Sarawak, which is affectionately known as the "land of the Hornbills", stretches about 700 km along the northwestern coast of Borneo covering a total area of 125,000 sq. km. This largest Malaysian state is home about 2 million people comprising more than 24 different races / indigenous groups who live harmoniously, celebrating their colorful cultural and religious festivals throughout the whole year. At present, about 68 percent of Sarawak's land area is still covered by virgin jungles and forest.

Viewed from the air, this states is a great expanse of undulating greens crisis-crossed by mountainous terrains and rivers, so many that they look like the veins of a leaf. Hidden among these towering greens are an abundance of flora and fauna. The world's largest cave chamber and South East Asia's longest cave passage are found at the Mulu National Park. Today, 9 national parks, 3-wildlife sanctuaries and 1-wildlife rehabilitation center have been gazette to protect and preserve these natural heritages.

One of the most striking features of Sarawak is its natives' longhouse. These elongated and stilted structures often built of axe-hewn timber, tied with creeper fibred and roofed with atap ( thatched leaves ) can house between 20 to 100 families under one roof.

Kuching is the capital and administrative center of Sarawak. It is a riverine town sitting on the southern bank of the famous Sarawak River and about 32 km from the South China Sea. Its strategic location makes it a bustling riverine port, which plays an important part in its overall development.

Kuching, with a population of about 490,000 people, is well served by air from major destinations including Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore and Brunei. Inaugurated as a city on August 1, 1988, it boasts beautifully landscaped parks and colorful markets, mingling among an interesting mixture of modern and historical buildings inherited from its exciting past.

The banks of the Sarawak River still maintain their old magic, highlighted by many traditional Malay houses built on stilts, historical landmarks and traditional boatmen paddling in their small wooden boats known as "tambang".

A tour of Kuching itself is a journey of history and culture. Among the interesting attractions are the Sarawak Museum, Fort Margherita, Court House, Tua Pek Kong Temple, and the Astana, formerly Palace of the White Rajahs. At the 890 m – long Kuching Waterfront Esplanade, one can further savour remnants of the old days such as the Chinese Chamber of Commerce building, the Square Tower, old shop houses selling antiques and souvenirs.

The Damai Tourism Belt, located 34 km north of Kuching, is a "must-see" tourist attraction. It comprises the Santubong Kuching Resort, Holiday Inn Resort Damai Beach, Damai Lagoon Resort, an international class 18-hole Damai golf course designed by golfing legend Arnold Palmer, and Camp Permai – an outward-bound school-cum-recreation centre.

Wedged in between the Damai Beach Resort and Camp Permai is the award - winning $10 million Sarawak Cultural Village, an ideal spot for those who want to see how the natives live in the rural areas but are deterred because of time constraints. Within the Village's sprawling 6.8-hectare site are seven representative ethnic houses built according to authentic styles and replete with real traditional artifacts. The village is known as a "living museum" because natives live in the various houses and make handicrafts.

About 2 km before reaching Damai sits Santubong, a picturesque Malay Fishing Village cum beach "resort". It was an important trading post in the 9th to 13th century and has provided some interesting archaeological finds. Mangrove Forest and Island tours can be arranged from here.

At the 25 km junction along the Kuching-Damai route is a road leading to the Buntal Fishing village. This scenic area is famous for its relatively cheap and succulent seafood.

The Bako National Park is Sarawak's oldest national park and is located 37 km northeast of Kuching. Virtually every type of vegetation in Borneo can be found in this 2,728-hectare park. Rare animal like the Proboscis Monkey can easily be sported in this Park.

Some 22 km southeast of the city, off the Kuching Serian highway, lays the Semonggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.

Annah Rais is a very traditional Bidayuh Longhouse located about 80 km from Kuching and the Borneo Highland Resort / Hornbill Golf & Jungle Club is situatual on the nearby plateau.

Located about 200 m off the 30 km junction of the Kuching-Serian highway is Jong's Crocodile Farm. This mini-zoo is one of the largest crocodile farms in Malaysia.

The gold mining town of Bau beckon southwest of Kuching along a 34 km-long-tar sealed dual carriageway. Mining operations for the glittering ore are still carried out today. An interesting structure at the town centre is a small Buddhist Shrine, which also doubles as a roundabout. Other attractions here include the Bau Museum which has a fine collection of Bidayuh cultural, the Wind and Fairy Cave, are located about 8 km from Bau Bazaar.

Located some 70 km away from Bau is Lundu, a popular stopover town for visitors to its many recreational beaches. The Gunung Gading National Park, which is about 10 minute's drive from the town consists of several peaks and has a series of waterfalls. It is home to numerous rare plants, including the world's largest flower – the Spectacular Rafflesia tuanmudae.

The 64 km Kuching-Serian highway ends with the small Serian town. This place represents an important trading center to the Bidayuhs who come here to peddle their exotic array of the jungle and farm produce, not far from the town is the Rancang Pool – a popular recreational ground which boasts an icy-cold waterfall. To travellers up country, Serian represents the last stop up on food provisions and to freshen up before embarking on the long journeys to either Tebedu or Sri Aman.

Tebedu located about 101 km southwest of Serian Bazaar. Sitting along the Sarawak – Indonesian border, this predominantly Bidayuh settlement is the gateway to West Kalimantan ( Indonesia ) by land.

Sri Aman, formerly known as Simanggang, is situated east of Serian and is linked to it by a good 129 km stretch of dual carriageway. An interesting historical building here is Fort Alice. This 128-year-old fort overlooks Batang Lupar and was built to prevent the volatile Dayaks from passing down river to attack the coastal shipping trade.

About 10 km before reaching Sri Aman town, there is a surfaced road leading to the mighty Batang Lupar River with its three tributaries of Batang Ai, Lemanak and Skrang.

Sitting at the Batang Ai Reservoir is the Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort managed by Hilton Hotel. Adjacent to the Batang Ai area is the Lanjak – Entimau Biodiversity Conservation Area & Wildlife Sanctuary. It currently covers an area of 168,758 ha, with a proposed extension of 18,414 ha.

The complex topography of this region provides livelihood and shelter for an equally complex community of flora & fauna, some of which are yet to be discovered. This is where you can spot the orang utans in their natural habitat.

Of the 3 tributaries, Lemanak is the logical choice for an exiting longhouse safari for several reasons.

Firstly, it is the nearest of the three from Kuching ( 224 km away ) and can be reached in only about 4 hours. Secondly, the upper reach of the Lemanak River is where some of the most traditional Iban longhouses in the state are located. Thirdly, Lemanak is still comparatively primitive and it was only opened to tourists recently.

To get to one of the longhouse in Lemanak requires about an hour of exciting longboat ride, which passes through rapids and picturesque scenes. The lifestyles of the natives at these unique and stilted dwelling structures are a picture of contrast. Their skills in manning the deadly blowpipe, the deft touches of their women folk in making handicrafts, and colourful cultural activities are unforgettable sights.

Sibu, formerly known as Maling, is the main port town on Rejang River – Sarawak's longest and largest river. Naturally, its bustling waterfront sports all manner of watercrafts from motorized wooden longboats to ocean-going vessels. Sibu can be reaches easily by a well-surfaced road stretching 462 km from Kuching. Travelers can also choose to travel by aero plane-shaped express boats or by air.

The Sibu airport is served by Boeing 737, F50 projects and Twin-Otter aircrafts from Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Bintulu, and Miri.

From Sibu, super-fast launches can cover the 130 km route to Kapit in between 4 to 5 hours, including calls at small riverine settlements such as Kanowit and Song – a pre-dominantly Iban trading centre. The Katibas River, a tributary of the Rejang, which snakes out of Song, has exciting rapids and interesting Iban longhouses.

Kapit, the administrative headquarters, is a trading centre for the natives. It is also on MAS's domestic network. The Regency Pelagus Resort is about 30 minutes, boat ride from Kapit. Further up the Rejang River, Belaga beckons. But take note that beyond Kapit, the river becomes shallow and several sets of rapids lace the route – including the famous Pelagus Rapids.

Belaga is basically a small district and administrative centre for the Kayan and Kenyah tribes on the upper reaches of the Rejang River. Launches and longboats leave Kapit for here daily whenever the tide is high enough for them to travel. Travel time takes between 6 to 10 hours, depending on the tides, Permits are required to visit these area.

Some 220 km northeast of Sibu is the industrial town of Bintulu. This booming coastal town bags 3 of Malaysia's major industrial projects – Asean – Bintulu Fertiliser Plant ( ABF ), Malaysian Liquefied Natural Gas ( LNG ) and Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis ( MDS ) plant.

Plans are afoot to develop this town, which has an international-class hotel, into a tourist destination.

The Similajau National Park, about 7 km northeast of Bintulu, has attractive shorelines and a well development beach. Access to the park is restricted to boat transportation. Bintulu is served by all three modes of transportation – air, sea and land from Kuching, Sibu and the oil-rich town of Miri – which lies 214 km northeast to Bintulu.

Midway between Bintulu and Miri is where the 3,140  hectare Niah National Park is located.

The main attraction here is the Great Niah Cave. The Niah cave complex is arguably South East Asia's most famous archaeological site. Excavation projects here have unearthed an ancient burial site, a skull carbon-dated to 40,000 B.C., and Paleolithic ( stone age ) implements.

These pre-historic men had also left behind the Painted Cave – where primitive red hematite paintings mirroring their lifestyle were scrawled on the walls of the cave.

Miri is the gateway to both the Niah Caves and the Mulu National Park, which houses some of the world's greatest natural wonders. This fast developing town is reachable by flights from Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Brunei.

There are two international-class hotels here. Interesting places to visit are the Tanjung Lobang Beach ( a very popular recreational ground ), Canada Hill ( a historical site where the first oil well was drilled in Miri in 1910 ) and the Long Jetty ( originally built by Sarawak Shell to supply off-shore drilling rigs ).

About 19 km from Miri town is the Lambir Hills National Park, which is easily accessible by road. The highly scenic Litak waterfalls, wide variety of flora and fauna thriving here certainly make this tranquil park a welcome change to the bustling heat of city life.

From Miri, a 3-hour express boat ride down the Kuala Baram will bring visitors to the outpost town of Marudi. There are also Twin-Otter air services between these two destinations. Tourists mainly use Marudi as a stopover point on their way to the world famous Mulu Caves from Miri.

In the streets of fast growing Marudi, one can see Orang Ulu womenfolk still preserving their cultural heritage of growing elongated ears by wearing heavy brass earrings. This unique practice, once revered as a sign of beauty and feminity, is the only one of its kind in the world.

Another fine destination to fly to from Miri is Bario, Straddling in the Kelabit Highlands, inhabited by the Kelabit tribe, Bario is affectionately referred to as the "Cameron Highland of Sarawak", after Malaysia's biggest hill station in West Malaysia.

Because of its cool temperature climate, several varieties of fruits are grown here. Sarawak's highest peak, Gunung Murud ( 2,423 m ) is located here.

Famous for its "Bario Rice", Bario is only reachable by twin-Otter aircrafts but the flight schedule hinges very much on weather conditions.

Two other northern towns worth visiting are Limbang and Lawas. Limbang is famous for buffalo racing. This highly exciting and humorous activity first started as a favourite pastime among Europeans during the days of the White Rajahs. An interesting sight in this timber-rich centre is its "water villages" which are built on stilts along the riverbanks.

Limbang can be reached from Miri in 35 minutes by air. From here, we can travel to Brunei either by speedboats or by road through the Batu Danau ferry point. A 15 minutes flight or 2-hour express boat ride takes one to Lawas, a predominantly Lun Bawang country.

The fast growing Lawas is historically significant in that Sarawak's territorial expansion during the reign of the White Rajahs ended there.

There is a road linking Lawas to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah.