Long journey to Pangkalan Bun, Kalimantan

3rd November 2011

Wake up call rang at 4am...so I got up and packed up the last few things. I checked out, which felt like in the middle of the night as it was still dark! Called for a Blue Bird taxi (the ONLY trustworthy taxi in Bali! :)) and headed to the airport.

Today was the day...I was finally heading to Kalimantan, for the first time ever! :)

Kalimantan takes up two-thirds of Borneo's land mass. Kalimantan has four states or provinces... West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan...the North area is Borneo, Malaysia and includes Sarawak and Sabah.

Kalimantan has been on my travelling list for a long time, not sure why I never made it there, but today is the day. And I had spent a long time organising the domestic flights (and rebooking the domestic flights as one particular airline decided to change their flight schedule a week before I left, which meant that my other domestic flight had to be changed!) The complication is that I wanted to go to Pangkalan Bun and there is only one flight a day! However, at the last minute, I managed to organise my complicated domestic flights...Denpasar, Bali to Jakarta (Lion Air)...check out and check back in again...and wait for the Trigana Air flight, which was THE only flight from Jakarta to Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan! Crazy... and it felt like such a long day!

But eventually...one hour late and with a very rough touch down...and I landed in Pangkalan Bun, although as we landed all I could see were trees...it looked like we were landing in the middle of the jungle! Apart from the small tarmac that eventually came into view...when I had to walk across it to go to the baggage claim room. After a very long wait I eventually got my backpack and grabbed a taxi into the main street of town...I stayed at "Tiara Hotel" - a local run hotel that was two storeys high...I had a room on the second floor...a great view you might ask...? Ahhh...my room had no windows! :) But what do you expect for Rp145.000..?! Cold water and the smallest bathroom I have ever seen in my life! It was so small that the door wouldn't even open or close fully! Haha!

After checking in, I went to a restaurant just around the corner from my hotel and had a late lunch (it was 2pm by then) and then later went for a walk and explored Pangkalan Bun. Pangkalan Bun is  a small, pleasant town, which runs along Sungai Arut-Arut River. There isn't a lot to see and do in Pangkalan Bun but it was nice to explore...I ended up going for a long walk along the boardwalk next to the river...the local people were firstly fascinated to see me and then extremely happy and excited! They were very friendly and I had little chats with people as I walked along...

Early night...tomorrow the adventure begins! :)