I'd been interested in going to this beautifully situated Chinese temple for a while, but had always baulked at the Grab fare. (Actually MYR 43 one way is not unreasonable, given it's 27 km away, but even so it's a lump of money, and then you still need to get back...)

So, when we learned that by booking airfares with our credit card we had become entitled to two free Grab rides (go figure...), Ching San Yan seemed an obvious destination. And, we reasoned, we could get home by way of walking to Bako, and catching the bus back to Kuching from there.

The temple's location, on a hill overlooking the mouth of the Sarawak River, plumb in the middle of Kampung Muara Tebas, is as impressive as the map would suggest. Hills on the horizon. A couple of fishing boats (taller than the ones we get upriver in Kuching) lying at anchor. A jetty with small boats. A cruise ship over yonder. The mangrove shores, and little kampung houses.

And of course, the coal barges, feeding the power station that drives our aircon...





There are two versions of the temple's origin, one spotlighting the role of immigrants, the other that of traders. Common to both is the early travellers' sense of thanksgiving at having survived the journey across the South China Sea.







A number of figures of veneration are featured, among them the Jade Emperor, Lao Tze (the founder of Taosim), Mazu (the goddess of the sea, whom we've encountered in so many places), Buddha, Guan Yin, and "Grand Uncle" Tua Pek Kong.

It was quite a busy temple when we visited, with a steady throughput of worshippers.




There are a couple of seafood restaurants by the shore, but we were a bit early for those. Instead, after a walk along the jetty, we picked up a couple of boxes of nasi lemak (sometimes you just can't worry about the carbs...), and sat and ate them on the stand overlooking the football field. Excellent (tasty sambal, and nice, chewy fish).



Then we set off for Bako. You have to walk on the road, but it's reasonably wide, and not that busy. The only nuisancy bit is the stretch near the quarry, where the big lorries manage to throw up dust even in the thick of the rainy season.

Otherwise, you're accompanied all the way by chocolaty watercourses, all manner of palms, mangroves, and birds.




Bako was familiar to us from last year, but none the less picturesque for that.



In the village, you can easily find a cup of coffee (or two) to drink while you wait for the bus. (Our conveyance left at 2 pm. The service is listed as hourly, but we saw no signs of a 1 pm bus, so it's good not to have a tight schedule on this trip. It's quite a luxurious vehicle, though.)


So, another enjoyable and inexpensive outing. In fact, our cheapest excursion yet. (In total we paid less than MYR 30, for food, coffee, the bus back, and a donation to the temple. OK, we got off to a flying start with that credit-card give-away Grab trip, but even so...)