Santubong: Down River from Kuching
We're headed north to the coast, an hour's drive north or down-river from Kuching. Any idea what to expect?
The Santubong River, a distributary of the Sarawak, breasts its way past Santubong Mountain, to whose far slope we're headed.
A boat heads out to sea.
The boat came from a village called Santubong.
The village accommodates the tide.
Some houses have lots of elbow room.
One way or another, almost everyone is ready for rising water.
Here's an exception: some villagers on higher land are free to indulge their inner gardener.
A cemetery is also put on land that generally stays above the water, but the homeowners behind it aren't taking any chances.
The village's commercial center.
Interior of the store.
Clinic.
A mile down the road, the sandy beachfront belongs to someone with money.
Don't want the hassles of a beach-front home? No problem.
Targeting locals, not.
What have we here?
You'd be forgiven for guessing a gated community, but it's just a hotel, with security.
So here you have it, the tropical beach of international tourist brochures. It's barely on the same planet as Santubong.