Mahakam River, Kalimantan, Indonesia

5naomiheredia 5:00 PM Oct 13, 2017

Cruising On The Mighty Mahakam
My daughter and I took a cruise of three days and two nights down the Mahakam River with DeGigant Borneo Tours. The journey began when we were picked up from our hotel in Samarinda and taken to the boat. It was large, extremely clean, and well furnished. There was a large bedroom on top with two double mattresses, clean linen, and mosquito net. Also, plug points for charging our phones and cameras, and a viewing deck with comfortable chairs. Below there was a dining table and chairs. Besides plentiful and varied fare for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner, we could help ourselves to tea and coffee, fruit and biscuits at any time we felt hungry. There was a crew of three, the Captain and his assistants, a very sweet lady who cooked really amazing meals for us, and our guide who showed us everything possible and explained everything we wanted to know about, but at the same time, allowed us our privacy, too. We had a western style toilet to ourselves with a hygiene faucet and flush. There was also a shower and a wash basin with mirror. All the water for washing and bathing purposes came from a freshwater tank on the boat. The first day was just a leisurely progress down the Mahakam, taking in the river life and activities on both sides - some of it, like the loading of giant barges with coal, a depressing reminder of how the land is being exploited of natural resources. The boat stopped at the pretty village of Muara Muntai during the night. In the morning our guide took us on a tour of the village which has over 30 kms of boardwalk and unexpected facilities like a school, hospital and post office. When we returned our canoe was waiting to take us across a massive lake, through intricate channels very difficult to negotiate, to a Dayak village with the longest longhouse in the province. Our boatman was brilliant at navigating the canoe and thanks to him and our guide, we were able to see many kinds of birds, tree snakes, monitor lizards, proboscis and other monkeys, and giant squirrels. It was excitement all the way in looking out for wildlife and taking photographs. When we reached the Dayak village, we were given a tour of the beautiful longhouse with exquisite carvings. The Dayak tribe showed us many dances and we took part in a couple, which was great fun. We were also shown how to use an actual blowpipe to shoot arrows and then we were annointed with rice paste according to tradition. A lovely, gentle people. They do some fine embroidery and we bought a piece for framing later on. The cook had thoughtfully packed lunch for us because by the time we made the return journey, it was late evening. I was very impressed with the compassion of the boatman, who stopped to free a baby monkey which had been caught in a trap. We started the journey back, reaching our drop-off point at Tenggarong after breakfast the next morning. Our guide took us ashore to visit the Sultan's Palace which has been made into a well-planned and interesting museum. We finished our tour just before lunch time and a car was waiting to take us to Balikpapan, where we were going to spend the night. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and besides hundreds of photos we have happy memories of the lovely people we met.

5JLM582015 5:00 PM Aug 4, 2017

Culture in Transition
My daughter and I recently took an 8-day, 7 night boat trip up the Mahakam River in East Kalimintan. We booked our trip with Didier Waegemans, a Belgian who is a partner Mundooz Borneo Adventure Tours. Didier was very knowledgeable and helpful and promptly responded to my inquiries throughout the planning process. He arranged the tour with De gigant Tours Borneo out of Samarinda, and fixed us up with an excellent, well-regarded guide named Jailani. We were provided with a beautiful, spotlessly clean boat with a crew of five who took care of our every need. The chef on board was terrific and cooked three delicious and perfectly cooked multi-course meals every day. We had the whole top of the boat to ourselves, which included our air-conditioned bedroom with a couple of thick mattresses on the floor, and a lovely veranda at the front of the boat where we could watch the world go by. The tour itself was fascinating, but it is not what it used to be. Rather than seeing people living in longhouses in remote, traditional communities, these days the region is in the process of transformation. Kalimantan provides 25% of Indonesia’s GDP and so economic migration and resource extraction are rampant. Tugboats pull untold numbers of huge coal barges worth hundreds of thousands of dollars down river, and enormous rafts of hardwoods float downstream towards their Asian markets. Dozens of speed boats ply the river, full of workers heading back and forth from their jobs. The villages still process many commodities in traditional ways, including salt fish, baskets, woven cloth, wood carvings, palm sugar and sago, among others, and the processes used are astonishing to see. Wildlife still exists within and alongside the river, including Irrawaddy dolphins, monkeys of various kinds, and many beautiful birds. We took a number of shorter trips in motorized canoes, which were great fun, and there was no end of interesting sites along the way. The people were absolutely lovely, especially our guide Jailani, who has thorough knowledge of the area, as well as many relatives and friends in the various villages along the route. We enjoyed every moment of our trip, and learned so much about Indonesia and the various Dayak cultures in this region. Indonesian people are among the friendliest in the world, and it was a very special treat to spend our time immersed in this rich natural and cultural world. Indonesia is developing rapidly, and while the days of the headhunters are long gone, seeing the cultural transformation of a people in such a short time is breathtaking. I would highly recommend this trip for anyone; it was a rich and unforgettable experience.