Our friends had booked 2 nights at the Damai Beach Resort which sits on the west coast of the Santobong peninsula 45 minutes north of Kuching. It’s a lovely resort with a large swimming pool right up to the beach.
After spending Wednesday afternoon cooling off in the pool, walking along the beach, and checking out the sunset, Thursday we decided to go down the road to the Sarawak Cultural Village. This is not to be missed! The village is a collection of traditional houses from each of the various ethnicities in Borneo situated around a large lake including an Iban longhouse, a Chinese farm house, etc. We spent hours wandering through each house getting a good sense of how people lived centuries ago.
Twice a day in the village is a 45 minute traditional dance show in the theater. This too is a must see. Tai’s favorite was a blow dart demonstration where the “warrior” popped some balloons on the other side of the theater.
After some more cooling off in the pool, and a serious 30 minute downpour, we took a 3 hour boat tour to the mangrove wetlands west of Santobong. We elected to do the evening tour in order to see the fireflies at night. The highlight were the monkeys eating fresh leaves in the trees along the shore. We also saw bats, a sea otter, and the red eyes of crocodiles reflecting back at us after dark from the shore. The kids loved the boat ride. Sadly we didn’t see any dolphins.
Friday was more relaxing in the pool before driving back to Kuching.
TRAVELS WITH SUPERMAN 