Borneo is the third largest island in the world and the largest in Asia, shared by the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, Indonesian Kalimantan and the Sultanate of Brunei.
This year’s Hari Raya long weekend I took my first ever trip to Borneo. The highlights of this trip is our visit to Gunung Mulu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Brunei’s Royal Palace Hari Raya Open House.
Here’s the outline of our 5D4N trip:
Day 1: Singapore – Miri (Sarawak) – Mulu (Sarawak)
Day 2: Mulu (Sarawak): Gunung Mulu National Park, including Cave of the Winds, Clearwater Cave, Lang Cave and Deer Cave.
Day 3: Mulu (Sarawak) – Miri (Sarawak) – Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei)
Day 4: Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei): Istana Nurul Iman Open House, Kampung Ayer and Others
Day 5: Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei) – Singapore
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Day 1:
A miserable 2 hour flight thanks to the inconsiderate passenger seated beside me. Besides forcing me to sit sideways throughout the journey with his arms and legs fully outstretched in the low cost carrier’s tight seating space, I was constantly subjected to a symphony of snoring sounds even before take-off. Every incident is a lesson in itself. This teaches me an important lesson: never scrimp on the seat selection fee when traveling with a companion.
Flying from Singapore to Miri, we can either do so with Air Asia or Malaysia Airlines. Low cost carrier, Air Asia, has better timing and is a direct flight. If we had taken Malaysian Airlines, time will be wasted in flight and transit at Kuala Lumpur. Flying up north then turn back and fly south again with transit is time wasting.
From Miri to Mulu, the fastest way is by a 30-min MASWing flight. Travel by land will involve a car ride, boat ride and a trek as there is no direct road linkage from Mulu. Read more about my flight from Miri to Mulu.
There are 3 accommodation options in Mulu: local homestay, Mulu National Park lodgings or Mulu Marriott. We chose the best available option: Mulu Marriott. Read more about our stay in Mulu Marriott.
After checking in, we went out to explore the National Park and ended up walking more than 6km in total for the bat exodus from Deer Caves. During late evening, around 3 to 4 million bats will make their way in batches out of the caves. Read more in our post on Gunung Mulu National Park.
Day 2:
We took Marriott’s Unplug at Mulu Marriott package which includes guided tour. Within one day we did 4 caves: Cave of the Winds and Clearwater Cave in the morning; Lang Cave and Deer Cave in the afternoon.
Incidentally visitors can only visit the caves in this order as the caves are open for half day to maintain the pristine conditions and ecological balance. Each of these caves has its own characteristics. Journey for the morning visit was done partially by boat, but the climb in Clearwater Cave is more physically demanding than the rest. Tiring to have walked for most of the day but what we have seen made it truly worthwhile having tired legs after that.
Read more in our post about Gunung Mulu National Park.
Day 3:
A day spent mainly in traveling from Mulu to Miri to Bandar Sri Begawan (BSB). We took the morning 10:15am flight out from Mulu and reached Miri well before 11am.
Coaches depart from Miri to BSB twice a day at 8.15am and 3.45pm. With the city centre a distance away from the bus terminal and with our huge backpacks, we spent our time in a mall and a market near the bus terminal. We took the afternoon bus with 10 other passengers in a 40-seater coach, and we arrived in BSB in 3.5 hours time.
Read more in our bus ride from Miri to BSB in Traveling by Bus from Miri to Brunei.
Day 4:
The highlight of the day was a visit to Brunei’s Royal Palace, Istana Nurul Iman. The palace is the residence of the Brunei royal family and open only for 3 days every year during their Hari Raya Open House. Read more about our visit to the royal palace in Istana Nurul Iman Open House.
After the Istana visit, we took a public mini-bus back to BSB. Bus fare is at a flat B$1. Afternoon was spent walking around the city, including Kampung Ayer and Mosque. Read more in Our Time in Brunei, the Abode of Peace
Day 5:
A quick walk along BSB Waterfront and a local breakfast before we made our way to the airport for our flight home.
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Where’s Miri?
Miri is a coastal city in northeastern Sarawak. Founded by Royal Dutch Shell in 1910 upon discovery of an oil field, it developed rapidly to be the administrative centre of northern Sarawak in 1929.
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What to do in Miri?
Miri may not have real exciting tourist attractions but it is a good starting point to explore the surrounding National Parks:
- Gunung Mulu National Park (which we included in our itinerary)
- Loagan Bunut National Park
- Lambir Hills National Park
- Niah National Park
- Miri-Sibuti National Park
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What’s there to see in Mulu?
Gunung Mulu National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which encompasses caves and karst formations in an equatorial rainforest mountainous area. Read about our trip to Gunung Mulu National Park.
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What are the attractions in Bandar Seri Begawan (or BSB in short)?
- Royal Regalia Museum
- Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque
- Tamu Kianggeh
- Waterfront
- Kampong Ayer
- Tamu Selera Night Market
As we happened to be there during their main festive season, attractions such as Tamu Kiangggeh and Tamu Selera Night Market were closed.
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How much did I spend on a trip like this?
- Air tickets: $213
- Accommodation: $350 (Marriott Mulu) + $127 (The Brunei Hotel) = $477
- Transport: $43
- Meals: $43
- Admission: $0
- Total: $780 (rounded up)
What was included?
- The air tickets cost includes low cost carrier (Air Asia) flight from Singapore to Miri ($93), flights to and from Gunung Mulu from Miri (RM 319.32) and Brunei airport tax ($12). The flight from BSB to Singapore was redeemed using my 7,500 Krisflyer miles. If you are adopting a similar itinerary, do remember to include the fare for this leg in your calculations.
- Transport cost was low as it only included airport transfer from Miri Airport to bus terminal (RM30 for 2 pax) and BSB city centre to airport ($20 for 2 pax) as well as bus ticket from Miri to BSB (RM50 per pax) and transport cost within BSB.
- We took Mulu Marriott Resort’s Unplug at Mulu Marriott package. The package is inclusive of guide tours, airport transfers, shuttle to Mulu National Park, blow pipe demo or cooking (prior booking required), breakfast, dinner and snack box for 3D2N. More details on their website. This package skewed the distribution of the costs in the various categories.
- Accommodation in Brunei is based on twin-sharing.
- We did not pay for any admission cost in Brunei.
- Exchange rate taken as S$100=RM295.
- If you are holding Singapore dollars, you can spend them in Brunei without heading to the money changer due to currency interchangeability agreement since 1967. The two currencies are interchangeable on par at B$1 = S$1.