Malaysia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 475

North of the river
he north side of the river is lined with
some stunning buildings, especially when
they're all lit up at night. Fort Margherita ,
built in 1879 to protect Kuching from
marauding pirates, has good views over the
town from the crenellated roof; take the
spiral staircase up. he Astana (palace),
1km west of the fort, was originally built
by White Rajah Charles Brooke as a gift
for his wife Margaret; today, it's the o cial
residence of the Governor of Sarawak, and
it's best to admire it from across the river.
he most noticeable building is the
golden-roofed Sarawak State Assembly ,
which disconcertingly resembles a
spaceship, right across from Main Bazaar
and connected to the Kampong Boyan by
a new boardwalk. On the waterfront you'll
find the jetty to take a tambang (boat;
RM0.5) across to the other side of the
river, where you'll find some lively places
to eat at the Kampong Boyan village.

KUCHING: CITY OF CATS
The many cat statues scattered around
the centre of Kuching hint at the origin of
the city's name, though while “kuching”
does indeed mean “cat” in Malay, it's
normally spelled “kucing”. One theory
is that the town was named after the
wild cats ( kucing hatan ) which were
seen along the banks of the river in the
nineteenth century, while another
suggests that it's a result of James Brooke
pointing at the original settlement and
asking “What's that?” and the person being
asked mistakenly thinking that Brooke
was pointing at a cat. The most likely
theory is that Kuching is a corruption of
Cochin (port). In any case, the cats are
here to stay.

6

of Islamic culture, including architecture,
weaponry and textiles. On the same side
of the road, opposite the post o ce, the
Textile Museum (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm,
Sat & Sun 10am-4pm; free) in the
Round House displays rich exhibitions of
traditional clothing, such as the Iban pua
kumbu , Malay songket and flamboyant
ceremonial headdresses once worn by the
Penan, Bidayuh and other tribes.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By plane Kuching Airport ( W kuchingairportonline.com)
is 11km south of the city. A taxi into the centre costs
RM26 from the pre-paid taxi booth outside the arrivals hall.
There are no buses from the airport into town. AirAsia and
Malaysia Airlines connect Kuching with Singapore, KL, KK,
Sibu, Bandar Seri Begawan, Miri and Bintulu, while Batavia
Air serves Pontianak, Kalimantan, and MASwings also
serves Miri, Sibu, Bintulu and Gunung Mulu National Park.
Destinations

Chinatown
he grid of streets running eastwards
from Jalan Tun Haji Openg, past the
main Chinese temple Tua Pek Kong and
on to the end of Jalan Padungan,
constitutes Kuching's Chinatown . On
busy Main Bazaar and, one block south,
on Jalan Carpenter, there are stores and
restaurants operating out of renovated
two-storey shophouses, built by Hokkien
and Teochew immigrants who arrived in
the 1890s. Overlooking the river on Jalan
Temple, Tua Pek Kong (daily 8am-6pm;
free) is the oldest Taoist temple in
Sarawak (1876) and attracts a stream of
people wanting to pay their respects to
Tua Pek Kong, the patron saint of
prosperity. You can learn about the
history of Sarawak's Chinese community,
which dates back to the tenth century,
in the insightful Chinese History Museum
(Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm, Sat & Sun
10am-4pm; free) across the road.

Begawan, Brunei (5 weekly; 1hr 15min);
Bintulu (2 daily; 30min); Kota Kinabalu (up to 4 daily; 2hr);
KL (up to 10 daily; 1hr 40min); Miri (6 daily; 1hr); Mulu
(2 daily; 1hr 15min); Pontianak, Indonesia (3 weekly; 1hr);
Sibu (8 daily; 40min); Singapore (5 daily; 1hr 25min).
By boat The wharf is 6km east of the city centre in the
suburb of Pending, with Ekspress Bahagia boats serving
Sibu (RM45). Tickets are sold at the wharf. It's advisable
to get to the jetty 30min before departure as they leave
early if full. A taxi costs around RM25.
Destinations Sibu (daily 8.30am; 5hr).
By bus All long-distance express buses to destinations in
Sarawak, Brunei and Pontianak in Indonesia leave from
the massive, modern new Kuching Sentral a.k.a. “Six-and-
a-Half-Mile-Terminal”; get up-to-date timetables from
the Visitor Information Centre. Book tickets at a bus
company counter, pay at counter two or three and show
tickets to staff at the check-in desk before boarding. City
Public Link buses #K3 and #K10 to Kuching Sentral run
from the Saujana Bus Station several times an hour, while
taxis cost around RM30.