7th June - Kuching - museums

Saturday 7^th June

Sunset on Santubong River - NOT enhanced or photoshopped, I swear!

Well today…no orangutans.  But…lots of Kuching!

Beautiful Kuching…

We left in a minivan around 9.30, all keen to go to the cat museum.  The only museum in the world totally devoted to The Cat.  (Kuching means CAT, in case this was not apparent….)

And…it was TUTUP.  Closed…Today was a public holiday  the king’s birthday…so, obviously, the large and impressive Cat Museum would be CLOSED.

Sigh sigh…

But we did see a most splendid cat, mooching round nonchalantly under a stall selling stripy little cakes.

 And some of the startling large statues found at random points around the city...

We also found several stalls selling…Viagra, Cialis, and a drug purported to bring GREAT PLEASURE to women.  Hmph, snorted Janice, when I told her about this.  I think the only drug which would bring pleasure to a woman would be if her husband would be REALLY NICE to her ALL DAY!

Slightly out of focus because...maybe I was a bit embarrassed taking this photo 

Janice and Lyn had a happy Kuching Day.  They had henna tattoos on their hands and are thrilled to bits.  I would have done his too, had I known…but Pete and I were busybusy, doing museums…

Our first museum, we had been told, was THE BEST museum in The World.  Yes – The World!  (This from our van driver, Moslim, on our first day in Kuching.)  Eyewitness Guide was a bit more temperate - The best museum in MALAYSIA.  We would be inclined to agree.  I was a delightful museum, spread over a few different beautiful old buildings.  Very cosy, full of quirky, random bits and pieces.  Carvings, relics, glorious art work

A lovely mural by Margaret Wee ( I am so glad my surname is not Wee...)

And the odd item to send shivers down one’s spine…

A watch, found in the belly of a large saltwater crocodile…  (They also had the dental plate, attached to a large hairball inside this same hungry beastie…but that was too gruesome for even me to contemplate for long.

Pete lends a bit of perspective to this huge stone carving

We also went to the textile museum – lovely; and the Chinese museum – lovely.  They unfortunately had a strict NO CAMERAS ALLOWED policy so I don’t remember much about either of them…(I need visual reminders…tiny brain…)

We had another Ipoh lunch, with our friends (Janice, Lyn. Chris – Mick was busy climbing Mt Sanbutong and swimming in a waterfall.  Oh the energy!!) 

After lunch Pete and I looked in shops.  Full of THINGS.  Especially…cats….

I took a photo of a dear little girl called Wen, who wanted to sell me a very small rattan mat…

It was – how surprising – very VERY hot and I began to wilt mid afternoon.  I just wanted to find somewhere cool and shady to sit and…just sit.  Pete was in mad Dogs and Englishmen (out in the midday sun) mode and he strode across to the old courthouse building (so beautiful…)

I was not keen to follow but…so glad I did, because there, out in the midday sun, was one of the heats of the Miss Islam competition!  SO fascinating!

Once again it is late…Sleepyboboland beckons…

Tomorrow we are going to catch our local bus to Damai Village, to have a bit of a look at the cultural centre where we had our dinner last night.  It was dark and we could see it was all very lovely but…it was dark!  At lunchtime we will leave and sail up the coast about 26 nautical miles, to an island.  On our way to Miri!  We are all a bit sad to be leaving glorious Kuching but…the rally timetable beckons… (And maybe we can sneak back.)

Who knows if there will be any internet connection??