Kuching, the Cat City

Perhaps the most lasting memory I have of Kuching and the surrounding area is the flamboyance of the sunsets. Every evening you are treated to a nearly fantastical riot of vivid color, the kind of color that in a photograph you'd think had been faked.

Languid afternoons seated under an umbrella in a restaurant watching the rain pour down, the buildings on the opposite shore of the Sepang River nearly lost in a steamy mist, this is a place that is, above all, a visual and sensual experience.

Quick Tips:

Don't shy away from checking out the possibility of staying in 4 and 5 star properties because there are some amazing deals available. First, Sarawak is definitely off the usual tourist trail in SE Asia and second, because the Malaysian Ringgit has been pretty weak for some time. Take advantage of the deals for as long as you can.

When to Go
If you want to go to the nearby national parks, you need to be there in the dry season, so Northern Hemisphere summer would be best. My wife and I were there in January, in the middle of the rainy season, which made those visits impossible. That said, it's cooler, and it's very atmospheric...

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting There
There is only one viable option: you fly. No passenger ferries exist between E. Malaysia and either Peninsular Malaysia or Singapore. To save some money, if you happen to be setting out from Singapore, arrange a ticket on Malaysian Airlines from Johore Bahru, which is just across the causeway. There's a good 30% difference for an essentially identical distance.

Malaysian Airlines
This may sound like I'm in the pay of Malaysian, but this is one of the best airlines I've ever been on! Even on the short 75-minute flight from Johore Bahru, we had a full, hot meal. The service on their 777 from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur was nothing sort of superb, including 17 channels of entertainment and coat hooks on the seat backs in front... not to mention more legroom than you'll ever find on a US carrier in economy.

In Kuching
City buses exist, but they don't seem to be very frequent and they're not air-conditioned, so taxis are a far better choice. And they're no more expensive for most distances than an equivalent bus ticket in Europe or North America would be.

Holiday Inn's properties in this part of the world are much more comfortable than their more pedestrian counterparts in North America. Certainly, the service is far superior, where they provide little amenities like arrival fruit baskets, mints on the pillow, and room service at rates very little higher than in the coffee shop or restaurant.

We found the room light, airy, and spacious with a wonderfully comfortable bed. Linens were immaculate. The mini-bar was well-stocked -- and kept so -- and the bathroom was spotless. No problems with water or electricity, or the telephone, despite the fact that we were in such an off-the-beaten-track location. As for the view, it was stunning, located as the room was on the 9th floor overlooking the Sepang River.

The restaurant was certainly pleasant, but the cooking was a trifle spotty: if you kept to Malaysian, Chinese, or Thai offerings, there was no problem; however, Western food was, to put it charitably, rather uninspired.

As for other services, there is a business center with Internet connection, an outdoor pool, gym, and sauna. They even provide in-room physiotherapy and baby-sitting.

Booking Suggestion:
I would use AsiaTravel.com , where you will get a substantial discount. A quick Internet check revealed direct booking would cost US$92 for a deluxe double, while AsiaTravel's rate is only US$55! That's M$350 vs. M$210. We got it for less than that in 2000, but it's still very reasonable.

The Esplanade, which runs about two kilometers from the Holiday Inn to the Clock Tower opposite Fort Margherita, is one of the loveliest walks I can think of. The mosaic sidewalk is somewhat reminiscent of similar ones in Macao and along Ipanema Beach in Rio. On the other side of the balustrade down below flow the brown waters of the Sepang, which come straight from the rainforest inland. At dusk, as the sun sets in a blaze of color -- and it always does this at this near-Equatorial latitude -- you can stand and watch lights twinkle on in houses in the Malay kampung on the other side of the river as the funny little water taxis with their awning-like roofs all advertising Lipton Tea, ply back and forth with their homeward-bound passengers.

This is Kuching's favorite place to see and be seen. Teenagers and twenty-somethings of both sexes flirt and giggle as they furtively ogle one another -- this is, after all, a predominately Muslim country -- in a manner so innocent and chaste, from the Western point of view, that it all seems rather comic. It's easy to spot the "fast" girls, for they aren't wearing any head-covering. The others, always in two's, three's, or four's, stroll slowly by these "harlots" and flash them looks that seem more haughty than recriminating.

There's usually a handful of tourists around, of course, but they're a pretty sophisticated lot, more traveler than tourist. For all of Kuching's considerable scenic and cultural charms, it is not a "conventional" South East Asian destination. This is no Phuket -- or even Kuantan; it's a delightful little backwater that, despite its 21st century patina of Internet cafes and video arcades, still has more in common with the 19th century Malaya of the White Rajahs than it does with the present.

Most of the big hotels offer "Tribal Dance Evenings", cashing in on Sarawak's primitive, headhunting past. Young Dyaks from several different riverine tribes perform some very exciting -- and certainly athletic -- dance routines to the accompaniment of an ethnic orchestra. Some of the dances entail the use of carved wooden spears and shields and portray both hunting and war-time deeds, some of which appear fairly violent. I'd say the closest thing I've seen to this kind of performance was the show at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north shore of Oahu (Hawaii).

In terms of performance levels, I was quite impressed. These young men and women were both talented as well as enthusiastic. They really appeared to be enjoying themselves, which is often not the case in such milieus. I've seen some appallingly desultory dancing in places like Mexico and India, which was enough to put me off going to such affairs for years. This time, thanks to the encouragement of a Malaysian antique dealer I met in a shop who assured me that it was something I shouldn't miss, I went. In retrospect, I'm very happy I did.

The Sarawak Museum is one of Asia's very best and definitely should not be missed if you're visiting Kuching for any length of time. Divided into eight different sections in eight different buildings in as many locations, the span of the collections is enormous. We only visited the original building, which houses the native Sarawak ethnological collection.

The museum was conceived by Charles Brooke, one of the White Rajahs, and constructed in 1891 and expanded in 1911. We found it offered more than enough to keep us busy for most of the day. Although it definitely has the "feel" of an old museum, the displays were remarkably well-designed. For the most part, the lighting is even sufficient, something I cannot say for others of the same vintage, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo being one that leaps to mind.

In terms of what is on display, under no circumstances should one miss the section devoted to tatooing and clothing. This is fascinating. The tatoo designs illustrated are of an extraordinary richness, rivaled only, I think, by those of the Maori in New Zealand.

Another wonderful section covers basketry and weaving. Although the tribes of riverine Sarawak were decidedly primitive from a Western point of view, their weaving techniques were highly sophisticated. Some of the baskets you see here are truly amazing, both in terms of their physical shape but in regard to the complexity of the design motifs used as well.