6th and 7th march 2009:Kuching and surrounds, Sarawak

Kuching waterfront, along the southern bank of the Sungai Sarawak, is a picturesque and interesting place to wander. The bookshops have any number of out of print books, including a good selection on natural history, so it's a dangerous place to go if your bags are already overweight like mine were!



The narrow streets behind the waterfront are also full of hidden treasures.



For instance, I came across the most overqualified optician in the world! He should also have a FTBSTAP (Far Too Busy Studying To Actually Practice!).



The best way to see Kuching is from a river cruise, and there just happens to be one setting off at 5.30pm every evening, just in time to catch the sunset. That colourful building in the background is my all time favourite multi-storey carpark!



The shop houses along the river front are a pleasant array of shades too. Brooke (as in the White Rajah) dockyard is said to be the oldest in Asia, and that's easy to believe from the state of it.



Just round the corner from there is this stunningly beautiful mosque.



And directly opposite is the old palace built by the second white rajah - Charles Brooke. I know this because there is an excellent and informative running commentary aboard.



But the subleties of the historic buildings tend to be lost against the brash modern ones from a distance.






















A river taxi crosses behind us. Hard to imagine that the river was once host to head-hunters, pirates and crocodiles!






















But we got a little reminder from this iban warrior giving us a welcome dance!



The welcome was reciprocated - rather bizarrely - by a western tourist!




After sunset, we joined Yeo Siew Teck again on the outskirts of town at a small suburban piece of remnant jungle. Here we quickly found a roosting Red-legged Crake.



And this juvenile Cat Gecko.

We were also fortunate to glimpse a Western Tarsier deep in the undergrowth, but we couldn't get photos of it, nor did we hear or see the Javan Frogmouth that has been seen there recently.