Blogs from Kalimantan, Indonesia, Asia - page 5

A friend's daughter recently wrote an article about growing up in a small town. She pointed out that in a city or larger town how you treat someone may not matter as you may never see them again, but that in a small town you don't have that luxury and must learn to be nice to everyone. I'm glad we lived in a small town and learned that lesson. The indigenous population of Kalimantan are the Dayak people. If you travel into the interior you can visit their villages and see more of the culture. We weren't sure we wanted to spend the limited time we had in Indonesia doing this, but had read about a village only 29 km from Samarinda, Pampang, that put on a show of traditional dance each Sunday at 2pm. It ... read more

After struggling with the receptionist over the bill, we were a little late to the airport. Thankfully we had left enough time, but the lines were huge and check in did not close until long after it was supposed to. Fiona's indonesian friend, Budiman always insists on checking in for domestic flights 2 hours before and we could see why this was a good plan. Some travellers had obviously missed checking in for their flight and there was a huge screaming match going on. In all her travels in Indonesia, Fiona had never seen a row before. It seemed to be unusual for the locals too as many were crowding around not just to hear but to take photos too. The flight was uneventful, but cramped as expected and so it was a relif to step ... read more

Changement radical de décor lorsqu'on atterrit sur Kalimantan, la partie indonésienne de Bornéo. A Kumai, l'humidité et la chaleur sont omniprésentes. Peu de temps pour visiter les alentours, on embarque directement sur notre klotok, bateau traditionnel indonésien, pour 4 jours de navigation sur la rivière Sungai sekonyer, dans le parc national de Tanjung Putting, prêts pour une rencontre dont je rêve depuis longtemps. Sur notre klotok, on est les rois du pétrole ! Le pont supérieur du bateau devient notre résidence, où l'on mange, se repose, jouons au carte et où sont installés nos matelas et moustiquaires la nuit tombée. Sous nous, les 4 membres de l'équipage (capitaine, assistant, cuisinière et guide) s'affairent sous un plafond de moins d'un mètre. On s'amuse à les observer, se déplaçant en canard pour faire la vaisselle ou préparer à ... read more

Oh…waktu Waktu terus berlalu tiada henti… Manusia hanya memanfaatkannya… Tuk kehidupan yg berguna.. Hidup penuh dengan misteri Akankah ia dilalui?? Atau gugur tanpa jejak!!! Sahabatku.. Mental kitalah yang akan menentukan Masa depan yang cerah.. Akankah begitu saja berlalu??? Tidak sabahat… Untuk melalui itu semua perlu pengorbanan Sampai darah penghabisan... Sampai tutup usia…... read more

The taxi driver picked me up at the Ateng house hotel, very nice guy though English is bad, before we arrived at the airport he asks if he could have my yellow LIVE STRONG arm band as a souvenir from the USA, I showed him it's almost gone, there's a big tear, after that he kept quiet. Check in is easy, we have to pay 30,000 rupiah domestic departure tax. The plane was late we have to wait for about half hour more, the other airline left before us, 2 flights to Ketapang in the morning and I booked the tardy Airline, Kal Star. The flight was 45 minutes I think and uneventful. It's darn hot here in Ketapang. Outside the terminal a guy asked me if I need a taxi, he was wearing the porter ... read more