Kuching to Lundu

Have you ever heard of Lundu? Well, in this trip I would like to share my trip with you and take you there, so you can witness firsthand another beautiful part of Kuching, Sarawak. An area of wonderful nature blending with white sandy beaches.

Lundu is a town located 100 kilometers west of Kuching City and 70 klometers from Bau. There are two ways to reach Lundu: you can either connect through the 10 km Kota Sentosa link through the Bau road, or chose the Sempadi coastal road from Matang. Whichever is your choice, do remember to get a road map or to plan a GPS navigator so you will not get lost. Of course, the above info is useless if you plan to get to Lundu on a bus, taxi or organized tour.

Your journey to Lundu should take you around 2 hours, depending on the route and on the driver of course. And if you wish to reach lovely Sematan, be prepared to driver for at least 3 hours. You can consider taking with you drinks and snacks for the journey, though there are several shops and stalls along the way.

Since I usually travel to Lundu on official duty, my crew and I usually take the Sempadi route, which is less known hence less congested.

From Kuching City, take the Satok way leading to the Satok bridge. Drive on until you reach a roundabout and take the 12 o’clock junction direction Matang. Follow that road straight until you reach another roundabout, take the 3rd junction next to Emart Lee Ling Supermarket, and drive on. Once Court Mammoth come to sight, turn right; should you miss the junction, enter the SMK Matang Hilir junction. Both roads will take you to a left turn heading towards Telaga Air Road, which is well indicated. This is a country, quite unpopulated area, where you can spot horses and cows on both sides of the road during your drive.

Continue straight until you arrive at  the Rambungan junction on your left: this is the start of the rural Sempadi route, which will homage you with sights of local farmers villages, bailey bridges, papaya and banana trees, watermelon fields and palm oil plantations. You could even consider topping in Kampung Rambungan and take the ferry to Sampadi island, if the time allows.

Back to our journey, once you see the palm oil plantation, you need to be alert since you will be near a T-junction: the signboard will indicate left towards Bau/Kuching and right towards Lundu/Sematan. Take the right lane and drive straight, passing a bridge. On your right side is a small road going to Kampung Stunggang Melayu Lama; take this shortcut if you want to get to Lundu faster. Kampung Stunggang Melayu Lama is very famous for fish and shrimp crackers. If you like these crackers, I highly recommend a stop in the area to buys some, the most delicious being the Sri Gading Enterprise brand.

If you decide to head towards Sematan instead, ignore the side road to Kampung Stunggang Melayu Lama and drive straight until another T-junction will give you the last choice: left to Sematan and right to Lundu.

Lundu is practically a row of modern shophouses mixed with local shacks and houses, a market, government buildings, a seaside area and a few neighbouring kampung – villages in Malay language. The area is inhabited by amicable people from different backgrounds, mostly Malays, Bidayuh, Iban and Chinese. It may not look appealing at first glance, but the sunset was amazing there, with the sunlight filtering through mountains and clouds and reflecting on the lush vegetation. One of the best I have experienced in a long time. I like Lundu, after all…

Lundu most famous attractions is of course the Gunung Gading National Park, but you can also visit Siar and Pandan beaches, Pueh beach at Sematan, the Telok Melano beach which can be reached by boat from Sematan, a silk farm at Sematan, the Sebako hot springs – a 15 kilometers drive from Sematan – and Jangkar waterfall, located in Kampung Jangkar, Biawak, on the way to Lundu.

Enjoy the drive.

Read about Gunung Gading National Park on Asian Itinerary: https://asianitinerary.com/kuching-gunung-gading-national-park/