A traveller's reflection: 2015 Kembara Borneo Day 06: Kuching - Serikin

My Travel Journal

"There isn't much I haven't shared with you along the road and through it all there'd always be tomorrow's episode" - Elton John

I started traveling around the world since early 80s when I had the opportunity to combine business trips with vacations. Then later when my rezeki is in abundance, there were numerous other trips along the way for vacations, most of the time with hubby and the kids when the timing is right. I have also started to compile the journal and photo-pages covering almost more than 45 years of world wide travel. Some destinations I visited just once, others many times. Many of those places are the obvious famous places people would like to visit but some, the casual traveler doesn't even think to try. I have placed links to my travel at the side bar of my personal page, My Life Reflections, and will be updating them from time to time.

My wish is to continue my travel and complete circumnavigate the globe, insyaAllah…

Monday, 30 March 2015

2015 Kembara Borneo Day 06: Kuching - Serikin - Damai Beach

“I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side…” – Roman Payne

(The Bidayuh Longhouse)

DAY 06: Saturday (28 Mar 2015)

Route: Kuching- Serikin – Damai Beach

Kuching City Tour

Hotel: Merdeka Palace

After breakfast we were escorted by the Skuad Muda 1-JPJ to Serikin, less than an hour ride from Kuching. Serikin is a small Bidayuh town situated near the Sarawak/Kalimantan border. The famous Serikin Pasar Minggu opens only on weekend selling arrays of cheap merchandise.

It is always crowded with local and foreign tourists who will come as early as possible to avoid the hot sun. One needs to walk almost a mile from end to end of the open space stalls, mostly operated by Indonesians, to look for a good bargain.

(Merdeka Palace, our lodging for two nights)

(The start of the day tour)

(Heading toward Serikin, the border town)

(A bright sunny day for a ride)

(The start of the open-air stalls)

(A resting place by the river)

(The crowd of local and foreign tourists)

(An hour of foot reflexology)

We managed to purchase sun-glasses, kain batik and a few KTM t-shirts and had an hour of strong foot massage to while away our time. By 1230 the gang started riding back to town and stopped at Medan Niaga Satok where we met with some JPJ officers. JPJ was having ‘Hari Bersama Skuad Muda 1-JPJ’ where they are recruiting new volunteers.

Medan Niaga Satok is the biggest market in Kuching selling assortment of product ranging from vegetables, fruits, traditional snacks to handicraft. Medan Niaga Satok has five main complexes replacing the old Satok weekend market. We bought some kek lapis and terubuk masin and while the rest went on a shopping spree, we had lunch at a nearby food court.

(The new look of Pasar Minggu Satok)

(Heavy rain when we arrived)

(Spacious and clean stalls)

(Trying a local delicacy at the Food Court)

After some formalities with JPJ and group photo, we rode to the Cultural village at Damai Beach where we were entertained with an hour of cultural show followed by a very late lunch. Although we already had lunch earlier, we could not resist having another round of the mouth-watering dishes. After the heavy meal, we had a walking tour of the Cultural Village, also known as the ‘Living Museum’ set up to preserve and showcase Sarawak’s cultural heritage.

Later we stayed a while at the beach and watched the beautiful sunset.