5 Days in Kuching and Sarawak

Morning: Start with breakfast at a kopitiam: Sarawak laksa, a spicy prawn and coconut broth with rice vermicelli, is the city’s signature dish and best eaten early. Then walk Jalan Main Bazaar, the oldest street in Kuching, lined with shophouses selling pua kumbu textiles, beadwork and pepper.

Afternoon: Visit the Borneo Cultures Museum, a modern five-storey building with well-presented galleries on Sarawak’s peoples and natural history. Allow two to three hours, and enjoy the air conditioning through the hottest part of the day. On the way back, look in at the Tua Pek Kong temple near the waterfront and walk through Carpenter Street and India Street.

Evening: Take a tambang, the small wooden river ferry, across the Sarawak River for a few ringgit to see the Astana and Fort Margherita in the late light, then cross back to watch the musical fountain and the lights of the golden-roofed State Legislative Assembly building. Dinner is kolo mee, dry noodles with char siu, or a seafood feast at Top Spot food court on Jalan Padungan.

Morning: Leave by 7.30am. A Grab to Kampung Bako takes about 30 minutes; Rapid Kuching bus No. 1 takes 45 to 50 minutes and costs a few ringgit. At the jetty, pay park entry (RM20 for foreign adults at the time of writing) and share a boat to the park, which carries five or six people and takes 20 to 30 minutes.

Midday: Register at park headquarters, then walk one of the shorter trails. Telok Paku, about an hour each way, is one of the best for proboscis monkeys in the trees along the beach. The Lintang loop takes three to four hours and crosses the open kerangas heath, with its pitcher plants. Wear proper shoes, carry plenty of water and keep food away from the bearded pigs and macaques around the canteen.

Afternoon: Confirm your return boat time at the jetty when you arrive, since boats depend on the tide and the last one leaves in mid-afternoon. Back in Kuching, rest.

Evening: Eat at the Kubah Ria hawker centre or along Jalan Padungan, and try ayam pansuh, chicken cooked in bamboo, if you see it.

Morning: Take a Grab or taxi about 24 km south to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, arriving before the 9am feeding. Rangers bring fruit to platforms in the forest, and semi-wild orangutans, including big cheek-padded males, often come down to eat. Sightings are not guaranteed: during the forest fruiting season the apes may stay away. Follow the rangers’ instructions, keep at least five metres back and do not bring food. The walk from the gate to the feeding area takes about 20 to 25 minutes, unless your driver takes you closer.

Afternoon: Return to Kuching for lunch, then visit the Cat Museum on the hill at Petra Jaya, or walk the Darul Hana Bridge across the river. If you missed the orangutans in the morning, there is a second feeding at 3pm.

Evening: Spend the evening on the Darul Hana side for views back across the river, then try Sarawak’s layered kek lapis cake, sold in dozens of colourful patterns, as a souvenir to take home.

Morning: Take a Grab north to the Sarawak Cultural Village at the foot of Gunung Santubong, which opens at 9am. The village is a living museum of traditional houses representing Sarawak’s main communities, including an Iban longhouse, a Bidayuh roundhouse and a tall Orang Ulu house, arranged around a lake. Craftspeople demonstrate weaving, beadwork, blowpipe shooting and sago processing inside the houses.

Midday: Do not miss the daily cultural performance in the theatre, a fast-paced show of dances from across Sarawak. Check performance times on the village website when you book. The buffet lunch ticket is good value if you plan to stay into the afternoon. Allow three to four hours in total.

Afternoon: Walk on Damai Beach next door and swim if the sea is calm. Hikers with energy left can tackle the lower section of the Gunung Santubong trail, which starts nearby, but leave the summit for a dedicated early start.

Evening: Stop at the seafood restaurants of Buntal village on the way back to the city for chilli crab and midin, a crunchy local jungle fern stir-fried with belacan. The sunset over the estuary is lovely.

Option A, staying in Kuching: Go early to the Satok weekend market (best on Saturday and Sunday) for wild ferns, jungle fruits, tuak rice wine and live fish brought in from the longhouses. Then browse the handicraft shops on Main Bazaar for pua kumbu cloth, rattan baskets and Orang Ulu beadwork. Finish with a last bowl of laksa before heading to the airport, about 20 minutes away.

Option B, Mulu extension: Take a morning MASwings flight from Kuching to Mulu, about 1 hour 20 minutes. The park headquarters is a short transfer from the airstrip. In the afternoon, join the guided walk to Deer Cave, one of the largest cave passages in the world, and Lang Cave with its delicate formations. At dusk, wait at the bat observatory outside the cave for the exodus, when huge numbers of wrinkle-lipped bats stream out in twisting ribbons, weather permitting. Stay at least two nights so you can add Clearwater Cave and the canopy walk, and allow a spare day in case rain cancels your flight out.