August 30
Sine we hadn’t had
much time to explore Kuching when we arrived the week before, we decided to
spend our last full day in Borneo revisiting the city. We got started early and had the shuttle drop
us off at the entrance to Chinatown
and found a little place to have a light
breakfast. Despite being the largest
city in Borneo and the fourth largest in Malaysia, Kuching, billed as one
of the cleanest cities in Asia, has more of a small town feel and was
surprisingly peaceful compared to the hustle
and bustle found in many of the other larger cities we had visited. The tourist scene in Kuching is mainly
centered around the meticulously maintained waterfront and adjacent bazaar in
Chinatown. We were on a mission to find
Bill a good tee shirt from Sarawak so, as we passed through the decorated
archway and working temple,
that welcomed us into Chinatown, we spent an hour or
so, after breakfast, strolling in and out of the multitude of shops that lined
the streets.
We found two great tee shirts and a few other items that we
couldn’t resist purchasing. I had to
laugh when we passed a huge statue of a white cat wearing a black bow tie sitting in front of one of the arches leading into Chinatown, seemingly, protecting the palace.
Apparently, locals as well as visitors are known to dress this outlandish statue for different events throughout the year.. Another building, that seemed quite
out of place, was a ten-story high parking structure, all trimmed in pastel colors.
After our walk
through Chinatown, we went down to the waterfront. We thought the beautifully
lit up bridge, that we had seen the evening we arrived in Kuching, was a
passageway to the other side of the Sarawak river for both vehicles and people.
However, we discovered that the Darul Hana Bridge, which means, “a place of
peace and quiet” in Arabic, is a beautiful pedestrian bridge that opened in
November of 2017.
The bridge is 336 meters long and is supported by two cables
that are 45 meters high and connected with two outward-facing steel pillars
with hornbill wings, representing the Rhinoceros Hornbill, the national bird of
the state of Sarawak.
Prior to this, the inhabitants of Kuching had to cross
via a water taxi but now, the population as well as the tourists can make the
crossing from the south to the north of Kuching via this unusually S-shaped
pedestrian bridge, resembling a Yin and Yang sign. We climbed several flights
of stairs to the bridge deck then strolled, leisurely, across the bridge,
stopping at the two resting places to enjoy the panoramic view over the river.
Although
currently closed to tourists, we did have a view, while crossing the bridge, of The Astana, the official
residence of the Governor of Sarawak, built in 18870 by the second White Rajah,
Charles Brooke, as a wedding gift to his wife,
as well as Fort Margherita,
constructed in 1879 to guard the river against pirates. But the DUN State
Legislative Assembly Building, which we had seen from afar our first night in
Kuching, was the most impressive. This
nine-story high building is the venue for future Sarawak’s new state
legislative assembly sittings. Covering
an area of 172 acres, the architecture of the new complex combines unique
elements of Sarawak’s heritage…the distinctive “payung” (umbrella) roof is an
iconic landmark for Sarawak… with state-of-the-art automation systems,
multimedia communication facilities and environmentally friendly features.
Reinforced by nine gigantic pillars and numerous
arches, the building reflects the sovereignty of the people’s power as well as
the support of all the races in the state and has been described as one of the
most beautiful buildings in Southeast Asia.
To be continued in the next Blog.
Joan Pastrick
2018-09-17
Very interesting. Did not see many Western tourists. Did you have the place to your selves. Very beautiful.
Tom Ohka
2018-09-17
Thank you for doing your travel log and adding the wonderful pictures. It is the next best thing to being there with you and Bill.
Amanda Frost
2018-09-17
Wish I were there too!
Susan Hess
2018-09-17
A pastel parking garage. A standout building. Love the gentle architecture.