Time for some culture

Day 19 - Kota Kinabalu 

After breakfast we took a Grab to the KDCA Cultural Village at Hongkod Koissan, not sure of what we'd find. It was a 20 minute drive and when we arrived the Harvest Festival was well underway. It was busy so we followed the crowd to the main hall where people were standing outside the doors manned by police. We managed to bluff our way in, K tagged onto the tail of a group, then M followed a few minutes later telling the guard "my wife is in there". We took a seat where we watched some song and dance performances followed by a parade of women representing their town/region in a beauty contest, all of them dressed and made up identically.

After the parade it was lunch so we followed everyone outside and wandered around various stalls selling traditional Sabah clothes, accessories and souvenirs. The crowd was predominantly local, there were very few people like us. We wandered through the buildings and tents, may people were dressed in traditional clothing and performing dances, while others sat around eating their lunch. Some of the stalls had indigenous music, instruments and produce, often with their beauty contest representative posing for photos with the public. The food area had a lot of stalls, cooking all sorts of meats, like black pepper lamb, satay, and pigs on a spit. It was starting to get really hot and it was becoming quite overwhelming so we decided we'd seen enough and grabbed a car back to the air conditioning of our hotel.

In the evening we walked across the road to the waterside restaurants, with a view of the islands and the planes coming in to land flying quite low directly overhead. We started at one bar where the happy hour drinks were mostly ice, so we moved on to a much better and more popular cocktail bar where we could order our dinner from the Malaysian restaurant next door. There was a cover band playing and it was quite amusing watching the young couples enjoying the boomer music, singing along with every word while swaying their arms in the air, they knew the songs better than we did!

Couldn't have timed it better if we tried

Day 18 - Jakarta to Kota Kinabalu (Borneo / Malaysia)

It was time to say goodbye to the family as they flew back to Bali for the last few days of their holiday. We were flying back to Borneo (for the third time this trip!), heading for Malaysia on the northern part of the island. 

We landed in Kota Kinabalu which is quite different from Indonesian Borneo. KK is more modern and popular with tourists, and as we were checking in the clerk told us we'd arrived in time for the annual Kaamatan Harvest Festival, the biggest cultural festival of the year, which was starting the next day - something we had no idea about before arriving!  

Our hotel was across the road from a market and a number of waterside restaurants, and our room had a lovely water view taking in the bay and the nearby islands. M went to change some money at a nearby shopping centre, while K relaxed in the room. We had heard it was worth viewing the sunset from the hotel rooftop so we headed up for a drink.

Once the sun had set we stayed at the hotel for a tasty Malaysian dinner (including more satay!). Strangely, we were seated well away from the other diners as we wanted a drink with our meal, but it worked out well as it was nice and quiet and we had a waiter to ourselves.

Goodbye Tanjung Puting

Day 17 - Tanjung Puting to Jakarta 

Our riverboat trip was scheduled to finish at 10am but as the boat didn't have a same day booking we had a leisurely morning and a slow cruise back to port.

We were collected from the port at midday and dropped off at the Mercure hotel in Pangkalan Bun for lunch until it was time to go to the airport for our flight back to Jakarta where we were to spend a night before the next part of our trip.

We stayed at a different airport hotel this time, still in Terminal 3 but at the international end, which had a much better selection of eating places. We enjoyed yet another spicy satay dinner, which was a nice change as the meals on the boat had been quite bland (to our tastes), although seeing the facilities the cook had at her disposal it's amazing what she managed to produce.

Take that monkeys!

Day 16 - Camp Leakey

After a surprisingly restful night we moved on to Pondok Tanguii. We were told that as the jungle was currently in full bloom there was ample food so there was chance no orangutans would show up for their free breakfast, especially as they hadn't seen any for the last three days. We were lucky and witnessed a few orangutans arriving and feeding, some with babies.

We then motored on to an estuary where there was a distinctive change in the colour of the water, from dirty brown to a tar like black colour. We saw lots of monkeys swinging and making massive leaps from tree to tree, which included proboscis monkeys, named for their huge noses.

After lunch we arrived at the famed Camp Leakey, established in 1971 to provide a base for the scientific study of orangutans. We made the 1.5km walk in very hot and humid conditions to arrive at the feeding station which was in full sun. This was the busiest viewing site we'd seen.

Our guide said that it was highly unlikely we would see any orangutans so after half an hour K and family headed back to the boat, while M stayed behind. On the boardwalk, not far from the wharf, K's group encountered some aggressive grey monkeys blocking the way and baring their teeth. K has had some experience tussling with primates at close quarters (check out our Rwanda posts) so she went after them with her hat to clear the way, while the rest of the family cowered in fear like pathetic weaklings as the cohort of monkeys were bringing up the rear. Back at the feeding station M finally saw a solitary orangutan come down to feed, a bit disappointing as he would rather have seen K battling the monkeys.   

Heavy rain started late in the afternoon and the boat staff went to work lowering awnings and tarps to ensure we stayed dry. After dark we moved to a part of the river where we could see fireflies, and once the rain slowed the fireflies turned the trees on the bank into sparkling Christmas trees. Some of the fireflies came close enough that we we could pick them up and see the sparkles up close.

I think those dots are fireflies (though I'm surprised you can see anything at all)

The rain lowered the temperature to make things a little more comfortable, and we docked on the side of the river amongst the palms for the night, with the generator running to keep us cool enough to sleep.

Wild man of Borneo

Day 15 - Tanjung Puting National Park 

We were collected from our hotel at 9am and and driven to the river port in the town of Kumai. We walked through a number of docked boats to reach our houseboat home for the next 2 nights. Our boat had three levels and two bedrooms for the five of us. There were also six others on board - our guide, the boat captain and his assistant, their sons home for the school holidays, and a cook.

We travelled up the main river, past commercial ships before turning into the national park. We spent a few hours spotting monkeys and orangutans in the trees. One side of the river had rehabilitated orangutans, while wild ones were on the other side. 

We stopped at Tanjung Harapan wharf where we first visited the small museum, before walking further into the jungle to the feeding station where the rangers bring fruit for orangutan feeding time. The first orangutan to show was the alpha male who had his fill, then gathered more fruit with his mouth and hands before climbing back into the forest.

Orangutans are solitary apes so once the male had left a mother with a baby and toddler arrived, followed by other females. In between orangutans visiting the feeding platform squirrels helped themselves, and at one point a wild boar scavenged underneath. We arrived back at the boat to find an orangutan hanging out in the tree hanging over the wharf.

After travelling further up the river we went for a night trek. We were lucky enough to see a tarsier, a small nocturnal primate with big eyes, apparently this was the first one our guide had seen for a year. It quickly jumped between trees to get away from us, but we were able to get close enough for some photos.  

At our night dock power was connected to the boat via long extension cords which powered the air conditioners, something we really needed as it was very hot and humid.

Back to the jungle (and the palm oil plantations)

Day 14 - Jakarta to Pangkalan Bun 

Back to Borneo today with a short flight to Pangkalan Bun in the south of the island. As we came in to land it was easy to spot the palm oil plantations encroaching on the jungle.

There were five of us now so on arrival at the small airport we jumped into two taxis to get to the modern Mercure Hotel near the centre of town. There was some heavy rain just after we arrived, but it stopped in time for us to walk down the street for a quick explore followed by some shopping then dinner at the hotel.

This mosque is actually kind of interesting

Day 13 - Jakarta 

We only had one full day in Jakarta and we had read that the traffic in this city of 40 million people can be really bad, so we decided to treat ourselves to a private half day tour of the city, which would also get us back to the airport in time to meet family who were arriving from Bali that afternoon.

We were collected from our hotel at 10am, and fortunately at this time on a Sunday the traffic wasn't too bad. Our first stop was the Istiqlal mosque, which didn't look like a mosque at all but more like an austere government building. Strangely it hadn't been designed by an Islamic architect but rather by a Protestant. The design was very functional as it can accommodate up to 200,000 people on the numerous open plan floors, which were designed to allow cooling breezes to blow through. Initially we weren't that keen on seeing another mosque after our trip to Pakistan last year, but we both agreed that this mosque was definitely worth a visit. 

After a quick look at the Jakarta Cathedral across the road from the mosque we drove to the National Monument in Merdeka Square. A very tall monolith with a museum in the base containing dioramas of a comprehensive history of Indonesia from prehistoric times up to the present day. This was where the advantage of being on a private tour became apparent, as we were able to skip buying tickets and jump ahead of the long line of locals waiting to get in.  

We then walked around the old city with it's many Dutch colonial buildings and the huge Fatahillah Square where lots of tourists and locals were enjoying their Sunday. Inside one of the old buildings we visited a traditional puppet workshop where tales from Hindu mythology are told via intricately carved and painted shadow puppets made from leather.

The final stop on our tour was at the old wharves where Jakarta's problem with sinking was explained to us. The city is built on a swamp and parts of it are below sea level, and even though it is protected by a sea wall it still floods regularly. 

We managed to beat the rain which started falling as we drove back to the airport, arriving in time to meet Courtney and family flying in from Bali to join us for our two night boat trip to see the wild orangutans near Tanjung Puting in South Kalimantan.

I've been stuck in worse airports than this

Day 12 - Berau to Jakarta

We were leaving Eastern Kalimantan today but that wasn't until the afternoon, so before breakfast M went for a walk to explore the local area. It was 8am and already warming up, and as it was a Saturday morning the locals were doing their shopping at the stalls along the main street.

Our next major destination is in south west Borneo, but the way the flights and timing work out we need to fly all the way to Jakarta before taking another flight back again. This is also one of the flights we had to rebook due to an "operational change", so instead of flying direct as we originally planned we had to change planes at Balikpapan. Who'd have thought we'd get to spend a few more hours at the lovely Balikpapan Airport? 

We landed in Jakarta as the sun was setting, and we had a little trouble finding our hotel at the far end of Terminal 3. The hotel itself was fine, and as it was getting late we ate at the hotel restaurant, sharing a spicy satay.

Up the river

Day 11 - Maratua to Berau

We were sorry to leave Arasatu and Maratua, we were worried that we may have had too much island time but we think we could have done with another day here. Part of the appeal is how quiet it is and most of the time it was as if we were the only ones here. 

We were booked on the 10am public boat back to the mainland. We hopped on board and sat with the some Indonesian tourists, who were curious about where we were from and where we'd been travelling.

The boat trip was more comfortable than we expected and very smooth as it was another calm day. We thought the boat was heading back to the port at Tanjung Batu where we would have to pick up another car and endure the bumpy road back to Berau, but we actually followed the river all the way back to the ferry port in the centre of town. The entire return trip only took about two and a half hours.

Our flight to Jakarta wasn't for another 24 hours or so, so we spent the afternoon at the modern Mercure, where we took advantage of their high tea special - $3.75 for two people is an offer too good to pass up!  

Time for a break

Day 10 - Maratua Island

After a few busy days of diving we decided to take a break. We enjoyed the view from our over water bungalow and caught up on some washing and blog posting, before enjoying our final sunset at Maratua.

The other tourists we've met in Borneo so far have mainly been Indonesian. Everyone we've met, including the locals on Derawan and Maratua have been exceptionally friendly and open, very ready to chat with welcoming smiles.

Why are they just sitting there like blobs of jelly?

Day 9 - Maratua Island

At 10am we left Arasatu in our private boat to go diving and snorkelling. The boat was larger and more comfortable than the Derawan dive boats, and our first stop was to nearby Sangalaki Island, which we'd been unable to visit while at Derawan. Sangalaki is famous for its Manta rays but we were told at Arasatu that they haven't been seen for the last few years. We hadn't been told this at Derawan and online there are still many dive centres actively promoting the Manta rays. We were told that they have been over-fished for the Chinese market, and also that even if they were around this wasn't the right time of year.

We stopped just off the shore at the Manta Eel dive spot. K joked with the dive master about whether he'd messaged the leopard shark to make sure he turned up to work today, and after entering the water and descending down to 12 meters there was a leopard shark lying on the bottom, which immediately swam away. 

There was plenty of colourful coral and an array of interesting fish, K spotted what looked like a dark brown sea sponge which suddenly propelled itself forward, hid under a rock and changed colour to match the rock it was on - it was an octopus.

We then moved on to Kakaban Island, we followed the steps and the boardwalk about 500 metres to reach the huge lake in the centre of the island which is filled with millions of non-stinging jellyfish.  

Over thousands of years the jellyfish have lost the ability to sting as they don't have any predators. Unfortunately almost all of the jellyfish were asleep and motionless on the bottom of the lake, so our visit wasn't as exciting as the photos we'd seen of people surrounded by swimming jellyfish. After 15 minutes snorkeling in the lake we headed back to the boat to our next dive spot just a few minutes boat ride way.

Kakaban Reef follows the shore of the island and has a giant coral wall that goes to 180 metres deep. K dived to seventeen metres, the current pulling her along the wall for an hour,  while M snorkelled on the surface, also drifting along and finishing well past where K ended up. The wall was spectacular and full of coral, fish and gorgonia sea fans. M also saw what he thought was a grey nurse shark, as well as a giant turtle. The dive master saw a white tipped shark but unfortunately K missed it. There was a problem with the valve on her BCD leaking so the dive master stayed very close and did a good job to manage her buoyancy for her.

We were dropped back at Arasatu where we spent the evening watching the sunset followed by an impressive lightning show on the horizon.

Nice location, nice villa!

Day 8 - Derawan Island to Maratua Island 

We had been offered two options for our trip to Maratua, a small speedboat or a larger two engine boat. Grace had suggested that the weather should be fine so the small boat would be OK, it turned out she was correct as it was a very calm morning. After a delicious breakfast of freshly cooked bread, waffles and muffins we said our farewells to Grace and her staff then hopped into the boat. The trip was quick and smooth, arriving at the jetty at Arasatu Villas in only 50 minutes. 

After a welcome drink we were shown to our beautiful over water villa. Above the bed was a retractable roof which allowed us to see the sky above, the water was crystal blue, the luxury stone bathroom had an open ceiling and snorkels were supplied. We quickly agreed that we liked this villa better than the one we'd had in the Maldives.

Maratua is a much larger island than Derawan and the resorts are spread out a lot more, we could see the villas at other resorts in the distance but we felt as if we almost had the place to ourselves.

We went to find out about diving options, and after setting up a meeting with the divemaster for later in the day we were taken in the hotel buggy to the crumbling jetty at Turtle Point about 20 minutes away where M went snorkelling to see some turtles and coral. He managed to see three turtles, but K saw even more just sitting on the jetty! On the way back to the villa we drove through the small town on the island, the locals were going about their normal business, very few tourists appeared to be around.

At dinner time we met the dive master and made arrangements to go out the next day, then we sat at the restaurant for drinks and dinner as the sun set. It was very quiet, just one other couple was there for dinner. 

A better diving day

Day 7 - Derawan Island

The original plan for the day was to visit Sangalaki Island where we hoped to see manta rays, but our host Grace came to our bungalow to tell us that police had caught a fisherman using dynamite to kill fish. That meant diving had closed for the day while they checked for more explosives, so we ended up doing a couple of dives around Derawan, with a new dive master with better English and better communication skills.

Our first spot was at the Coral Gardens only 10 minutes away. This time M had a local to snorkel with, so he didn't need to stay around the boat as he did yesterday, instead he was able to follow the current and wait for the boat to pick him up when ready. There was plenty of colourful fish and coral, and K was able to see moray eels, stingrays and a cuttlefish that changed colour and shape to look like a piece of coral, exceptional camouflage.

The second dive was at Turtle Point very close to one of the island's many jetties. The tide was starting to rise which meant the giant turtles were asleep, so K was surprised that once again the dive master was going close enough to them that they woke and swam away. She also saw a number of lionfish that changed colour and displayed their fans of poisonous spikes when threatened.

Overall today's dive and snorkelling was a much better experience than the previous day's - better dive master, better weather, and a better range of coral and animals.

After finishing the dives for the day M did some more exploring, finding another path across the island and encountering a few Indonesian tourists as well as some giant centipedes along the way. 

Finally a whale shark, but .....

Day 6 - Derawan Island

A 4:30am start for an early trip to Talisayan to see the whale sharks, an animal K has been wanting to see for a long time, after missing out in Tofo, Mozambique when they all dived to the bottom just as she was about to jump in. K had arranged for our island stay to be at the time of the new moon, the best time to see the whale sharks that hang around the floating fishing pontoons.

We left at around 5:30am for a very rough trip in a small two engine boat, driven by what appeared to be a 14 year old. We were relieved that the bumping around was over when we arrived at the whale shark pontoon around 7am. Two other boats were there and six other tourists were already in the water snorkeling incredibly close to the lone whale shark. 

The fishermen were throwing buckets of dead sardines into the shark's cavernous mouth, it was almost like a dog begging for scraps at the table. The fish smell was overpowering and visibility in the water was only a couple of metres because of the amount of dead fish bits floating around. 

K dived while M snorkeled, at times we both had to scramble to get out of the way of the whale shark, and at one point he flicked one of K's legs as it swam past. Although it was good to finally see a whale shark, it felt too crowded and quite unethical, it wasn't quite what we'd expected. 

After 40 minutes or so we jumped back into the boat for the two hour return journey. Not quite as rough but still quite uncomfortable, and it had just started raining as we arrived back at the island, just making it inside before a massive storm with thunder and lightning, the wind and rain shaking our over water bungalow.

After a couple of hours the storm had passed so we could head out again for a second dive at Snapper Point, only 10 minutes away. K did a drift dive with the dive master, while M snorkeled around the boat. The divemaster had limited English and was generally uncommunicative, it was difficult to know what was happening without any briefing or explanation. The rain storm meant that visibility was poor but K still managed to see a large turtle and different sized moray eels. What was surprising was the dive master disturbing and handling a number of small sea creatures, since a key rule of diving is that divers shouldn't touch or disturb any sea creature.

We had another lovely dinner on the deck provided by our accommodation at Derawan Dive Lodge. It's shoulder season and we are the only ones staying here, and elsewhere around the island most of the tourists we've see have been Indonesian.

A boneshaker of a trip!

Day 5 - Berau (Tanjung Redep) to Derawan Island

A convoluted route today to get to Derawan Island off the east coast of Borneo.
We started with a two and a half hour drive on a very poor and windy road which followed the river to the port of Tanjung Batu. The trip was made worse by travelling in a tiny putt-putt car that couldn't hold all of our luggage in the boot, and had trouble making it up hills. On arrival at the port we hopped into a speed boat for a much smoother half hour trip to Derawan.

The boat dropped us right at the steps leading up to our over water villa, now that's door to door service! Lunch was waiting for us and we settled in and made arrangements with our hosts at Derawan Dive Lodge for our next few days of diving and snorkeling.

M went to explore the island, managing to get all the way around in about half an hour. It wasn't busy season so the cobbled streets were quiet, with few other tourists around, most of them being Indonesian. There were no cars, the main mode of transportation was motorbike, and there were shops full of electric bikes ready to hire. 

Further on the houses and shops were replaced by empty beaches and run down resorts. Presumably things get busier later in the year but for now it was all quiet and empty.

Just before dinner we took a walk up through the centre of the island, past families who smiled at us and kids who waved at us. Some of the small restaurants were getting food ready for later, with fish on display and in the process of being grilled over an open flame.

Dinner back at the lodge was plates of chicken, rice, fish, vegetables and fruit - a bit too much for us so we asked that they try not to over cater for us next time.

Nice place you have here

Day 4 -  Balikpapan to Berau (Tanjung Redeb)

A short flight today to the city of Berau (or Tanjung Redeb as the locals call it) in the northern part of East Kalimantan.

Balikpapan airport is large, new and modern, not what we expected in such a seemingly remote location, so it wasn't such a bad place to hang out for over four hours while we waited for our plane to depart. There was heavy rain in the morning which prevented the plane we were to travel on from landing, so we had to wait for it to return from where it was diverted to. 

On landing at Berau we took an airport taxi to the Mercure Hotel, in a new and very modern building which stood out amongst the more normal shops and houses surrounding it.  

This shopping mall looks like every other shopping mall

Day 3 - Jimbaran Beach to Balikpapan (Borneo / East Kalimantan)

The second flight of our trip today, to the world's third largest island, Borneo. The island is owned by three countries - Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. For now we are staying within Indonesia and taking a domestic flight (about an hour and 45 minutes) to Balikpapan on the south eastern coast of the island, in the region of East Kalimantan. Just one night here with no plans for tourist activities, Balikpapan is a domestic hub for East and North Kalimantan so it's a place we need to transit through to get to the islands off the coast of Borneo. 

Balikpapan is a modern looking city and the financial centre of Kalimantan. Our hotel was part of a new shopping mall right on the coast, with its own beach, water park and all the high end shops we have back home. Unfortunately the giant water slides were right outside our hotel room so we could hear screaming children for much of the day.

We had a quick look at the beach area, did a bit of shopping at the supermarket in the mall, then up to the rooftop bar by the relatively busy pool before dinner at the hotel. 

Bali again? I thought we decided were never going back!

Days 1 and 2 - Melbourne (Australia) to Jimbaran Beach (Bali, Indonesia)

Day 1

OK, here we go again. The main destination for this trip is Borneo, not too far from Australia though the logistics of getting to our planned destinations is a a little convoluted, meaning a flight to Bali is the most logical first hop, even though we had decided we didn't really want to go back there.

We ease into the trip with an early morning flight and a two night stay at Jimbaran Beach which is quite close to Denpasar airport, landing early afternoon local time.

The hotel was very nice, right across from the beach and a number of seafood restaurants with tables on the sand. First task after arriving was finding a shop and an ATM, we had heard that in Borneo "cash is king" so we needed to start securing funds for the rest of the trip. Ten minutes from the hotel we found what we needed, then headed back to the hotel rooftop bar to watch the sunset, followed by dinner at a beach restaurant. 

Day 2

After breakfast we went for a walk along the beach, planning to get back before it got too hot. We stopped at the fishermen's jetty for a while, watching as large ice blocks were carried to a small boat for transfer to a larger fishing boat further out. 

We then continued as far north along the beach as possible until we were stopped by the airport fence, where we stayed a while watching the planes taking off and landing. 

By the time we started heading back the cloud layer had thinned and it was getting hot, so we stopped at a very empty seaside restaurant for a drink before returning to the hotel. 

M had found two ATMs very close to the hotel so spent some time and multiple visits to make withdrawals until we had enough Indonesian rupiah. After that it was back to the hotel rooftop and dinner at a different restaurant.