There are many great places to visit in Sarawak – head for Sibu and its surrounding areas and you’ll find the weather is great, the flowers are beautiful, the wildlife is very interesting and the food is tasty.

Sibu is situated inland and nestles on the banks of the Rajang and Igan rivers, so river life is part and parcel of everyday life. Tourists who travel to Sibu love to journey up to the Upper Rajang River which is dotted with Iban and Orang Ulu (native tribes) towns and longhouses.

Longhouses are, literally, long houses where many native families live together. The womenfolk gather together and weave baskets and make other handicrafts while the men are out at work.

Sibu is home to Wisma Sanyan, the tallest building in Sarawak, Lanang Bridge (one of the longest river bridges in Sarawak) and the biggest town square in Malaysia which is near to the Wisma Sanyan building. There is also the Lau King Howe Memorial Museum, which is a medical museum, the Sibu Central Market (the biggest indoor market in Sarawak), and Tua Pek Kong Temple, all worth visiting!  A visit to Sibu is a visit into another world steeped in history. Sibu also hosts several festivals.

If you travel by road for 2-3 hours then you can reach some interesting coastal fishing villages, set on the coast of The South China Sea, where mostly the Melanau people stay.

My friend Tong Teck Ping loves living there and takes countless photos of his dear town every day (or so it seems!). He is an excellent photographer and all of the photos featured in this post were taken by him.