Travel writer Peter Kilcullen takes you to a former colonial spice empire caught between rainforest tribal life, a thriving tourist trade, a five-star Hilton Hotel and a large white cat.
By Peter Kilcullen
FOR THE uninitiated, the relationship of East Malaysia's Sarawak to Borneo can be confusing. Basically, the southern two thirds of Borneo is controlled by Indonesia, and the northern third by Malaysia and Brunei. In the Malaysia part are the states of Sarawak, Sabah, and the Federal (Malaysian) Territory of Labuan, a small island and international offshore financial centre, off the coast of Sabah.
Largely covered by ancient rainforests, Sarawak is about the size of England and Wales making it Malaysia's largest state.
Sarawak has an interesting colonial history as it was seat of the 'white rajahs' - the Brookes. The reign, which lasted three generations, started in 1841 with young British adventurer and trader James Brookes who quelled a local rebellion against Brunei, and was rewarded with the title of the Rajah of Sarawak.
James Brooke never married and was succeeded by his nephew, Charles Brookes, who built many fine buildings that still stand in the city: The Astana - a palace built for his beautiful English bride Ranee Margaret, Fort Margherita to guard against pirates, Sarawak Museum and the Courthouse.
In this colonial cul-de-sac, their son, the third Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke was blessed with three daughters. The eldest of whom married Lord Inchcape, and the second married Harry Roy the bandleader, a union that gave birth to Sarawaki, a popular tune of the 1930s.
The third white rajah continued to rule until the Japanese invaded the city in 1941. After WWII, the colony was ceded to Britain until independence in 1963 when Sarawak joined the Malaysian Federation.
At this point, you may be asking yourself why was James Brookes interested in Sarawak in the first place? In the early 19th century, they weren't after rubber - they were after spices. European winters meant a diet of dried salted meat. Pepper and other spices were highly prized to give flavour to an otherwise boring meal. Traders travelled Asian ports gathering spices to resell at a very handsome profit. Traders were businessmen and they’d often take seeds from one country for the locals to grown in other therefore guaranteeing a second supply.
Cat City
Sarawak's capital city, Kuching (meaning cat), was built on the banks of the Sarawak River. The waterfront area has been stylishly upgraded and is a very popular meeting place with restaurants, food stalls and entertainment.
You can almost feel the presence of author Somerset Maugham as he sat after a long lunch and more than a few liqueurs, entertaining his hosts with tall tales and true, or possibly as he wrote The Letter in the cooled air beside Sarawak River.
Kuching is a compact city and places of interest are in easy walking distance. Fort Margherita's cannons no long fire at 8pm as they did in days of Rajah Charles Brookes. Now it houses the Police Museum with interesting displays of opium dens, 'laughing skulls' and police paraphernalia.
The former palace, the Astana is the governor's residence but you can wander the manicure gardens and enjoy the view.
Said to be one of the best museums in Southeast Asia, the Sarawak Museum gives a fascinating insight into village life in Borneo as it houses an ethnographic collection, ornate musical instruments, tribal art, reconstructions of traditional longhouses and archaeological exhibits. Be warned, some exhibits like shrunken heads and a set of dentures stuck to a hairball retrieved from a crocodile's stomach, are not for the faint hearted.
Kuching is the City of the Cat, and has a very large white kitschy Kitty statue as the city's mascot. There's a Cat Museum featuring famous cats of the world, and statues of cats in parks and even intersections.
Shopping
You can buy handicrafts in the shops along the Main Bazaar, which runs along the waterfront and is the oldest street in Kuching. Like in Australia, most cheap souvenirs aren't made locally. For higher quality items like hand painted fabrics and paintings, try Jalan Bazaar.
There's also many emporiums that sell international designer brands at reasonable prices.
Accommodation
Refurbished five years ago, the 315-room Hilton Kuching is in a prime position by the waterfront and city. From my room, I had a front row seat to watch the Sarawak sunset over Serapi Mountain.
The room was very comfortable and the service at the Hilton was impeccable. It was Italian night in the restaurant and it felt bizarre eating the best of Italian food in this world of multi-cultural eating experiences.
As in all parts of Malaysia, eating out is a food safari with street stalls, noodle shops Cantonese, Indian, Japanese, seafood, pizza places, steakhouses and even KFC outlets.
Even the Sarawak interpretation of pizza is so decorative, it looked more like a birthday cake. And make sure you try the Sarawak pepper biscuits - they are biscuits with a bite.
Pre-history
Sarawak holds many diamonds for those interested in pre-history. The Niah Caves in the Miri region are an archaeologist's dream as the caves are the site of the earliest known habitation by homo sapiens in Southeast Asia - some 40,000 years ago. The cave also contains 2,000-year old rock paintings depicting canoe-like boats on which people are dancing, holding spears and other objects while others wear unusual headdresses.
Other attractions:
Bako National Park: the home of proboscis monkeys, silver leaf monkeys, wild boars, monitor lizards and magnificent birds.
Sarawak Cultural Village: a living museum just outside Kuching near Santubong. It gives you insight into the daily life in a typical village with displays of dances, music and crafts.
Batang Ai National Park: a huge variety of wildlife including wild orang-utans, hornbills and gibbons, and flora.
Miri: a coastal city near Brunei that has developed largely as a result of oil industry tycoons. Oil Well No.1 on Canada Hill, where oil was first discovered in Sarawak in 1910, is an ideal spot to watch the sunset over the South China Sea.
Mulu Caves: The caves of Gunung Mulu, as it is known locally, contain the largest limestone cave system in the world. The caves include the world's largest natural chamber (Sarawak Chamber), the world's largest cave passage (Deer Cave) and the longest cave in Southeast Asia (Clearwater Cave). The Mulu National Park contains thousands of species of ferns, fungi, mosses and flowering plants including 170 species of wild orchid and 10 species of pitcher plant.
Getting there
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flies direct to Sarawak (Kuching) from Sydney. |
