Kuching
When I got to Kuching, I felt utterly confused. I hadn’t slept much the previous night. I took the night bus from Pontianak (Indonesia) to Kuching (Malaysia). The bus was very comfortable, but the road was incredibly bumpy… Going from Indonesia to Malaysia felt like entering a new world. It was obvious at first sight that Malaysia is much wealthier than Indonesia. All buildings were new, the streets were in a good state, no more shacks along the road… But I couldn’t understand why I saw Chinese characters everywhere? Also, where were the people? Every street seemed empty…
I took a taxi to my guesthouse and then ventured into the city. I was still confused: was I in Chinatown? Do they speak Chinese here? Is this really Malaysia? And where is everyone? I soon realized that Malaysia is nothing like Indonesia. About half of the Malay population is Chinese, so that is why there are Chinese characters everywhere. All of Malaysia is to some extent one big Chinatown. As to the people, I first figured it might be too hot for everyone to be outside. Although it was unbearably hot and humid, the heat wasn’t what kept Malay inside. It turns out, there are just way fewer people in Malaysia than in Indonesia. Another surprising thing about Malaysia is that every single person speaks English. I got used to gesturing and using extremely simple language in Indonesia. No need for that in Malaysia. School is taught in English and even people who sell food along the side of the road will be able to chitchat with you.
Kuching is a really cute town, but it took me a little while to feel its charm. Mainly, as long as it took me to find good food. 🙂 The food is different in Malaysia. It is a lot less spicy and I could definitely feel the mix between Indian, Chinese and typical Asian food. Apart from eating, there really wasn’t much to do in Kuching. All attractions can be seen in half a day. It is a colonial town so it is interspersed with some old colonial buildings. There are also different districts: a little India street, a Chinatown (which seemed a bit pointless to me since the whole city is a Chinatown), a Muslim quarter. Kuching felt less exotic and much more developed than Indonesia. There were giant shopping malls with all of the American and European brands. Another strange feature of Kuching is that it is full of cat statues. I really didn’t get that at the beginning. But it turns out that “Kuching” means “cat” and so they put cat monuments all over the city.
So all in all, Kuching was a chill town, a place to rest for a few days before moving on to some more adventurous places.
See more pictures here.
Practical Information: I stayed at Marco Polo’s guesthouse (56RM for private room) and would definitely recommend it. It might have been among the cleanest and nicest guesthouses I have stayed in so far. It also has good wifi (what a luxury!), hot showers, and the staff was very helpful and friendly.