Malaysia, like Indonesia, is a country which loves cats. So much so, in fact, they named a city after them. The origin of the name is under dispute, but it’s a fact that Kuching is the Malaysian word for cat. Located on the island of Borneo, in the state of Sarawak, Kuching is a fun place to visit. We recently took a trip to Kuching from Penang, Malaysia, and it’s not just for cat lovers!
Kuching Background
Kuching is pronounced Koo – Ching. It is the capital of the state of Sarawak, but we didn’t find it very busy. We saw other tourists, but not many, and most places we visited were fairly quiet. The busiest place was Bako National Park outside of Kuching, where we saw monkeys and other native wildlife.
After visiting Indonesian Borneo, it was interesting to get a glimpse of Malaysian Borneo. Malaysia is a far richer and more advanced country than Indonesia, with more luxuries and better restaurants. We didn’t realize before we went, but Kuching is known for its food and is a UNESCO City of Food. We quickly caught on and our trip to Kuching involved good meals at markets and restaurants. Other UNESCO Cities of Food include Canada’s Kelowna, Panama City, and Launceston in Tasmania.
Getting to Kuching
As the capital and largest city in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia, Kuching has a big airport. We flew from Penang on Malaysia’s west coast, across the South China Sea and south, in under 2 hours. Kuching is about even with Singapore latitudanally.
Although we were flying domestic, we still went through customs and immigration at Kuching International Airport. As an international airport, flights come from Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore as well as other parts of Malaysia.
Kuching City
Built on the Sarawak River on the southwest of Borneo’s Sarawak state, Kuching’s population is just over 160,000 people. Daytime is hot, especially when the sun’s out, with temperatures in the 30s. However, we noticed that compared to most of Malaysia, it gets cooler, even comfortable at night.
There’s a lot to see and do on a trip to Kuching. It’s not just about cats, although those are fun. The city has good museums, excellent dining, fun riverfront attractions, and nature and wildlife excursions.
Cats and the Cat Museum
This city named after cats takes that responsibility seriously. From cat sculptures and murals to shops selling cat themed merchandise, Kuching has embraced its identity as a haven for cat lovers.
The cat museum is a fun place to visit, across the river from town. As soon as you enter through an oversized cat’s head, enjoy the quirkiness. Open since 1992, the museum houses more cat related displays than I’ve ever seen in one place.
The exhibits run the gamut of feline art, history, and pop culture. We saw cat mummies and portraits, tributes to “famous” cats like Garfield and Hello Kitty, cat comics, and lots of cat statues and stuffies.
Borneo Cultures Museum
There’s a lot to do in Kuching unrelated to cats. We also visited the excellent Borneo Cultures museum, the largest museum in Malaysia. Much of the museum focuses on the history and culture of the Sarawak and other Borneo peoples. We saw displays of weapons and crafts, and learned about the animals and geography of the region.
Unfortunately, our visit overlapped a family of the worst museum-goers I have previously witnessed. They included a woman video-conferencing her walk through the galleries as her grandchildren screamed and ran amok while the parents rotated between ignoring them and laughing at their bratty behavior. We avoided them the best we could by entering the exhibits through the out door and were impressed with the museum.
A Trip to Kuching: Street Art
Large scale cat statues are just the beginning of the street art around the city of Kuching. We saw lots of beautiful murals of cats and others representing the history of the capital city.
And yes, of course the city has beautiful – and large – cat murals. In downtown,
And downhill from the Cat Museum.
Eating in Kuching
I can’t talk about this UNESCO Food city without highlighting some of our great meals in Kuching. We visited hawker markets, lively bars, and some fine dining spots during our four days and nights in Sarawak’s capital city. Like the rest of Malaysia, the cuisine is influenced by several cultures: Chinese, Indian, Malay, and as in Malacca, Nyonya. Also, Borneo has some of it’s own distinct dishes and flavours.
Our Favorite Food
Our favorite food in Kuching is known as midin, which we found similar to fiddleheads available in Ontario in the springtime. It is similar because they are both ferns and taste alike. Midin is a Sarawak specialty and on many menus in Kuching. We ordered it at least 3 times during our stay there. We liked it sauteed with garlic and oil – crispy, healthy and delicious.
our favorite place: topspot food court
We liked this popular market so much, we went on our first night and returned on our last night in Kuching. Multiple stalls serve all kinds of Malaysian, Chinese, and Sarawak food, and the place was always bustling with locals enjoying it.
Other meals in Kuching
We visited another popular food court, and enjoyed traditional Sarawakian food in a higher end restaurant in Kuching. We also tried some fun cocktail bars and yummy coffee shops. The official food city label is accurate, and we walked most everywhere to get good grub.
A Trip to Kuching and Bako National Park
On our last full day in Kuching, we made the trip to Bako National Park. Known as the top spot in Sarawak for wildlife experiences, it has been a protected area since 1957. As a result, the animals are considered less wary of humans, so you are more likely to see them up close.
Getting to Bako N.P.
Located on the north coast of Sarawak, the trip from Kuching to Bako takes about 30 minutes driving to the jetty. Then you line up to pay for both the boat (200 MYR, Malaysian ringgits) and the park pass (20 MYR per international adult). The boat was the most annoying part of the experience for us. You can’t just pay your fee and get on any boat. You have to return at the pre-arranged time, with the driver who took you. In our case, the driver over booked about 8 different groups for the return trip at 3pm, meaning we were fighting to get in a boat back about 30 minutes later than agreed. We were hot, we were sweaty, and we were ready to leave. It was annoying.
Also, the boat dropped us off in the water – I think it was low tide and the dock inaccessible – so okay. However, you are warned against swimming because of all the crocodiles in the water. The water we waded in to get out of the boat. The only way to get to the park! I guess that’s one way of getting up close to the wildlife. We just did what we know. Got out of the water faster than the other people.
Other than the boat issue, which you can’t seem to avoid without booking a tour, we loved Bako National Park. We hiked three different trails, interspersed with refreshment breaks at the cafeteria (it was hot!), and saw all the animals we wanted to see and more.
Animal sightings
A trip to Kuching and Bako National Park is worth it for the animal sightings. We saw different animals than on our trip to Indonesian Borneo, which made it even cooler.
Monkeys
We spotted proboscis and silver leaf monkeys, including a baby silver leaf which is orange!
The baby was so cute. We watched it scramble along a branch and then rush back to momma monkey for cuddles and comfort. He or she was a popular sight in the park, for good reason.
After a few minutes in the park, finding the wildlife was easy. Similar to koala sightings in Australia, we looked for the groups of people standing beneath trees. They were almost always looking at monkeys.
We also saw a silver leaf at the cafeteria stealing people’s food. Don’t eat outside!
Bearded Pigs
In addition to the various monkeys, you are likely to see bearded pigs. Upon returning from our last hike, I mentioned to Brian we hadn’t seen the Borneo pigs. At that moment, they appeared! By the cafeteria, scrounging for food.
The National Park was a great experience aside from the lengthy and annoying wait for the boat driver to take us back. The system is designed to provide work to the locals in the community but it is not working or we got a corrupt driver who took on way too many clients. We were glad to get back to the boat launch and Kuching.
A Trip to Kuching: More Activities
One night, we walked along the river to the Darul Hana Bridge for the free light show. You can stand anywhere along the waterfront or on the bridge and enjoy the lights and music at the fountain. The show runs twice a night on weeknights and 3x on weekends. It lasts about 15 minutes and is a wholesome, and free, fun activity in Kuching.
If you ever take a trip to Kuching, you may want to visit the orangutan sanctuary. We skipped it since we recently saw lots of orangutans in Kalimantan and also because it was not the right time of year. You want to be there when fruits are not in season so the animals need to be fed. Another cool thing to do in Kuching is to visit for a festival like the Rainforest World Music Fest, but we were a month too late.
You can’t do everything, but we got to see and do a lot on our trip to Kuching. What do you think about Malaysia’s cat city and what would you do first? Share in the comments.
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