While Miri itself is more of a staging post than a destination within Sarawak it is very close to some lovely, tranquil beaches lapped by the South China Sea. We are not overly fond of beach holidays in and of themselves (we never really manage to just sit and cook) but think they are wonderful places to take the dogs for a walk. Our house in Miri was in a beautiful garden suburb but it was plagued by so many street dogs that we could not easily take them for a walk. The beach then, was their opportunity to stretch their legs and even go for a swim. (Always bearing in mind that there are many people here in Malaysia who cannot touch or get close to dogs so we have to keep them under close control near people at all times). Our English dog had seen beaches and the sea before but there was something truly magical about being able to introduce our Kazakh Steppe dog to the water for the first time.
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Long, deserted and unspoiled beaches |
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Seeing the water for the first time
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The end of the beach! |
Within or just on
the outskirts of Miri you can get to the popular Luak Esplanade and Hawaii Beach
where you can rent a cabin for the day, these areas tend to be teeming with people,
however, and we prefer a little more quiet.
From as little as 20 km out of town there are short dirt roads that take
you down to the beach with enough space to park the car before getting out to
enjoy a walk. We never had any problems
finding somewhere to go for a roam. A
few months ago, however, we decided to drive a little bit further on towards
Benenu.
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It is easy to get down on to the beach |
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Pantai Bungai is being developed as a small resort with
places to buy food and engage in adventure activities |
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Pantai Bungai is not yet busy, the beaches are pristine and
seemingly endless |
Shortly before the
town, about 60km from Miri we saw a turn off for Pantai (beach) Bungai. We drove down to find possibly the most
beautiful beach we have ever seen. The
local government is capitalising on this and have built a small bazaar where
you can buy cold drinks and snacks, a children’s playground and a stage for
open air performances. This is still
mostly under construction but I suspect it will not be long before tourists are
flocking here in their droves, it is certainly heavily promoted in Miri tourist
literature although none of our friends had ever heard of it or made the trip
down. People do, however, already come
out here; a little further down the road the Santai Sijiak Café offers snacks
and refreshing mocktails. The friendly
owner arranges banana boat rides, caving, abseiling and nature walks both for
groups and individuals. A local homestay
also offers rooms for people who want to stay the night and there are more accommodation
options in Bekenu.
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Pals cooling down in the water |
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The beaches are quiet enough to allow the dogs off the lead |
The beach stretches in
a crescent around a bay and there are a number of small fishing settlements
along the beach. It is possible to walk
up to some cliffs and even, if the tide is out, walk along their base to look
at the caves inside. Check the local
tide times before doing this though, the beach shelves gently and the tide
comes in very quickly. We spent many (though
not enough), Sundays walking up and down the beach giving the dogs a treat and
enjoying the sun before grabbing a drink and a snack and heading home to Miri.
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Off duty fishing boats kept away from the water |
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And some that have not lasted so well |
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Exploring the cliffs (before the tide comes in) |
There are a few
places in the world that, to me, are evocative of what I believe paradise to
be. One was a small place on a quiet
river in Nigeria where two houses were nestled in beautifully kept grounds and
we could swim in the river. Another is
Lake Bohinj in Slovenia. Pantai Bungai
joins these two places in my mind and, now that we have left Sarawak, our walks
there are one of the dominant memories that spring to mind when I think of our
9 months in Miri.
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Paradise! |
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It's lovely when you find somewhere as special as this for your memories. It's hard to know where they will be be - sometimes it's the time that is special as much as the place (if that makes sense!)
ReplyDeleteYes I think you have hit the nail on the head there. A perfect combination of ingredients.
DeleteGorgeous. I'm not much of a laying around the beach person. I'm more of the exploring type. This looks perfect.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It is certainly a wonderful place.
DeleteAhh it looks beautiful, it's nice that your memories of the place will be that of it unspoiled and untouched!! It looks wild yet inviting!!!
ReplyDeleteWe also don't do laying on the beach too well but LOVE being on the beach for walks and swimming! We all love an empty beach :)
Thanks for sharing with #myexpatfamily loved it as always!!! Xx
Thanks! Yes we love going for a walk on beaches - perfect for the dogs.
DeleteMiri looks like such a lovely place. The beaches look so sweet and picturesque.
ReplyDeleteIt looks gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThis is just so dreamy. It's brought back many memories of the beaches in Brazil for me, which I've only ever visited in "winter" and are therefore usually also very quiet. There is nothing quite as effective at stilling the mind as a walk on a deserted, beautiful beach! I can very much imagine you miss the beaches in Sarawak.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine winter was perfect timing!
DeleteIt looks like a great time!
ReplyDeleteThanks Diana
DeleteWhat a beautiful walk! Such perfect photos, that's my kind of beach! Unspoilt! #MyExpatFamily
ReplyDeleteThanks Polly
DeleteThis looks absolutely beautiful and what wonderful memories you have. To find somewhere that hadn't yet been made in to a tourist trap and to get to spend time enjoying it is fabulous. You've now got me thinking about what places I have visited that would fall into this category of special x Apologies for the very late comment from #myexpatfamily, it's been one of those months!
ReplyDeleteRelatively new in town I'm happy to read about those places.. Still struggling with doing every little errand by car here, as the walkways are not really suitable for my infant twin carrier it seems ;) And the Luak beach is indeed quite popular among ppl. So will hopefully enjoy a beautiful beach walk soon :)
ReplyDeleteThe walkways were a nightmare by pram for me so I can't imagine what they must be like with a double! And what is it about cramming all the aisles of the shops with displays so broad that a person can barely squeeze past let alone a pram. I would hate to need to use a wheelchair! If I had to go anywhere like that I would often leave the baby with our wonderful Amah (if you don't have one yet I can get you her details). Enjoy settling into Miri and fingers crossed you get the beach walk soon.
DeleteHave you tried the Tamam Awam yet by the way? It is the park with the rope walk bridge on the way out to the Airport, near the giant seahorses. They have some good playgrounds and a shallow waterpark that is a great way to keep children cool and having fun at the same time.