Kuching folks and features
This is an interesting view from our hotel; the round domes belong to the Sikh temple (Gurdwara) in front of the old pink city mosque (onion domes). This is a view towards the Sarawak River that run through the city.
This is the south side of the river, so it has the Indian and the Chinese populations (see previous post for politics in Kuching and the dual Chinese and muslim governments). Where there are Chinese, there’s a Chinatown:
Nearby there’s also the old market, the open-air, fan-cooled Chinese hawker stalls, where the air is hot but the food is local, delicious, and cheap. We ate Sarawak Laksa there as often as possible. Rice vermicelli, lots of black Sarawak pepper, lime, coconut milk, shrimp and chicken. Bliss, and for 3 ringit a bowl, such a deal – about 1 US dollar for lunch. And this is the main place in this muslim country where you can get char-shu bao, BBQ pork buns. But unlike Singapore, we saw nary a sign for pig organ soup. (Just as well.)
Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, and this is the state parliament building:
Pretty cool, and it looks even better at night:
Very pretty, but we never saw anyone go in or out in our four days in the city. Considering the shennanigans of the U.S. Congress when in session, that could be a good thing.
The river is the most important feature of Kuching. If you want to go to Parliament, or to the muslim part of town you hop into a sampan, a water taxi, and for 50 sens (half a ringit) you pop across the river:
But the south side was enough for us, between the restaurants and the riverside walk. Here are the crocodilian canons in front of the old fort:
In the evenings they shoot water into the river – and provide the only play structure to be found in the city.
Night is the most spectacular time on the river. Here is the Astana, the governor’s official dwelling. The governor has lived there for forty years and shows no signs of budging. Can’t say I blame him. I’d like to live there, too.
The riverside walk is lit for about a mile, along a curve.
But even during the day it looks great – the surrounding landscape and clouds are quite beautiful, as you can see in this view from the eighth floor of the hotel. This is an easy city to love.