Cat City

Kuching, the capital of the state of Sarawak, is also known as the city of cats. Kuching is the Malay word for cat although there is also speculation that it could be from the Chinese 'gu chin' which means harbour, or even 'mata kuching', the name of a fruit meaning cat's eye. Whatever the origin, it is a lovely city dotted with with cat statues and sculptures, and even a cat museum. It has a cultural mix of native Iban, Malay, Chinese and Indian, making for a very colourful and interesting city.

Local handicrafts abound and there are plenty of antique and souvenir shops to browse. There is also a good choice of food from Chinese, Indian and local Kuching styles to enjoy. Then there is the historic architecture to be seen from that built during the time of the Brooke sultanate to Chinese shophouses most of which have been or are undergoing renovation.

One of the many cat statues

Close by the city on the other side of the river is the istana (sultan's palace) and Fort Margherita. The fort is a small white-painted complex built by Charles Brooke in 1879 to protect against pirates and worth catching a local ferry boat across to have a look. Standing behind the fort is the new State Legislative Assembly (DUN), locally dubbed the 'lemon squeezer'.

Fort Margherita with the 'Lemon Squeezer'

It is about 30km by road from the anchorage at Santubong, so we hired a car to drive in on Tuesday and to stay the night. We were celebrating Chris's birthday on Tuesday and our 40th wedding anniversary which would fall on the following Sunday. After a day spent doing check-in formalities and haunting some of the antique shops along Main Bazaar, we hired a local boatman to take us up the river and back again while we enjoyed a nice bottle of red wine before heading off for dinner at a local restaurant. It was a lovely evening, made cool and clear by a thunderstorm that had come through the city a little earlier.

Into the sunset

Wednesday morning was spent doing a bit more browsing before the more mundane task of grocery shopping before driving back to Santubong. We would be back though as there is still so much more to see in Kuching.

To see more pictures of Kuching click here.