To Kuching

The flight to Kuala Lumpur from Melbourne took 8 hours. Then I took a second plane to Kuching, the main city of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.

Kuching may have been
named after a cat-like animal

Some people say that Kuching is named after a cat-like animal that was seen by the first white Rajah of Sarawak. The animal, he was told, was a Kuching.

About 600000 people live in Kuching. The main industry is drilling, off-shore, for oil and gas. Tea, coffee, tropical fruits, and rice are grown in Sarawak.
The city spreads out along a river. The banks of the river are lined with parks and are popular wih the people who stroll in the shade of the tropical trees. The weather is hot, about 32C and very humid. September is the end of the wet season.

For lunch, I had a Sarawak laksa, a soup-like meal with noodles, chicken and prawns. Hot and spicy!

Visited the local museum, which was built-in the 1800s. There were displays of houses that were once built by the headhunting tribes that lived in the hills. The heads of enemies were cut off in battle and then hung inside the house of the chief.

Kuching is a popular place for tourists from other parts of Malaysia, Australia and from European countries.