Miri Town a Classic History of Sarawak for vacation

Miri 2nd important citysarawak after Kuching,located on northern Sarawak in Malaysian and island of Borneo. It has a population of about 300,000.

History Classic City combination modern style

Malaysia's first oil well was drilled here in 1910, and petroleum has continued to drive the city's economy and development ever since. The Sarawak Shell Berhad and Petronas Carigali are headquartered here. As a result, Miri has a cosmopolitan whiff as it hosts expatriates from all over the world. These expats work in many of the multinational oil and gas giants that are headquartered in Miri.

Visitors stop for transit here to change planes heading onward to Gunung Mulu National Park or the famous Kelabit Highlands on Bario with condition like on kundsang,kinabalu. Miri boasts a diversified population, which consists of Chinese, Malay, Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Kelabit, Lun Bawang and many other ethnic groups. International students from a foreign university campus based here and expatriates from international corporations add much spice to Miri as well.

Almost all locals speak a tiny smattering of English, along with Mandarin,Ibans and another native language such kayan,kenyah,kedayan,malay marek(original miri people). The main language is the Bahasa Sarawak which is a local Sarawakian language; it is similiar to Malay but with local slang.The people are quite helpful when it comes to direction or any help needed. A visitor's information centre located near the public bus stand is available for any further enquiries.

Miri celebrated its fifth city status anniversary on 20th May 2010

Access On Miri City

By plane

Miri International Airport (MYY), which moved to a sparkling new facility in 2005, is a significant hub for central Borneo. From Peninsular Malaysia there are frequent flights from Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru on Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia. The airport is also connected to all major destinations in Malaysian Borneo, including Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. AirAsia also operates an international flight to Singapore several times a week.

To/From Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Airlines flies four times daily between Kuala Lumpur and Miri, with two stopping over at Kuching. AirAsia also flies direct non-stop three times daily.

To/From Johor Bahru: AirAsia flies on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

To/From Kuching: Malaysia Airlines flies three flights daily and AirAsia has one flight daily.

To/From Kota Kinabalu: Malaysia Airline and AirAsia each have two flights daily. MASWings also puts on a Fokker flight on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

MASWings, which took over operations of the rural air service from FlyAsian Express on October 1, 2007, operates a web of flights to remote destinations in the interior, most notably Gunung Mulu National Park and Bario in the Kelabit Highlands. MASWings also links Miri with Limbang, Lawas and Labuan which will enable you to by-pass expensive Brunei. Go to their website to book flights on-line and check schedules.

By bus

To/From other Sarawak cities: Numerous bus companies such as Biaramas, Suria Bus Express and Borneo Highway Express link Miri with other Sarawak cities such as Kuching, Sibu and Bintulu. Most express buses depart from the Express Bus Terminal

To/From Brunei: As of April 2010, there are two direct services between Bandar Seri Begawan and Miri. PHLS Express operates a dedicated BSB-Miri service, leaving BSB at 8:15am, and the return service presumably early afternoon. Fare is $18 BSB to Miri. Note that this terminates at Tudan terminal, some distance north of BSB city centre, but with local bus connections. A new service, and not well patronized (3 backpackers, 0 locals on my day), so don't bet on it lasting. The other service is EVA Express, with buses from BSB to Kuching etc, which pass through Miri.

The more frequent service uses local buses in Miri and Brunei. The journey will have to include several bus changes. Miri-Belait Bus Company runs five buses between Miri and Kuala Belait in Brunei, with a change of buses at the Sungai Tujuh border checkpoint

From Kuala Belait, there are onward buses to Seria, where another change is necessary before you can get to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB). As not all buses arrive on time for connections for the next leg of the journey, those planning to do the Miri-Bandar Seri Begawan (or vice-versa) run should start early. Effective 26th May,2009 there are only two buses leaving Miri for BSB. The 9AM is the only bus that will enable the Miri-BSB journey to be completed within one day. Those who intend to spend a night in Brunei can catch the later bus which leaves at 3.30PM. Buses arrive and depart from the Miri local bus terminal at Jalan Padang in the south of the town (not the long haul bus terminal outside of town). Having said that the whole journey takes about 5 hours.

Note that there have been reports that buses from Miri do not go all the way to the border and stop just before the Asean Bridge at Kuala Baram because of the high toll charge for using the bridge. You may have to use taxis to complete the final 5 km between the bridge and the actual border.

To/From Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: Bintang Jaya Express opened a new route from Miri to Kota Kinabalu (KK) and return in November 2008. The route originates from Pontianak in Indonesia to Kuching, Miri, Limbang, Lawas ending in KK Wawasan Bus Terminal. Bus departs Miri at 8.00AM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The journey takes approximately 10 hours without changing buses. From KK the bus departs at 7.30AM on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays.

To/From Niah Caves: Bas Suria departs from the Miri Express Bus Terminal to Batu Niah town regularly. The journey takes over an hour. From Batu Niah, you can either take a speedboat or walk to the Niah National Park headquarters at Pengkalan Batu.