latest picture: August 2, 2007
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- More websites from Indonesia and Timor-Leste:
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- On November 21st, 2006, we left the Island of Borneo
after half a year, where we overhauled completely
our car and visited the Malaysian provinces of Sarawak
and Sabah and two new countries – Brunei (# 154) and in Kalimantan the "begin" of
Indonesia (# 155) –, driving a total of 3'258 miles. Two days later, we arrived on a
domestic ferry in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, a mega-city of about 17 million
people on the island of Java. Then, a whole range of more Indonesian islands followed:
Sumatra to the West and Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Rinca with the Komodo Dragons, Flores,
Sumba and Timor to the East. In-between we explored the 156th country – Timor-Leste –, before our Indonesian roundtrip continued
in Sulawesi and ended finally in Kalimantan on the Island of Borneo.
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- 01
Our Toyota is loaded in Mamuju/
- West-Sulawesi for its 12th ferry ride
- in Indonesia onto the vessel
- „KMP Dharma Kosala“, which sails
- in 14½ hours to Balikpapan/East-
- Kalimantan on the Island of Borneo
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- 02
We discover this unique
- flower between the prickly
- stems of the palm oil tree
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- 03
Green, green and green again –
- crossing from East to South
- Kalimantan, the mountain road is
- winding through a landscape that
- looks surreal with its creeping plants
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The quiet brownish water of the
- jungle rivers always looks mystical
- and spreads a touch of adventure
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Between all the greenery, we
- discover new exotic flowers .....
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..... and water channels
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- 07
A waterfall is rushing through
- dense vegetation downhill
- in different courses
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The pink buds and
- flowers are a lovely contrast
- to the lush greenery
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- 09
Branches, plants and trees reflect
- in the calm water – in the marshland
- of Central Kalimantan a common sight
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Ferns are abundant in
- Kalimantan’s rain forests
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Driving from the East to the
- South Province is like being on a
- roller coaster. The narrow mountain
- road meanders through lush vegetation
- and remains the most beautiful
- stretch of our Kalimantan journey
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- 12
The vegetation along the
- river banks is changing: From
- wild, to tamed, to gentle
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Early morning at the vast river in
- Tanjung: River dwellers make morning
- toilet on their bamboo floats
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..... a fisherman throws
- his fishing-rods .....
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A new river, the same pictures –
- in the whole of Kalimantan
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- Life on the river:
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Doing Laundry .....
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..... canoeing .....
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..... babysitting
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Along the road, fuel in bottles
- and containers is sold everywhere –
- a handy service for the (extremely)
- high number of motorbikes
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Eateries are spread all over.
- Nobody has to remain
- hungry in Kalimantan
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Also in remote areas, there are
- always small shops along the road.
- This grandmother shows us
- proudly her grandchild
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- 22
The huge jackfruits grow
- into the mouth of the community
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Movable traders on motorbikes
- selling vegetable, fruits, household
- articles and even chickens are common
- and are often the only source of
- providing provisions in remote areas
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This huge hat protects
- not only from the sun, but also
- from the tropical downpours
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The home of a family in the
- marshlands of Central Kalimantan
- is just a modest wooden hut with
- a thatched roof
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The setting sun and
- one of its dramatic shows
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What makes people live in the
- harsh marshland of Central Kalimantan?
- At least this hut is covered with a
- corrugated iron roof giving more protection
- and lasting longer than a thatched one
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Kalimantan is strongly Muslim. In
- most villages, mosques are an eye-catching
- sight. Along the road, many people collect
- for the construction of a new mosque
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Friday prayer time in a village
- mosque: Who will find the own
- thongs again?
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Money is always flowing readily
- at the construction of a
- monumental mosque
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The impressive mosque of Martapura is
- an example of the monumental construction
- style. Its deep blue domes are visible from far
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Houses on stilts and
- floats border the banks of
- the river in Martapura
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A unique contrast: The modest
- river life and the king blue domes
- of the city mosque in Martapura
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- 34
In Kumai, our continuation to Pontianak
- by land ends due to the torrential rains which
- made the clay roads impassable. This forced us
- to make a long and expensive detour with two
- ferries via Java. This one brings us from Sampit
- in Central Kalimantan to Surabaya in Java
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- 35
In Sampit, the “KM Kirana III”
- – our 14th ferry – takes us for about
- three hours downriver towards the
- mouth of the sea, passing small river
- settlements .....
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..... where again mosques are
- dominating. Afterwards we sailed for
- 22 hours through the open Java Sea
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- Rivers are often the only arterial “road” for the settlements along the
rivers, like here near Sampit
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Our 15th Indonesian ferry – the “KMP
- Marisa Nusantara” – brings us in 31 hours
- from Semarang in Java back to Pontianak
- in Kalimantan. Luckily, we are able to book
- a cabin with AC, because people with their
- luggage are lying simply everywhere
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- 41
Now, the passengers are still
- sitting. When they settle down for
- the night, there is no way through
- anymore
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- 42
The Equator Monument has us back.
- From 2am (= arrival of the ferry) to 6am
- (= dawning and hitting the road again) we
- step between the Southern and the Northern
- Hemisphere while having breakfast. It is our
- 30th Equator-Xing, this time South to North
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Ngabang (on our way to the
- Malaysian border), where a part of
- the population lives again at the river
- bank (this time it’s the Landak River) .....
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..... where they have a special
- liking for flowers and pot plants .....
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..... and where the satellite dish is
- almost never missing. With the Indosat-
- System, in Indonesia there is communication
- everywhere to the world – if there is electricity
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School kids on their way home
- discovered us having a picnic
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Fun at the gasoline station.
- The price for one liter of gasoline or
- diesel is now Rp. 4’500 (± US$ 0.48)
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August 2nd, 2007: The departure
- formalities in Entikong, one of the official
- three land borders in Indonesia, are completed
- (another is from Papua to Papua New Guinea
- and the third is from Timor to Timor-Leste).
- The officers say good bye to us as friendly as
- they have welcomed us eight months ago.
- Land borders are much easier than sea borders
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- More websites from Indonesia and
Timor-Leste:
More websites from East Malaysia and
Brunei:
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- Articles in newspapers about us in Indonesia:
- Article: "Tamu Istimewa: Neverending
Journey", Monthly Car Magazine "Jip", January 2007
- Article: "Toyota
FJ60 1982 World Travelers", Monthly Car Magazine "Jip", February
2007
- Article: "CHEESE
LAND CRUISER", Monthly Car Magazine "BBC Top Gear", February 2007
- Article: "22
Tahun Jelajahi 156 Negara", Daily Newspaper "Post
Metro Balikpapan", July 17, 2007
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