This article is sponsored by Sarawak Tourism Board.
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board; Edited by HITZ
For most of us, it’s been more than two years since we’ve last been on a plane. Now that borders are reopening and we’re looking for more opportunities to travel again, there’s a place just across the South China Sea that wants to welcome you to a land filled with diversity in nature, culture, history, adventure, festivals, and of course, food: Sarawak!
To celebrate the beauty of Borneo, Sarawak Tourism has crafted a number of exciting travel packages under Sia Sitok Sarawak Plus featuring the best places to explore across Kuching, Miri, Bintulu, and Sibu that costs as low as RM160 per person!
Some travel packages worth checking out:
#1 Bako National Park (RM280)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Bako National Park is one of the oldest and most famous national parks in Sarawak home to a wide variety of waterfalls, trekking trails, coastlines, coves, and beaches.
You can also spot rare animals like proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, and monitor lizards. Erosion left behind some incredible sandstone formations including the famous Sea Stack, as well as a desert-like scrub on the plateau and a lowland dipterocarp forest.
#2 Bengoh Dam and Kampung Sting (RM170)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
This day trip will take you to a place with spectacular views and visits to impressive waterfalls. It begins with an hour’s drive from Kuching city to rural and tranquil Padawan. There, you’ll find the Bengoh Dam, which was originally built as a water catchment for Kuching locals.
A half-hour boat ride from the jetty at the dam takes you to Sting, where the villagers have moved further up the hill rather than being relocated in the nearby resettlement scheme. They continue to practise their age-old agricultural activities till this day.
#3 Kuching Sunset Night Cycling (RM190)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
This one-of-a-kind bike tour covers up to 85% of Kuching’s best sites and many more. In this ultimate Kuching tour, you get to explore the city’s heritage zone with visits to temples and monuments. Take a ride across the Sarawak River on a traditional penambang and cycle through the rural kampung. Then, end your cycling adventure by indulging in local street food at Kubah Ria, the open-air market.
#4 Kuching Wetland Tour (RM200)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Located just 15km from Kuching and approximately 5km from Damai Beach, the Kuching Wetlands National Park mostly comprises of a saline mangrove system that includes an extensive network of marine waterways and tidal creeks interconnecting the the Sibu Laut and Salak rivers that form the park’s boundaries. Explore the park by taking a river cruise surrounding the coast and park, which usually takes up half a day.
You can find small patches of heath forest inside the park. It’s also an important spawning and nursery ground for fish and prawn species, and contains diverse of wildlife, including silver-leaf monkeys, estuarine crocodiles and a range of birdlife, like white-bellied sea eagles and the rare lesser adjutant stork.
#5 Kampung Sting Bengoh Adventure (RM300)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
What was once an 8-hour hike to a Bidayuh village is now a 15-minute boat ride away surrounded by scenic mountainous backdrops across the majestic Bengoh Lake. Many waterfalls and streams flow into the Bengoh Lake, which now serves as a water catchment for Kuching.
You can hike towards Kling waterfalls for a cold dip while a native lunch picnic awaits. Then, head to the picturesque Susung waterfalls and spend the night at Kampung Sting situated high above the lake.
#6 Kubah Birding Tour (RM250)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
This 5-hour tour at Kubah National Park is a dream for bird enthusiasts. The park is situated on a sandstone plateau, mostly covered by mixed dipterocarp forest, which blends patches of scrub and unusually rich areas of the Kerangas forest.
Upon arrival, you may spot some endemic species like the blue-banded pitta, Chestnut-crested yuhina, and dusky munia, as well as resident birds like the red-bearded bee-eater, Diard’s trogon, white-crowned hornbill, and many more. So make sure you bring along a good camera, binoculars and comfortable shoes!
#7 Mountain Bike Gold Mine Discovery (RM238)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Explore Sarawak’s rich history on this mountain-biking Kuching cave tour. This day trip will make stops at some of Borneo’s oldest gold mines and Kuching’s famous Wind and Fairy Caves, where you can catch a glimpse of local wildlife.
Then, choose from either the off-road jungle adventure, for those feeling a little daring, or the on-road country ride through traditional villages. On both tours, you’ll be rewarded at the end with a delicious local lunch.
#8 Night Frogging Tour (RM250)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
This tour also takes place as Kubah National Park with more than 61 frog species that have been recorded—that’s one-third of the total species of frog found in Borneo! It’s common to find the Bornean horned frog, Matang narrow-mouthed frog, giant river frog, and many more here.
#9 Semadang Kayaking (RM220)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Here’s a fun one. Kayak from Bengoh village to Semadang along one of the most scenic areas of Sarawak. You can paddle by Danu village where you can feed fishes. All kayaking, rafting and caving equipment are provided for you to explore. You can also dip your toes in the river before being served a hearty and home-cooked food made with locally-sourced ingredients and traditional recipes.
#10 Silabur Caving and Hiking (RM210)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Take this day trip to the town of Serian, which is located about 60km from Kuching. From Serian, continue another 40-minute drive to Kampung Batu Mawang that’s famous for its caving activity.
The 1-hour hike to Silabur Cave will take you through lush trails and rocky paths before reaching the cave’s entrance. The cave’s chambers are divided by the curtains of ancient limestone formation. This is an exhilarating experience that comes with challenging trails, great for adrenaline-seekers.
#11 Bintangor and Sarikei Countryside (RM180)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Get on this day trip situated approximately 70km from Sibu where rubber and black pepper are major agricultural products. The black pepper production in Sarikei accounts for half of the total black pepper production in Sarawak.
Today, Sarikei is widely known for its sweet and juicy pineapple production. Sarikei also become the main supplier of fruits, vegetables for Central Sarawak, which is why the town is also nicknamed the food basket of Sarawak.
#12 The Mighty Rajang River and Longhouse (RM160)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Unknown to many visitors and even locals, some longhouse experience can be captured just an hour's ride from Sibu. The Bawang Assan longhouse along the Mighty Rajang River boasts eight different longhouses all within walking distance of each other.
You get to experience weaving rattan mats or fish nets, shooting with blowpipes, fishing by the river and so much more with your host family. You’ll also learn to cook up an Iban culinary storm in the kitchen while listening to tales and mystics from ancient times.
#13 Upper Rajang Discovery (RM320)
Image via Sarawak Tourism Board
Kanowit, Song and Kapit are home to fierce Iban warriors. In this present day, these towns still house the forts built during the days of the Rajahs, employed to calm and pacify the fiery tempers of the Ibans. This tour will bring you on a trip down history as you get transported back to age-old Borneo.
#14 Niah Caves National Park (RM228)
You can’t leave out the Niah Caves when exploring Sarawak. The cave is an important prehistorical site where new discoveries in 2017 suggested that humans existed about 65,000 years ago in the Niah Caves system, exceeding the previous estimate of 45,000 years, making it the oldest recorded human settlement in East Malaysia. As you go further into the caves, you’ll spot belian poles erected or attached to the roof by bird’s nest collectors to harvest bird’s nest.
At the Moon Caves, a shaft of sunlight peeks through an opening at the roof of the caves before you are engrossed in total darkness, a haven for bats. As you emerged into light again, you’re well on your way to the Painted Caves where Borneo’s only red haematic paintings, believed to be at least a thousand years old, are found.
Discover more travel packages under Sia Sitok Sarawak Plus
Whether it’s something for your family, small group of ride-or-die friends, or even a solo adventure, you can find bundled travel experiences on the MHholidays and Journify platforms.
On MHholidays, you can book flights to Sarawak as well your accommodation on the same portal. You can also add on to your travel experience by booking a tour package in Sarawak from any of the 57 exclusive packages being offered on Journify.
Book your next trip to Sarawak from now till 28 February 2022 (travel period from now until 30 April 2022). Head to MHholidays or Journify to kickstart that Sarawak getaway!