Author archive
15 July 2016
I woke around 0330 and stayed in bed till 0530. I finally opened the bag of muesli which I had brought along and had it with some milk and a cup of coffee. I had investigated taking a taxi to KWPLH Sun Bear Sanctuary but prices came in consistently at IDR400K (NZD40). They were negotiable […]
14 July 2016
Due to the previous days’ early starts I woke up naturally early as well. I didn’t want to eat too early, so walked down to the waterfront and tried to take a shared boat service across the river. The boatman said there wasn’t any as it was too early. He said he would take me […]
13 July 2016
I had time for breakfast at the hotel before taking a taxi at 0700 to Banjarmasin’s airport 45 minutes away. Checkin for my 0925 departure to Balikpapan on Wings Air was swift. Once airside I noticed that yesterday 1555 flight had been delayed till around 0900. And this morning’s ~0615 flight delayed till around 0920. […]
12 July 2016
I had set the alarm for 0430 (which is 0330 Pontianak time where I had come from). I met the Simon & Karen at reception with their lovely guide Nurul Hidayah. We soon boarded a kelotok (boat) from the hotel’s back gate. In the darkness we navigated upriver and saw the sky turn pink. About […]
11 July 2016
Above: Dayak tail on Kalstar ATR (pronounced Ah Teh Eerrr, here). I woke at 0330 even though my alarm was for 0415. Flight departure to somewhere new and exciting, (Banjarmasin, was 0630 so I left the hotel by taxi booked for 0445. It was five minutes late but I still got to the new airport […]
10 July 2016
My full day in Pontianak was allocated to a visit to Mandor, Borneo’s Killing Fields. I had been over three years ago but due to weather, I made it only to the memorial. I didn’t make it to the actual mass graves behind. I woke early and was at breakfast at 0630. The one hour […]
9 July 2016
I had an ordered a taxi for 0600 as it seemed like the time in consideration of the travel time to, and check-in Kuching Sentral station at the far end of town. I remember from last time that the taxi rate drops from night to day at 0600. The driver didn’t use the meter but […]
30 June 2016
We landed in Kuala Lumpur 30 minutes earlier around 0400. I attempted to put the three hours into good use by going landside to try replace my SIM card which was stolen in Buenos Aires a few weeks back. Unfortunately, the Celcom store couldn’t assist as their systems only come alive at 0800. Heading through […]
29 June 2016
With a 1930 departure to Kuala Lumpur, I headed to the airport before 1600 expecting to be in the midst of the rush hour. Fortunately it didn’t take too long. At the airport, I walked straight to the Premium queue for check-in. There was one person already at the desk who was having problems. He […]
5 June 2016
I arrived home after a good flight in Business Class, with a paid upgrade. It had been an awesome adventure through South America, a continent I’ve had little experience with. I now have less than a month till my next adventure to Europe (including Iceland) via Borneo!