22 July 2016
Eating in Kalimantan
A sampling of the local fare in Indonesian Borneo on trips through the years. Posted by Alex Chan on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
22 July 2016
My last stop in Kalimantan
Above: Today, I fly from Berau to my last stop in Kalimantan, the island and town of Tarakan. The 25 minute flight replaces 2h30 by bus to Tanjung Selor followed by 1h30 by speed boat to Tarakan. I woke relatively late today at 0600 and had breakfast at 0630. It was a good spread […]
21 July 2016
Derawan advice, and onwards to the coal mine
Derawan advice & summary The diving is awesome but come with a friend to share the cost of the boat to the best dive sites. One friend is adequate ‘cos with more people, you need a bigger boat and the price so it doesn’t really get cheaper. It is more of a local getaway and […]
20 July 2016
Sangalaki
Getting going I arrived at the diveshop before 0830 and Doris was along shortly after. There was a short wait for the catering from next door before we set off on a small boat “Ferari” (sic) captained by a half-Chinese half-Bajau man (who didn’t look Chinese at all). It was very overcast, which is supposedly […]
20 July 2016
Diving with the awesome mantas at Sangalaki
I did two dives with Osland again, this time with a Chinese dive-buddy Doris. We were so lucky and were treated with two mantas on our second dive. You can read about our day here. But here is a video and some photos:
19 July 2016
Relax and admin
After breakfast at 0730, the tide was right for a swim. I quickly changed and went for a cool dip, lingering as much as possible to fill in the free day. I eventually came out of the water for fear of having had too much sun. After a quick shower, I checked the time. It […]
18 July 2016
Kakaban
Making arrangements If you’re wanting to dive in Derawan, it is best to come with friends. Diving around the different islands in the Derawan Archipelago can be expensive and difficult to organise for the solo traveller. It helps to split the cost of long distance boat hire with a friend, unless you’re happy to dive […]
18 July 2016
Jellyfish lake and diving at Kakaban
I did two dives today with Derawan Ocean Dive, whose boss is Osland. Dive mates today were Simon and Karen, both from Netherlands (whom I met earlier in Pontianak). We were headed to dive sites off the island of Kakaban today which is famous for its jelly-fish lake, so it would save us a pricey trip […]
17 July 2016
Planning and organising
I woke around 0400, perhaps? I didn’t check my watch. I dozed till 0630 then got up. Checking my emails, I found that Qantas had a good sale for next year. Even better, they had the sale prices available for my Easter 2017 trip to see crucifixions in the Philippines. I spent an hour on […]
16 July 2016
Flight, ride and boat from Balikpapan to Derawan
Above: Takes 1h20 in a propeller plane but it takes 18 hours on a bus. Leaving the hotel at 0645 and I got to the Balikpapan’s flash airport in about twenty minutes. It helped being Saturday. I found Wings Air’s check-in desk which was closed. There was a note saying that the flight was delayed […]