Things to do in Malaysian Borneo – Sarawak
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Top Spot Food Court
The double entendre definitely holds true. This excellent rooftop plaza has acres of tables and a good variety of stalls. Order anything from abalone to banana prawns or numerous varieties of fish, and chase it down with a cold bottle of Tiger. To get here, climb the stairs leading from Jln Padungan to Tapanga restaurant, and keep heading upstairs from there.
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Bla Bla Bla
Spiffier than a pimp’s outfit, Bla Bla Bla brings a splash of Hollywood to Kuching. The tasty fusion food is anything but ‘blah’, and patrons will adore the koi pond and golden Buddhas.
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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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Junk
The coolest car-boot sale you’ll ever see, Junk is filled to the brim with…well…junk. But it’s all so very chic – when you walk in you’ll think, ‘Did Amelie explode in here?’ A favourite among Malaysian celebs, Bla Bla Bla’s sister restaurant offers superb sophisticated Western food with an Italian bias. A word to the wise: don’t set your watch by any of the wall clocks…
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Café Café
Tucked down the street in the shadow of the towering pagoda, this local hotspot puts a modern spin on the traditional kedai kopi. Excellent local fare (and a smattering of designer coffee beverages) is served up amid bodacious decor and flickering candles.
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Guided Walks
Bako has a total of 17 trails ranging from short walks around park headquarters to strenuous day treks to the end of the peninsula. Guides are available, but it's easy to find your way around because all trails are colour-coded and clearly marked with splashes of paint. Plan your route before starting out on longer walks, and aim to be back at Telok Assam before dark (about 18:45). Some trails may be closed for maintenance after the wet season - check at the park office before setting out.
If you have only one day in Bako, try to get here early and attempt the Lintang Trail (5.25km, 4 to 5 hours). The longest trail is the Telok Limau, a 12km walk that's impossible to do…
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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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a-ha Café
a-ha wouldn’t look at all out of place in any cosmopolitan European capital, and the emphasis is firmly on healthy eating, with organic produce, all-natural ingredients and no MSG or artificial additives, plus a special ‘healthy heart’ menu. Whether you treat yourself to Norwegian salmon, ostrich steak or deer kebabs, or just pop in for a fruit ’n’ vegetable smoothie, a-ha is a rare treat with virtually zero guilt factor. Wi-fi available.
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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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Kak Rosnah's Kitchen
A great way to learn some local Malay and Bidayuh cooking. Classes are held in an old Malay kampung so in addition to cooking, you get a look at traditional Malay life. Classes are only held on Sunday. Email for address information.
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New Capital Restaurant
If you feel like a splurge, this brilliant Chinese eatery is sure to satisfy, with excellent fresh fish, meat and vegetable dishes. We recommend the butter prawns and stir-fried midin washed down with a fresh fruit juice.
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Chinese Food Stalls
Start your day with a brilliant, old-school Kuching breakfast. Note that Chinese locals refer to this hawker centre as Lau Ya Keng in Hokkien.
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Life Café
This atmospheric little tea house/Chinese eatery offers a wide range of mostly Chinese dishes, including several good vegetarian choices.
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Zhun San Yen Vegetarian Food Centre
If you find yourself on the east end of town in need of simple vegetarian food, this buffet-style restaurant is a decent choice.
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Petroleum Museum
The Petroleum Museum has a few interesting displays on the source of the city’s wealth.
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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…
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Walking Trails
Other than just relaxing on the beach, the main highlight of Simalajau are its walking trails. All the trails start just north of park headquarters, on the far side of the Likau River. Trails are clear and a guide isn't necessary; a simple trail map is available from park headquarters. Be sure to bring plenty of water as there is no drinking water en route and keep in mind that distances seem much greater in the tropics than they do back home.
As soon as you cross the bridge over the Likau, you'll see a plank walk off to your right, following the river upstream. This 600m Education Trail leads straight through the riverside mangroves and it's brilliant - if you've never…
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Tours, Daniel's Corner
While visiting a longhouse independently can be great, there's a limit to what you can arrange on your own, and the highlight for most visitors in Belaga is taking a longhouse tour. A good package should include jungle trekking, visits to a number of communities, night walks and seasonal activities such as hunting, cooking, land clearing and fruit harvesting.
The most prominent guide operating out of Belaga these days is Daniel Levoh at Daniel's Corner. A Kayan former teacher, Daniel is friendly and knowledgeable and gets good reviews from travellers. He has good connections with several Kayan/Kenyah longhouses between Belaga and the Bakun Dam, as well as the…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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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