From Balikpapan to a full belly!
Having made Balikpapan airport - which is the biggest in Kalimantan - we are met by a guide from De Gigant Tours (http://borneotourgigant.com) and set off in a car, 3hrs north to Loa Janan on the Mahakam river. Half way we stop for a snack at a roadside stop. The delicacy is deep fried Tofu with a really thick, sweet and spicy soy sauce. I normally don’t like Tofu - but this was amazing.
We are then invited into the back of the shop to see how they make & process it. A production line of small soy bag fillers and knot tiers sat on the floor. Big woks of oil cooking tofu and other delicacies.
We are joining our houseboat for the next 3 days as we cruise inland. When we arrive at the dock in Loa Janan we are greeted by Lucas the owner and the boat crew. We have our guide, Jay, for the trip who is a local from Muara Muntai one of the stilted villages we will visit.
The boat is basic - camping on water. We have a private cabin on the top of the boat. The crew sleep on the bottom levels. In the middle is the dining table and at the rear there is a kitchen and a private shower/toilet wet room for us. That’s it. It ideal - didn’t expect or need luxury when the whole point is to get close to the Borneo nature. One luxury - I get them to buy some Bintang beer and load the cool box. I’m sure that will refresh at the end of the day.
So we are off - the river is wide - maybe 250m - and the banks are lined with coal loading depots. Industrial Indonesia. Kalimantan is one of the worlds largest exporters of Coal and it seems most of it goes down this river on barges.
We have a 14-16hr cruise until morning and Muara Muntai. Lunch is served - awesome Indonesian food of battered shrimps, pork in a soy sauce, corn fritters, rice & vegetables. My diet just got destroyed!
The river bank goes by. Coal barge, Coal depot - repeat. As we get further upstream the forest and stilted villages start to appear, but it’s still dominated by coal and occasionally wood. Fortunately for us just the depots, wherever the mines are - we can’t see them.
Night draws in. Sunset is nice, not amazing. There is something entrancing though about a river at dusk or dawn. When we sat on a houseboat in the Mekon Delta in Vietnam it was the same - be it the light or watching people starting or finishing their days.
It’s also mid-autum festival so we have a full moon and upstream there is a lightning light show. Dinner - oh dear my diet is really gone - more great Indonesian food - a peppery chicken soup, fried plantain fritters, a rich but not spicy fish curry, omlette and again rice and vegetables. Enoughs enough - long day, warm humid conditions, full belly and a Bintang beer - time to sleep.