Asia - Kuching (Sarawak) in July - Need Recommendations

Hi!

My first post! So I'm going to Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia for about 3 days this July and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on:

1. Cool things happening there in July
2. A good, middle-of-the-road but not ostentatious hotel to stay at
3. What to do

I've been there when I was really small as a kid and hardly remember it, so any recommendations you have would be great. Thanks!

Ciao from Italia,
I recently spent 3 days in Kuching. It's an interesting mix of cultures. I did not have the opportunity to leave the city but did spend two full days exploring it. I stayed at the LimeTree. It was reasonably priced, clean and had good aircon. You can walk all of the historic center easily from its location. I was a bit lazy and confined myself to a great deal of eating. Here are some suggestions:

1. I ate every evening at Top Spot Food Court. It's an unbelievable seafood center. You look around at the various vendors. I chose #25 Bukit Mata and ate there three times. The food was great and the prices were ridiculously low (for the quality on offer).

2. Breakfast for me was Sarawak laksa at Chong Choon Cafe. Get there early before he sells out. It's a great scene.

3. A wonderful old kopitiam is Nam Seng on Jl. Market for kopi peng. Iced coffee, good noodles and a beautiful place. Priceless.

To be honest I just walked around all day. Kuching is a fascinating place. It feels like K.L. thirty years ago. Have fun.

I spent a week in Kuching in January. There are lots of attractions close to Kuching. The touristy part of Kuching is fairly small and you can easily walk from one end to the other in less than half an hour.
- Definitely take a trip to experience the Orangutang sanctuary. Just book with your hotel and a minibus will pick you up in´the morning around 8, and you´ll be back at the hotel before noon.
- Also I found the Bako national park a great experience. But this will take a full day.

chefdg1 - Ciao and thank you very much for the info, that's very helpful!

cph_flyer - Thanks for all the information too, and glad you had fun. Where did you stay for your hotel?

Cheers,

BLT

I have a choice of going in last week of February,after I go to Penang and KL or in late May/early June as a side trip on my way to Bali.

Would there be appreciable difference in rainfall? Enough to choose one time over the other?

Hi;

I'm trying to decide which place to spend 3 nights and which to spend 2 nights - Kuching or Kota Kinabalu. In between, I will be spending a few nights onn the Kanabatanga river so I'm not thinking of doing day trips. All next month (May).

Which would you recommend for the longer stay?

Thanks in advance!

Hi;

I'm trying to decide which place to spend 3 nights and which to spend 2 nights - Kuching or Kota Kinabalu. In between, I will be spending a few nights onn the Kanabatanga river so I'm not thinking of doing day trips. All next month (May).

Which would you recommend for the longer stay?

Thanks in advance!

Definitely Kuching. Way more atmosphere (KK was flattened in WWII, while Kuching still has the colonial buildings). I liked Bako National Park...fascinating microclimates and some of the oldest-growth forest in the world.

The lower Kinabatangan is really fascinating, BTW. I took an Uncle Tan tour there for a night. That operation is very basic, but cost maybe a fourth what the others wanted at the time. A highlight is the flashlight nighttime boat tours, where you can see snakes dangling from trees and the like (Guides are very good at spotting stuff). We also saw 2 orangutans high up in the trees. It'll be memorable.

Hi;

I'm trying to decide which place to spend 3 nights and which to spend 2 nights - Kuching or Kota Kinabalu. In between, I will be spending a few nights onn the Kanabatanga river so I'm not thinking of doing day trips. All next month (May).

Which would you recommend for the longer stay?

Thanks in advance!

KK is a ghastly: condo central. Kuching has bundles of charm, an old centre including a riverside promenade, interesting shops and a lovely museum. There's also relatively easy access to resorts and the wonderful Bako national park.

It's now probably a much bigger city than you remember!

With a visit to Kuching as part of a 12 day visit to Malaysian Borneo in May 2014, how many days would be suggested? I have to fly in and out of KK with my award tickets, and plan to visit either or both jungle lodges in Kinabatangan area and Danum Valley, and possibly Mulu NP. I plan to fly between the various cities.

I'm wondering whether to put Kuching at the beginning or end of the vacation. When arriving in KK it will be after a TPAC flight from the US, on Asian, and that flight gets in at 12:20 am. I know there are numerous flights between KK and Kuching to take.

I spent about three weeks in Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei in December last year.

KK has lots to do and Sabah seems to have more things to do than Sarawak. And see the orangutans in Sabah. We went white water rafting and diving from KK and then did a lodge stay on the river. We didn't go to Danum (wish we had).

We loved Kuching. We rented a car and drove out to Baku and then to the Ai Batang (Hilton) resort which we enjoyed tho if you look on the Hilton forum, you'll find lots of people who didn't like the resort.

I'd to 2/3rds Sabah and 1/3 Sarawak.

Nice. I was thinking of visiting soon.

I'm looking at making a daytrip to Kuching from Kuala Lumpur. I'm guessing one day isn't enough to see the whole city, but is there anything that you'd recommend one could see during one day? How easily can the rain forrest be accessed?