Kuching, which rests along the manicured south bank of the Sarawak river, a couple of degrees north of the equator, has a way of gently undoing all the nasty rumors about this misunderstood corner of the world. While machete-wielding pirates and warring bands of headhunters once loomed large in the region, Kuching today is a sophisticated, modern town, widely considered among the most picturesque and pleasant places to visit in all of Southeast Asia.
Walk around Kuching and you'll find a strange and appealing blend of modern convenience, postcolonial grace, pan-Asian culture-and just the right amount of lingering jungle wildness. Although it's home to some 330,000 bustling souls, the city is remarkably safe and quiet, retaining a small-town vibe despite the relatively recent appearance of a few shopping malls and Western hotels. All the places you're likely to visit are within easy walking distance of one another, and the locals are more than hospitable. Visitors are often welcomed not just with a smile or an amiable bow but with an invitation to join a local family for an overnight stay. And it's not the old "tour guide" rip-off; no, it's a carryover from the traditional longhouse culture, in which entire communities lived together under one long, thatched roof.
As you make your way around town, there's a temptation to try to square Kuching's disparate elements. Don't bother. Instead, give yourself over to its conflicting charms. That's the first step toward entering the happy state known locally as Kuching Consciousness.
In a single, typically strange Kuching day, you can visit Istana, the beautiful white British colonial palace across the river; wander through the colonial-era Sarawak Museum, home to a world-class collection of tribal artifacts and prehistoric relics; explore 19th-century Chinese temples; and tour the UFO-shaped structure just north of the river said to be the world's only cat museum. (Kuching means "cat" in Malay, and it's probably the only city in Asia to have hosted an official visit by Garfield.)
Eating your way through town is another way to sample its multiple personalities. Laksa, the area's signature dish (it's a rich noodle soup with shredded chicken, shrimp, and bean sprouts in a spicy coconut gravy), is served everywhere, at all times. You'll also find Chinese delicacies like bird's nest soup (a crispy-gooey concoction made of bat guano), and, of course, cheeseburgers, french fries, and apple pie.
At night, wander around the Main Bazaar, where Malaysian Internet entrepreneurs mix with Chinese herbalists and local Iban tribesmen whose childhoods were spent hunting jungle fowl with blowpipes but who now drive taxicabs in the city. Or catch a Brad Pitt flick at the Miramar cineplex.
Is this what you expected of Borneo? No? Does it even make sense? No? Is it beautiful and surreal? Yes.
Above all, Kuching remains the gateway to the jungle. Toward the end of a recent stay, I took a dugout canoe trip to spend the night at an Iban longhouse in Batang Ai National Park, one of several spectacular wildlife preserves nearby that are home to everything from rare proboscis monkeys to the Alice in Wonderlandesque rafflesia, the world's largest flower.
As I stepped out of the boat, I instantly realized that I was not exactly the tribe's first American visitor. Kids in Chicago Bulls jerseys and Batman T-shirts led the way to the dim, musty longhouse, where the walls were adorned with pictures of American movie stars.
But as the evening unfolded, all semblance of the familiar vanished. The tribe's chief welcomed me and my companions with tuak wine and black rice cakes. I noticed a collection of small chalky skulls neatly arranged over a roof beam. There was chanting in a language I had never heard before. I sat for the duration, communicating with only smiles and simple gestures. Despite the weirdness, there was a sense of peace that came from being so far from my normal life. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the chief turned to me, raised his glass, and called out, "Texas!" I smiled and drank to his toast.
