I didn’t know what to expect when I first arrived in Borneo on a short hop flight from Kuala Lumpur, but it certainly wasn’t a city devoted to and revolving entirely around cats! Discovering Kuching in Borneo was a true travel adventure that I will never forget!
When I decided to fly to Kuching on a whim, I probably had the same visions in my head that most people do when they think of Borneo. Thick impenetrable jungle, unexplored tropical wildernesses filled with Orang-utans, wildlife, traditional longhouses and tribesmen in traditional dress. I had romantic notions of a golden age of exploration, of rediscovering a place whose name alone still evoked such powerful and evocative images.
So arriving in Kuching for the first time was in some way everything I had imagined, and in other ways a complete and utter shock.
Finding More Than I Imagined.
The heavily gentrified streets were a world away from the organized chaos of Kuala Lumpur I had just left, they were clean, well maintained and well planned. The river was overlooked with a gentrified promenade filled with picturesque eateries and blessed with stunning views perfect for relaxing evening meals, and modern glass and chrome buildings sat comfortably within the facade of faded charm that made up the rest of the city.
Yet despite all this – for what is technically a small city – Kuching retained an almost small town, edge of civilisation outpost feel. And I loved it.
As much as the gentrified modernity surprised me in Kuching it was the atmosphere and sheer uniqueness of time and place that gave me that sense of wander and exploration I was hoping for.
A Feline Feeling.
Kuching had a laid back, sanguine feeling that permeated through every pore of the city that really hit me, it simply oozed an unflappable, unhurried air of complete contentedness. Whether the feline like atmosphere was intentional or whether it was an indirect influence from the countless cats making their home here I couldn’t tell, but one thing I did know instantly, the city and her feline inhabitants are inextricably linked and cats are absolutely worshipped here!
In all my travels I have never seen anything quite like Kuching.
Like the locations in the fantasy novels I read as a child, where the hero finds a strange city of cat people in the middle of the jungle worshipping a feline deity, I had walked into a city that was so unique it genuinely felt like a rare, hidden discovery on some epic tale of a grand voyage!
Kuching is a city built around and for cats, a city completely devoted to our feline friends, from the countless small cat statues dotted throughout the city to the larger feline sculptures that are dressed up for specific religious and cultural festivals. It has a cat cafe, of course, there are countless cat souvenirs sold in every shop and market, and even and entire cat museum built to showcase and honour everything feline. Even the name, Kuching, literaly means cat city!
As someone who loves seeing the unique and quirky side of anywhere I visit, Kuching absolutely blew my mind, and as a cat lover myself, (how could I not be when one saved my life in Cairo?) I absolutely fell in love with the laid back city of Kuching and stayed a lot longer than I originally intended to.
Just as the countless cats and kittens I met strolling around the town and napping lazily along the gentrified riverbank, spending a few extra languid days in this amazing and beautiful city was just far too hard to resist.
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12 responses to “Kuching. The City Of Cats.”
Backpackers intending to visit Kuching would do well to first read up on its major historical significance. Start with James Brooke the first White Rajah of Sarawak, who made Kuching Sarawak’s capital. Brooke invited Alfred Wallace to visit, and thus set in train the seminal ‘Malay Archipelago’; Wallace’s letter to Darwin gave him the eureka moment for ‘Origin of the Species’. BTW. ‘Kuching’ is Malaysian (and Indonesian) for ‘cat’.
I think reading up on the history of a place is essential for anywhere, you are right. 🙂 I didn’t know that about Darwin though! Awesome!
I love it when you come across places like this on your travels – it totally makes a trip for me. Unfortunately I think my cat allergies may not make this city ideal for me!
Aw you’re allergic? I feel for you I couldn’t imagine not being able to cuddle and stroke a cat! You are right though, I love it when you come across places like this too, completely unexpected but blows you away! One of the true joys of independent travel! Thanks for the comment.
Aww a city full of cats! I think my heart’s going to explode! I need to go there now! Are actual cats all around the place too or is it literally just statues?
Haha yes they really are everywhere! I love cats too and half my days there were spent just stroking random cats. I even shared half my meals with them! There’s even a cat cafe if you want to have a cup of tea with them. 🙂
What a fascinating story! I’ve never heard of a cat city before. I’m really interested, why are cats worshipped here?
To be honest I don’t fully know, I’m not sure anyone does! There are so many different founding legends involving cats its hard to know which ones to believe!
This is totally new to me 🙂 Nice read 🙂 its all raining CATS!!
Haha thank you Bilna.
Funny, because the name Kuching, it has nothing to do with cats, It either mean “Mata kucing” or “Port” from somewhere in Indochina, If you want to say cat here in Sarawak, “Pusak” is the answer, also, most people must understand that Kuching was a City where james brooke first sail, an old City in Sarawak
And yet the word for cat in Malay is Kucing, helping the many myths and legends of how the cat city got its name 🙂