Sarawak - The Land of the Hornbills

Well, we finally touched down in Kuching from Kota Kinabalu in the rain. Again. No wonder Ikram said I am a blessing since wherever I go I will always be welcomed by the rain. We have already booked transport to and from the airport to our homestay.

I like Kuching. It is still full of greenery, nature and easy way of life. The people are very friendly and I could say welcoming. :-D))  We did not take any guided tour. We relied on the brochure and GPS and local taxis (which was a van). The taxis suited us fine as there were 8 of us. We did a lot of walking and took a rest along the route as there were benches under the trees. We spent the day along the Kuching waterfront. We did not take the river cruise as we were too early and the cruise only started after 5:30 pm i.e. in the evening. So, we took the river taxi to cross over the other side of the river. The fare was 50 sen per person. Across the river was where the famous "kek lapis" bakeries were. We went to Mira Kek Lapis and window shopped at Dayang Saleha Kak Lapis shop. We bought some cakes for the others back home. These were some views from the covered river taxi :-

The Dewan Undangan Negeri - a majestic building - view from the water front

The view along the river from the waterfront

The Astana - a fort from the British Occupation

The fast rising development along the river bank

Back to the water front, we walked in the drizzle and ended up at the colonial building which now housed the Sarawak Museum. Unfortunately it was closed as most of their exhibits had been sent to KL for an exhibition. I liked the building with its main court yard reminiscent of old colonial houses. This building used to be the state court house with 4 main buildings. When it finally stopped drizzling, we trailed along the road and shopped for souvenirs. The whole row of old shophouses were souvenir shops. Part of it reminded you of the old section of Jonker Street in Melaka. Finally, tired and exhausted, we took a taxi back to our homestay.