal was surprising delicious but not sure if this was because by this time I was starving - but no honestly it was a very food feast ate on a banana leaf table.
On the way back we diverted by a longhouse - not such good etiquette to drop in unannounced but our guide assured us that it would be alright. We enjoyed 1/2 hour wandering and sitting on the veranda of the longhouse. More and more of the community came out of the accommodations as curious about the visitors as we were about them. I great ice break for me was when I allowed the children to us my big (and somewhat expensive) SLR camera to take pictures of us lot. Well it is only fare - we taking pictures of them (many had not seen a picture of themselves and were incredibly curious). We no common language between us much was sign language and smiles and nods. But
all too soon it was time for us to leave just when we seemed to getting to know each other. We were even given glasses of water. As we left I felt a bit awkward having not got any gifts to give the community but I had not expected to visit the Longhouse. Next time I will ensure I am better prepared.
With one day to go before I left Kurching and having not visit one of the top recommended attraction of
Bako National Park, Fermin and myself decided to make a quick 1 day excursion in hopes of seeing the Proboscis Monkey Troops that live in the region and complete a walk or two.
A 30 min bus ride saw us to the jetty where the boats to the park departed. Going out we managed to share a boat with several others and reduce cost unfortunately our return at 5pm was just the two of us so full price but not going to break the bank.
We only managed one short walk as we quickly realised that the terrain was more difficult than expected and would take too long so we made sure we went the
route to see the Proboscis Monkeys which we did and then went to the beach an hung out there - just chilling until it was time to return. Though the peace and quiet was destroyed by the appearance of a cheeky little monkey which bold as brass walked up and stole my picnic lunch of a packet of biscuits that I left to the side of me as took a photo. Well least somebody had lunch!
A thoroughly lovely last day in Borneo and Malaysia.
The evening was spent having last night drinks in the local bar - avoiding the dreaded Rice Wine that had already cause lead to more than 1 drunken evening as it has a kick to it. My flight the next morning was early and I didn't fancy doing it with a hangover.
So it is goodbye to Borneo and Malaysia and hello to Nepal.
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