The City of Cats
Kuching is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Its name means cat in Malay so it’s no wonder the city is full of cat statues and paintings. Even the souvenir shops sell all kind of cat related things.
A Pleasant Place
Kuching is probably one of the nicest cities in Southeast Asia and definitely the most pleasant one in Malaysian Borneo. It’s a place where you can easily spend a few days before traveling on.
It’s a pleasure to stroll around the old part of the town, admire the colorful old buildings and discover new details, paintings and graffitis, and corners on every walk. If you want to get out of town, Kuching is close to Bako National Park, Matang Wildlife Center and Annah Rais Longhouse. These places can be visited independently or with a tour from Kuching, although tour operators tend to charge a lot of money. They even admit their tours are a bit overpriced.
Sarawak Museum
The Sarawak Museum is also worth a visit. If you haven’t been in a real longhouse (like us), at the museum you get the chance to step into and walk around the rooms of a traditional longhouse. I think it’s very well made and inside you feel far away from the city. Or you can marvel at a wristwatch recovered from the stomach of a man-eating crocodile.
Food! Lots of Good Food!
Kuching has a huge variety of restaurants. You can eat everything from delicious Sarawak Laksa (obviously a must-try if you’re in Sarawak), to fantastic seafood (at Top Spot Foodcourt), to noodles which, for someone who’s been away from Europe for a very long time, taste almost like spaghetti al aglio (Nuromen Café), to outrageously good Portuguese egg tarts. So if there’s nothing else to do, you can spend your time eating and you won’t get bored.
