Kuching -
This was our starting point. It is the capital of Sarawak and is a very easy capital to enjoy. It's not flashy but has cheap good hotels, good food and some interesting places to wander around.
We stayed in the Harbour View hotel right in the centre near the river. This was because it was provided as part of the sponsorship of the dragonboat team I was with. We also stayed there another night later and got a room for RM131.
From Kuching we took a half day tour with Borneo Experiences to the Semenggoh nature reserve where you can if you are lucky see orangutans. The rangers put food out twice a day and if there is not much food in the forest the orangutans come to feed. We were lucky! We saw 3 in the car park and another 4 along a bush track. For this tour you do not need a guide just a driver in a car or minibus. The road in the reserve is damaged and big buses cannot go in at the moment.
There are many other national parks which are an easy day trip from Kuching or an overnight if you want to spend more time. There are also river cruises and an afternoon cruise to see proboscis monkeys.
From Kuching we caught a boat to Sibu. This took 5 hours and was quite a pleasant voyage out the river and into the South China Sea then along waterways to Sibu.
Sibu is a pretty ordinary asian river town.
We stayed at the Kingwood hotel, right on the river, quite grand and modern, breakfast was included and it cost RM170.
The next day we took the "flying coffin" upriver to Kapit, which took 3 hours. The cabins are all enclosed and it is difficult to see out but the journey was through some interesting jungle and past old and new longhouses.
I hadn't booked anywhere to stay in Kapit, because nowhere seemed great and thought it best to look at the places in person. Unfortunately it took a while to find somewhere and it wasn't great either but sufficient. The owners were very nice and organised for a drive to take us to see a longhouse that afternoon. This was ridiculously expensive but we really had no choice as we didn't have much time in Kapit. We went to an old longhouse that was not being lived in anymore just maintained by the community who had, mostly, relocated to a new place. But we were welcomed and shared some rice wine with the chief's wife.
Kapit isn't a town to linger in so we returned to Sibu the next day.
From Sibu we flew to Miri.
Again Miri is a pretty ordinary city but we stayed there 2 nights and did a day trip to Niah caves about 2 hours south. We hired a car from Green Matrix which was convenient as they dropped it off and collected from our hotel. Driving is easy, they drive on the left hand side of the road, and traffic is polite and not crazy.
On the way to Niah we stopped at Tusan cliffs, there is construction going on at the moment on new visitor facilities but we managed to sidle around and found steps to the beach and the horses head rock formation.
Niah caves are known for their archaeological wonders but the museum was closed so were unable to see what has been found. But it was a nice, long, extremely sweaty walk, on very slippery boardwalk to the caves.
I cannot recommend the hotel we stayed in in Miri as it quite daggy and run down, the room was ok though and clean.
Then we flew to Bario in the Kelabit highlands. Flying is really the only way to get there - or a 2 days 4WD journey.
We stayed in a homestay there near the centre of the village for 3 nights. The host's sister provided breakfast and dinner for us for an extra cost but we could have eaten at local cafes as they were so close. However she and her Indonesian helper did a great job to provide us with meatless meals.
Our host Lian guided us on a walk to the next village pointing out orchids and pitcher plants along the way. He also took us to a lovely longhouse where we met the chief and his wife. We walked through some forest on the way back. As it was the start of the rainy season the next day no guides would take us into the national park as the tracks were too wet, so we just walked to another village by ourselves.
The experience in Bario turned out to be a lot different from what I had thought. It seemed that there were lots of walking opportunities, maybe a kayak trip and stone megaliths to see but that never happened for us. However we enjoyed the peacefulness, we only saw one other westerner on the plane there. And the people were so lovely.
We had to fly back to Miri and our flight to Mulu was the same afternoon, unfortunately it was cancelled. Luckily Malaysia Air put us up in the very new and comfortable hotel opposite the airport, with free lunch, dinner and breakfast and we flew out the next morning.
Mulu national park was perhaps the highlight. We stayed in the park in a garden bungalow which was lovely and spacious, was convenient to all the activities, and there was a great cafe in the park too.
It didn't seem very busy when we were there but you do need to book ahead for accommodation and tours.
We ended up with only 2 nights there, but had time for 2 days worth of activities guided cave walks, as well as some independent walks.
After Mulu we flew back to Kuching for one night and then took the bus, 45 mins, and boat, 20 exciting mins, to Bako National park for 2 nights. The accommodation here was dark and dingy, very basic but we had an ensuite bathroom and it was handy for the cafe, which was also not great.
They are doing some rebulding/renovation/building of accommodation so it may be better in the future.
The best thing here is that you can see the proboscis monkeys - up close. And the macaque monkeys, sometimes too close! They are very aggressive if they think you have food. As soon as we arrived we had an encounter with a bearded pig which dragged our backpack away which had bananas in a bag on the outside. Luckily it tore the bag off and we got our backpack back.
There are tracks and walks you can do beaches, a waterfall and one we did which takes you over the top into different vegetation where there were pitcher plants. There is also a guided night walk. But no animals! Well perhaps we glimpsed a lemur high up on the night walk.
It seems all the animals are close to park HQ.
So you really could just go as a day trip, especially with the state of the accommodation.
What would I do differently?
I think I would stay in Kuching longer and do some day trips from there.
Can I recommend Sibu and Kapit? Not really. It was about the river journey rather than the destinations.
Kelabit highlands? maybe not.
Fly to Mulu from Kuching and then maybe fly on to Sabah.
