Kutching and the island of Borneo

The island of Borneo is one of the biggest in the world, home to diverse fauna and flora and beautiful beaches. It is divided between Indonesia and Malaysia. After a week in Kuala Lumpur, we took the flight to Kuching, one of the main access gates to the Malaysian part of the island.

While we found it to be more of a quiet place, the city is actually very big. Its many accommodation options, varying from simple hostels to five stars hotel chains, an abundance of touristic resorts and commercial centers are proofs of intense touristic activity… although this wasn’t the reality when we were there.

Most public buses didn’t offer rides anymore due to the low number of requests. Transportation from the airport towards the city had to be organized by car. We paid 30 ringgit for a ride to our hostel, which has been the last taxi ride that we took in this country. We found out that other transportation methods were available and way cheaper.

We started moving around by using Grab, a convenient alternative for Uber but much more used in Southeast Asia. And with so many drivers making a living from offering a ride on Grab, we never had to wait more than five minutes to have a car waiting to pick us up.

Le Nomade Backpacker Hostel has been our “home” for two weeks, a small hostel with simple accommodation options, basic breakfast and extraordinary people. We found plenty of restaurants in the area around the hostel, a big supermarket, from where we always bought our groceries whenever we felt like cooking some of the foods we usually enjoy at home and cute coffee places to hide and chill during the rainy and hot afternoons. It has been a wonderful place to relax after long travel times, to work and get up to date with our projects and to enjoy the simple daily Malaysian life.

While many touristic activities were available to choose from inside the city, we spent only one day outside of it, when we visited the Bako National Park. The city is hosting some of the famous Malaysian street art, which we went to discover one day. Colorful paintings contribute to the charm of the animated streets and definitely add flavor to the Malaysian experience of every tourist.

In the end, our time in Kuching felt rich in memories but, despite the two weeks that we spent there, still short in time. The following days we would go to explore some of the smaller islands of Malaysia. Read more about it here.