Kuching (Sarawak)

Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, Malaysia's largest state and the other half of its Borneo territory, and it is consistently the city Malaysians name as the country's most pleasant. It is small enough to walk, sits on a river with a landscaped promenade along it, and carries an unusual history: for a hundred years from 1841 it was ruled by the Brooke family, English adventurers who governed Sarawak as a private kingdom. What that produced is a compact old town of shophouses, colonial forts and a palace, wrapped around a Chinatown and an Indian street, with Malay kampung across the water. Around it are proboscis monkeys at Bako, semi-wild orangutans at Semenggoh, Bidayuh and Iban longhouses, and the largest cave chambers on earth a flight away.

A Bornean orangutan in the rainforest canopy, reddish fur bright against dense green foliage
Semi-wild orangutans at Semenggoh, forty minutes from the city.
Borneo rainforest and highland ridges catching first light above cloud
Borneo — Sarawak covers the larger, wilder half of Malaysia's share of it.

← Back to Malaysia · All Destinations

All Kuching (Sarawak) Guides

19 in-depth guides to Kuching (Sarawak) — food, nightlife, beaches, transport, money and the practical detail that is hard to find.