Borneo, where to stay

Where to stay in Borneo is the first part about our trip to Borneo, the next part will be what to do in and around Kuching in Sarawak, Borneo.

Udo

Fiona

We decided to take a cheap (70€) return flight for 2 people with Air Asia for 10 days to Kuching in Borneo. We had not yet visited the Eastern part of Malaysia and we did not know much about it. Being our usual selves we waited until 2 days before leaving Langkawi to find an accommodation, but Fiona found this place which sounded very unusual on Trip Advisor. An organic working farm called "The Kebung" about 40 mins. from the City.

This is an exert from their Homepage:
The Kebun was first started 14 years ago as a long term plan for a retirement home starting from virgin jungle near Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysian Borneo. Adrian’s Bungalow located by the river was the first structure put up after being disassembled from the movie set of The Sleeping Dictionary. Olivia’s Bungalow was only put up only two years later when it was taken out of storage which was also disassembled from the same movie set. The Longhouse’s were initially 4 goat houses which were converted into the main 5 room Longhouse, the Headman’s Longhouse, the Dining House and an attached Jetty finally completed in 2011.

We liked the idea of a rustic room, shared outside bathroom and veranda, airport transfer, free car and full board. The price seemed a little high at first, but when you think of a car and the food included it worked out OK for us. We booked 4 nights and thought of moving to a cheap place in Kuching after, but eventually decided to extend to the full period of our trip.

When we arrived at our chosen accommodation we were well impressed with the place. It had a lot of charm and it felt very homely right from the beginning. The staff was nice and the room definitely a surprise. The place is filled with antiques,old pictures and house hold goods used by the natives. Carry on to see more pictures.

Walk from our room 

Our Room at the Longhouse

View from our room to shared veranda

The Longhouse from the garden

Kitchen/Dining Area 

It takes about 5 minutes walk from the reception area to the Longhouse through beautifully kept grounds past the dining area. At the back of our room is a beautiful fishing lake and the best place to try and get some extra dinner (not that you need it, food is plenty)

Udo`s favourite place at the Kebun

In the dining area you find everything you need for breakfast. Lunch and dinner is brought to you and it is the ideal time to exchange your travel experience with others, especially when you have a nice cold beer at hand in the evening which can be bought at the reception actually cheaper than in the local shops. The complimentary home made rice wine is tasty too and so are the meals.
We have already mentioned  the car included in your package and this is well worth to look at. All the cars have names and our`s was called the "silver bullet"

OUR CAR AT THE KEBUNG

OH SORRY THERE WAS A MERCEDES IN FRONT :)

The Silver Bullet, meanest machine in town

Great body work

Individual interior

Don`t let the looks put you off..Adrian makes sure the cars are in good driving order, each car comes with a Garmin Sat Nav and upon arrival everybody has a mobile phone given with all the numbers you need in case you have any problems. Again: Brilliant service.
The owners (Adrian and Olivia) as well as the rest of the staff made us feel very comfortable and Jeanette from Reception gave us all information we needed if it was not written in the booklet provided.

We were lucky enough to get invited out for a meal in a Chinese restaurant by Olivia and Adrian where we experienced different food to what we have had on Langkawi and with the rest of the guests we had a fantastic evening.

Don`t always go by the restaurant`s name ;)

Good food, newly found friends and a good evening

This has been one of the best trips we have made so far in S-E Asia and we can really recommend the Kebun to everybody who enjoys Nature and is prepared to leave their party gear at home. It is quiet, relaxed, friendly and comfortable, but this is our opinion. Thanks to all staff of "The Kebun Kuching"
Feel free to join us here so you will not miss the next post about what to do around Kuching, Borneo, including one of the highlights for Fiona at the Kebun, the cooking lesson, presented by Olivia and Leila.