Experience the best of Miri

Miri lies on the north coast of Sarawak, near the border with Brunei, and grew from a fishing village into an oil town after the first well was drilled in 1910 on Canada Hill. The wooden derrick known as the Grand Old Lady still stands beside a petroleum museum on the hill, which looks over the city to the South China Sea.

Miri is a gateway to the rainforest. Niah National Park, to the south, has huge caves where human remains about forty thousand years old have been found, and where workers still collect edible swiftlet nests. Lambir Hills National Park has waterfalls and a famously varied forest. Offshore, the Miri-Sibuti Coral Reef National Park has reefs for diving, and Gunung Mulu is reached by a short flight.

Sarawak's food is on offer in the city's markets and coffee shops: Sarawak laksa, kolo mee noodles, fresh seafood and jungle ferns. The caves and the coast are easiest in the drier middle of the year, and rain is heaviest around the turn of the year.