Day Three (Thursday 30 July): Kuching

Stephen and I were both worried about adjusting to the time change (we are 15 hours ahead of Corvallis here), but it has been very smooth. None of us have had any problems. We are exhausted by 8:30pm and up at 5:30am, but it sure works! It’s nice that Gene and Ann are on a similar schedule.



This morning we went to the Sarawak Cultural Village, about 45 minutes outside of Kuching. It was amazing. There were 9 or 10 different native houses to tour through. Everything from a Chinese farm house to an upper-class Malay house to a tall house (built 40 feet of the ground) to an Iban longhouse. Multiple (20-30) families lived in all the houses except the Chinese and Malay. The natives are very communal. I use the present tense because many people still live in longhouses. Many saints live in longhouses, so we’ll get to visit some real ones. I took lots of pictures at the Village, because I’m not so sure about taking pictures where people actually live. I don’t want to offend anyone. This is a tall house:



All the beds we have stayed in have been VERY firm. Where we are now (the Grande Margherita Hotel) we have adjoining rooms with Gene and Ann, with 2 full beds in each. Elise has slept in Gene and Ann’s room, so I get my own bed…with 4 pillows! Fantastic. I’ve slept pretty well here. :o) Our hotel looks over the Sarawak River, and at night there are big boats with lights that float up and down. It is really pretty. Friday night there are boat races, but we’ll be busy in Sibu.

Here is the building the Kind was in town to dedicate: