Kuching

Katy and ourselves have just spent the weekend in Kuching, capital of Sarawak. We stayed in the Hilton (large white building in the middle of the photo below) with a room with fabulous views over the river and the new Parliament building (still under construction)
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Spices at the market



Food was good too - Howard eating a steamboat and BBQ, and Katy at a sushi bar......




We did an evening river estuary cruise to see probiscus monkeys, the very shy irriwaddy dolphins (library picture included - we only saw their backs and tails as they dived), a couple of macaque monkeys, fireflies in the trees and a crocodile in the dark eating a fish. Great sunset to boot. Coming home at high speed in the dark was a bit ouchy though. I assume that the boatman knew what he was doing!


We also went to the Sarawak Cultural Village - really interesting buildings and crafts on display. Plus a great show of native dancing and culture.This is the guy with the blowpipe - very accurate!

Monkey and human sculls decorate the houses...


Then a trip to the Rehabilitation centre for oranutangs. There are 22 wild in the forest around and we managed to see about 12 of them. Some came into the feeding station to pinch some food. Others just sat around and watched us......


And finally - the sunsets.....