Digital Nomad City Ratings: Kuching

In the Digital Nomad City Ratings series, I review the cities where I was working as a digital nomad. The possible ratings are 0 (awful) to 10 (exceptionally wow). The ratings are of course exclusively based on my personal experience and preferences. These may be different for other people, but besides the ratings, I will share my experiences and a detailed description, so this will hopefully be helpful for you too.

A few notes on the not necessarily self-evident categories and their ratings:
Internet: I don’t need very fast internet, but I need continuous connection.
Prices: I am a budget traveller. People who earn higher salaries may have a very different perspective on costs.
Walkability (a standard point in almost all digital nomad listings – you will understand why when you start your digital nomad life) How easy/comfortable/safe/interesting is it to walk about/stroll in the city
Infrastructure: Are there sufficient and good quality services like hospitals, malls, possibilities to arrange official matters, pharmacies, trains, buses etc?
Sights & Surroundings: Options to visit places of interest nearby, especially if staying for a longer time in the city.
Visa: Can you stay in the country without a visa? If so, how long? If not, how easy is it to get a visa and/or extend it? Can you arrange this in the given city?
Overall Impression: I needed this extra category because even if everything is fine in a given city, you may feel something is not right, and you wouldn’t like to stay very long. Or the other way round: it may lack famous sights and infrastructure, but you still love the place.

94%

Time spent in Kuching: 4 months

1. Introduction

Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, surrounded by jungle. It is slowly becoming more and more popular with foreign tourists, but it is still rather quiet, and you still have the chance to experience local life there. You are not going to be chased by vendors trying to sell you stuff, nor will there be massage recommendations with “bum-bum lady” extras every corner. Prices are local prices everywhere, and accommodation is abundant in every possible category. Kuching is one of my favourite places as a digital nomad, and I recommend it to everyone.

2. Internet: 10

In my homestay, Wifi connection was excellent and worked without interruptions. I also had my SIM card with data (very cheap), which I reloaded every month. I used it extensively, because I very often worked at a simple restaurant near my home, which didn’t have Wifi. But there are plenty of places with Wifi, both on the riverfront and elsewhere. Speed was absolutely fine, but I never wanted to upload large videos or download whole movies. I suppose, it would’ve been fine for that, too.

Data packages with mobile service providers are very cheap, and wherever you are as a digital nomad, it is a must to have it as a backup, if connecting online is highly important – but then, you shouldn’t call yourself a digital nomad if you can live without internet connection for more than half a working day (OK, let it be one or two days for some digital nomads like graphic designers or writers). In my case, it is zero downtime that is acceptable for work: the moment I lose internet connection, I must stop working, unfortunately. In Kuching (an in most locations I have been to), I had no real issue with this.

I never use co-working spaces. I don’t need them, and they are too expensive for my budget. I always choose accommodation where I can work comfortably, and very often use the open air cafés to work from. Then I either use their free Wifi, or if the don’t have it, I use my own mobile data, which I always buy wherever I am. Anyway, if you are after co-working spaces, check out iCube, which is a little further away from the city centre (another reason why I didn’t use it).

3. Prices: 8

Kuching has average Malaysian prices. Food is very reasonably priced, 10-15 ringgits will buy you a meal with some fruit juice, while a simple kolo mee (the local noodle dish) will only cost 5RM in a street café. Supermarket prices are also very good, should you want to do self-catering – I never did though. I often bought fruit and different juices, which were a bit pricey compared to food.

I used Grab for taxis, which was again incredibly cheap. Buses and even boats to other parts of Sarawak were also very inexpensive.

What is expensive though is decent accommodation that a digital nomad can possibly find satisfactory – as opposed to backpackers who only need a bed for the night. I stayed at a place which I found on Airbnb. It was very cheap, but it was only one Spartan looking room in a large flat. Why I decided to stay there was because I actually had the whole flat to myself – the other two rooms were usually not booked, which I knew would be the case before I booked. So I had a smallish bedroom with no furniture at all besides my bed and my desk, but then I had a huge living room, a large hall (another room in fact), a kitchen (very dirty, but I only used it for making coffee) and a bathroom. If you want a real apartment, you will have to pay much-much more, but try to avoid AirBnb and find accommodation in Facebook groups, or check out local rental companies too. A general tip: I always book an acceptable looking hotel room for 2 or 3 nights, and if I find it good, I try to haggle a bit, or otherwise look around and try to find a good place in person – much better than online!

Renting an apartment in Kuching would otherwise be very cheap, but if you only stay a few months, this is not an option. The minimum rent period is one year.

4. People & Communication: 10

Kuching was the first city in Southeast Asia where I spent a longer time working and living as a digital nomad. It was a very lucky thing, because my first experience with this lifestyle was much better than I expected. The people were extremely nice and helpful, even strangers were smiling at you in the street, and generally, Kuching had a very home-like atmosphere. During my four months in Kuching, I actually never met anyone who was not nice at least to some extent. It is also very easy to make friends and acquaintances there. I already had some after a few weeks, both at the cafés where I was a regular with my laptop.

People at shops, restaurants, the tourist office and even the police station (read the story of why I went to the police station in Kuching) were extremely nice and helpful.

When I had spent too much time indoors alone, staring at the computer screen, and felt a little lonely and apathetic, all I had to do is go out to the street. I found lots of local people who smiled at me and greeted me with a hello. Some of them would chat with you, especially if you are sitting alone in a café.

A seasoned traveller, especially to Southeast Asia, would know very well how quickly he should decline any conversation that starts with “where are you from”. These invariably continue with the local guy trying to sell you some useless shit or trying some other ways through which he can help you get rid of some of your money.

So in Kuching, I also reacted with the usual non-understandable muttering (no, I don’t even tell them where I am from – they are not interested in that, anyway). But then I learnt very quickly, that ost of these people in Kuching were indeed interested in where I was from, and all they wanted was a chat with a foreigner. During the four months that I spent in the city, I didn’t find one single person who would want to trick me into buying some overpriced useless thing or service.

I did, however, talk to a lot of local people, and most of these conversations were nice and meaningful.

A lot of Kuching people, similarly to other larger cities in Malaysia, speak very good English, and you should have no problem at all communicating with service providers, shop assistants or others. There are exceptions though. I once went to report a case at the police station, where no-one spoke usable English. You can also find a few food stalls and other places, where people will not understand English, but that is an exception rather than the rule.

5. Sights & surroundings: 10

Kuching city itself has a few tourist sights, including the river bank and a few museums, but the main attraction for me was that the city always has something to keep people entertained. At least once a week, there are free concerts on the riverbank, some of them very attract a huge crowd. Then there are festivals of various types from cultural to culinary. Tis includes the Dayak Gawai festivals, the Hindu processions, games, jogging, contests and lots of others. Every year, Kuching is home to the Rainforest World Music Festival, a three day festival where performers from all over the world will take the stage. The Kuching Food festival is a great weekend-long festival, where besides the food, you can also watch and listen to various performers on stage.

In fact, during my four month stay, I never had one single week without something to look forward to.

And then the surroundings! The world famous Bako National Park, the Semenggoh Orangutan Sanctuary, Kubah National Park and the Cultural Village are all just an hour or two away from Kuching. A bit further away is Gunung Gading National Park, which unfortunately, I didn’t visit – bus service had stopped, and I didn’t want to spend a fortune on taxis, especially because I had already seen many other jungles around Kuching and elsewhere, in other countries, too.

Had I been reviewing the city for tourists as opposed to digital nomads, I may have given it only 9 points out of the 10, because Kuching itself does not have too many very famous sights, so if you only stay a day or two, it may be a different matter. But for longer term visitors, it is one of the best in my opinion.

6. Walkability: 9

The city centre has pavements (sidewalks), but not everywhere. Further away from the centre, you will sometimes have to walk on the road, and there are very wide roads where crossing is practically impossible – unless you are willing to risk being run over.

The river bank in the centre is a great place any time of the day, but evenings are especially pleasant, with lots of things happening – free concerts, restaurants, and of course the beautiful lights of the bridge and the Parliament of Sarawak. Sunsets are breathtakingly beautiful, don’t miss them!

Walking is possible in most of the city, but see the next point about stray dogs.

7. Safety: 9

Kuching is one of the safest cities I have been to. As one source said: should a foreigner get into trouble with locals (theft, mugging etc.), it would certainly be reported in each of the local newspapers and perhaps even televisions, too. (I know, it’s little comfort to the one who has suffered the incident…)

I never felt any danger walking along deserted streets at night. It is just “in the air” that there is nothing to be afraid of here. I am sure solo women travellers would also find the city very safe – at least I never heard of anything bad happening in Kuching in this respect either.

There is, however, one thing that makes me subtract one point from the maximum: stray dogs. Kuching is full of them all over the place. (Funny though: Kuching means “cat” in Malay, not “dog” ?). I didn’t care much about them for a few weeks, until I was attacked by a pack of dogs on the street which I had been using every day before. Nothing happened besides me being frightened to death. They came running, and stopped very close to me, barking very loudly all the time. But perhaps because I kept on walking with a normal slow speed like nothing had happened, they did not actually attack me. After that, I avoided that street altogether, even if I had to walk a little longer to many places.

8. Food: 7

Sarawak people, including Kuchingites, are very proud of their food. And yes, I fell in love with Sarawak laksa the moment I first tasted it, and had plenty of it later. I also think kolo mee (or mee kolo) is delicious, but in general, food stalls in Kuching sell the same fare all over the city. If you love seafood, you will have more options, even a separate food court in Kuching. If not, like me, then the food options become rather boring after a time.

Yes, they have quite a few other special types of food, but after trying out a few and leaving all of them on the restaurant table untouched, I decided not to experiment any more.

Kek lapis (layered cake) is very famous in Kuching, and there are hundreds of stalls in the streets of the city centre, where you can buy them for 10 ringgits. I did, I took it home, and threw it out after just one bite.

But later, at a festival in Kuching, there were chefs demonstrating how to cook different dishes. There was one stall where they prepared kek lapis. Oh, my god, you can’t describe the difference! I just loved it! But then I have no idea how on earth those street stalls can fuck up kek lapis so much, and how they can end up with a tasteless sponge that is entirely unfit for human consumption. Never buy kek lapis in the streets of Kuching unless you taste them first. And if it tastes sawdust, don’t be shy to just thank them them and leave without buying anything.

Kuching has a Food Festival every August. Should you happen to visit that time, enquire around and go to see it. Great place, and this time, really a wide variety and many options with hundreds of food stalls in a large garden.

9. Infrastructure: 10

Kuching has a few shopping malls. I often went to do my shopping in the Plaza Merdeka, where you will find one of the largest supermarkets, too. There are hospitals and private clinics too, which I never had to use, so I can’t comment on the level of their services. But Kuching is the largest city and the capital of Sarawak, so you should find satisfactory service there. Should you need help with something more serious, then Kuala Lumpur is just two hours away by plane.

There are local buses, but I never used them, because Grab is very cheap. For a trip to the airport, I paid a little more than 10 ringgits.

Small shops are all over the place, with the ubiquitous 7 Eleven, which has higher prices than anything else in town. Long distance buses are available, mostly from a place next to the wet market and the city mosque. Find City Public Link on the map.

If you want to take the boat to other parts of Sarawak (Sibu), you’ll need to go to find “Passenger Terminal Express Boat Kuching” on the map. You can buy the ticket there, no need to prebook. The boat ride is fantastic, see my separate post about it.

10. Visa: 9

For digital nomads, Malaysia is one of the best countries in Southeast Asia from a visa point of view. Most nationalities get a permit to stay in the country for three months without a visa. If you want to go to Sarawak os Sabah, you will need to get another permit, but they should also give you 3 months.
However, it has happened to me several times already that the immigration officer at the airport asked me various questions about my stay. This may have been the result of the several Malaysian stamps in my passport though – but then, Kuala Lumpur is the central hub, so it is inevitable that digital nomads travelling around in the region will have dozens of Malaysian stamps. I hope they are not going to change rules like Thailand did.

11. Overall impression: 10+2

Kuching is one of my favourite places where I have stayed as a digital nomad. Besides having everything I wanted in terms of Internet, shopping, walking, sights and entertainment, the people were some of the nicest that I have met during my travels. I am a big fan of nature, hiking, the jungle and local culture, and I could get more than I could dream of. I visited the small villages in the jungles of Borneo, and I also made a trip to other parts of Sarawak to different town and villages.

The city is not filled with (either local or foreign) tourists, so you will get a chance to live like a local, really. I know that for some people, this might be a disadvantage, because you are not very likely to meet other digital nomads, at least not very easily. But for me, that is not highly important. If for you it is essential, try to search online and see who is there right now.

I gave Kuching 2 extra points, because even if food was not great, even if it was not the best in other categories either, I would return any time with no hesitation. And there is a good chance that I actually will.

Check out my other Digital Nomad City Ratings. Some of the latest posts:

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Siem Reap, Cambodia

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Da Nang

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Chiang Mai

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Yogyakarta

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Kandy and Colombo

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Bukittinggi

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Padang

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Kuching