1st November 2011 – Melbourne Cup Day
Well today finally arrived…the day of departure…my ticket to freedom! I left home early and headed to the airport, checked in straight away and went through the doors, trying to escape the chaos that Qantas had caused with their strikes!
I didn’t feel excited…didn’t really feel anything. It always feels surreal when I plan these trips for months and then I finally leave…and I always leave with no expectations as I know now that anything can happen, especially in Indonesia.
Passed the flight with reading and two movies…an Indonesian film called ‘Cinta Ungu – Purple Love’ {just had to watch it!} and a Biography of Jane Goodall…all about her life and how she came to live in Tanzania and fight for the lives of the chimpanzees. It was a good movie and got me thinking about the orangutans! My main aim of this trip was to go and see the orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park, Kalimantan! And after that was accomplished, then try and see and enjoy as much of Kalimantan as I had time to.
My Garuda flight landed with a smooth touch down in Denpasar Airport, Bali and I got through customs and immigration quite quickly. I met an old Indonesian friend…Indonesia is such a small world! We stopped for a quick catch-up before I grabbed a taxi and headed to my hotel for my first 2 nights. I ended the day with a nasi goreng and a margarita to celebrate the beginnings of my holiday!
3rd November
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 re-booking 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 per night?! 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!
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