Kuching

By plane

Kuching International Airport IATA: KCH is Sarawak's main gateway. There are near-hourly connections to Kuala Lumpur as well as frequent flights to Singapore, Johor Bahru, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu and other cities in Sarawak like Sibu, Bintulu and Miri. MASwings (http://www.maswings.com.my) links Kuching with Mukah. International connections are rather limited, although there are a few weekly services to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Pontianak. Flights to Kuching are also operated by AirAsia (http://www.airasia.com). International airlines operating in Kuching includes SilkAir, Royal Brunei, Tiger Airways, and Batavia Air.

The airport underwent a major facelift in 2005-2006 and is now modern and pleasant. When checking in, note that all flights outside Sarawak are considered "international", even if you're only going elsewhere in Malaysia. A restaurant is on ground floor at the far end at the right, 'OldTown White Coffee' kopitiam restaurant at the other far end at the left and a McDonald's outlet beside the escalators. There is also a KFC outlet and a Starbucks outlet on the 2nd floor departure level, left of the departure gates.

Getting there/away: Kuching city is about 20 min away by taxi, a fixed RM26 from the taxi coupon stand just outside arrivals. Ignore the touts, even if they show you price lists. From the city you can get a private vehicle for around RM20 or catch a mini bus RM7.99 for Tune guests; RM10 for others. must be booked at least 1 day in advance leaving hourly from 8:30AM-evening.

The Sarawak Transport Company STC Bus No. 12A no longer serves the 5 daily trips between the airport and the city centre. There is a series of other buses which can drop you off or pick you up approximately 1 KM west of the Airport (turn left as you exit the airport and walk to the main T intersection, turn left again and walk until you reach the big roundabout and catch a bus heading north to town namely 3A, 6, 8G and 9. The most convenient place to catch these buses back to the airport intersection is at the main bus terminal located in the city.

On a list of available busses in Kuching published by the tourist information one can find Bus No. K13 from / to airport 06:30, 09:15, 12:15, 15:00 / 08:00, 10:30, 13:30, 17:30 but also the statement that "public bus service in not reliable or accurate".

By plane

In case you are in a hurry or desire a bit of luxury, helicopters and other method of air transports are available from Hornbill Skyways.

By Cruises

There are some cruise liners operating daily between Kuching and Singapore. One of them is StarCruise.

By bus

Kuching's regional express bus terminal is located along Jl. Datuk Tawi Sli, also dubbed as "3 and a half miles", located south of the city, just before the Boulevard shopping mall. All long-distance express buses arrive from and leave for major Sarawak cities like Sibu, Bintulu and Miri, as well as Pontianak in Indonesia. Regional buses for some towns near Kuching such as Lundu for the Gunung Gading National Park and Tanjung Datu National Park and Sri Aman also arrive/depart from here. However, buses for some towns and destinations nearer Kuching, such as the Bako National Park, Bau and the Semenggoh Orang Utan Centre, leave from various locations in the city centre, depending on the bus company being used. See the individual destinations below for details.

To/from Bau:

To/from Bako National Park:

Petra Jaya Transportred bus No. 1 departs from the open air market near Electra House in the city centre. RM3.5 one way, journey time 45 min. There are also public mini buses, more expensive and a little bit faster and more regular. The buses bring you to Bako Bazaar where you pay your RM10 park entrance fee and transfer to a boat to reach the national park. Boat costs RM47 one way and can carry up to 5 people. See Bako National Park page for details.

To/from Lundu:

Sarawak Transport Company cream and green express buses depart from the regional bus terminal at 8:15AM, 11AM, 2PM and 4PM. Buses depart Lundu at 8AM, 11AM, 2PM and 4PM. Travel time approximately 2 hr. At Lundu, take a taxi or van or walk approximately 2.5 km north to the Gunung Gading National Park. For Tanjung Datu National Park, catch a connecting Sarawak Transport Company bus to Sematan where you will have to charter a boat to the park.

To/from Pontianak: Biaramas Express

(http://www.biaramas.com/i...) ☎+60 82 456999 at the regional bus terminal, ☎ +60 82 610111 headquarters. Buses depart Kuching regional bus terminal for Pontianak via the Tebedu-Entikong border crossing daily at 7:45AM. RM45 adult 1 way. From Pontianak, buses depart daily at 9PM. Fare is Rp 140,000. SJS Super Executive ☎ +60 82 456999) buses departs the regional bus terminal at 11AM and cost RM70. See the Pontianak to Kuching for travel itinerary detail of this route.

To/from Semenggoh:

Feeding times for the Orangutans are 9AM and 1PM so catch the 7:30AM or 11AM bus. Sarawak Transport Company buses No.6 depart from their bus terminal RM2.50, 1 hour, near the open air market in the city centre but are not so frequent at 1 and a half hour or even rarely. Also there are plenty of mini buses at the open air market that can drive you there, public RM5-10/passеnger) and also more expensive mini bus taxies, bargaining starts from RM100 for the whole bus for return journey.

To/from Sibu:

Various express buses depart from the regional bus terminal. Most of them go via Sarikei.

By ship

The Express Bahagia and Express Sejahtera express boats run an alternating once daily service from Kuching to Sibu, each boat returning the next day. RM38 RM45 1st class one way and the journey takes 5.5 hr, with stops at Sarikei and Tanjung Manis. The boats depart from the Pending wharf to the east of the city at 8.30AM. You can usually buy tickets at the wharf. Getting there/away: Chin Lian Long buses No. 1A, 17 and 19 go to the express boat jetty. 60 sen one way. Taxis usually charge RM15.