Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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park. They can also advise how to travel to and from each park: Those closer to Kuching
will only involve local road and river transportation, while more remote parks will require
commercial flights to either S ibu or Miri, plus transfers to gr ound and river transporta-
tion and even chartered flights. If you have the time to plan your travel this way, you will
be rewarded with the thrill of “getting there,” experiencing local life a little closer to the
ground.
Most people do not have the luxury of time, which is why I recommend booking trips
that interest you through a tour operator who will arrange all transpor tation, parks per-
mits, lodging, meals, and guides for y ou, freeing your time to experience the attractions
themselves.
National Parks Not Far from Kuching
Both
B orneo A dventure,
55 M ain B azaar (
&
082/245-175;
www.borneoadventure.
com), and
Asian Overland Services,
126 Green Heights Commercial Centre (
&
082/
451-1309;
www.asianoverland.com.my), charge a fe w dollars mor e than many of the
other local operators, but y ou'll get experienced guides and r eliable services, and you do
not need to join a huge touristy coach gr oup. Most of these trips ar e for small gr oups.
Their half-day trips from Kuching take the mystery out of local transportation—they can
even be combined for longer itineraries so y ou can maximiz e your time. They can also
prepare customiz ed itineraries and special theme tours based upon y
our special inter-
ests—for example, crafts, flora, or tribal cultur es.
Bako National Park
, established in 1957, is S arawak's oldest national par k.
An area of 2,728 hectares (6,738 acres), it combines mangrove forest, lowland jungle, and
high plains covered in scrub. Throughout the park, you'll see the pitcher plant and other
strange carnivorous plants, plus long-tailed macaques, monitor lizards, bearded pigs, and
the unique proboscis monkey. Because the park is only 37km (23 miles) fr om Kuching,
half-day trips here are extremely convenient. A day trip for two costs RM300 ($87/£54)
per person.
Gunung Gading National Park,
about a 2-hour drive west of Kuching, sprawls 4,106
hectares (10,142 acres) over rugged mountains to beautiful beach spots along the coast.
Day-trippers and overnighters come to get a glimpse of the Rafflesia, the largest flo wer
in the world. The flowers are short lived and temperamental, but the national parks office
will let you know if any are in bloom. A day tour for two people costs RM300 ($87/£54)
per person.
Semenggoh O rang U tan S anctuary
is a r ehabilitation center for orangutans and
other endangered wildlife species who are either orphaned or recovering from illness and
are being trained for eventual release into the forest. A half-day tour for two people costs
RM140 ($41/£25) per person.
15
National Parks a Little Farther Out
Borneo A dventure,
55 M ain B azaar (
&
082/245-175;
www.borneoadventure.com),
and
Asian Overland Services
, 126 G reen Heights Commercial Centre (
&
082/451-
1309;
www.asianoverland.com.my), also book trips to national par ks in other par ts of
the state. You'll have to fly to Miri or Sibu, as these two towns are the hop-off points for
these excursions. Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia both ser vice these two to wns from KL
and Kuching.
Gunung Mulu National Park
provides an amazing adv enture, with its astounding
underground network of cav es. The park claims the world 's largest cav e passage (D eer
