Which city is better -- Kuching or Kota Kinabalu? Both have charms of their own and it's difficult to make a comparison.
The location of Kota Kinabalu from the airport is a short ride and within the hour, you could either be taking in the many sites of the city's attractions or just swimming in the pool of 5-star luxury hotels drinking sweet pineapple juice. For the itinerant golfer, you could be teeing off on the same day at the many world class golf courses in and around the city.
Savour the unique Sabahan cuisine that offers delicacies of 30 ethnic groups who populate the state. Or, just dive into the many famous seafood restaurants that have become tourist attractions themselves.
Most tourists would want to take a drive to Mount Kinabalu.
A trip to a cultural village near the city would not be amiss as you would be treated to a plethora of sounds and cultures, learning various traditional activities like dancing, hunting with blowpipes, admiring the various tribal costumes and abodes.
The capital city of Sarawak, Kuching, to most visitors who have been to both places (KK and Kuching) is a more vibrant city. Similar to KK, Kuching is also a coastal city and stretches along long beautiful beaches and strides the delta of the majestic Rajang River.
For visitors who love to romanticise history, Kuching is an ideal destination as one of the main attractions of the city is the Astana, a building built in 1870 as a wedding gift by the second White Rajah Charles Brooke for his beloved Ranee Margaret de Windt as a symbol of his undying love for her.
You would love to take an evening stroll along the scenic Kuching Waterfront witnessing one of the most dazzling sunsets nature presents. After which one can then treat oneself to the mind boggling number of traditional cuisines Sarawak has to offer even for the discerning gourmand.
In the evenings, do catch the numerous traditional shows offering insights into the various ethnic communities that make the state of Sarawak one of the most diverse in Malaysia.
The city is also the gateway to many other wonderful destinations in Sarawak including national parks, most notably the Bako National Park and the Kuching Wetlands National Park as well as the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre which operates an orangutan orphanage and rehabilitation programme.
Kuching is also an ideal business destination offering world class hotels, resorts with high service standards. Only a 1 hour 40 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur, Kuching offers the corporate traveller a destination for work and play. Golfers who have played in Kuching's many golf courses would tell you how delightful the experience was.
For more information or enquiries, please contact Visit Malaysia Year 2014 Secretariat, at 03-8891 7000 or log on to www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my