Maludam National Park 31 August - 1 September 2025
Why Maludam National Park? 
Maludam National Park is probably the least explored national parks in Sarawak. It is not a hiking santuary, it is not near to Kuching, and it is not frequently heard about. I have spoken to SFC staff last year about Maludam National Park, and she shared with me that it wasn't that difficult to visit there.
With most of the parks nearby Kuching already explored, perhaps this is just the right time to start venturing to national parks that are not so near to the cities.
We have 2 and half days of free days, thanks to the Merdeka Public Holiday on 31 August, and replacement holiday on 1 September. It would be just right for a trip to Maludam National Park.
The trip highlights
The idea was floated during a lunch with my uncle who loves nature.
"Do you have any plan for next few days of break? "
"No" He said.
"Why not we go Maludam" I asked.
"OK. But only 2 of us?" He responded.
"Is going to be 2 or more. I will ask around who else would like to join", I shared.
And so, within 3 days, I asked around, and gathered another 2 colleagues, Dom and Ah Din.
A day before the trip, I called up a home stay operator I found in Facebook. Made a booking for 2 rooms, and got a number of a boatman. Called up the boatman to discuss the plan, and reserved his time for the trip.
After booking the accommodation in Kpg Maludam and the boat, I informed my uncle again.
"I am not coming", he replied my text.
"OK", I replied.
Gone are the days when I would put in effort to convince.
The boatman told me, the tide starts to go down around 10am. The boat might not be able to return due to low tide, if we go into Taman Negara (National Park) too late in the morning. And so, we left Kuching earlier than original plan.
By 6am, the 3 of us (I, Dom and Ah Din) were already at the gate of WeMAL Technology. Swiftly, we put stuff into my car boot, and by 6.03am, we started our drive to Maludam. Instead of taking the Pan Borneo highway, we opted for the inner road, passing through Kota Samarahan, Asajaya, Batang Sadong bridge, and Sebuyau area before reaching Triso Ferry point.
It was refreshing to drive passed the country roads (ok, maybe i should call it a Kampong Road). The greenery, the old houses by the 2 sides of the road brought back memory of my parents drove us back to Kampong. These roads, though windy and narrow, serve as important connection to link up many small Pekan and Towns.
It took us slightly less than 2 hours to reach the Triso Ferry point. This ferry must have served the community for a long time. Yet, modernization will make it redundant in 2 years time, when the Batang Lupar bridge is completed.
Along the way, we had very interesting conversation on the modernization Sarawak is undergoing now. We talked about how the Federal and PETRONAS are made into "Common Enemy" of Sarawak people, by those politicians who never talked about the Sins of Sarawak past leaders, who have failed to develop Sarawak.
A lot has changed in Sarawak in term of the connectivity and modernization ever since Tok Nan became the Chief Minister. Despite the short tenure in the chief minister office, he left behind an important foundation for Sarawak to undergo growth spurt. These changes are essential for the benefit of Sarawak. While still possible, I would treasure all the old services, old towns, and old facilities, while embracing the new and the modern Sarawak.
With 3 ferries serving as the car carriers to cross the river mouth, we didn't wait long before we drove our car into a ferry. The river crossing took us around half an hour.
Upon crossing the river mouth, it took us less than 15 minutes before we reached the Dayang Homestay at Kampong Maludam. Our boatman Sidek was already waiting at the Arch of the village entrance when we arrived.
It didn't take long before we got into the Sidek's boat powered by a 15HP Yamaha outboard engine. The 15HP engine didn't have a chance to showcase its full potential, as we cruised slowly along the peat swamp main waterway. About 20 minutes from the Kampong, we reached the Maludam National Park office. It was a public holiday, and yet Mr. Syed remained on duty. After registration, we furthered our way towards the national park.
On first attempt, our boat was stopped by a fallen tree, that blocked the waterway towards the national park. En. Sidek lamented "lama lama kamik masuk national park selama ni, ini kali pertama pokok tumbang block jalan masuk. Kita pusing balik pergi laut saja, tengok2 sana". Offcourse the 3 of us would not agree. We came all the way for the national park, the sea at the opposite direction is not part of this national park.
Instead of feeling disappointed, we suggested to En. Sidek "apa kata kita pusing balik pergi national park office, minta tolong En. Syed. Nanga mun kita dapat pinjam gergaji (saw) sama parang (machete)". The next one hour was probably the most unforgetable moment of this trip. En. Syed did more than just lending us the gergagi (saw) and parang (machete). He came with us in his boat, together with a gasoline powered chain saw. En. Syed did the most cutting while we helped. Without this action, even the visitors that come the next few days would face the same problem of unable to enter the national park.
After clearing the way, En. Syed reversed his boat, and made a U-turn to return to the office, while we cruised forward to the national park.
On the first day, we didn't get a chance to stay long in the national park, as our boatman was very anxious with his boat getting stuck at the peat swamp during low tide.
So, we made a request to boatman to have a second trip on the second day morning. Glad we made it. Though there was no further tree cutting in the second day, we were blessed with sighting of proboscis monkeys not only at 1, 2 or 3 places, but as many as 6 spots.
We made our way to Legur 1 and Legur 2 rest houses. 
On our way back, we saw juvenille crocodile by the river bank as we headed to the open sea for a short tour.
Both days, I noticed we were the only visitors to the national park. Out of curiosity, i checked the visitor logbook at the national park office. Not surprisingly, there was hardly any Malaysia visitors to Maludam national park. In august, if we exclude the government agencies who came for research purpose, we were the only Malaysians, yet we had quite a number of foreigners from Neatherlands, Italy and other western countries. I am always puzzled "why aren't the Sarawakian or Malaysian interested with the national parks?". Maybe national parks are not mainstream attractions? Or maybe there is really lack of publicity?
After our second day boat trip, Kak Saldiah/ Dayang was kind she allowed us to take a shower even we have checked out from the homestay. After a very refreshing shower at 1pm, we continued our journey to Pusa and subsequently to the pan borneo highway to return to Kuching.
Somewhere between Engkilili and Betong, we made a pit stop at a colleague house (Boy). All of us had a great time enjoying the BBQ foods and drink, and many Karaoke singing. All of these were unplanned.
By 5pm, we finally resumed our drive to Kuching.
My transports, accommodation, and F&B
- Asajaya road to Triso ferry point, then ferry to cross the river mouth before arriving at Kampong Maludam. For the return journey, we drove further to Pusa, then connect to Pan-Borneo Highway and all the way to Kuching.
- Accommodation: Dayang home stay at Kampong Maludam. RM75/room of 2 single bed.
- Boat: Sidek boatman, as recommended by Kak Dayang. RM350/trip of around 4 hours. The boat can accommodate 4 visitors.
My 3 Plus and 2 Minus (allow me to make it 4 + 3 this time);-
4 things I like about this trip:
- Seeing many schools of Proboscis monkeys roaming in the wild
- Relaxing lifestyle in Kampong Maludam
- Mr. Syed of SFC was being very helpful, worked his best to clear the fallen tree trunk to enable our boat cruising forward into National Park territory.
- Spontaneous, yet full of pleasant experience. We stopped by Boy's family home, and we also took photos with Agrobank Pusa branch, and Agrobank Maludam's ATM.
3 thing I would do differently if I can turn back the clock:
- The 1st day boat trip was quite a waste, mainly due to the short hours we stayed in the national park, as our boatman was very anxious with the low tide. For future trip, I would check upfront how long we can stay in the park before the low tide.
- Bring a tripod to stabilize the photo/ video taking. Proboscis monkeys are very shy with human. Once they notice our presence, they will jump away, further into the jungle far away from the waterway.
- There are 2 basic wooden rooms at Legur 2 rest hut in the national park. I would definitely check with SFC if we can put up a night in the rest hut and experience the wildness of Maludam national park, waiting for the visits of Nocturnal animals.
A surprise learning from the trip
- Proboscis monkey is one of the biggest monkey species in the world. (Orang utans are not monkey yeah). And proboscis monkey can only be found in Borneo.
- Don't overplan, or you would stress yourself up when things don't follow the plan.
- Follow the flow, and take necessary actions when we are off the course.