Downtime in Borneo

Since we had 5 days in Borneo we decided to spread out the sightseeing.

Yesterday we did the orangutan center, and today we opted to wander around Kuching. There isn’t much but we still managed to see different areas of town and some nice colonial buildings to snap photos of. The buildings don't move as fast as the orangutans so these photos will be a bit crisper.

Another Cat Statue in Kuching ( Cat City)

Looking across the river to the Parliament Building

There is a new bridge which connects the city to the new Parliament and we thought the St. Margarita fort. We get to to the end of the bridge only to find out it doesn’t connect to the fort at all. You walk down and around to find the whole area fenced in with only a gate to enter the parliament building.

The new pedestrian bridge across the river

We asked the guard who very nicely advised we had the option of crossing over a creek and follow the fence or walk all the way around which added another 20 minutes. You would think we took the former, however as the only way of crossing the creek was a 2 by 2 board and if one fell it was about 3 feet down, so being the practical one, I advised that we would be taking the latter option. Having broken an ankle I didn’t need to replay that song again.

The walk although long also gave us a chance to see some abandoned buildings, which we love to see. It always provides us a glimpse of how people live and gives you a sense of appreciation to what we do have back home.

Old Apartment Complex

Finally made it to the fort, took some photos, and then found out they wanted to charge us USD 10 as there was an exhibit going on, and we declined. They offered to give us access for half of that just to see the courtyard of the fort.

Walking up to Fort Margherita

Around the back of Fort Margherita

The front of Fort Margherita

It was a tiny fort and you could see through some of the inside through the slats in the walls and we felt that with the discount, it still wasn’t worth it. It didn’t help that we had read earlier that it was free.

Looking into the courtyard of Fort Margherita

Afterwards we wandered down to find some food and air conditioning.

Here’s the kicker. Never believe my husband. There’s a boat which takes you directly to the fort. He claimed it would cost 50 ringgits and thought we could save our money. By the end of this walking tour I didn’t care what it cost I wasn’t walking back in this heat and humidity. Mark pretty much knows when he isn’t going to win an argument, so he was also in agreement.

We get to the boat and the guy only charges us 1 Ringit each for the crossing.

Grabbed lunch around 2 pm by the old city hall, and here is where the original town started.

Entrance to old Town Hall

Street art in Kuching

Relaxed back in the hotel. Later in the evening found a great place called Big Bottle where they have fridges of beer, water, sodas, wines etc. you help yourself pay the man, sit outside an order your pizza.

The pizza was so outstanding and went back twice. Would definitely recommend this place.

After a long hot day went back and took some cool showers as the next day would be an early day with a tour of Bako National Park - we had scheduled our taxi driver from yesterday's tour to pick us up at 8 am.