Sarawak - Land of the Hornbills

Situated on the north-western coast of Borneo, the land of hornbills, intricate rivers and pepper beckons the visitor with its rich rain forests and the diverse lifestyles of its indigenous people. Sarawak shares its boundaries with Kalimantan in the south and Brunei and Sabah in the north. Sarawak is Malaysia's largest state, covering an area of 124,450sq km and is divided into nine Divisions with the city of Kuching as its capital. Two-thirds of its land is under rainforest and its population of 1.7 million is made up of 23 ethnic groups.

Sarawak is best known for its cultural and natural wonders:

Mountain Climbing
- Tama Abu, Kelabit Highlands (2113m)
- Bukit Batu Buli, Kelabit Highlands (2082m)
- Bukit Batu Lawi, Kelabit Highlands (2046m)
- Bukit Batu, Hose Mountains (2092m)
- Mount Penrissen (1329m)
- Mount Santubong (810m)
- Bukit Batu Iran (2018m)
- Mount Mulu, Mulu National Park (2376m)

Jungle Trekking
- Bako National Park (Mangrove forest)
- Lambir National Park (Lowland rainforest)
- Mulu National Park (Hill rainforest and limestone pinnacles)
- Niah National Park (Lowland rainforest) 

Bird Watching
- Hose Mountains (Montane forest)
- Bako National Park (Lowland rainforest)
- Gunung Mulu National Park (Montane forest) 

Caving
- Mulu Caves, Mulu National Park

Scuba Diving
- Talang Besar Island
- Talang Kechil Island

History of Sarawak

Archaeological finds at Santubong peninsula showed that the Chinese came to trade during the Tang, Sung, and Yuan dynasties from A.D. 618 to 1368. Little is known about its later history except that at some point Sarawak came under the suzerainty of the sultan of Brunei. Inhabited by Bidayuh tribesmen, Sarawak did not interest anyone very much until the rise of Singapore put a new market of trade in the area. In the I820's. some Brunei nobles moved to Kuching, planning to sell Sarawak's gold and jungle produce to traders. Their policies soon provoked a rebellion. There was also trouble between the Malay coastal settlers and the Land Dayaks (Bidayuh). Into this scenario stepped English adventurer James Brooke in 1839. Brooks had been with the East India Company's army briefly. While visiting Singapore in his private yacht, he was asked to take a letter to the Brunei viceroy in Kuching. There he was persuaded by Rajah Muda Hassim, heir apparent to the Sultan of Brunei, to help quell the uprising. Brooke managed to persuade all sides into agreeing to a truce. As a token of gratitude he was given the title of governor and Rajah of Sarawak by the Brunei sultan. Hence, in this strange fashion Sarawak came under the Brooke dynasty. His rule of justice without favoritism augured well. His nephew Charles Brooke succeeded him and it was during Charles time that oil was found in Sarawak, rubber introduced as a cash crop and some of Kuching's elegant old buildings came into being. Charles Brooke died in 1917 at the age of 86 and was succeeded by his eldest son Charles Vyner Brooke, whose rule was short-lived as the state was handed over to the British Crown in  1945. In 1963 Sarawak joined the Federated States of Malaysia.