Once an independent colonial kingdom governed by the White Rajahs of Sarawak, today Kuching is Malaysian Borneo’s most up-and-coming city. While you’re acclimatising to equatorial life, explore its fabulous street-food scene, admire its colonial architecture from the riverside boulevard, and perhaps check out the excellent Sarawak Museum for an insight into the island’s fascinating natural and indigenous heritage. Then, head into nearby Bako National Park for your first experience of the rainforest, following plank walks through mangroves and towering tropical trees until you reach the beach, where mud skippers and blue fiddler crabs come out to feed at low tide.

Now it’s time to get into the wilderness proper as you make the journey by car and boat into the heart of Batang Ai, the ancestral heartland of the Iban. The Iban were once fearsome headhunters, but today they’re better known for their warm hospitality — as you’ll discover as you spend a night in a longhouse, sharing rice wine and relaxing on the ruai (veranda). As well as its native culture, Batang Ai is home to the highest density of orangutans in central Borneo, meaning it’s your best chance to spot them in the wild. Even if you don’t, you’re sure to see all sorts of fascinating creatures as you trek through the forest, swim in waterfall pools, and enjoy a BBQ by the riverside.

It’s a long way from Batang Ai to the Maliau Basin, stopping via Kuching and Kota Kinabalu on the way, but it’s worth it! Known as Borneo’s “Lost World”, the Maliau Basin is so remote and inaccessible that more than half of it has still never been explored. You’ll get to be one of the few to experience its rainforest on a multi-day trek, sleeping in jungle camps, hiking between towering tropical trees, and keeping an eye out for carnivorous pitcher plants and giant “corpse flowers” as you go. This is a unique and unforgettable jungle experience in one of Earth's last true wildernesses, and the sense of achievement after four days of exploration is magical.