Not Henley

Our stay in Kuching apparently coincided with the annual Dragon Boat Race Festival, which was on all over the weekend. The waterfront was thronged with spectators when we went along after breakfast and we thought the races were about to start when an enormous explosion was followed by this display of pyrotechnics and release of ballooons but, although there were a lot of crews, some boats with as many as 30 oarsmen, practising we didn't get to see any races as we had a city tour bookedand had to leave before they started but we enjoyed the colour and organised chaos of the occasion.

The" highlight" of our tour came when our lovely guide, Sarah, was most apologetic that we couldn't visit some of the main attractions due to road closures caused by the festival but suggested we visit the State Library instead which she insisted was a most attractive structure, popular with the locals as a setting for their wedding photos. It was some way out of town and despite being set behind a large ornamental lake and constructed on a grand scale, it wasn't particularly noteworthy architecturally; however, the reason for her enthusiasm became clear when she suggested that we have a look at the lake while she nipped in to change her library books (she told us it would normally take a 45 minute drive across town for her to get here from her house!) We did see a couple having their wedding photos taken, but the approach is rather different here: the photos are taken about a month before the wedding, presumably to give either party time to reconsider, judging by the very uncomfortable looking couple we saw being placed into some very unnatural poses.

The rest of the tour was really interesting, especially the City Museum with its display about the various ethnic groups and their way of life.