Kuching - Sarawak, Malaysia

Kuching was our base on Borneo - where we flew into, and where we directed our travel on the island from.  The city has a colourful history, as it is the provincial capital in the semi-autonomous Malaysian province of Sarawak.  There is a obscure but tremendously interesting story associated with Sarawak and one British rambler who, as luck would have it, would be given an entire province to rule as his kingdom.

James Brookes, a son of a colonial administrator in India, bought a ship and set out to explore.  Landing on Borneo the 1840’s, he chanced upon a vicious rebellion against the Bruneian Sultan -- at that time much more powerful -- and Brookes assisted one of the Sultan’s allies.  After the rebellion was quashed, the Sultan awarded a little recompense: the Governorship of Sarawak.  A few years later, Brookes, armed with colonial connections to Britain, ended another coup and restored the Sultan to His throne.  Owing his kingdom to Brookes, the Sultan repaid him be granting Brookes complete sovereignty of Sarawak.

As far as cool titles are concerned, Brookes was up there with the best; he fashioned himself The White Rajah of Sarawak, James Brookes.  Rajah was traditionally a title from the Indian subcontinent, familiar to Brooke’s upbringing.  His family would go on to rule Sarawak from 1841-1946, their reign coming to an end after World War II.  Faced both with the frightening realities the Japanese occupation brought and their diminishing power amidst such modern nations, the last White Rajah, Vyner of Sarawak, ceded control of Sarawak to the British Empire.  Some colonial administrations do indeed bring good to their lands, and the White Rajahs are, in some quarters, proudly remembered as dedicated to improving Sarawak: improving infrastructure, codifying laws, and battling pirates (definitely the coolest of the three).

I digress.  We spent three days in and around Kuching, before moving on to Bako National Park.  Kuching was a picturesque city, with a languid river running through the middle.  From Kuching, we took trips out to an Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and to a nearby beach.  The rehab centre was fantastic - a large tract of protected wilderness near Kuching that housed about one score of the celebrated old world monkey.  We were lucky enough to catch feeding time, quietly watching as two mothers and two babies ate their fill of fresh fruits for breakfast.    

One of Kuching's many colourful buildings.

My red haired cousins!

Empty streets in Kuching.