Stuif's Adventures

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Charming Kuching (24-27)-11-2006
My second visit to Kuching!
One time before, in 1997, I had visited Sarawak during the infamous "Big Haze". This time the weather was pleasant.
I arrived on a Friday morning and spent the first day revisiting Kuching.
There is a lot to see, it is a pleasant small town with many memories from the time of the "White Raja's"
I crossed the Sarawak river in a tambang (for 20 cent only!) and had a look at the Istana, built in 1870 by Charles Brooke.

After my walk I took a rest at the waterfront, where I met a group of students from the Teacher Training College. They were only too happy to get their picture taken with a real Kwai Loh...:-)

The main reason for my visit to Kuching was to explore the waterfalls in the surroundings. As a webmaster of the Waterfalls of Malaysia website, I had been asked several times why Sarawak was not represented on the site.
A Kuching friend of mine, Gabriel Chong, had collected information about waterfalls around Kuching and on Saturday morning we started our trip to Kg Sadir, about 40 km south of Kuching. A very pleasant Bedayu kampung, from where we started our trek to the Ban Buan Kukuot fall, according to the villagers possibly the most beautiful waterfall of Sarawak.
The trail was well maintained, and we were in good spirits, but somewhere we must have missed the right track.
Later, back in the kampung, a friendly villager told us that it would have been better to take a local guide. A lesson learnt!

Fortunately there was another fall near to the village, where we could take a refreshing bath. Around the kampung there are seven falls, so we will come back another time!

On the Sunday we visited the popular Sunday Market and had a kolo mee lunch in a shop where we met a nice couple, who were also interested in nature and knew about even more waterfalls. After lunch we drove to Santubong. Geocaching is another of my hobbies and I knew that there was one around. It was Gabriel who found the geocache, beginners luck or a sixth sense?

There are several clear trails in the Santubong forest and one of them leads to a nice waterfall, where we took a bath and, being in the mood, placed a new geocache, the Santubong Fall cache. I hope it will be found soon.

A pleasant stay in all respects, worth of a repeat!

Tua Pek Kong Temple
 

The Waterfront
 

The Istana
 

The Sarawak River
 

View from the Istana
 

Tambangs
 

River crossing
 

The Square Tower
 

The Courthouse
 

Courthouse Yard
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Jalan India
 

Kuching Mosque
 

Sikh Temple
 

Sarawak Museum
 

Chinatown
 

The Pavillion
 

The Round Tower
 

Me and my girls
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South of Kuching
 

Peaceful coutryside
 

Pepper plants
 

Pepper corns
 

Well-maintained roads
 

Arrival at Kg Sadir
 

The primary school
 

Entrance of the village
 

Directions...
 

Trail head
 

Bamboo bridge
 

Steep slope
 

Hill rice
 

End of the road....
 

Ginger flower
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On the way back
 

Cement path
 

The Skedu Fall
 

Time for a bath
 

Cotton wool
 

Sunday market in Kuching
 

Tree saplings
 

Lunch with Michael & Karen
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Santubong mountain
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Geocaching
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Jungle trails
 

Start of the trails
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Suspension Bridge
 

Forest giants
 

Santubong Fall
 

Waterfall Fun
 

Preparing a geocache
 

And hiding it
 

Another Santubong fall
 

A small one
 

lightlingmk2 wrote on Dec 2, 2006:
Thanks Jan. I must revisit Kuching, one day. How do you get there? By air asia ? And the car rented ?

Kwai Loh wrote on Dec 2, 2006:
Yes, Air Asia. If you book well in advance, the cost for a return ticket is less than RM 230, everything included. And Gabriel has a car..:-)

wrote on Dec 2, 2006:
ah, jan, you make katsiti sound like such a romantic place. i have not been there before though i know people who come from there. you must have been in heaven (if you believe there is one) during your stay there with all the promises of waterfalls. and i hear miri is another good jumping off spot into the wild. /stephen

wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
I love the wooden floors in this building. They look and feel the same as I had walked on them when I was young.

wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
Ooooh...Jan....can you imagine had you been younger.........?

wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
Beautiful ginger flower Jan! This yellow earth ginger has got scarlet flowers..A. megalocheilos! This is a good blossom.

wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
Typical Kuching hospitality!!

wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
This is a mountain worth climbing...a day's climb and back.

wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
That's the first class Gabriel smile.

wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
Is this Cafe operating? Last time we were there was abandoned.

Kwai Loh wrote on Dec 3, 2006:
On the Sunday it was open, but not many visitors.

wrote on Dec 4, 2006:
When the Multiply Site opened so slowly, I was left with the impression that the travelogue is all about buildings in Kuching. Thanks goodness, you are normal - I mean when I saw the Cotton and Baby's Falls.

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