Singapore Hotels & Malaysia Hotels
About Singapore Malaysia

EAST MALAYSIA 3

The indigenous people who still stay in the forest live in longhouse communities some of which are open for visitors. Most travelers access these places with the help of local tour operators, who have trips that last from an overnight excursion to a weeklong adventure. While some tours take you to well-trampled villages for the standard "gawk at the funny costumes" trips, many operators can take you to more remote places to meet people in an environment of cultural learning with a sensitivity that is appreciated by all involved. A few adventure some souls travel solo into these areas, but I recommend that you stick with an operator. I don't care much for visitors who pop in unexpectedly, and I can't imagine why people in one of these villages wouldn't feel the same way.

Every visitor to Sarawak starts out from Kuching, the capital city. With a population of some 400,000 people, it's small but oddly cosmopolitan. In addition to local tribes that gave up forest living, the city has large populations of Malays, Chinese, Indians, and Europeans, most of whom migrated in the last 2 centuries. The city sits at the mouth of the Kuching River, which will be your main artery for trips inland. Before you head off for the river, though, check out the many delights of this mysterious colonial kingdom.

Sarawak was introduced to the Western world by James Brooke, an English adventurer who in 1839 came to Southeast Asia to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Sir Stamford Raffles. Like Raffles's Singapore, there was a region waiting for Brooke to settle and start a bustling community. His wanderings brought him to Borneo, where he was introduced to the sultan of Brunei. The sultan was deeply troubled by warring tribes to the south of his kingdom, who were in constant revolt, sometimes to the point of pirating ships to Brunei's port. Brooke provided the solution, initiating a campaign to befriend some of the warring tribes, uniting them to conquer the others. Soon the tribes were calmed. The sultan, delighted by Brooke, ceded Kuching to him for a small annual fee. In 1841, James Brooke became raja and set about claiming the land that is now Sarawak.
1 2 3 4