Venice of the East

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The airport ticket sales office was closed and when it did open the flight was already full. We found a cafe to wait in until the other airline ticket office opened. We played cards which has became a daily ritual and lingered over fresh juice and coffee, until Toby finally got us tickets.

This flight was great. We had more legroom than on our international flight with Jet Star and we had time in the airport to figure out where to stay and what to do in Banjarmasin. We knew we wanted to send our diving gear home as it was so heavy and bulky and we weren't going to use it again and we were also desperate for a laundry. As soon as we had checked in the hotel we set off to find the post office. Whilst we were there a guy started to talk to us. He was a guide and wanted to take us on a canal tour. He offered a good price, helped us with the post office, took us to a laundry and then to the canal, for a tour that turned out to be Toby's favourite tourist tour ever - high praise indeed.

Banjarmasin residents use the canals for washing, laundry, swimming and the toilet. It was really amazing to see this side of their lives. As we passed they all waved and shouted and seemed very happy to see us. Some of the houses looked like they were about to fall in the water and others looked palatial. It was just like being on a gondola in an asian version of Venice.

As we passed groups of children they would dive into the water to high five us and some even got on the boat and joined us for the trip. Everyone wanted their photos taken and when we stopped to take a short walk we were soon being followed by an increasing crowd of kids. They didn't seem to want anything other than to be with us and to practice their english - hello mister, what's your name?

We toured through a rice processing factory and then sat at a local tea shop to have a coffee and at last we found coffee susu made with condensed milk. Fiona had been promising Toby and Harriet this Indoensian delight since before we left Asutralia and it had taken this long to find one. It was amazing. Everyone loved it. As we drank, the local kids stroked Harriet's arm. They were fascinated with how white it was and that was after she had tanned in Bunaken!

Seeing the locals using the dirty water for all their needs made us realise how much we take turning a tap on for granted. Those who survive these conditions may have stronger resilience than us, but what about those who don't? It certainly puts our problems of modern living in a different context.

We wanted to try every form of transport in Indonesia so we jumped in cycle rickshaws to get to dinner. We asked the price and were shown one finger and the drivers said "satu" which means 1. We thought this was ridiculously cheap, but agreed. When we got off we realised they meant 10. We didn't mind paying that amount but couldn't understand why they said one. The cycle rickshaws are the opposite way around to India and you sit in front of the driver rather than behind. When we got to the bridge the drivers had to jump off and push. We thought it was because we were so huge but noticed they did that to everyone so we escaped gaining a fat complex.

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