Day 7 was meant to have a more ‘relaxed’ itinerary as compared to day 6. There was less hiking involved, but no less sweating (did I mention how hot it was in Kuching. Temperature was high 36, low 28). My favourite part of having a personal guide instead of joining a tour group? I could ask Henry, “Please take us to where locals eat”. Beats being taken to tourist spots any day of the week.
Kampur mee. Looks very much like Wanton mee found in Singapore. But it’s not. I prefer this Kampur Mee to Wanton Mee. First of all, there’s no bloody ketchup smeared on the noodles. Second of all, there’s no bloody ketchup smeared on the noodles. I could go on, but basically, there’s no bloody ketchup smeared on the noodles. FYI, there’s no chili sauce either. The noodles are cooked al dente, then tossed in delicious pork fat. Fantastic. I could eat those noodles on its own without the charsiew. The texture was perfect ‘to the bite’ (unlike the soggy stuff most hawkers pass as noodles in Singapore).
First stop was the Semenggoh Oran Utan Rehabilitation Center. It’s basically a wildlife reserve where rescued Oran Utans are allowed to roam free. Twice a day, they allow tourists to go into the feeding area to view the Oran Utans. We were warned that the Oran Utans may not always appear, its not a zoo. The Oran Utans are free to range, and if the fruits are plentiful, they would not make an appearance when the rangers leave food for them.
I guess we were pretty lucky to encounter a few. I counted 4. There were 2 swinging free in the trees, and another 2 eating in the feeding area.
Scratch my balls?
Our next stop was to the Serikin border market. Basically a massive day market selling everything. Excellent opportunity to pick up souvenirs on the cheap. You can find the same stuff in town, but at much higher prices. There is a downside though. Obviously the better quality stuff is sent down to town, but you can still find some gems here.
Meals on Wheels
Next stop was to the Kampung Duyoh Bidayuh market. It was a small little makeshift market set up by local villagers to take advantage of the huge crowd of local tourists heading home from the Serikin border market. There is only one road, so all cars visiting the Serikin market would have to pass the Kampung Duyoh Bidayuh market. Unlike the Serikin market, the KDB market sold fresh produce. Fruits and vegetables and other foodstuffs freshly harvested from nearby farms.
Pitcher plant for sale…. For use in cooking, also if you wanna catch flies in your apartment. The locals use this particular species as a container to steam glutinous rice. They stuff the pod with glutinous rice and something sweet (like fruit) or savoury (dried shrimp) and steam it. We bought some to try, and it was pretty delicious.
These were entirely unique. There was only ONE stall in the entire market selling these. Chilies in south east asia are usually thin, not bell shaped. They looked more like mini-capsicums than chilies , and it was only when I got home and did some research that I found that they are called the ‘scotch bonnet’, mostly found in the Caribbeans. One of the main ingredients in Caribbean cuisine. I’m glad I bought some. Half for cooking, the other half to plant. Fingers crossed that they grow.
This is the stuff for food challenges.
Sago Worms. I didn’t one. I couldn’t bring myself to try one. Maybe next time. Or if I join the amazing race/survivor. (photo from JW)
Unidentified fruits from the market.
HUGE HUGE pineapples.
Lunch was in a quaint little coffeeshop in Bau(pronounced Bah-Woo. Those of you who know Malay may start sniggering now). How good was this bowl of Kolo Mee? After I finished the first one, I ordered a second. Prolly the best noodles I had in Kuching the entire trip.
Only those who understand Malay will get this joke.
There are 2 famous caves in Kuching. The Wind and the Fairy caves. We stopped at the Fairy cave first. So named because many of the stalagmites resemble figures and animals, we ventured through the cave system and came out on the other side of the mountain. No pictures as the route was hazardous and I had packed away my camera.
We didn’t go into the Wind Cave though. Just stopping outside to take the ‘we were there’ photo. It was already quite late and we were a little tired.
That’s the river running next to the caves. You can see how dry the weather was. It would’ve been an awesome swimming spot if the river was higher. There’s a nice picnic ground with BBQ pits right next to the river as well.
Singapore Chicken Rice is actually a franchised fast food joint in Kuching. We stopped to test its authenticity. Verdict?
Last stop before heading back to the hotel was the ‘Sunday Market’ in Kuching. The smarter ones among you would have realised that August 8 was actually Saturday. Well, this ‘Sunday’ market actually starts functioning on Saturday. Lots of stuff to see, buy and eat. BTW, the dragon fruit shown above is totally different from the ones found in Vietnam. Supposedly sweeter and much more delicious than the ‘white’ ones that are more common. I wouldn’t know, I don’t eat fruit.
Thanks to the haze, this was the closest thing to a sunset I saw in Kuching. Normally, the sunsets in Kuching are beautiful. You can even take a ‘sunset’ cruise along the river (this runs everyday). I’m glad I didn’t (the cruise fee costs 60RM per person) during this trip cos the sun didn’t set. It just ‘disappeared’ behind a wall of haze, and the sky just got darker and darker. Visibility during our trip was less than 2KM, and the API (Air Pollutant Index) was 100 (unhealthy).
You can see the sun 'disappearing' into the haze.
Obligatory boat picture. There has to be at least ONE in all my travel blogs.
We climbed to about 200+m above sea level on the Gunung Gading trail. Right up to waterfall 7. Interestingly enough, there is a waterfall 1, 3 and 7, but no 2,4,5,6.
That’s one of the buildings in the park HQ compound. There are hostels located here, for people who don’t want to do day trips. It’s run by the govt, so you have to make reservations at the office in Kuching town.
Along the trail, there’s a place called the ‘old man rock’. It’s just a huge collection of granite rocks that some ‘old man’ had rested at when he got lost on the mountain. Except for the sign and the faux history/legend/myth, there was nothing interesting there. Makes a great rest stop though.
More ‘legends’.
That’s waterfall 3. That pool looked gorgeous and inviting. Strangely enough, there was a sign that swimming was not allowed at this location. No idea why. It was really dry though. The area hadn’t seen rain in weeks. Good thing was the trail was very dry. Bad thing was the riverbed was very dry too.
Waterfall 7. Hey, that’s me. And who says I don’t put my photo on my blogs. (photo thanks to Henry)
On the way back to town, we saw this pasar malam (night market) being set up in the town of Bau. Of course I had to stop and look at the food. Another advantage of having a personal guide, I could just ask Henry to pull over and we can take a quick stroll. Some lovely chicken, marinated in a charsiew type sauce. The chicken wings were awesome.
Fresh fish and stingray, coated with Tumeric and other spices, pangganged on bamboo. Beautiful. Didn’t get a chance to buy some though, cos it was not yet ready.
Different stall, different recipe for the marinade. Equally delicious.
