Many tend to overlook another interesting district, Miri, which is undergoing rapid development and not short of its own travel attractions.

The district, which is the second largest in Sarawak, is a fascinating tourist destination with its own history. This is the town where oil was first discovered in Malaysia and an archaeological site where the oldest human remains in Southeast Asia were found.

Miri is also the first non-capital town to be granted city status on the 20th of May 2005, with the title "Bandar Peranginan" or "Resort City".

Indeed, the Resort City of Miri is a one stop centre with various interesting treasures to be enjoyed by travellers.

THE GRAND OLD LADY

The writer had a chance to participate in a tour organised by Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) to visit several interesting sites in Miri.

The first location is the Grand Old Lady in Canada Hill. The view from the top of the hills is panoramic and mesmerizing, suitable for those looking for peaceful surroundings and also for family outings.

There is an old oil well on the hill called The Grand Old Lady, once described as a 'mother' producing precious resource for the people of her land.

The Grand Old Lady is the first oil well in Malaysia, drilled in 1910, and producing oil for 62 years. The well was drilled manually every day by local workers to extract the oil. The well produced 660,000 barrels of oil throughout its operations before it was shut down on the 31st of October, 1972.

The oil well sparked the development of the oil industry in the district and has indirectly transformed Miri from a sleepy fishermen's village in the 20th century into a modern and thriving city in the 21st century.

For all history lovers, this is a must visit landmark as it is rich in historical information and you are advised to hire a knowledgeable guide to give you a thorough briefing.

The tour guide provided to us by STB was Maza Hamden, who is young but highly experienced. He gave a detailed description of the first well, as good as a Google search, with complete information from the top of his mind with just 'one click'.

Every significant date, even its oil producing capacity, hundreds of years of history was explained clearly to us without a single note in hand, indicating that the youngster is very well-versed in the history of his home state.

NIAH CAVES

Home to many national parks, Sarawak is full of natural wonders. In total, it has 23 national parks open to the public, one of which is the famous Niah National Park.

Interestingly, Niah National Park houses the oldest cave in Malaysia which is also one of the largest limestone cave system in the world.

Even though in terms of size, the Niah National Park is among the smallest in Sarawak, it is clearly the most important and attracts a lot of tourists. One of the reasons for this is the discovery of 65,000 year-old human fossils (based on the latest research in 2017) in Niah Caves, making it the earliest known human dwelling in Southeast Asia.

Niah Caves is open to the public every day. Visitors can just 'walk-in' to the registration counter or take a private guided tour package to the Niah Caves offered by travel agencies.

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