Jungle, modern life blend in Sarawak

Jungle, modern life blend in Sarawak

By Andreas Heimann

KUCHING, Malaysia (DPA): The jungle city of Kuching in
northwestern Borneo is kind to visitors. It has long adapted to
modern life and tourists here do not have to forego any of the
usual comforts in life. Nevertheless this city, capital of the
Malaysian federal state of Sarawak, remains true to its east-
Asian character.

Kuching is situated in the tropics, and daytime temperatures
usually reach 30 degrees. Even at midnight it is not really cool,
but the evenings are comfortable. At that time of day the lights
of the city reflect on the water on the one-kilometer promenade
along the Sarawak River, and visitors can watch fishing boats
heading out to the South China Sea. The evenings are much calmer
than the daytime hustle and bustle in this city of 450,000
inhabitants.

Only a minority of the two million inhabitants of Sarawak are
Malayan. "While Malaysia as a whole is Moslem, more than half of
the people in Sarawak are Christian," said Angela Lin Sam of the
Sarawak Tourist Board, herself a Catholic from the Iban tribe.

Visitors should not miss a visit to the Chinese quarter of
Kuching, where there are endless rows of shops all jumbled
together: bakeries alongside bicycle shops, chemists and
ironmongers. The Chinese History Museum in the center of the city
is dedicated to their culture.

The museum is directly opposite the Tua Pek Kong Temple, the
oldest house of worship in Sarawak. A table with a large candle
on it stands behind the open door - and directly at the front is
a plate with a sacrifice on it - usually a duck's foot and parts
of a chicken.

A short distance to the south towers the Civic Center, a
futuristic skyscraper on stilts with an elevator on the outside
wall which offers a marvelous view of the city.

Probably the best way to sample the Asian section of the city
is a visit to the Sunday market. Women with shopping baskets push
their way past stands displaying prawns and muscles while live
fish swim in plastic bowls. They are weighed and sold in
transparent plastic bags. You can even buy a live chicken to take
away in a polythene bag.

In the Bako National Park, a short excursion from Kuching, you
can spot apes. Also recommended is a trip to the Sarawak Cultural
Village, an open air museum on the Santu Bong peninsula, which
exhibits the cultures and lifestyles of the different Sarawak
tribes. Many of the groups were adversaries well into 20th
century. Warriors in tribal wars would behead their opponents,
which is why they were known as headhunters.

Sarawak today is best known for its rain forest. "Around 70
per cent of Sarawak is still forested," said Mohammed Tuah Jais,
manager of the Sarawak Tourist Board. "The aim is to maintain as
much of it as possible." It remains a matter of dispute whether
tourism can contribute to this.

Tours of the jungle, that can be booked from tour operators in
Kuching, include an overnight stay in a longhouse, in which the
original inhabitants of Sarawak live. Longhouses belonging to the
Ibans can usually only be reached along the jungle waterways,
such as the Batang Ai reservoir.

Longhouse safaris offer a breath of adventure: the means of
transport is a wobbly five-metre long boat. It carries you from
the reservoir into the maze-like river system, and past the lush
green vegetation of the rain forest.

Spending the night in a longhouse is quite adventurous too.
Most communities have built a separate guest house especially for
tourists. But the program includes an evening visit to your hosts
next door. The appearance of the shaman, or witch doctor,
decorated with feathers and shells on his legs, is only for show
- but the dance he performs accompanied by gong and drum, is a
genuine part of Iban tribal tradition. Guests also meet the
tribal chief. But the evening really gets into swing when tuak, a
rice wine, is served.

In the morning, it is a very strange feeling to be waken by
the unfamiliar noises of the jungle. Small pigs grunt in front of
the longhouse, butterflies are already out in the forest. Guided
jungle walks then offer at least a fleeting glimpse of the rain
forest.

While Sarawak has a reputation for its rich and varied animal
kingdom, you would be very unlikely to spot the horned bird that
is the heraldic symbol of the state. Neither will you likely come
across a snake, even though more species inhabit Borneo than
virtually anywhere else in the world. But with luck, you might
come across an ape - even if it is only swinging in a distant
tree.