Today we leave for Borneo from your chosen departure airport, arriving into Sarawak’s Kuching International Airport (KCH) the following day.

• Meals: Dinner

Following your arrival, we transfer the short distance (20-30 mins) to the Heritage Quarter of Kuching. Situated close to the Sarawak River, our small boutique hotel is the perfect place to rest up following your flights. This former boarding school has been painstakingly renovated and retains many of the building’s original features as well as a lovely pool for those looking to take a dip or relax.

With most flights arriving late morning / early afternoon we’ll meet up as a group for dinner in the early evening, which will be taken at one of the great local restaurants situated close to the hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 100 Metres Approx.

We rise early in order to make it to the Kuching Pending Jetty in time to catch the 0830 speedboat to Sibu, the gateway to central Sarawak. We’ll arrive in Sarawak in time for lunch at one of the local hawker restaurants where we can sample traditional delicacies such as kampua (noodles) and kongpia (mince meat buns).

After lunch we board a second vessel to complete the transfer to the town of Dalat. It’s a fascinating, meandering journey and the river offers us a unique perspective of the Melanau villages, timber & sago processing factories and traditional Iban longhouses.

Our bikes will be waiting for us near the jetty on arrival in Dalat where, after unloading and changing into cycling gear, we’ll saddle up for our first taste of rural Sarawak on two wheels. Our short ride through remote colourful villages and sago plantations leads us to the seaside resort of Mukah where, after settling in to our hotel we will wander into town to enjoy some more local specialities.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 280 Metres Approx.

Our route today flirts with the sea the whole distance and is more undulating than your first day’s cycling, especially the latter stages. The morning sees us passing through several rustic, rural towns which provide some welcome shade and an excuse to stop for a cold drink or two or to gorge ourselves on the juicy papayas, melon or mangoes which grow abundantly here. In the afternoon we continue, exploring a series of quiet roads through some seemingly-endless palm plantations.

We end our longest stage with a very short transfer, solely to avoid some busier roads as we approach Bintulu, to the Similajau National Park and it is here, in more tranquil surroundings, where we will spend the evening in our delightful chalet-style accommodation.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 720 Metres Approx.

The natural sounds of the National Park will wake us early and we’ll enjoy breakfast in the company exotic birds and other flora and fauna before continuing our journey north.

After spending a few more kilometres hugging the coast, the road begins to undulate and villages become less frequent and noticeably smaller. At around 70km into the ride we arrive at Similaju where we will stop for lunch before pressing on through more typical rural land, paddy fields, and villages. The lush scenery leads us finally to the Niah Cave National Park.

The Niah Cave system is considered to be of enormous archaeological importance and, set against a dramatic backdrop of limestone cliffs and pinnacles that dominate the skyline, there is a lot to savour here. Depending on park opening schedules during our visit, we will spend time, either this evening or tomorrow morning before departure, enjoying the spectacles, especially the painted cave houses and the Great Cave, home to hundreds of thousands of bats and swiftlets.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 365 Metres Approx.

Our destination today is Miri, a city which found wealth during the region’s oil boom but has somehow managed to retain a friendly, small-town atmosphere. The city, sitting on a stretch of coastline looking out across the South China Sea, is in close proximity to Sarawak’s most attractive and photogenic beaches and with this in mind we will make an early start today so that we can take full advantage.

The route today follows a lovely coast road and is mainly flat so we’ll be aiming to arrive in Miri in time for lunch with time in the afternoon set aside for relaxation. We can choose between simply enjoying the facilities at our beautiful hotel or, if time allows, taking an excursion to visit one of the beaches.

We’ll arrange to meet up in the evening to watch the sunset and enjoy pre-dinner drinks before heading out into town to enjoy dinner together.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 770 Metres Approx.

We’ll start the day with a short transfer to safely clear the hustle and bustle of Miri’s busy city-centre traffic. Soon after getting back on the bikes we’ll cross the Baram River and once passports have been dutifully stamped we’ll temporarily say goodbye to Malaysia and enter Brunei.

Thanks to its bountiful oil and gas reserves Brunei is one of the richest countries in the world, with its head of state, the Sultan of Brunei, famed for his huge personal fortune. Culturally vibrant, Brunei’s population is roughly two thirds Muslim and contrasts noticeably with neighboring Sarawak & Sabah.

From the border we continue our way eastwards past Kuala Belait and Seria, home to the majority of Brunei’s oil and gas industry. After lunch at Seria, rolling rural roads through the lush green vegetation lead us past the Andulan Forest Reserve, through Tutong, and ultimately to Bandar Seri Begawan, the country’s capital. It is possible to ride through the city, all the way to our hotel, however we offer a transfer for the final 10km to anyone not so comfortable riding in the city traffic.

After checking in to our hotel, we can take a stroll through the city’s historical center where the skyline is dominated by the Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, one of the most magnificent mosques in South East Asia. We can also see Kampong Ayer (literally ‘water village‘), the world’s largest stilt community, dating back over 600 years, with its cluster of some 40 villages connected by 24 miles / 38km of boardwalk.

Later we’ll enjoy dinner in one of Bandar Seri Begawan’s many great restaurants.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,400 Metres Approx.

We’ll make an early start to avoid the traffic and it won’t be long before we are out of the city and once again riding quiet rural roads through farmland and paddy fields. This will be our hilliest stage so far and it really marks the end of the first, mainly flat, phase of our tour. We’ll have to keep passports handy as we will be making three international crossings, passing from Brunei to Sarawak to Brunei and finally Sarawak once again.

We’ll spend some time in Limbang, a charming Sarawak town which, as home to Bruneian Malay, Kedayan, Iban, Lun Bawang and Orang Ulu people, is a genuine cultural melting pot. The whole place buzzes with border trade and, after soaking up the atmosphere wandering through the bustling Tamu (Wet Market), we’ll settle for lunch on the waterfront from where we can observe the locals trading fresh vegetables, fruits and seafood.

As we press on after lunch the terrain really does start to get hillier and towards the end of the day we make our final border crossing before eventually reaching Lawas, the northernmost town in Sarawak. We’ll spend the evening close to the river and a short distance away from the center of the town. We’ll have dinner in an amazing outdoor Hao Wei restaurant offering a huge array of delicious seafood treats.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,850 Metres Approx.

It’s time to bid farewell to the state of Sarawak as we enter Sabah and prepare to cross the mountains of the Crocker Range. This impressive mountain range is the home to Mount Kinabalu which at 4,095m / 13,400ft is the highest mountain in Malaysia and separates the west and east coast of Sabah.

The day begins, as many have until now, with approximately 18 miles / 30km of flat rural riding, but almost as soon as we cross the state border in Sabah, the road begins to rise and it isn’t long before things get considerably more lumpy. By the time we’ve reached the 43 mile / 70km mark the gradient ramps up into the mid-teens and things are suddenly much more serious as we weave our way upwards through the lush pristine rainforest. Thankfully the challenge is a relatively short one and within a few kilometers we‘re enjoying the magnificent vistas and preparing for the inevitable thrilling descent into Tenom.

The fertile land surrounding Tenom is primarily an agricultural area and boasts the famous Tenom highland coffee plantations. Naturally we’ll overnight at a small hotel close one of the town’s coffee factories so that we can sample the local produce with ease. For lovers of a brew, the Old School Coffee House, with an indulgent slice of cake, takes some beating!

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 1,440 Metres Approx.

The road from Tenom begins with a long but steady climb brushing the edges of Crocker Range and although we‘re climbing for most of the day with the high mountains as a backdrop, our route through the paddy fields is mainly along a gently rolling road. Having completed the first significant climb of the day we’ll descend into the charming old town of Keningau at approx 25 miles / 40kms, where we’ll replenish energy levels with dim sum and bak tuk teh, a famous regional dish consisting of a hot and savory herbal broth.

More upwardly rolling roads follow and the day’s second climb leads us ultimately to Tambunan at an altitude of 750m / 2460ft above sea-level. The pleasant town set in a valley enjoys a mild tropical climate all year long and is surrounded by hills peppered with villages and beautiful terraced paddy fields.

This highland area is home to the Dusun people who grow mountain rice on the hills and are famed for their Lihing and Tapai, fermented rice wines which we can sample over dinner before retiring to our simple hotel set amongst the paddy fields.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 2,050 Metres Approx.

We’ve reached the most challenging day of the tour as we continue to head northward in our quest to reach the base camp of the majestic Mount Kinabalu. As we make our way to Ranau, the gradient begins to get steeper and ever-more challenging as we approach what is the crossroads between east and west Sabah.

The final part of the day brings the biggest challenge as the road ramps up sharply in the direction of Kundasang, a small town and the gateway to Mt Kinabalu.

The final 7 mile / 13km climb to this lovely resort town is certainly challenging but, with stunning vistas all the way to take our minds of the gradient, is absolutely worth the effort and if we‘re blessed with clear skies we’ll be treated to unforgettable views of Kinabalu and the surrounding valleys from the garden of our hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 965 Metres Approx.

We begin our final stage with an initial 7km ride to the Kinabalu Park at the entrance to Mount Kinabalu where we will pay a visit to the Kinabalu Botanical Garden. With more than 4,500 species of flora and fauna it is easy to understand why it is recognized by UNESCO as one of the most important biological sites in the world.

After enjoying the natural wonders of the botanical gardens we’ll jump back on the bikes for a final challenge as we head for the town of Nabalu after which our exertions are rewarded with a fantastic 1,500m / 4900ft descent which delivers us back down to sea level via the flat plains of western Sabah.

At the junction with the main highway, we’ll load up the bikes and make a final short transfer into the center of Kota Kinabalu. Once settled in to our centrally-located hotel we‘l take a stroll along the waterfront where we can visit the vibrant seafood market or just relax at one of the many bars before meeting up in the evening for a final farewell dinner.

• Meals: Breakfast

Time for one more bowl of noodles before we head to Kota Kinabalu (BKI) for onward connections.