Kuching Trip Day 1 - Sarawak Cultural Village

This is the first time in my life to be in the East Malaysia, we took MAS to fly to Kuching and planned the arrival time so that we can make it for the Sarawak Cultural Village in the afternoon.

The place is around 35km away from Kuching town, located at the foothill of the famous Mount Santubong, it is easy to get there by taking the shuttle from all the popular hotel at Kuching riverside. Just ask the hotel reception they will help you to book the shuttle. Beware that there is a shuttle schedule and you'll definitely don't want to miss the famous 45mins cultural show held at the Sarawak Cultural Village. The show will start at 11.30am and 4.00pm sharp, so plan your trip properly. The village is opened from 9.00am until 5.15pm.

The entrance fee will cost RM60.00 for adult and RM30.00 for children from age 6 - 12 years old. Children under 6 years old are free to enter. The shuttle from the hotel will cost around RM20.00 for return ticket. It is advisable to get the return ticket as it is hard (close to impossible) to get a taxi there.

This is the place where the "Rainforest World Music Festival" (RWMF) and "World Harvest Festival" (WHF) held.WHF is held around May every year and RWMF will be held in July also on yearly basis. Check out their website from the link above for more details on the program.

As we reach our hotel (Harbor View Hotel) at around noon, we booked the 2.00pm shuttle to the village to have at least 1 hour of sight seeing and then enjoy the 4.00pm cultural show.

The main entrance of the Sarawak Cultural Village. What I can say is that the place is really well maintained from the first look and it is clean. The most magnificent is that the whole main entrance looks like built from woods only.

There is a nicely done sign which stated about RWMF at the side of the entrance. On the small plague on the sign stated the story of RWMF. I don't really have time to stop by and read it as we need to rush to visit all 7 cultural house built according to the tradition. For the next visit, hopefully I'll have the luxury to spend one whole day at this place.

Once you entered the village, this is the first view welcoming the visitors. The sculpture on the left and the traiditional building on the right (administrator office and gift shop) couple with the mountain at the back give you a refreshing and calm feeling. It is definitely a place for runaway from the busy daily life (especially engineer. :P).

Panorama on the sculpture. These wonderful sculpture is really eye catchy, we stopped for a while to glance through each of them and their uniqueness.

There are 7 different houses in the village:
1. Bidayuh Longhouse
2. Iban Longhouse
3. Penan Hut
4. Orang Ulu Longhouse
5. Melanau Tall Longhouse
6. Malay House
7. Chinese Farmhouse

After looking at the map, we decided to head over to the Chinese Farmhouse first.

According to the history (written somewhere at the house), the first Chinese settlement in Kuching is actually from Hakka clan. The house is built to resemble the farmer's house of Hakka or Foochow descent.

For every house in the village, there is a plague showing the history and information of the house.

A closer look around the front door of the house, you'll find the information on what is being shown around and inside the house.

The traditional pepper process machine which is placed just outside the house on the right side.

Traditional rice grinder, bring back my old memories...













The second house we went to is Melayu House.

I didn't manage to take the photo of the whole house, this is a closer look at the traditional Malay house's window.

The living hall of the Malay house, you can find some congkak there also, and you can actually play it on the spot. There are instructions on the spot and someone to guide you (if needed) on the game.

The traditional Malay women playing kompang and singing Malay song...live performance that you can enjoy while in the house.

Bedroom...

Next station: Rumah Melanau...

Rumah Melanau is actually high in the air, supported by the timber below. The unique design of the building is really amazing, it is purely built from wood and rattan. The building is around 4 - 5 storey height of the normal building. It is actually a double storey house with plenty of rooms available. If you wish to stay, there is an option to have a 2 days 1 night stay at the house.

A look at one of the showroom in the Melanau Longhouse, there are some traditional clay pot displayed.

Side view of the Melanau Longhouse...

Next station: Orang Ulu Longhouse

When I saw this, I'm totally stunned. The house is actually in the forest, so high up in the air that I was thinking whether I'll want to climb up or not. This is the house that you definitely need to visit.

Another view of the longhouse. This is the last house we visit before the show.

This is the stage where the Cultural Show is being held. The seat is actually sofa set put on the floor, so when you sit, it is like sitting on the floor.

This is the view from the back. Those are the place where you sit to enjoy the show.

Some highlights picture from the Cultural Show. The show basically presents the dance from different race.










The village is going to close after the show, so we quickly snap a few photo for the rest of the viewing house and then left the place.

This is another view of the administration center and gift shop.