Sights in Malaysian Borneo – Sarawak
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Bako National Park
Bako National Park proves that you don’t have to go too far to find Borneo’s signature jungles stuffed to the treetops with wildlife. Sarawak’s oldest national park is a 27-sq-km natural sanctuary located on a jagged jade peninsula jutting out into the South China Sea. Although it’s only a stone’s throw from the capital, it’s well worth spending the night here.
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Kubah National Park
Only 15km from downtown Kuching, Kubah National Park is a good natural retreat within easy striking distance of the city. Kubah offers good trekking and the trails are more shaded, which is a plus for the sun-averse. The 22-sq-km park consists of a range of forested sandstone hills that rise dramatically from the surrounding plain to a height of 450m. There are waterfalls, walking trails and lookouts, and the beautiful rainforest is home to a wide variety of palms and orchids. Kubah National Park has also played host to two Hollywood productions: Farewell to the King, starring Nick Nolte, and the more recent The Sleeping Dictionary, with Jessica Alba.
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Canada Hill
Canada Hill, on the low ridge behind the town centre, is the site of Malaysia's first oil well, the Grand Old Lady. Bored in 1910, the well produced around seven barrels a day until it was abandoned in 1972. The hill is a popular exercise spot with a handful of refreshment kiosks, and it's worth walking up here at sunset just for the views across Miri to the South China Sea. The new Petroleum Museum on the hill has a few interesting displays on the source of the city's wealth.
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Tua Pek Kong Temple
Tua Pek Kong Temple is an interesting riverside Chinese temple where, if you’re lucky, you’ll find Mr Tan Teck Chiang in attendance. Mr Tan will give you a tour of the temple and explain (in lavish detail) his interpretation of Taoism and Buddhism. You can also scale the seven-storey pagoda to get a brilliant view over the town and the muddy Batang Rejang as it makes its way seaward.
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Similajau National Park
Similajau National Park, 30km north of Bintut, is a quiet coastal park with nice white-sand beaches, good walking trails and simple accommodation. While the park does not have the habitat variety of Bako National Park, it’s perfect if you want a quiet, relaxing natural getaway as you work your way along the coast of Sarawak.
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Weekend Market
The Weekend Market, locally known in Malay as 'Pasar Minggu', is a Kuching institution that dates back several decades. Every weekend, traders and farmers from around the city and the surrounding villages and longhouses converge on a compact area in the Satok neighbourhood, setting up wooden stalls and colourful tarpaulin rain covers, and sell their products, ranging from fresh fish to wild jungle ferns, power tools to herbal cure-alls.
It's a garrulous gathering and a large proportion of the neighbourhood's residents, and some from farther away, show up to do their grocery shopping for the week. It is also a boon for self-catering travellers.
To get to the market from dow…
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Niah Caves National Park
The vast caverns of Niah Caves National Park are among Borneo's most incredible natural attractions. Located in some limestone hills about 3km north of Batu Niah town, the caves contain some of the oldest evidence of human habitation in southeast Asia: rock art and small canoe-like coffins (death ships) within the greenish walls of the Painted Cave indicate that it was once a burial ground, and carbon dating puts the oldest relics back 40,000 years. For accommodation there are simple and clean hostel rooms and private rooms along with a basic canteen at the park headquarters. Camping (camp sites around RM5) is another option.
Of course, the caves themselves are the real a…
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Great Cave
You'll pass under a limestone overhang before entering the aptly named Great Cave. This impressive cavern measures 250m across at the mouth and 60m at its greatest height. Ascend up to your left here and make your way to the back of the cave. The trail disappears down into the castellated gloom at the back of the cave, and you may find yourself thinking of Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth or the city of Zion in the Matrix films.
The stairs and handrails are usually covered with dirt or guano, and can get very slippery in places. The rock formations are spectacular and ominous by turns as you slip in and out of the gloom, and when the sun hits certain overh…
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Fort Margherita
Built by Charles Brooke in 1879 and named after his wife, Rani Margaret, Fort Margherita guarded Kuching against pirates. Sitting on a knoll opposite the waterfront, this little white fort, complete with battlements, offers fine views along the river. Now, the impressive whitewashed building has been left to rot under the Borneo sun. It seems that the city fathers have decided that there's no point in maintaining the place, which is a shame, considering its historical significance.
Now, all you can do is wander the weed-strewn grounds and look at the building from the outside. To get there, take a tambang from the pier on the waterfront, opposite the Hilton, walk up throu…
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Moonmilk Cave
You can walk back from Wind and Clearwater caves to park HQ via a concrete path and plank walk that winds through the narrow passage of Moonmilk Cave. This is a highly recommended variation, but be warned that there is a steep climb en route, and you'll need a headlamp for the cave. When you get to the cave, keep an eye out for the jungle creeper that winds its way into the cave - like a giant octopus tentacle exploring the darkness.
After a rain, you may encounter clouds of brilliant black and green Brooke's birdwing butterflies. The total distance from Wind Cave to park HQ is 3km. You can also do the walk in reverse, from park HQ to the cave, which is around 2km. A guid…
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Clearwater Cave
Like Deer and Lang's caves, the park requires that you join a guided tour to visit this and Wind Cave (tours depart park HQ at 09:45 and 10:30). However, in this case, it's worth it, and the fee includes a great boat trip up the Sungai Melinau. Clearwater Cave is said to be the longest cave in Southeast Asia (the tour only visits a tiny segment of the cave near one of its mouths).
The real highlight of Clearwater Cave is the underground river that runs through the chambers -it's straight out of King Solomon's Mines. Bring a swimsuit, because there's a wonderful swimming hole outside the entrance to Clearwater Cave.
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Deer Cave
The star of the caves is Deer Cave, which contains the world's largest cave passage - over 2km in length and 174m in height. The cave is reached from park headquarters by a fascinating 3km plank walk. In an unfortunate bit of bureaucratic overkill, the park requires that you join a guided tour to the cave (tours depart park headquarters at 13:45 and 14:30). Once inside the cave, take your time and don't be afraid to hang back and savour the grandeur in the silence. If it's rained recently, you'll notice a thin waterfall descending from the cave roof - when caught in the sunlight from outside the cave, the effect is magical.
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Painted Cave
After passing through Gan Kira, you emerge into the forest and traverse a section of boardwalk before arriving at the Painted Cave. It's easy to walk straight past the small fenced-off area by the cave entrance that protects the (now empty) death ships and the ancient paintings. A set of small travel binoculars are useful to make out the red hematite figures, as many have faded to little more than indistinct scrawls along a narrow 30m-strip at the back of the cave.
To return, retrace your steps (taking the steps up to your left to close the loop in the Great Cave).
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Fort Sylvia
Fort Sylvia was built as Fort Kapit in 1880 to keep the peace and gain control of the upper Rejang. In 1925 the fort was renamed to honour Ranee Sylvia, wife of the third raja, Charles Vyner Brooke. The belian (ironwood) timbers have lasted amazingly well, even after massive flooding in 1934 almost reached the top of the doorway! In 1997 the fort was declared a historical building, and the Tun Jugah Foundation now runs it as a museum and a training centre for artisans, weavers and artists in the Kapit District.
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Lambir Hills National Park
Although Lambir Hills National Park doesn't have the spectacular scenery of Niah and Mulu, it is the closest primary rainforest to Miri and it makes a pleasant day or overnight trip out of the city. The park is only 30km from Miri by road and is primarily popular with city residents, who come by the carload to visit the pretty waterfalls, natural swimming pool and riverside picnic shelters.
For the more active traveller, the park has a number of pleasant walking trails through its dipterocarp rainforest.
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Hong San Temple
Hong San Temple is easily Kuching's finest Chinese temple. Thought to date back to around 1840, this Hokkien Chinese temple was fully restored in 2003. The new stone carvings, done by stonemasons brought in from mainland China, are superb, as is the Buddhist altar.
There is a big celebration at this temple in April, with a long procession of floats, lion and dragon dancers and other groups winding their way through town following the altar of Kong Teck Choon Ong (the diety at the temple).
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Gunung Mulu National Park
The Gunung Mulu National Park may well be the single most impressive destination in all of Borneo. There are few parks in the world that pack so many natural marvels into such a small space. From some of the world's most incredible (and accessible) caves, to brilliant old-growth tropical rainforest, to some out and out natural oddities such as the Pinnacles formation on Mt Api, Mulu National Park is truly one of the world's great wonders. It belongs at or near the top of any Borneo itinerary.
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Islamic Museum
Over the hill from the Sarawak Museum, the Islamic Museum is well worth the walk. It’s divided into seven thematically based rooms: weapons; decorative arts and domestic utensils; Qurans; Islamic architecture; science, technology, economy and literature; music and costumes; and the coming of Islam to the Malay Archipelago. Of particular note are the fantastic wooden and metal boxes in the decorative arts section and the fine carved panels in the architecture section.
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Telok Sibur Beach
The beach at Telok Sibur is accessible by foot but hard to reach as the descent is steep, and you have to negotiate through a mangrove swamp, but is worthwhile as others rarely make it down here.
If you're thinking of hitching a boat ride to or from a beach, boats to beaches near park headquarters will cost around RM25 (one way or return), but to beaches further away it is quite expensive (eg around RM80 to Telok Sibur).
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Visitors Centre & Museum
Walk from the headquarters to the jetty on the Sungai Niah, then cross the river in a small boat (departs on demand), before climbing to a small Visitors Centre & Museum , which has some interesting exhibits on the geology and archaeology of the caves. You can (and should) rent a torch (flashlight) here (check it before setting out - you'll need it if you want to go any distance into the caves).
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Fort Hose
The main attraction in Marudi is yet another of the Brooke outposts, the beige wooden Fort Hose, built in 1901 and named after Charles Hose, who became administrator of the district in 1891. The site became the Baram District Museum in 1997 and features some interesting historical displays. The surrounding Taman Tasik recreation park is a nice hilltop spot with a suspended walkway and river views.
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City Fan
As a self-proclaimed 'resort city', Miri is cultivating a reputation for its recreational areas, and the whole urban landscape is studded with greenery and amenities. Nearest to the centre is the City Fan, an expanse of themed gardens that boasts the largest open-air amphitheatre in Malaysia. It's popular with joggers, and also has a public swimming pool, indoor stadium and public library.
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Limbang Regional Museum
The small but informative Limbang Regional Museum is upstairs in another of Charles Brooke’s forts, built in 1897. The collection is well presented and features exhibits on archaeology, culture and crafts of the region. To get here, follow the riverbank upstream (south) past the police station and look for the replica totem pole.
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Lambir Hills National Park
Lambir Hills National Park is the closest primary rainforest to Miri (around 30km south) and it makes for a pleasant day trip out of the city. A perennial favourite among the locals, this scenic scrap of jungle offers waterfalls, picnic areas and a clutch of pleasant walking trails through its dipterocarp rainforest.
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Civic Centre Museum
The Civic Centre Museum tells the story of settlement along the Rejang through displays on the indigenous Melanau, Malay and Iban cultures and the Chinese settlers. To get here, take Sungei Merah bus 1A or 4 (90 sen) from the local bus station on the waterfront; the museum is down the side street by a petrol station.
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