Blogs from Kalimantan, Indonesia, Asia - page 4

Off the beaten path in Borneo Our journey to Derawan was interesting and frustrating in the same time. We must admit that it was very exciting to be faced with all the struggles on the way that you don’t encounter often in South East Asia i.e. huge language barriers, lack of local transport, lack of budget accommodation etc. We left Sandakan knowing that it would take us many days to reach our final destination but we were absolutely fine with it. The bus to the border town of Tawau took long 9h instead of 4 because we had engine problem, then breaks problem and then tire problem. In the end we had to be transferred to another bus to be ... read more

We left Kuala Lumpur for Balikpapan in East Kalimantan (South Borneo) on the 27th at 4 in the morning. Two taxis, a flight, train and two bus journeys later we arrived mid-afternoon in Samarinda. Here we checked into the Hotal Gelora which looked slightly run down to say the least. However, it was pretty clean and the staff, with very limited English, were all lovely. After most people being able to speak at least a bit of English in Malaysia, Indonesia is a stark contrast where charades are needed to describe the simplest of things but everyone says hello to you on the street. We organised, through the hotel, a trip up to Kutai Wildlife National Park where we were to do jungle treks in the hopes of finding orangutans! We drove for 4 hours and ... read more

Sometimes there are destinations that blow your mind and sometimes there are places to be forgotten. In both cases you need to get there and often the journey is an experience to be enjoyed or to learn from. Too many times we are thinking about the nxt destination instead of enjoying exactly where we are at the present. Today we enjoyed the journey. In our short time in Banjarmasin we had really fallen in love with the city and the people, but it was time to move on and see some more of Kalimantan. Most tourists head up to Loksado from Banjarmasin to trek and take a bamboo raft ride, but we wanted to be in Jakarta Sunday evening and were pushed for time. The stopover town before Loksado is Kandangan and from here you can ... read more

We enjoyed the trip with Joni the guide at the canals yesterday so decided to go with him to the mines. We dropped our parcel off at the post office first and feel really relieved that it is gone. Harriet was excited that there was no need to get up before 9 but her plans were thwarted as they are doing works at the hotel which started at 8. It was impossible for her to sleep through the drilling and hammering. It's hard being a teenager. Joni took us to a polishing shop where they explained about rough diamonds, agate and how they cut and polish. We watched them at work and then got to look at the ones for sale - no surprise! Fiona didn't actually like any of the settings so it was easy ... read more

We slept surprisingly well with no AC and funny noises all around, waking after dawn. Breakfast was again provided and served by Sipiani and we got ready for our next walk. It was actually pouring with rain so we weren't holding out much hope of seeing an orangutan. They make nests at night high in the trees and don't move much if it is wet. We wandered around the forest for about 3 hours without spotting another orangutan, but we did see hornbills and macaque monkeys high in the trees. Several times the path was really muddy and the river crossings unsafe. Several times one or another of us ended up in the mud on our bums or knees. We also saw centipedes and these red bugs which curl into a ball like a marble when ... read more