Across Sarawak River - Kampungs & Fort Margherita

  Kuching, Malaysia
Saturday, August 4, 2007

Kampung Boyan

Day 2 saw us crossing Sarawak River to the Kampungs Boyan and Gersik for Imp's survey on lovely old traditional old houses as well as a climb up to Fort Margherita to enjoy a panorama of Kuching City..

Imp's first tambang ride

The tambangs were actually much more stable than they looked though I've learnt taking a journey on water with Imp is not entirely safe.. He lacks the steady footing of a Libran like yours truly, apparent by the nervous grin he gave the camera.. Fortunately, the experience and skill of the boatman and the equal distribution of weight on both sides of the craft gave us a smooth and dry ride across to our destination..

River crossing in style

Anyway, jokes aside, the Tambangs are simply excellent elements of river life.. Not only do they serve as a cheap shuttle for locals travelling from the Kampungs to town (only RM0.30 per trip), they give tourists an unpretentious taste of authentic Kuching river transport.. Lovely ain't it? 

Lovely Malay kampung house

The stroll through the Kampungs wasn't exactly enjoyable thanks to the Bornean heat.. though Imp did manage to seek out some excellent gems such as this well-maintained house of the traditional Malay Kampung typology (I think).. Well, despite my inability to entirely comprehend the need to scout about people's dwellings and take snapshots of their roofs/windows/doors/verandas/etc, I must say it was a pleasant stroll (discounted the heat) through old houses along seemingly unstable boardwalks and friendly maciks urging you to buy Kuching kueh lapis from the neighbourhood cake shop..

Kampung boardwalk

 

The sprawling Kampung Boyan

After the survey, we took a little climb up a slope behind Kampung Boyan which led first to the Police Museum and then to the fort through a narrow, almost hidden path obstructed partly by the monster of a construction next door (that's some National Council Building btw).. guess that's partly the reason why Fort Margherita seems isolated.. but I guess other than to get a view of Kuching Town and maybe read and feel a bit of history of the building, there's nothing much to do.. the entire building is bare save for one lonely looking currator.. hmm.. someone should introduce PSP to him! Hee..

Huge Monster in the making

Fort Margherita

View of Kuching from Fort Margherita

Yummy noodles by Mohammad Lim!

So with the survey done and fort visited.. we made our way towards the new part of Kuching.. and found this excellent and cheap place for makan just behind the Parkson Grand shopping centre.. Ting's Cafe! The prata is yummylicious and the chicken mushroom noodle by Mohammad Lim (haha) is fantastic.. Go check it out!








The rest of the uneventful afternoon was spent in the shopping centres to escape from the heat.. till dusk came and the street parade started again.. all the way from Padungan to the Padang.. in the heat somemore.. wah.. I really take my hat off these people.. And some of them are not even local but exchange students at the local university.. hot stuff!

Fiery!

Motorcycle parade

Kuching Health Authority Mascots