Tag: Food and Drink

A Trip to Kuching

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.

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One Night in Jakarta

The world’s biggest city, Jakarta, Indonesia is home to over 41 million people. When we had a layover there on both ends of our Vietnam trip from Lombok, we really wanted to explore. While we didn’t have much time, we saw a little of the city, which sparked our desire to see more one day. Here’s how we spent our one night in Jakarta.

About Jakarta

We obviously would have liked a longer layover than one night in Jakarta, because there’s a lot to do.

Jakarta is Indonesia’s capital, and is located in the northwest of the island of Java, west of Bali. It was founded as a city in the 1600s and was occupied in turns by the Portuguese, Sudanese, the Dutch, British, and Japanese before Indonesian independence in 1945.

Jakarta is smaller than New York City, covering 664 square kilometers. But with so many people, it’s overwhelming, and it takes a long time to get anywhere. Trips from the airport to downtown, a distance of 20 kilometers, average 90 minutes, but can often take more than 2 hours due to traffic. They are working on mass transit, and there is a train from the airport that is an option.

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Impressions of Bali

Since we arrived in Indonesia in November, we’ve fallen in love with this country. From the friendly islands of eastern Indonesia we moved on to the center. In between visa runs, we visited Bali a few times, staying on land and on our boat. Although our short stays are not enough to provide a definitive guide to the island, we developed impressions of Bali.

About Bali

Bali is one of the world’s most renowned vacation spots and has been called “Heaven on Earth.” We respectfully disagree. We found this paradise spoiled by overcrowding, traffic, and pollution. When we were there, it wasn’t even busy with tourists, as tourism has been down lately.

Much like Moorea versus Tahiti in French Polynesia, we prefer Lombok over Bali. Lombok is quieter and more relaxed. I know we’ve been spoiled, and after years of traveling we prefer uncrowded places. But our impressions of Bali also include some lovely places and experiences.

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