5th June - Kuching

Thursday 5^th June

Anchored in the river

So far we are wildly enthusiastic about Kuching.  It is a fascinating city, full of surprises and beauty.  I haven’t yet been able to capture much of the beauty…will take my camera to town tomorrow!

Not beautiful but I love the idea of a Corner of Good Hope!

Yesterday we set off to catch the “bus” on the main road.  (“Bus” is in inverted commas because…maybe there wasn’t one…)  One of our neighbours, Rob (Melbourne), from SV Jolie Breeze, walked up with us.  He said the buses sometimes don’t come at all and that we might have to wait for two hours.  We said that we would probably be able to hitchhike, and he looked a bit dubious.  He had barely started walking towards the village, in the opposite direction, when I called out to him to point out that we were already clambering into a nice airconditioned van.  We hadn’t even reached the main road, or stuck out a beseeching thumb!

Our delightful men look particularly villainous in this photo; I can assure you they were totally charming and full of information and chat.  Moslim apologized for his poor English and then proceeded to chat in a most erudite manner, in almost perfect English.  Moslim helpfully wore a nametag.  I hadn’t ever met a person called Moslim before but of course it is quite logical – we have many people called Christian in English-speaking countries, after all.  The driver, whose name I have forgotten was completely silent until about five minutes from the city centre, when he suddenly revealed a very good command of English.  Maybe he was a shy flower.

Fabulous ancient carvings at the back of a wonderful Kuching shop

We walked around the city, exclaiming joyfully at the fascinating shops, and tormenting various shopkeepers who were sure we were going to buy something big and expensive.  I lashed out and bought a very pretty necklace for about $5 but…it turned out to be itchy and scratchy so it was relegated to the bottom of my backpack.

What we were after was top-up for our internet cards.  We had been struggling with our old ones, from Langkawi, which were running out of steam and causing us much computer-related stress.  Yet again – we have been very lucky in this regard – we found a most helpful young bloke who was very knowledgeable and patient.  I took a photo of him, for posterity, but unfortunately it is out of focus.  I do have to share his lower limbs on the blog, however, no matter how blurry… Pink-toed socks and thongs!

Pete had a lot of business stuff to do on the internet, so we went to Starbucks – always a good source of free WiFi.  It was in a big, bright shopping mall full of modern shops – Esprit, Body Shop, Ripcurl, and we were able to sit right near the window looking out onto a beautiful park.  Pete worked for hours.  I did my blog and emails and then gazed, fascinated, and this beautiful tree.  Every now and then it would erupt with a flurry of small white birds, flitting across the dark sky.

I got into conversation with a friendly-looking man at the next table.  And…he was Tasmanian, from Devonport!  Dr Adam Newcombe, Senior Lecturer Graphics, Swinburne Sarawak to be exact.  He and his wife have been working in Kuching for two years, and are nearing the end of their time here.  They have loved it and have made the most of their time in this fascinating part of the world.  (And yes of course we immediately made connections…Meriloy’s brother Andrew Bennett, for one…)  I very much enjoyed meeting him.  Poor Pete didn’t get a chance to talk to him at all.  He would occasionally turn to look at me with an agonized expression which meant HELP! I can’t make your bloody computer do what I want it to do!!  I would duck across and try to pour oil on troubled waters, and then he would be left to his own tortured devices while I enjoyed Adam’s company.

Adam Newcombe

We caught a local bus (4 ringgits) back to Santubong.  Great fun.  It was full of cheery schoolboys and it went this way that way forwards and backwards off the main road.

We stopped along the way for the bus driver to buy some fish and for me to take a photo of this blue-eyed kuching...

It seemed like a good idea to go to the nearby “restaurant” for dinner; we were too tired even to think of beginning to peel potatoes, or slice onions.  “Restaurant” is in inverted commas because…well they didn’t bring me my dinner.  Rob (SV Jolie Breeze) didn’t get his either.  We sat politely waiting.  I ate a bit of rice, a bit of green slippery veg, a sliver of Pete’s fish.  Eventually, as the restaurant was closing around us, Rob tentatively asked the waitress where our meals were.  Oh, she said brightly.  No have!

This little girl was deeply suspicious of my attempts to photograph the cats at the fish stall

Another 2XS birthday today – James Headlam, crewmember extraordinaire.  James has been on board more than anyone else, and his company is always extremely welcome.  He is full of energy and fun and LOVES cranking the boat up to greater speeds than Pete and I would ever dream of…