I could not leave Borneo without visiting Kuching, the biggest city in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. As the name says, this city is full of our cute little feline friends.
The night I landed in Kuching, I took a grab-car to go firstly to Santubong, a nearby coastal town. It took about an hour drive from the airport; with the driver kindly letting me stop at a hawker stall midway so I could grab something for dinner. Yes, Sarawakians are very warm and helpful.
I spent two nights at The Culvert, an eco-hotel on a hill right at the coast. The location, natural surroundings, and amenities were impressive. My favorite area was the infinity pool.
I also hung out at the library, after getting full body massage. Gosh, how I wish I could get one right now. I wanted to hike Mount Santubong but it rained the next day, right after my morning yoga. Malaysia's weather is super unpredictable, it could be sunny one minute and a thunderstorm the next. It was not disheartening at all; watching the thunderstorm from my small concrete room was relaxing. It was what I needed. The recent weeks had been full of strenuous hikes and hectic side trips, even though I had the drive, my body was sore.
When I left for Kuching, I never had any expectation. I stopped researching, and just decided to walk within 5-km radius of where I stayed (in a restored colonial era dormitory). There was a festival that week, so the area was lovely and the waterfront was full of hawker stalls.
My friend told me there was an old bakery famous for their traditional buns; I decided to hunt for it around the Chinese district. The buns were good, but I was hoping I would find buttermilk-filled ones, which I did not.
Going through India Street was quite overwhelming. There were so much merchandise to see. I was not planning to shop, but I took that way to see some murals just around the corner. This was my favorite part in the city!
It was told that the place had been named as it is because when a British soldier and explorer asked what the name of the town was, a native answered "kuching", which meant cats, thinking the soldier was pointing at a cat. It was probably time the cats get a place of their own, lol.
Anyway, aside from having the world's first cat museum, these lovely felines must have their statues scattered around too. I couldn't complain, they make the city unique and worthwhile to roam around in.
Even though I had a small accident that escalated a bit (just to be safe I had to go to ER and get a scan after hitting my head on a concrete roof) I enjoyed staying a few days here.
One thing I noticed was the people here were more friendly than in Kuala Lumpur. Maybe because this town is much laid back, or that KL is just so fast-paced? It felt like I was in a different country, to be honest. Nonetheless, they both have a lot of culture, nature, food and hospitality to offer. Ahh, traveling alone is very much enriching. It can get inconvenient, but if you expect less and know how to improvise, it will always be a good experience overall. xoxo