A Visit to Kuching, Semengoh, and Sarawak Cultural Village

Thursday was a whirlwind as Orion II docked at Kuching, a Malaysian city on Borneo. Guests spent the morning on their own exploring the city. In the early afternoon we all came together at the Riverside Majestic Hotel to catch our bus to Semengoh Rehabilitation Centre for the 3pm orangutan feeding.

I am so glad we had the chance to visit Semengoh. This national park has a very different approach to conservation than Camp Leakey, which we visited earlier in the week. At Semengoh, you can't get as close to the wild orangutans but the setup of the feeding platforms still make it easy to get excellent photographs.

We saw a large cheekpadder male named Ritchie as well as "Hot Mama" and her baby and another mother and daughter. These orangutans looked different than the ones at Camp Leakey...these seemed to be brighter orange and hairier. Their faces also looked more ape-like.

We lucked out and enjoyed amazing sightings before taking part in a ceremony at which Orion announced their long-term adoption of Ritchie.

After this we loaded back onto the bus and headed to the Sarawak Cultural Village. The guide on our bus was fantastic and told us about the various cultures in the area as we drove to the cultural village where we'd enjoy a show and a Malaysian Banquet.

We arrived just about sunset so we didn't get to explore much of the village, but we all donned sarongs and then settled in for the dinner show. Lots of traditional songs and dances and we sat on pillows on the floor.

It was hot and steamy but once the show got started, everyone forgot about that. Orion II's waitstaff was on hand and made sure everyone had plenty of wine, beer, soda, and juice. The meal was buffet-style and consisted of regional favorites.

This was a long day but it was so much fun. I only wish we had spent another half day or day in Kuching. There was so much we left unexplored.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Date: October 9th, 2011 @ 20:17

Categories: Cruise Information, Independent Travel

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