The Brooke Gallery at Fort Margherita — Attraction in Sarawak

On getting here to/fro Kuching city center Boat (Shortest and fastest route) RM1 per person per ride take the boat (sampan) from Jetty in front of waterfront/old court house. Asked to be stopped at Jetty Kampung Boyan. At Jetty Kampung Boyan, follow the river to your left and you'll pass thru a beautiful Malay village and concrete steps, follow the signs. At the end of the path, you'll find an abandoned school building, walk to the elevated road above and turn left. You'll see a sign again. Short walk of about 10-15mins (staff at Fort Margherita can explain to you); Taxi/Cab-hailing app Grab apprx. RM12; Bridge (long walk round Astana) //

Prices (you'll receive beautiful tickets as souvenir/keepsake) RM10 for locals (Malaysians, doesn't matter if you're from the West or East, including PR citizens, and foreigners studying or working in Malaysia); RM20 for 'global' (non-Malaysians); Explorer pass (includes also the Ranee Museum, Old Court House) RM15 locals, RM30 global; Children under 7 enter free, those aged 7-12 and above 60 (not including 'global') pay half the full ticket price. Please don't leave your young children tour on their own although it's free for them for safety reasons. Please don't ask the staff to take care of your kids! There's spiral staircase between levels so it's better to not enter if you can't walk up the stairs. Check their facebook or insta for ticket prices. //

Opens every day from 9 sharp to 4.45. Avoid coming in after before 4.30pm. Allow at least half an hour to explore the fort. You won't want the staff to wait on you when closing and locking takes longer than you'd think. Also, do your due diligence and check their facebook page just in case they have to close the fort for some repair works, but they generally do open every day.

You may freely take photos inside. 3 levels of exhibits detailing the rule of Sarawak by the Brookes. Don't forget the courtyard (right of lobby) and rooftop (see the city of Kuching from an elevated position). Giftshop available in the once-prison cell (subject to available stocks-books, posters, postcards, pens, pencils, notebooks, badges, umbrellas, soaps, bario rice, coffee, etc., all locally-sourced). Cold drinks are available. Pay at the counter.

No skulls, they have been relocated. News on google. Reference for secondary school form3 available for viewing, take photos of the information, no copies available).

Please keep your manners and avoid asking political questions that may cause discomfort to the staff. But feel free to ask questions you may be curious about. They may or may not be able to answer but should try their best to. You can ask bout food, places to go, etc. but don't have to chat for half a day.

Clean as staff frequently sweep. Do not touch the glass casing. Rubbish bin located inside or outside the giftshop.

Ideal weather is when it is not raining or else it is difficult to walk up to the fort, you can't access the rooftop and the courtyard. 😢 on a very hot weather, you may find yourself feeling stuffy. Nothing much can be done about the ventilation, at least short-term due to its status as a listed and protected heritage so do prepare yourself for this. There are fans at least..and benches.

Park outside the gate, walk thru the opening of the gate, parking inside is reserved for staff. There's UV/mosquito net door, just give it a push as you enter. Cashier on your left. Toilets are just behind the fort (you have to walk out of the museum and turn to your...

Must Know Before Visiting:

1. Not wheel chair friendly or if you have Knee problems. See stairs in pic attached.

2. No toilet within 10-min walk from the Fort. See the toilet hut but it's locked. You have to walk down to the nursery down the slope. Ladies may not appreciate the cleanliness.

3. No (easy) Grab ride to get out from the Fort, as it is quite far in. We had to walk about 30 min down along the river to Kampung Boyan to some sort of civilization to get a Grab ride.

4. As of 2024 November, office for foreigners is RM30 and kids RM15. Can pay by credit card or Duitnow. It's Saturday and we were the only visitors.

What we like is it has a good explanation about the history of Sarawak in English and how the British became Rajahs! Lots of words to read which we like.

Is it worth the cost? For all the above inconveniences, probably not. Even the Grab driver was surprised how far we walked.

Have not been to the Borneo Museum to give...

Interesting museum and worth the visit, the entrance is 20rm for non Sarawak citizens so perhaps a little steep. Nevertheless, a good way to pass the time reading about the Brookes influence in Sarawak.

However one which is very bias and paints them in the perfect picture hence why only 3 stars. After doing research online. They miss a lot of facts about how barbaric the Brooks ( see picture of extract from a book below showing that he slaughtered 500 indigenous natives to gain power and was investigated by the actual British government for excessive force!) were to the locals at points as well as facts they gave Sarawak for a price; not for free as it would seem in the gallery. A little less bias and little more true facts would give the gallery a more factual experience and this is coming from a Brit who knew just by reading all the positivity about the family in the museum was most probably not what it seemed. After research, this...