The Northern Bank of Sarawak River in Kuching
The Malaysian city of Kuching is located in northwestern Borneo where the Sarawak and Santubong Rivers meet. The northen bank of the Sarawak River in Kuching, is a rural place overlooking the main city skyline and Kuching Waterfront on the opposite shore. Not many tourists come this way although it has some lovely sites.
Next morning we caught a small, colourful wooden ferry boat from Kuching Waterfront over to the northern bank of Sarawak River. The boatman punts off when the ‘tambang’ riverboat has enough passengers, mainly locals, school children and families.
This side of the River Sarawak was totally different from Kuching main town; it’s peacefully rural and there is a small village, a Kampung. Sites of interest on the hill overlooking Kuching waterfront include Fort Margherita which resembles an English castle, the iconic Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building and the Astana Palace.
We passed the local Muslim school seeing the little ones in uniforms, the boys with ‘Turkish style’ hats and the girls with headscarves.
The boys cheekily posed for photos, the girls smiled shyly.
It was lunch break so they ran home in groups of two or three, some stopping to buy ice-lollies…children are pretty much similar all over the world.
We wandered around the riverside village, noticing the brightly painted wooden houses which were raised on short stilts.
Some homes appeared to do laundry service judging by the clothes hanging outside to dry. Areas of the village were very poor, even squalid, and in another the chalets were larger with potted flowers outside and white Kuching cats on the steps.
One little girl leaned out of her window of her home and pointed to her little pet monkey tethered on a lead underneath the chalet.
There was a small mosque at the far end of the village, and an insalubrious stream where boys were splashing under a low bridge. It was starkly in contrast on the other side of the Sarawak River, where the Hilton and other luxurious hotels glimmered on Kuching skyline in the midday heat.
We winded our way back, through a narrow little street that had a couple of tiny shops and what must have been an extremely well-known cake shop.
Scores of people, mainly smartly dressed teenagers, took off their shoes at the door before entering – as is the Asian tradition – the air-conditioned Sarawak layer cake café featuring refrigerated marble cakes, so typical in Kuching. An incongruous luxury, in stark contrast to villagers eating sardines cooked over ashes on wayside stalls.
We grabbed some hot skewer kebabs for lunch from a traditional street stall, before catching one of the little riverboat taxis back to Kuching Waterfront.
That afternoon we booked a date with nature aboard an amazing Santubong Sunset Cruise…
Top Places to See In Borneo
BORNEO – Santubong Sunset Cruise, Sarawak
A wildlife cruise in Borneo.
The wide Santubong river is calm, the meandering mangrove swamps awesome, and the scenery magical. I listened to the mythical legend of Mount Santubong as we slid by the mysterious mountain on our journey towards the estuary.
BORNEO – Bako National Park, Sarawak
The highlight of my Borneo adventure was a day out in Bako National Park. A short trip along the Sarawak taking in the scenery and we arrived at Bako, Borneo’s oldest national park (2,727 hectares); it’s the most fascinating rainforest nature reserve, jutting into the China Sea on the Muara Tebas peninsula.
BORNEO – Bau, Fairy Caves & Blue Lake, Sarawak
Hearing that we wanted to explore beyond the tourists spots in Kuching, local girls Lucy and Jennifer drove us to rural Sarawak – to Bau fresh food market, on to explore the eerie Wind Caves, to a secret beach by the Kanan River, to the sacred Fairy Cave, and finally to Tasik Biru (Blue Lake).
BORNEO – Kuching ‘Cat City’ & Sarawak Cruise
Kuching (Cat City) is an important trading port with a colourful history. People from very different cultures have come to live in Borneo’s capital city over the centuries; the original Sarawak tribesmen have been joined by mainland Malays, Indonesian Muslims, Chinese miners, Indian Sikhs and British colonial…
Kuching Waterfront – Top Places to See in Sarawak (Borneo)
I was actually going to Kuching (Cat City) in Borneo! A vast, remote, exotic island full of adventure stories with headhunting tribes and blow darts…hey, wake me up I must be dreaming! Borneo pertains, as if it’s sliced across the middle lengthwise, to two nations – Malaysia and Indonesia.
Penang Island (Insider Guide) – Top Things to Do and See
Our Penang Island ‘insider guide’ explains the top things to do and see in Malaysia’s top holiday destination. A tropical island with exotic beaches, rain forests, beautiful temples, World Heritage Sites, and amazing food.
Unique Places To See In Malaysia
Looking for somewhere unusual to visit in Malaysia? Whether you’re staying in Borneo, on Penang Island, in the Highlands or Kuala Lumpur city, you’ll love our choice of unique places to see in Malaysia.
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