Kuching Off The Beaten Path

save a day to climb mt santubong. just don't expect a light climb up a hill!
probably one of the more memorable moments of my trip.
there are also some great cafes and bars about. leagues ahead of kl.

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Tidal bore is a crescent of waves formed when a violent rush of water flows into a narrow channel when the tides are high... Only rivers with a fan-shaped shallow mouth will experience this natural phenomenon every month, depending on the tidal calendar... There are only 56 river sites that experience the monthly tidal bore phenomenon and two of these rivers are in Sarawak ~ the Batang Sadong and Batang Lupar (batang is the local Sarawak dialect for river) in Sri Aman...

The world’s other tidal bore rivers are Huang Ho River in China, the Amazon and some rivers in Indonesia...

Depending on the tide, the tidal bore, locally known as benak, can reach a height of three metres and will last for about 10 minutes... It will be quite an experience for the first-timer to watch the benak in the evening... It comes all of a sudden with a loud roar, followed by the sight of white crescent waves rolling in the dark at the point where the river flows out to the sea... The sight raises a spooky, spectacular feeling... And in a matter of minutes, the series of tidal waves are gone...

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The Bako National Park is the oldest national park in Malaysia... Gazetted as a protected area in 1957, it has almost every type of vegetation that is found in Borneo... Covering some 2,727 hectares at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula, Bako has seven complete eco-systems such as beach vegetation, cliff vegetation, kerangas of health forest, mangroive forest, mixed dipterocarp forest, padang or grass;ands and peat swamp forest... bako is also home to 5 species of primates viz the rare proboscis monkey, lon-tailed macaque, silver leaf langur, the slow loris and tarsier... Other interesting animals that can be seen are monitor lizards, plantian squirrels, bearded wild pigs, flying lemurs, civet cats and at least 6 species of bats...

Accommodation at the park includes chalets, lodges, hostels and campsites... Other facilities include the Kerangas Cafe, a barbeque area, 24-hour electricity supply and treated water supply...

Bako is managed by the Sarawak Forest Department... All visitors to Bako must obtain an entry permits, register at the park office and pay a nominal entry fee... These can be done at the Kampung Bako jetty... The Petra Jaya Bus (No. 6) takes 40mins from Kuching to Kampung Bako... The earliest bus leaves Kuching at 6am and the last bus leaves Kampung Bako at 5pm daily... Visitors then board chartered boats (at RM16 return) to continue their journey to the park...

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BAKO NAtional Park is a sure visit item for most tourists. As you leave the jetty, don't forget to check out Muara Tebas, a tiny fishing village located about 5km from the junction to the jetty. You can have excellent seafood dinner / lunch, sip beer and enjoy riverside view. There is even a neatly restored 200 year old Chinese temple whithin walking distance. Legend says the early travellers from mainland China used to offer prayers here after their dangerous trip across the South China Sea

The eating of bird's nests. A very unique and expensive dinning experience. I'm told some of the best nest's are from here.

If you don't have time to take the big tour, there is one place in the city that you can tour and see the nests be cleaned and sample the soup. A film is also shown, showing how the nests are harvested, and explains the rules of harvest (to protect the birds)
Will add name and location later, I'm on the other side of the planet right now and forgot to bring the info. However your hotel, tour driver or even a taxi driver should know about this place.

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You can spend the day or even rent a cabin for the night. Which ever, bring good walking shoes and your camera and plan to get wet.
From Kuching you can take a cab, but I would suggest booking a private tour. The whole day was less than $100, and the guide made all the difference.

After a short drive to the pier, we boarded a boat that took us to the park. After arriving, I was given a choice of any hiking trail(s) I wanted to do... I took the short one. With in the first few minutes we came across a troop of Proboscis monkeys. At the end of trail, I was hot and tired, so we hopped a water taxi. The owner of the little boat was great, and gave us a wonderful tour of the park from the water. This is where you get wet, you have to walk out into the water (about 2 feet deep) to get in and out of the boat. No one warned me... I was in leather shoes and jeans!

After hours of walking and riding, you can enjoy a nice meal at the little cafe and watch nature go by. Warning keep an eye out on your food the Silver Leaf monkeys will steal it right off the table!

One last warning, this is not a city park, it is nature almost in pure form. There are snakes out there and the animals are wild. Just keep an eye out, and use some common sense and you should have a wonderful experience.

I've included 5 photos here to give you an idea of what you might see.

Rafflesia is a genus of flowering plants that is made up of 16 known species, the 16th species being discovered as recently as 1988! The scientific name of rafflesia is Rafflesia spp. and the Malay name is Bunga Padma. The best known of these species is Rafflesia arnoldii, which has the distinction of being the world’s largest flower, reaching a diameter of about three feet. The genus Rafflesia gets its name from Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of the British colony of Singapore. He first discovered it in Sumatra with his friend Dr. Joseph Arnold, after whom the largest of the species, R. arnoldii, is named

The 16 known species of Rafflesia are found in the jungles of Southeast Asia. To date, the Rafflesia flowers have been found only in Indonesia - on the islands of Sumatra and Java - and Malaysia, in particular in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak..

Rafflesia, dubted as "Queen of the Parasites" is totally dependant upon a vine called Tetrastigma, which is related to the grapevine. Lacking roots, leaves and stems, the Rafflesia are parasitic upon their host vines, draining nourishment from them.

The Rafflesia can be seen only when it is ready to reproduce, when the parasitic growths on the vine form a lump that develop into a structure somewhat resembling a cabbage. This cabbage-like bud bursts through the host’s bark, and after about 9 months will open to reveal the massive 5-petaled flower, with stamens and pistils, which develops into a fruit with seeds.

All of the known species of Rafflesia are threatened or endangered. It is a "Totally Protected Plant" by law in Sarawak, but elsewhere in Malaysia it is only safeguarded by laws when found in protected areas like National or State Parks.

Please contact Gunung Gading National Park for any Rafflesia in bloom.

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It is somehow rare these fruits can only be found in certain countries. It is a fruit oval in shape and with spikey skins. Many foreign tourists do not like the smell as it has rather strong smell but tastes good. It is seasonal, twice a year mostly middle or end of the year.
In Kuching many of durian trees grow wildly in the forest.
This fruit has high cholestrol but can filled your tummy and you can skip lunch or dinner if you take it. Avoid liquor after taking these fruits.
In picture no. 2 , those tourists went for a longhouse trip and on the way back we saw some durians on the way back at the roadside. As a tourguide, I asked them to try, some liked it but not all.