The Astana

The Astana was built in 1870 by Charles Brooke, the second of Sarawak's three White Rajahs, as a wedding gift for his wife Margaret. It sits on the north bank of the Sarawak River, deliberately facing the town rather than standing in it — three bungalows joined under one roof, with wide verandahs, a castellated tower and lawns running down to the water.

It has never stopped being a residence. After the Brooke era it housed the colonial Governor, and today it is the official home of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Sarawak's head of state. That means the interior is closed to the public for most of the year, and the building is experienced the way it was designed to be seen: as a white line of colonnade across the river, framed by palms, from the Kuching Waterfront opposite.

The classic approach is by penambang, the wooden sampans that have crossed the Sarawak River for generations, from the jetties along the Waterfront. The crossing takes a couple of minutes and lands near Fort Margherita, from which the Astana grounds are a short walk. The Darul Hana Bridge also puts you on the north bank on foot.