gabrieltraian

At the end of September we went on a holiday to Kuching, Sarawak for two weeks.

We arrived in Kuching late afternoon and we took a taxi to Damai Beach Resort, about 35 km away.

We checked in at the resort, and a shuttle took us up the hill to our room. That section of the resort is called Hillview. It was too dark for us to realize the kind of views we had, so we got busy with unpacking and getting ready to go to dinner.

When we were ready, we went out of our room and walked to the shuttle stop a few metres away. We pressed the button to call it and 2 minutes later a small van was there to pick us up.
We had dinner then had a quick look around and returned to our room.

Day Two

We had breakfast at the resort and were disappointed. Vegetarian options were very limited and even those were not very enticing.
Even the pastries were not fresh.
That was the first and last time we had breakfast there.

After that we walked to the Sarawak Cultural Village, a few minutes away.

We first stopped at the gift shop at the entrance and we bought a few things from there. We liked this shop because other than the classical fridge magnets, we found things to actually wear or use, a necklace, a scarf, some fans, etc.

The houses were interesting to visit, and at some of them local people were cooking or knitting or showing us weaponry and how to use them, and you could buy souvenirs or food cooked right there in front of you.

Each house represented a tribe or a village, the displays and furnishings were nice, and the costumes were very beautiful.

We enjoyed this visit, this was a very nice way to learn about the local culture.

It took us the entire day to visit it. At 4pm we attended a show there, local music and dance, the dancers wearing very colourful costumes and the show was entertaining.

We returned to the resort and later that evening we went to Damai Central for dinner. Damai Central is across the street from Sarawak Cultural Village and it's got a few shops there, including a 7 eleven.
There's also a great food court with good, cheap and quite varied food. We ate there several times, we even took food to eat in our room.

Escobar restaurant at Damai Central is very nice, perched above the beach with nice views with the beach and the sea. That's where we had dinner that night. Very enjoyable.

gabrieltraian

Day Three

Every morning we admired the splendid views from our balcony.

We could see the rainforest, the hills, the sea, it was very relaxing.

Our room was spacious, however it was dated. Very old furniture, the mattresses weren't sleep friendly, we woke up with back pain every morning.

The tv channels offered limited options, only 10 channels or so, of which only 2 or 3 were of any interest for us.

That morning we took the shuttle to Kuching.
When we arrived there, we walked towards the waterfront. We were looking for a place to have breakfast, and we soon saw a nice restaurant.
It was James Brooke Bistro, and we went in. They opened at 10 o'clock and the time was a quarter to ten. We waited a few minutes, looked around and admired the setting.

Nice interior decorations, nice views. We were the only customers at that time of day.

A waitress came to us a few minutes before 10, and she took our order. We had a nice breakfast there enjoying the views.

From there we walked along the waterfront, for a short while, then crossed the street to walk along the shops, to try to protect ourselves from the sun and humidity.

We soon reached the Old Courthouse. We saw the cafe there, but we didn't stop this time. Merdeka Plaza was right there and we wanted to go in and take some rest from all the heat and humidity.

Little India was right after the Old Courthouse, and we decided to walk its length and back. We looked left and right, liked the vibes and the colours.
We reached the end of the street and returned to go to Merdeka Plaza. Once inside we felt relieved, the aircon revived us. We explored it and found a nice cafe, Boardriders. We stopped there for some fresh fruit juices and to recharge our mobile phones.

After a while we left the shopping mall and went to Chinatown. We walked along the main street, looking left and right, then at the end of the street we turned left towards the waterfront.
On the waterfront we noticed a big boat getting ready for a river cruise, so we decided to take it.

Once on board, we were served with some refreshments, including Kek Lapis, a layered cake traditionally served in Sarawak on special occasions.

The river cruise was nice and relaxing, but not something that I'd go out of my way to do.

After the cruise we returned to our resort and went straight to Damai Central food court for dinner.
After dinner we returned to our resort and went to the bar for a relaxing drink to finish our day.

gabrieltraian

Day Four

In the morning we had our coffee on the balcony enjoying the magnificent views.
After that we took the shuttle to Kuching. We got off at Grand Margherita Hotel, then walked to Merdeka Plaza.
We had breakfast at Boardriders Cafe, then went to visit the Sarawak Museum.
There are three museums in this complex, but two of the buildings were under renovation.
However, some of the exhibits from those two museums were displayed in the building that was open.

We liked the presentation, life size mannequins depicting local customs, we saw interior decorations and settings of what it would be like in local homes, all in all we liked it very much.

The gift shop was very good too, we bought a beautiful wooden jewellery box with jade ornaments.

From the museum we went to the waterfront, took a water taxi and crossed the river to visit the orchid garden.
It was very hot and humid, and even though the garden is not far from the river bank, we found it very tiring to get there.
And then guess what... it was closed! It was a Monday and it was closed.
It never crossed my mind to check the opening times, I thought that if the museums were open, all other attractions were too.
Well... At least now we knew when to return.

We took the boat back and went to Chinatown. I had read good reviews about a food court there, the Tea Garden.
We found it, went in and asked at every food stall about vegetarian food. Nobody had it and they were all surprised at the question.

We sat down and had some fresh fruit juices. The place was nice and the food was probably good, because we could see a constant flow of people coming in, it was getting crowded.

It was late afternoon and we went to Top Spot Food Court for an early dinner. We couldn't wait till later, because our shuttle van would pick us up at 6:15pm, and we really wanted to try the food there.
It was mostly seafood, so we spoke to a lady at one of the food stalls and she told us we could pick any vegetables we wanted from those shelves and they'll cook them for us.
There were plenty of veggies there, so we were happy.

They cooked a very nice meal for us, and it was yummy! The taste, the texture, the food was delicious.
Great atmosphere too, we loved it there.

Once back at the resort, we went to the bar to relax and have a drink.

FromDC

We went to Top Spot TWICE during our 4 nights in Kuching, really loved it.

tripplanner001

Thanks for sharing.

Kathie

I'm enjoying reading about your experiences in Kuching. We really liked the city.

mareeS55

Top Spot is one of the best food courts. I rate it with Red Garden in Georgetown for fish head curry.

The other standout meal in Kuching is Sarawak laksa. Sour and hot, it's the perfect breakfast.

gabrieltraian

Thank you all for your kind words.

@mareeS55 - I did ask about laksa if they had the vegetarian option, in a few places, but no one did, unfortunately.

Kathie - you Kuching guru
I did read many of your posts while doing my homework for this trip.

gabrieltraian

Day Five

Jungle day! I mean... the day we went to the jungle.

Someone here on this forum mentioned once about Kurakura Homestay and I checked it out. I liked what I saw and I booked a room for us for 4 days and 3 nights.
Today was the day.

After our morning routine at the resort, i.e. enjoying a coffee on the balcony admiring the views, the wide expanse of South China Sea right in front of us, the mountain sloping down into the sea and the jungle covering mostly everything around, the beach somewhere down below... we could never have enough of that view... so after all this, we packed our bags.

We knew we had to keep it to a minimum, due to boat space constraints, so we had no problem to put all we needed for four days in one back pack and one carry on.

We took the shuttle to Kuching and met Lars, our host for the next four days at Kurakura. He was there to take us to what was going to become our most interesting, most enjoyable, most... (many other superlatives come in here) part of our holiday.

(unforeseen interruption - gotta go - I'll continue a little later)

lauren_s_kahn

I love to hear about unusual holidays that I will never take. Thanks.

gabrieltraian

First, he took us to the airport to pick up another couple.
Then off to the market to buy some food. Cheap, cheap, very cheap.

We had a quick bite of local lunch at a cafe somewhere near the market, then off to his home in the jungle. Somewhere deep in the countryside we got off the car. The river was there, it must have followed us all the way from the city.
We crossed a bridge and looked left and right at the quiet river, disappearing smoothly into the thick of the jungle.

Went down to the (river) bank, where two narrow boats were waiting for us. We now saw how important it was that we had small baggage with us. Each boat took one couple and the respective baggage plus boatman.

I sat down and the boat was just wide enough to accommodate one adult. I was holding tight to the rims. The water was touching my fingers on the outside of the boat. We received assurances that the boats were sturdier than they looked and despite the fact that they are so low, they didn't take water or sink.

We began our journey on the river. I felt like and imagined myself that I was Captain Willard in "Apocalypse Now" going up the river in that Vietnam action movie, searching for Col. Kurz, but without the arrows shot at us by an unseen enemy.
The boatman turned the motor off sometimes, then on again, navigating the boat skilfully over rocks and shallow water, so that we never had to get off the boat to walk through water.

So yes, Cpt. Willard...

Beautiful sounds of the jungle. We were looking and admiring the nature, the vegetation coming down the slope into the river. At every turn, I was imagining that unseen enemy throwing arrows at us, like in the movie. I told you I was Cpt Willard already. The difference was that this river and jungle were in Borneo, but it didn't matter to me.

About half an hour later we stopped under some trees and got off the boats. Picked up our luggage and up the slope we went. Few minutes later we were at the house, jungle all around us, with all different sounds, so relaxing, peaceful, we loved it.

We went to our room and it was lovely arranged, its window toward the back of the house gave us another view of the jungle and its sounds.

After we dropped off our things, we went down to the river, for a bath. The water was warm, we had some fun there, we loved it.

Dinner time came and it was nothing short of spectacular. Liza is such a good cook. In front of us on the table she presented an array of delicious dishes, and she explained to us what each of them was.
Oh yes, she cooked vegetarian food too. Yummy!!

We had a lovely evening chatting with our hosts and the other couple, Paul and Julia, then we went to our rooms, dead tired.

Lights off... the sounds of the jungle were even louder, but so quiet still. It was so dark and so peaceful... We slept like logs.

gabrieltraian

lauren_s_kahn - thank you!

gabrieltraian

Day Six

Somehow during this morning I caught a cold. It had been building up for a while probably, I don't know. Thing is I was feeling bad, runny nose, sneezing, some fever, I don't know how much, but I wasn't going to stay home.
We had some trekking scheduled for that day. I was still looking for Col. Kurz.

After a delicious breakfast prepared by Liza, we left.
Before we left home, we had bought the right equipment for this kind of trip: waterproof shoes and clothing to help us through the humidity, heat and rough conditions in the jungle.
It cost us around $1,000, but it was worth every penny.

Few minutes into the trek, I was sweating heavily (remember, I was cold and had fever too), and kept wiping my face with the long sleeve of my shirt. My shirt was already wet, but guess what: it never stuck to my body, it helped my body breathe. The trousers, light and soft, yet resistant, and I found out later, they dried quickly in those conditions, after washing.

The trek through the jungle was amazing. We saw various fruit trees, durians, banana trees, cocoa, we saw pitcher plants (carnivorous), and many other interesting ones, like the one with apparently smooth branches, which you touched and sharp spikes would come out instantaneously.

We crossed a few narrow bamboo bridges, just one or two bamboo trunks and a handrail made of one bamboo, and we saw waterholes covered with branches and leaves, real traps if you weren't aware of them.

We reached a parking lot where we got into a van and after a short drive we got off to visit a longhouse, very interesting to see how people live there.

Back in the van, another short drive and then some more trekking.
From a distance we saw a beautiful waterfall, of which I had seen a photo somewhere recently. Lars, our Kurakura host and guide, told us that he was taking us to another waterfall, as beautiful as that, but where we would be alone.

We continued our trekking, the shoes doing all the hard work, our feet never felt a thing, mud slides, slippery ground, rocks, pebbles, branches, steep climbs, steep descents, clinging to roots to help us cross very narrow paths, quite a demanding physical exercise.

At about 2pm we came out in a clearing and somewhere down the slope we saw a magnificent waterfall. Nobody there, of course. We climbed down a narrow and steep path, changed into our swimming suits, and jumped in the pond. Refreshing and very enjoyable. We had our packed lunch there, and after a while we left.

Got home exhausted, hungry like the wolves, had a delicious dinner, chatted about the wonderful day we had, then went to bed and fell asleep in less than a second.
Yes, in the sounds of the jungle. The night sounds.

gabrieltraian

Day Seven

We woke up in the morning sounds of the jungle. Beautiful! Unfortunately I was still cold, still had fever.
We had a lovely breakfast and spoke about the day's schedule: a longer trek, many hours. OK, we're ready!

We took a different route this time, and we were again amazed at every step. Lars was cutting a path ahead of us with his machete, and we were following.
Other than durian and cocoa trees, we also saw rubber trees with cups at their bases, put there by villagers to collect the white paste, which was flowing down the tree trunks.

It was a demanding trek, but we wanted it. After crossing other bamboo bridges, and going over very rough terrain, we reached a narrow mud slide, about 2 metres long. It was quite steep, maybe 45 degrees, deep, our legs were going down to just above the knee, and as narrow as a foot width at its base. We held on to a thick root that was coming out and climbed down, sliding our right foot first, then dragging the other leg and sliding and we were down. All muddy.

Then, after some more steep climbs and descents, we reached a cave. We had our torches with us, so we went in. There were many bats up on the ceiling, now flying disturbed by us and our lights, and we saw a few giant spiders on the walls.
We walked to the other end and back, then stopped to eat our packed lunch and rest.

Then the way back... No easier path, but just the same one, with the mud slide, which this time we had to climb, pulling ourselves with the help of that thick root that was coming out. again the steep rocks that we had to skip and jump, steep and narrow slopes, are we home yet?...

Dead tired we finally got home. Tired, but happy at the same time, the jungle trekking was amazing.

We put our clothes in the washing machine, and were wondering how dry they will be in the morning, if at all, but at least we wouldn't carry all that dirt in our baggage.
Well, at least my trousers were dry in the morning. I couldn't believe it, in those humid conditions. Proof that they may have been expensive, but you do get what you pay for, indeed.

That night we had another lovely dinner, chatted on the verandah and later, dead tired, we went to our room and fell asleep faster than you'd have time to snap your fingers.

gabrieltraian

Day Eight

Our last day in the jungle.
We had a nice breakfast again and then reluctantly we packed our small bags.

We went down the slope to the river and into the long narrow boats.
Captain Willard nearly at the end of his mission. Beautiful river, smooth drive by the boatman, thick jungle left and right, beautiful day, and then almost half an hour later a splendid view in front of us with the bridge we were going to stop at, high above the river, and a mountain as a backdrop...

We got off the boat and went to the van, and then off to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre to see orangutans.

However, from the day we arrived we kept hearing people say that there had been no orangutans coming for feeding for a few weeks, as the fruit season was rich and still going on, and the orangutans found their own food in the jungle.
There was another view on this as well, some people were saying that that meant the rehabilitation project was working.

Well, we went there and we found lots of people waiting, but the feeding time came and no orangutans around.

Lars then took us to Kuching. It was around 12 o'clock, our shuttle to take us to the resort was coming at 1:15pm, so we decided to go for a bite of lunch at Grand Margherita Hotel.
We had lunch, then took the shuttle to the resort and relaxed for the rest of the day.

After dinner we had a drink in the bar, which was always quiet, hardly one or two other customers in there during our stay.

gabrieltraian

Day Nine

In the morning we enjoyed the splendid views we had from our balcony, then we had breakfast.

A little later that morning my wife went to do a session at the spa, which was close to our room. I'm not into spas, so I waited for her in the room. When she returned, we went to the swimming pool, which was at the end of the block, 2 minutes away.
We were the only ones there, so we had the pool to ourselves.

We ordered some fresh fruit juices, and relaxed.
The pool being on top of the hill, we had splendid views from there too. We were at the edge of the pool looking into the distance, the mountain, the jungle, the sea, the palm trees...

For lunch we went to Damai Central Food Court.

In the evening we booked ourselves for a river cruise,in an area where we hadn't been before, to see proboscis monkeys, fireflies, dolphins and a fishing village.

A van picked us from the resort at about 5pm and took us to a village nearby.
The boat took us to see dolphins, and they were there all right, but didn't show us too much. We saw some fins and some backs, but they weren't in the mood to play or chase the boat.

Then we went on the river, inside the jungle, and we saw a few proboscis monkeys in the trees. The boatman came as close as possible to the bank, but the monkeys were still too far and high and we couldn't see their features. We did however see their light brown shapes in the trees and it was all right. The scenery was beautiful, the boat followed the river bends, and we were delighted with the views.

Then we passed by a fishing village, colourful houses on the river bank, partly on water, partly on the land, beautiful jungle and mountain behind them, long strings pf boats in front of the houses, very picturesque.

The rain came all of a sudden, and it varied in intensity. The darkness fell and the rain kept falling, and we thought we'd never see fireflies that night.
However, the boatman insisted for one more try, and we went again around the bushes and we struck it lucky. At first there were just a few, but a few minutes later the bushes were alight with the glittering insects.

Back to our resort, we finished the day relaxing over a drink in the empty bar.

gabrieltraian

Day Ten

In the morning we stayed at the resort and relaxed.
After lunch we took the shuttle to Kuching.
We walked to the waterfront and took a water taxi, crossed the river, then walked a few hundred metres to the Orchid Garden.

It was very hot and humid. Once at the garden, we stopped at the small cafe there and had a drink.

The orchids were beautiful, splendid colours a lovely place to enjoy.

When we returned to the river bank to catch a water taxi to the other side, the boatman charged us RM 4 instead of RM 0.50. The weather was turning bad, we could hear thunders and the clouds were menacing.
We tried to bargain with him, but he said that it was past 4pm and there were no other people coming. I couldn't bargain too much with him, he had all the trump cards, I had nothing to play with, though I tried, more out of principle than because it was expensive.

Well...

We walked along the waterfront and stopped at Grand Margherita Hotel for a couple of beers in the bar there, then we took the shuttle back to the resort.

gabrieltraian

Day Eleven

For today we had booked a day trip to Bako National Park. A van picked us up from the reception and took us to Bako Terminal.
We got off and noticed that there was a market there too.

We bought our tickets, registered and then waited for our boat to be ready.
It was a nice and interesting ride to the park, about 20 minutes or so, with stunning scenery, beautiful coastline.

As the tide was low, the boat couldn't get to the jetty, so we got off in front of the Headquarters beach. We had to take off our shoes and walk through the shallow water.

At the headquarters we registered and picked up a black and white copy of a map, chose a trail and left. As we were leaving the headquarters area, we saw a proboscis monkey high up in a tree.

The trail we chose was a long and hard one. It took us through the jungle and ended on a beach. However, it started to rain so we couldn't enjoy much of the scenery. We waited in a shelter which was right there, then made our way back.
We were worn out, the terrain was very difficult, with lots of rocks, steep slopes, exposed tree roots.

When we were close to the headquarters, on our way back, we saw a proboscis monkey on the lower branch of a tree by the path we were on.
We stopped and kept quiet, and for the next 5-10 minutes we did some bonding with the creature. We were looking at him, he was looking at us, and every once in a while he was scratching himself.

After a while he jumped on another branch and disappeared behind the leaves.

We decided to hire a boat to take us to the Seastacks. This was a great way to see the park, the views from the sea were splendid.
We saw many other interesting rock formations, the coastline was beautiful, the vegetation on top of the cliffs, the beaches, so that by the time we reached the Seastacks, they didn't look as spectacular any more.
I mean that is a very nice rock formation, but there is so much more to see other than that.

When the boat returned us to the beach, we saw a wild boar with her baby searching for food deep in the sand.

We were hungry, so we had something to eat at the cafeteria. While sitting on the deck we saw other proboscis monkeys in the trees in front of us.

We booked our return for 3:30pm, so when the boat came we took off our shoes and walked through the water again. We were tired when we reached the terminal.

That night we had dinner at the food court in Damai Central and then a drink in our bar at the resort.

gabrieltraian

Day Twelve

In the morning, after our usual soaking up the views from our balcony, we had breakfast at the food court, then went to the swimming pool.

At 1:15pm we took the shuttle to Kuching to do some souvenir shopping.
We stopped at the cafe in the Old Courthouse for some fresh fruit juices. I noticed the Visitors Centre a few metres away, so I went in.
I asked them about the Rafflesia flower, which I had found out on the day of our arrival, that it was not flowering those days, and that the last one had flowered one week before our arrival.
The lady at the visitors centre confirmed to me that it could be something like two more weeks until the next Rafflesia would flower.
Bad luck...

I also asked about the orangutan murals, of which I had read somewhere. She said they weren't far away, just outside Little India, when you are at the end of the street, turn left and follow the wall, they are a few metres away.

Then I asked her for some recommendations for nice cafes around the city centre area. She gave me two.
One was "Seattle Cafe", at the ground floor of Merdeka Palace Hotel.
The other one was "Black Bean Coffee and Tea Company", at 87 Carpenter Street, in Chinatown.

We left the Visitors Centre and went to Little India. We walked the main street, discovered a narrow lane on the right and went in there. There were shops on either side and it was just wide enough for two people to pass through.

We walked to the end of it and came back to Little India street. At the end of it we turned left and after a few metres we found the murals.
They were very nice, the orangutans looked cute, but unfortunately the paintings don't seem to be taken care of.

From there went to the Textile Museum. This museum was much nicer than we thought it would be.
Beautiful and colourful dresses, knittings, fabrics from all over Sarawak, clothing items used for different customs.

Great visit!

Then we went to Seattle Cafe. Nice interior decorations with a touch of old and classic cafe, very good coffee, an enjoyable place altogether. Sitting at our table, I noticed at the far end an old style window with a beautiful door. That was Beccari Restaurant.

We went in to have a look. What a nice surprise! Beautiful decor, fake windows with balconies at the first floor, two big paintings, one of them "The Pasta Eater", the other one showing a busy interior of a restaurant maybe a century ago, nice old photos on the walls, mostly of Italian street scenes... We asked if they had any vegetarian options for dinner, and the waiter said yes.
That was it, we made a reservation for the next evening.

We returned to our resort, had dinner and watched tv.

gabrieltraian

Day Thirteen

In the morning we enjoyed a coffee with great views on our balcony.
Later that morning, my wife had another session at the spa.
Then we went to the swimming pool and admired the views from the water.

Later on we took the shuttle to Kuching. We went straight to Chinatown, to have a coffee at Black Bean Coffee & Tea, 87 Carpenter Street.
We were walking down the street looking for the sign, knowing that it would be close to that end of the street where the temple was.

We found it near a paint shop and some other non-food shops, nothing to say that there might be a cafe there. Once we stepped on the pavement in front of the entrance, however, a beautiful coffee flavour tickled our nostrils and we were mesmerized. Yes, we want coffee, let's just order it and sit down to enjoy it!

Three ladies were working there, an old looking place, decorated with old wares, tea and coffee sets, old photos, coffee and tea sacks, three small tables, one inside and two on the pavement outside. One of them was not taken, so we sat down. Two big plants in their pots were guarding the shaded entrance, the tables were really small, but that gave the cafe a certain charm.

Our fresh fruit juices arrived in the meantime with the black coffees we had ordered.

Mmmm, the perfumed smell, the taste of that coffee... what a treasure we had just discovered!

After our coffee session we walked towards Merdeka Plaza and went in to revive ourselves from the heat and humidity.
Shortly after that we went to Restaurant Beccari, in Merdeka Palace Hotel, for our dinner.

We were very impressed by the food, the presentation and the service there, and we had a very nice dinner.