Things to do in MIRI : Cycling in Marudi CYCLE IN MARUDI (SARAWAK)

Marudi is a small town located about an hour and 40 minutes’ drive from Miri. In the early 20th century Marudi was home to Charles Hose, A naturalist who was based there. This man discovered many animals to science such as the endemic hose civet, the hose broadbill and so on.Marudi is still an important trading point for the interior tribes.

Surrounding Marudi are 37 Iban Longhouses. A longhouse is basically a long narrow building, which houses several families of the same tribe all together. We have a house/terrace/semi-attached/apartment. But in the culture of the Iban tribe, the whole family lives together in one longhouse. It is indeed quite an interesting sight. Some of the traditional longhouses, especially the wooden ones can be very beautiful.

Marudi used to have stunning forests, unfortunately today this is a thing of the past and there’s mostly only secondary forest left. However there is one last patch of primary forest to be found, which we want to have legally protected as a forest reserve. The potential of wildlife tourism has slimmed down here due to heavy hunting so we have come up with another idea:

Cycling tourism!

This town is not used to tourists at all. If you are in Miri or Kuching and you want to try something new, something completely off the beaten track, then we would say: give Marudi a try! You can rent the bikes for RM 50,- from a friendly local names Lukas +60...

You can cycle the whole area and visit all the longhouses. As for us, we usually cycle to Sungai Pasir Longhouse, Sungai Babi Longhouse and if you are really fit and adventurous, then try Sungai Ridan Longhouse.

When you meet Lukas for your bike rental, he can give you the Waze locations of all the longhouses and also advise you the best way to get there.

As mentioned earlier, the people are not used to receive many tourists. So if you do stay at any of the longhouses, please expect very basic living conditions and basic meals. Nevertheless, if you are indeed looking for an authentic Sarawakian adventure, this won’t influence the experience you are going to have. The locals are very warm and even curious, although they can be shy when it comes to money matters. So please don’t forget to pay a mere fee of RM 15,-a night per person, and RM 7,- per meal (breakfast RM 5,-).

How long should you stay? Two nights is more than enough to experience the village. Depending on how venturesome you are if you choose to cycle to the Ridan Longhouse (logging road) we would advise to go for three nights, due to the distance. You can swim in the nearby stream and hire a local guide to show you the surrounding jungle ( pay him RM 20-30).

While cycling you will get to enjoy scenic views of rice fields, pepper fields, nice hilly forests and pitcher plants.

Support locals and conservation in the long run. Have a wonderful time in Marudi!