Thursday, October 02, 2003
Day 10 in Malaysia, Day 1 in Kuching
Flew in from KK at 10 am, went straight to the hostel where we planned to stay but it was full. There was a hotel right next door so having heavy packs and not knowing the city we decided to check in there. Lou did not seem to upset about the change in accommodation :)
Next a scout around the town. It is very clean, lots of wide roads with paved foot paths. Also a lot of large buildings in Roman style, very similar to Singapore. There is a very nice promenade along the river with ice cream and drink stalls and water fountains.
The history of the area is very similar to Penang. In the late 1800's the Sultan of Brunei was having trouble with a local rebellion. Then along came this Englishman called James Brooke who helped him in the fight. They won. To say thanks he gave Kuching to him, very nice. So it was a British colony except in WWII when the Japanese briefly occupied it. After the war the Aussies administered it for a year (I guess they didn't do a very good job). In 1963 it gained its independence when Sarawak joined Sabah, Singapore and Malaya to form Malaysia.
In the afternoon we took in the Museum. Lots of info about the tribes people of the area. Interesting facts:
>A whole tribe would live in one large building on stilts called a long house
>They had heaps of tattoos, jewelry and stretched ear lobes
>They were head hunters and would hang skulls from the ceiling
>They put strange barbell type jewelry throught the mens' you know what, ouch!
Day 11 in Malaysia, Day 2 in Kuching
Visited the Semenggoh Wild life Rehabilitation center, apparently drugs is a problem :) Seriously, it is mostly for Orangutan that were kept as pets. They are now endangered so it is illegal. People bring their Orangutan to be shown how to live in the wild so they can be released.
We saw the morning feeding. Firstly it was a lot of waiting around then a mother with a baby swing in and grabbed some breakfast, Lou took photos. It is great to see these animals in their natural environment, they look so much more relaxed and happy. While the mother was eating the baby tested out his swinging skills, they still need a lot of work (Lou thought it was very cute). The bonus was we stayed after the tour buses left and saw a juvenile come in. He was much more spritely than the mother but he liked to eat his food in private (maybe he is a messy eater). We could also just see a baby in the distant canopy, maybe the mother left it there while she went out having fun?
Flew in from KK at 10 am, went straight to the hostel where we planned to stay but it was full. There was a hotel right next door so having heavy packs and not knowing the city we decided to check in there. Lou did not seem to upset about the change in accommodation :)
Next a scout around the town. It is very clean, lots of wide roads with paved foot paths. Also a lot of large buildings in Roman style, very similar to Singapore. There is a very nice promenade along the river with ice cream and drink stalls and water fountains.
The history of the area is very similar to Penang. In the late 1800's the Sultan of Brunei was having trouble with a local rebellion. Then along came this Englishman called James Brooke who helped him in the fight. They won. To say thanks he gave Kuching to him, very nice. So it was a British colony except in WWII when the Japanese briefly occupied it. After the war the Aussies administered it for a year (I guess they didn't do a very good job). In 1963 it gained its independence when Sarawak joined Sabah, Singapore and Malaya to form Malaysia.
In the afternoon we took in the Museum. Lots of info about the tribes people of the area. Interesting facts:
>A whole tribe would live in one large building on stilts called a long house
>They had heaps of tattoos, jewelry and stretched ear lobes
>They were head hunters and would hang skulls from the ceiling
>They put strange barbell type jewelry throught the mens' you know what, ouch!
Day 11 in Malaysia, Day 2 in Kuching
Visited the Semenggoh Wild life Rehabilitation center, apparently drugs is a problem :) Seriously, it is mostly for Orangutan that were kept as pets. They are now endangered so it is illegal. People bring their Orangutan to be shown how to live in the wild so they can be released.
We saw the morning feeding. Firstly it was a lot of waiting around then a mother with a baby swing in and grabbed some breakfast, Lou took photos. It is great to see these animals in their natural environment, they look so much more relaxed and happy. While the mother was eating the baby tested out his swinging skills, they still need a lot of work (Lou thought it was very cute). The bonus was we stayed after the tour buses left and saw a juvenile come in. He was much more spritely than the mother but he liked to eat his food in private (maybe he is a messy eater). We could also just see a baby in the distant canopy, maybe the mother left it there while she went out having fun?
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