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Up • Kal. East • Ka. South • Kal. Central • Kal. West • Tribes • Old Dynasties • Traditional Villages • Historical Buildings • Arts and Crafts |
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Kalimantan |
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Car license numbers: |
KB: Kalimantan Barat ( West).
DA: Kalimantan Selatan ( South ) |
KH: Kalimantan Tengah ( Central ).
KT: Kalimantan Timur ( East ). |
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Introduction to Kalimantan |
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http://indahnesia.com/indonesia/KALINT/introduction.php |
Borneo has always been very interesting to the West. Humid and exotic, densely
forested and inscrutable, it used to be a traditional oposite to the rational
and orderly Europe. Old travel reports tell about almost naked 'wild humans',
which decorated their bodies with feathers and tatoos and whom high graded
warriors kept themselves busy with creating heads from a log, which were used
as sacrifice to the gods. The message, that the mysterious Dayaks sometimes
lived in big groups of over one hundred people in houses on pawls, was
received with disbelieve and dismay in the Victorian Western Europe.
About other island people, the forest nomads of the hinterlands, where were
even more fantastic stories if possible. They should have lived in trees and
should have been able so smell people upto a kilometer away. Above all people
in Europe were convinced that these Punan people had some tailish like thing
into the late 19th century.
However these stories were overdone and are dated at this moment, the island
keeps on stirring our imaginations. Especially the Dayak population still has
a firm impression on the West. Travellers do best not to blind themselves on
the small aspects of their culture. Most Dayak nowadays wear regular clothing
and headhunters only exsist in rytes and stories. Not only the softening
influence of Christianity didn't touch the rich culture of the Dayak. However,
it is possible to bring a visit to a traditional longhouse. These often richly
decorated houses on pawls with a length of several hundred meters, had to
protect them from enemy headhunters. With a little luck the tourists can see
the traditional agricultural ritual, or a traditional reburial, where they
used to sacrifice slaves earlier. Of maybe you can see a belian (sjaman) at
work, which sings or makes animal sacrifices while healing an illnes or sacres
a new house.
Most tourists will hurry temselves to the hinterlands of the Dayaks and
totally forget about the islamic coastal areas, which are inhabited by Malay,
Chinese and some Jawanese, Madurese and Buginese. The nice, old mosques are
worth a visit and this is also the fact with the old mosque in Banjarmasin.
People who are interested in history can enjoy bringing a visit to palaces and
gravetombs of sultans, and of source, a number of museums. You can try to see
a circumstantion or marriage, events which are regularly decorated with
beautifull costumes, original dances and gamelan-music.
Land of sago
The local population used to name Borneo Kalimantan. The name is probably
defused from lamantaKalamantan is the area of the lamanta). Another possible
explaination is in the Jawanese Kalimanten ('River of the jewels'), which
points at the wealth of gold and gemstones on the island.
In the West, Kalimantan is only the Indonesian part of Kalimantan, which
consists 2/3 of the island, which is the third biggest - after Greenland and
New Guinee - in the world. With a total surface of 746.309 sq.km Borneo is 20
times the size of the Netherlands. The northern part of the island concludes
Sarawak (the former empire of the 'White Raja' James Brooke) en Sabah, both
belonging to Malaysia, and the minute oil state Brunei (this name was the
initial name for Borneo when the first people from the West entered named the
big island.
Borneo is simply split in two parts by the equator. The coastal planes are
very humid and hot, upto 37°C. Inland the temperatures are around 25°C. In the
mountainous inlands it can even be colder above 700 meters. The overdone
rainfall -on average 2500 mm every year along the coast and 4500 mm in the
inlands - makes Borneo into one of the most wet places on the planet. The wet
season lasts for a long eight months, from October until June, and there is no
real dry season.
The threathened rainforest
The high humidity causes the tropical rainforest to grow, which covers most
parts of the island. It's this location where the most popular
forest-inhabitant of the world lives, the orang-hutan, which can only be seen
in the wild when you are lucky, because the huge but shy primate lives in an
healthy distance of humans. The area still houses much more strange creatures.
Feared is the king-cobra, a five-meter-long monster, which is not scared to
attack humans. A natural miracle is the Agrus feasant, related to the peacock
and just as beautifull. It's only one of the over 600 kinds of birds which
live in between the more than 2000 kinds of trees on the island. The most
interesting is the rhinoceros-bird, which plays an important role in local
myths. It has an very peculiar sound, scratching, followed by a horn, getting
louder and lower, which ends in laughter.
Remarkable is the (male) nosemonkey, blessed with an overdone nose. Not to
tell anything about the shooting fish, which can take out insects from the air
on two meters above the water with it's perfect beam of water. Some animals
have developed flying or floating powers to escape from preditors: there are
flying lizards, frogs, squirrels and even three kinds of flying snakes. Very
good camouflaged insects, which are sometimes poisonous as well, are giving
birds a hard time.
Seventy-meter-high trees, flesheating flowers, glowing mushrooms and many
refined colored orchids - it's just a small gift about the many unique kinds
which live in this rainforest. Or better, still has, because the rainforest
has been chopped down in a rapid speed over the last 30 years. The hunt for
the 'green gold' means an ecological disaster of the first order. When
chopping continues in this pace for another few years, there is no rainforest
left in about a decade. The huge problems which that causes for the climate is
getting to be a bigger problem for the world only now. The deforestation also
causes big problems for the people who live in those rainforests are also
comming out, but they are not seen as a big problem at all, unfortunately.
Visit Kalimantan
Kalimantan is split in four provinces: Kalimantan Timur (the eastern part),
Kalimantan Tengah (the central part), Kalimantan Selatan (the southern part)
and Kalimantan Barat (the western part). The names are abbreviated most of the
times, so you will get to see Kaltim, Kalsel, Talteng en Kalbar. In total,
they consist of 549.032 sq.km., or 28 per cent of the entire land mass of
Indonesia. Though, only five per cent of the total Indonesian population lives
on this island.
Kaltim is the best province to visit. This is well-known because sometimes
tourists are queueing to see the traditional welcome-dance in Tanjung Isuy.
The airport of Balikpapan is one of the busiest of entire Indonesia. The city
houses one of the handfull international class hotels in Kalimantan. The
Mahakam and the side-rivers are important traffic routes, which connect the
inland Dayak villages with the coastal areas. Travelling to Apokayan and to
Long Segar and the environment of Kedang Kepala, give a clear impression of
the live of the Dayak population. The Kutai Besar reserve provides a chance to
see orang-hutans, but the fascilities are not too good.
Kalsel also offers place for visitors. Banjarmasin, the only city on
Kalimantan which is worthwhile bringing a visit, has an interesting floating
market, and is the starting point for excursions to Loksado Dayak.
Kalteng is least visited by tourists. Palangkaraya, the caital, has decent
accomodation; furthermore there are not too much fascilities. One thing you
can do in this area is making wonderfull tours upstream. Many Dayak, somewhere
else converted to Chrisitanity or Islam, here still practice traditional
kaharingan religion. The spectacular burial rytes, which can last several
weeks, can be seen, but visit is only allowed for visitors whith a big
interest in their culture, and who are willing to adapt to local habits and
circumstances. The fairly good reachable Tanjung Puting reserve can be visited
to see orang-hutans.
Kalbar and the capital Pontianak are not popular among travellers, partially
because the lack of information about this area. Organised tours mainly
visited the coastal areas, but slowly they are starting to visit the inlands
as well. You can take a plane from Pontianak if you chooce a good seat, but
you can also go by boat over the Kapuas river.
Wealth of unique spiecies
The nature on Kalimantan knows an exotic beauty, but unfortunately the special
environment hides most of the rare animals and plants. The nature reserves do
hardly have any facilities, and an expedition to the hinterlands demands a
good organisation and the intent to spend a number of days in the jungle. Over
there is seems that the leech (Haemadipsa zeylanica) is the only animal
available. At that's a pretty tough one as well.
Many animals live high above the ground, almost invisible in between the dense
canape. Brightly colored birds fly along and over the rivers. The rivers hold
many spiecies of fish. In the downstream of the Mahakam, near the lake
district, there are some groups of freshwater dolphins.
Rare nose apes
A strange animal, which can only be found on Borneo, lives in the
mangrove-flood forests. The nose of the male nose-ape (Nasalis larvatus) can
be as long as 15 cm. This extra-large nose serves as attractiveness to get a
female (with a small nose). The nose ape likes to swim, this in contrary with
othre primates. When in danger, but sometimes also just for fun, the apes jump
in the fresh water from a reasonable height.
Nose apes have a red back and almost white belly; their face and butt are
light brown. Nose apes are herbivores, they can be watched best at dawn and
dusk, when they are looking for water between the mangrove trees. Tanjung
Puting and the river islands near Banjarmasin are the most favorable places.
Threathened forest people
The orang-hutan, Indonesian for 'forest person'still exsists on Sumatera and
Borneo, but they are very rare. 1000 years ago there were more orang-hutans
than people on Borneo; about 500,000. Around the 1960's where were no more
than a few thousand left on the entire world. Now deforestation destroys the
natural habitat of the orang-hutan, the existance of the animal is very
precarious.
Besides that - against all laws - mother apes are still killed to sell the
youngsters. The Indonesian government has a special emergency shelter in
Kalteng where the young animals learn to adapt themselves to the jungle again.
For a orang-hutan, environment is very important. As the biggest fruit-eater
on the planet, an adult needs about 500 hectares to fullfill it's needs. The
fruit trees in the rainforest are scattered over great distances, reason why
the animals do not live in groups: this would exhaust the trees at once. The
animals add bark, flowers, some insects and honey to their daily meal. Becauce
of their enormous weight - males can weigh upto 80 kg - orang-hutans usually
don't walk more than 400 meters a day.
Other inhabitants
However nose apes and orang-hutans are usually invisible, other apes are good
to look at, or in any case to hear. Male and female gibbons make duets and
normal makakes search the river banks for a nice lobster. The slow lori lives
in the trees and is a night animal. Their eyes are huge in comparison to their
body. Another small ape can turn it's head 180°, which is usefull during
hunting.
The armadillo (Manis javanica) is
describes as a 'small armed dinosaur'. This anteater breaks open
ant-structures with his paws and licks around for his meal. To store some
lunch, the animal puts some ants between his scales, which he can eat when
it's bathing. The ants will float around him, so they can be sucked up easily.
Birding in Kalimantan
Armed with binoculairs and the classical Birds of Borneo of Bertram E.
Smythies, a bird-watcher can identify about 600 different birds in Kalimantan.
Birds are important in the faith of sings of the Dayak. Even now the hunting
can be postponed, because a bird flew in the 'wrong' direction.
The rhinoceros-bird has a prominent role in
the mythology of the Dayak. It's heavy wings create a noise which most looks
like that of a steam engine of a train.
Nine spiecies can be recognised instantly because of the nice horn which is on
top of the beak. The horn of the Rhinoplax vigil, the horn is solid and
extraordinary fancy. The ivory of the birds was worth trice as much as that of
the elephant, and even now it;s used among the Dayak to create nice earrings.
The female rhinoceros-bird breeds her eggs in a nest in a hollow tree. The
entrance is closed with a gum-like substance up by the male partner, only a
small hole is left for the beaks. They are fed this way until the chicks can
fly. When her partner died, his tasks are taken by another male; an
extraordinary thing in the animal world.
The most bird of the island is undoubtly the Argus feasant ( Argusianus grayi).
This bird is very shy and that's why there is not much know about it's habits.
The rear feathers are decorated with hundreds of shining 'eyes' and are used
for traditional Dayak costumes.
The salangan Collocalia sp.) is very important from economical point of view.
The sticky saliva which they use to build their nests, is also the base for
Chinese soup. This gelatin does not have much taste, but is said to have a
good influence on your potency. To get a nest like this, high against the
walls of deep limestone caves, is kind of dangerous.
Wealthy green carpet
Borneo has a wealthy green flora. Inside an area of 10 hectares, 780 different
spiecies of trees were counted. For a comparison, England only has 35
different trees.
Characteristics for the coastal areas are mangrove forests, palms and
inferious deciduous forest. Futher inland, especially in Kalsel and Kalbar,
are the lower hills and alluvial plains. Deeper in the inlands the tropical
rainforest starts, which gets more dense when you get on higher altitudes.
Here the Dipterocarpacea rules, which formes a dense canape on twenty to fifty
meters above the ground. Occasionally you will find an ironwood or ebony tree.
The upah produces a deathly poison. Gigantic tapang-trees, with bright white,
bald stems, rise high above the average canape with their 70 meters.
Epiphytes, among them a large number of orchids, decorate many trees.
There are over 11.000 kinds of flowering plants on Borneo, among them the
rafflesia ( Rafflesia arnoldii), which has the biggest flower in the world.
The fleshy flower can be as wide as one meter and weigh upto eight kilograms.
The rafflesia spreads an odour of rotting mead, meant to attract meat-eating
flies.
The flora in Borneo's large rainforest, the biggest after the Amazone,
produces many expensife products: damar-raisin, rubber, ratten and palm sugar.
Borneo also produces a good quality kampher, discovered as raisin inside the
rotten heart of the kampher-laurel, Drylobalanops aromatica). Another
remarkable odourous product is gaharu or aloe-wood. This originates from the
damages Aquilaria malaccensis). A kilogram of gaharu can bring up as much as a
couple of hundred dollars.
Mighty rivers and resources
Kalimantan is bordered by the Sulawesi Sea in the northeast, due south this is
Selat Makassar (Makassar Strait). South of the island is the Jawa Sea. The
South China Sea separated Kalimantan from mainland Southeastern Asia.
Kalimantan doesn't have any good harbours; big parts of the island are barely
above sealevel, and the tides influences the hight of the rivers far inland.
Borneo came above the sealevel a few milion yeras ago. By the sometimes high
and low water levels during and between the Ice Ages, the island was regularly
flooded or dry, and then it was one big island with Jawa and Sumatera and the
peninsula Malaysia. Still there are remains of big rivers on the ocean floor
which flowed from the mountains in Sumatera and Malaysia to Borneo, the lowest
point. On the climax of the last Ice Age, the waterlevel dropped about 150
meters. Borneo and Sulawesi were no more than 40 km from eachother. When the
climate warmed up again the ice melted and the sealevel rose; all life moved
to the inlands. Now there are identical freshwater fish on Sumatera and
Borneo, but they can't be found on Sulawesi.
Mountains and rivers
Because of movements in sedimentary rocklayers during the Ice Ages the highest
mountain ranges were formed in the inlands. The highest is roughly located in
a north-south line from Sabah to the heart of Borneo, where it splits. Most
peaks are lower than 1500 meters, but the black-granite Kinabalu in Sabah with
it's 4100 meters is the highest point in Southeastern Asia. In West-Kalimantan
are the remarkable, almost vertical, limestone formations. Because of the
rough and spooky look, the population thinks that spirits house here. The Mulu
is the highest point in Sarawak with 2377 meters.
From the central mountain range, rivers run to the sea into every direction.
Along the shores of these rivers with heavy traffic, trade is concentrated.
The biggest part of the population lives here. Most rivers can be entered from
the sea until the rapids which are the border with the highlands. These rapids
often have to be passed over land. Beyond that, the rivers are usually
accessible again for transport. The rapids used to offer protection against
the headhunters from the coastal areas; now they raise the price of petrol and
trade goods in the hinterlands drastically.
In the north, the rivers are only slowed down by the very small coastal area.
The most wide part is place for the biggest rivers: de Mahakam which runs
towards the east, and the Kapuas - the longest river of Indonesia - which
streams towards the west. In the south there are dozens of rivers which linger
through the endless lowlands.
Rich natural resources
Borneo has a rich environment with natural resources, of which many are
untouched as yet. In the neighborhood of Banjarmasin, diamont is mined in
primitive mining shafts. The diamonts are also split, cut and polished in the
same old-fashioned way. The diamont harvest, which made Borneo known in the
West, was followed by the Chinese gold rush on the alluvial siltlayers of
Kaltim. The most important gold deposits are in the earliest deposits in the
mountains. Due to erosion, the rock was formed into gold clay, which is taken
downstream by rain. Locals sift the silt for the smallest grind of gold. Hard
labour pays, because the gold is almost as pure as you can get, 23 or 24
carat. Nowadays gold mining is an international business.
At the end of the 19th century, coal was mined on a large scale, followed by
the raise of the oil-industry; Eastern Kalimantan has been an oil-producer
ever since the beginning of the 20th century and the small oil-state of Brunei
along the northern coast has the highest income per head of the population in
the world.
Recently, uranium was discovered in Kalimantan. The indonesian treasury was
funded by the export of LNG (liquid natural gas) to Japanese power producers.
Communal houses
Besides the headhunting, there was nothing as shocking for the Europeans as
the communal living habits of the Dayak: the remarkable long houses on
pillars, which house entire villages of bees, were seen as obscure places of
promiscuous and loose sexual behaviour.
Nothing was less true. However the rules for what sex concerned were more
strict in the Victorian world than among the Dayak, all communities knew rules
for the intercourse between men and women, and there was nothing live
promiscuity. And some houses huaranteed a maximum of descrecy during nightly
visits becayse of the thin wooden walls and creaking floors.
Almost all Dayak lived in longhouses (from the English literature). The houses
on pillars, sometimes called betanglamin, offered shelter to a village of a
couple of hundred people, but sometimes also to a few families. The Ngaju and
related populations for example, lived in big houses (umah hai) in which the
family only lived with relatives.
The houses, sometimes over one kilometer long, offered maximal protection
against attacks. Besides that they guaranteed a big social intimacy, however
all families had their own room. The daily life mainly took place on the
communal veranda, a wide, covered space which stretched over the entire length
of the house. This 'village street' was home to playing children, baskets were
made, chains made and meetings were held. These things from the daily life
often took place at the same time.
Social organisation
Architecture and construction of a longhouse mirrored the social structure of
the community. So it was that the longhouses of the Iban didn't look very
stable. The Iban were more like nomads. Every once in a while they left their
house in the search for new fields and hunting grounds. The yield of new
fields justified all the work what had to be done because of this.
The Iban-longhouse was 'communal possession'. Every family built it's own room
frome very material which they thought was enough. The Iban-houses usually
were not too far above the ground, and rested on thin pillars. Light wopod,
bamboo, bark and leaves were commonly used construction materials.
No Kenyah or Kayan with just a little self-respect would ever enter such a
longhouse. Their longhouses were built with an eye on durability. They were
high above the soil, on massive ironwood pillars. Ironwood is very labour-intensive,
but it doesn't decay and is very resistant against bugs. Walls and floors were
at least as good. The craftmanship of the Kayan and Kenyah is very clear:
cracks between the sometimes 60 meter long ang 90 centimeter wide floor boards
are very hard to see. The wood of the floor has been polished by several
generations of bare feet.
The roofs of these longhouses were covered with ironwood carrier-beams, strong
enough to withstand a heavy monsoon storm. Long ironwood stms with chopped
steps served as a stairs. Usually there was a woodcarved dragon-head, meant to
scare the bad spirits.
The massive houses of the Kayan show the low mobility of these people. The
division of the houses furthermore show that the population was layered. The
long veranda was a communal area, but in the division of the rooms show big
differences between noble people and the normal people and slaves. The central
room was the place for the leader. It was bigger and often higher than the
neighboring rooms of other noble families. The village leader and the noblemen
had the right to decorate their rooms with special motives. Along both sides
of the rooms were the rooms for the normal people. The rooms of slaves were on
the outskirts of the longhouses, the most vulnerable spots in case of an
attack.
Movements
After the independence of Indonesia, the government had the heavy task to
create unity in the country, with a communal, Indonesian way. Soon, the
Jawanese way was almost forced all over Indonesia. The longhouses didn't match
the Jawanese moral and were concidderred unhygenic.
However there was no formal policy from the Jawanese rulers of Kalimantan that
said the Dayak had to leave their longhouses, living in 'normal' houses was
encouraged in several ways. Which ways depended on local circumstances and the
tolerance of the rulers.
This development was part of the 'civilization offensife', aimed at the
'isolated populations', or the Dayak and Punan. It was meant to be the
connection between the 'retarded bush people' with the modern life (schools,
hospitals) and a civilized behaviour (fixed housing, permanent agriculture,
religion, more clothing). By the so-called 'resettlement projects', families
and sometimes entire villages were forced to move. The bush people were
well-known with their civilization-lag, and thousands decided to live
somewhere else. This cleared the road for the forestry companies which chopped
down big parts of the tropical rainforest, which also paid for these
movements.
Over the last 30 years, the government has become increasingly sensitive for
the cultural diversity of the country and it's population. They know the
political and economical favours of a more loose pose (tourists are interested
in the traditional cultures). The pressure on the Dayak has gone, and is
replaced by the maintainance of the longhouses. With a view on tourism, the
government of kaltim has used development money (and Dutch support) to rebuilt
a longhouse in Mancong.
The big numbers of Kenyah which left Apokayan over the last 40 years, have -
partially because of the government policy - not rebuilt their longhouses in
their new villages. Instead richly decorated communal houses were built, but
they are not used for living and that was a demand of the government.
In Apokayan, the private house is liked, but still many people live in
longhouses. The design of the longhouses is changing as well: they have less
rooms and are just above the soil. They still have a veranda, decorated with
hallucinating paintings and woodcarvings. This also shows that times are
changing: the images wear short pants and watches.
Tattoos, earrings and penispins
However dozens of western visitors were impressed by the natural beauty of the
Dayak, they didn't stop there, but they reached a hand to nature. Men and
women decorated their bodies extensively with tatoos, pierces their ears and
stretched their earlobes to wear as much earrings as possible. Men used the
famous penis pin or palang for enlarging the possibilities of the penis.
The stretching of earlobes with the used of heavy metal rings is no longer
seen as beautification. In the past the earlobes of women were pierced and
loaded when they were very young. During growth, more rings were added and
adult women sometimes wore over a hundred earrings. The discomfort - half a
kilogram per ear - was of no importance against the impression it made on men.
An ethnograph which visited Borneo in the early 20th century, reported that
the rupture of an earlobe was seen as a big disgrace. A damaged ear was hidden
under the hair of a fabric sheet.
Men also wore a diversity of eardecorations, as well as in stretched earlobes
as in holes tghat were made in the upper part of the earshell. A big diversity
of objects was put in their ears: from decorated products from rhinocerosbird-ivory
and - only for the successfull headhunters - nails and teeth of leopards and
bears. Facial hair was seen as improper, even unmale. Dayak men still have the
habit to depilate their facial hair.
Tattooing of the body was especially popular among aristocratic men and women.
Some tattoes were meant to protect the person from illness, others were signs
of proven courage. Among some populations, men who headhunted successfilly,
were allowed to wear a tattoo on their throat. The tattoo was painfull, but is
raised their status more than the pain could do bad. The motives were printed
with a needle on a wooden handle; the most difficult prints needed about 600
hours of work. As color, damar and soot.
The chains and beads raised the status as well. Especially old beads were seen
as very precious. A report written around 1930 reports a chain of Venetian
beads, property of the Suldan of Kutai, which is said to be worth 'an entire
Dayak-principalty'. The most precious beads, called lukit segala by some Dayak,
were round and black, with a white and orange painting.
Penispins Raises Pleasure
The male decoration number one was - and still is in a certain way - the
palang. The most simple description of the phenomenon makes clear what it is
all about: 'The Kenyah, a number of Kayan and the Katingan mutilate the male
organ by piercing the entire organ and put a piece of copper wire in it.
In the lively 'Into the Heart of Borneo', informs Redmond O'Hanlon in his
guide about the how and why of the penis pin: 'When you are twentyfive, too
old and not good enough anymore, and your wife has had enough of you, you go
to the river early in the morning, and you stay in the water your javelin is
really small. Then, the tatto-guy comes and puts a nail in your javelin. Then
he puts a pin into it. Sometimes you get big spots, very painfull, an
inflammation. Then you will die.'
Already around 1830, John Dalton, tradetraveller in Kaltim, reported the penis
pin. Depending on your wealth, a golden, silver, copper or bamboo pin was
used. The object was especially popular among the Kenyah in Dutch Borneo, but
also got fashionable elsewhere on the island. In Sarawak, the penispin was a
fairly modern appearance in 1944, Tom Harrisson reported.
Harrisson was the first palang-expert. He managed to get an uncensored
manucript from Pigafetta, the writer from Magellan, from 1521. He expresses
his disbelief and contempt of it: 'I have asked many, young and old, if I
could see their penis, because I could not believe it... They say their wifes
want it this way and if, they didn't do it, they didn't want to have
intercourse. When men have intercourse with their wife, they never do it the
normal way, but very slowly... When it is inside, they take their normal
position and it stays inside until it's soft again, otherwhise they can't get
it out. The people use this because they have a wear character.'
Harrisson, which slowly admitted he had done the operation himself, continued:
'The operation on it's own is nothing more than making a hole in the end of
the penis. The hole is filled with bone, bamboo oe other material, so it won't
close again. When the aparatus is taken into use, the owner places the pin. To
do that, there is a wide range of objects, pig hair, pieces is metal, seads,
beads or broken glass. The purpose is to enlagde the size of the penis in the
vagina.'
However these words, the whole palang operation is dangerous, which is done
volunteerly with the meaning to raise the sexual pleasure of the woman. This
is in sharp contrast with the forces clitorectomy and the closing-up of the
vagina, operations which are somewhere else practiced on women. |
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Kalimantan 8 Musea |
West Kalimantan
* Pontianak Museum Negeri
* Pontianak Sintang Dara Juanti Museum
* Kadriyah Palace Museum
Central Kalimantan
* Central Kalimantan Balangga Provincial Museum
South Kalimantan
* South Kalimantan Lambung mangkurat Provincial Museum
* South Kalimantan Waja Sampai Kaputing Museum
East Kalimantan
* East Kalimantan Mulawarman Provincial Museum
* East Kalimantan Gunung Tabur Museum |
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West Kalimantan |
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Pontianak Museum
Negeri |
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A comprehensive collection of Dayak tribal
masks, weapons and musical instruments. The museum lies 1.5km south of the
town centre on Jalan Jend A Yani.and tempayan : ceramics (mostly water
jugs) from Thailand, China and Borneo dating from the 16th century.
Just round the corner from the museum, on
Jalan Sutoyo, is an impressive replica of a Dayak longhouse ,
over 50m long and 15m high, where you’re free to wander around. |
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Pontianak
Sintang Museum |
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Dara Juanti Sintang Museum which is the former palace of Sintang kingdom,
built in 1937 by Panembahan Raden Abdul Bahri Danu Perdana. The kingdom's
symbol, in the shape of an eagle, is preserved in the museum today together
with seven cannons.
Besides the museum, there is also Batu Kundur or Lingga, a monument from
Hindu period. Also of interest is a bronze statue or Putung Kempat (Gusar)
which is to be found in Pari Empahan, 64 kilometers from Nanga Sepuak. The
Dara Juanti Museum lies at the north side of the town. Dara Juanti or Dewi
Juanti is the name of a woman descendant of the Raja Sintang Dayak tribe who
founded the kingdom and moved the capital from Sepuak to Sintang. She took
control of the kingdom after her elder brother, Demang Nutup, titled Sultan
Jubair II, was captured and imprisoned on a trip to Majapahit, named Patih
Logender. The remainders of the kingdom, including a kris from Majapahit, a
sheet of cindai cloth called Gerising Wayang, and the statue of an eagle, are
preserved in this museum. |
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Pontianak Kadriyah
Palace Museum |
Kadriyah Palace and Sultan Abdurrahman Jami Mosque
The city of Pontianak was founded on 23rd October 1771 by Sultan Syarif
Abdurrahman Alkadrie. Some historical inheritances of Pontianak Sultanate are
Kadriyah Palace and Sultan Abdurrahman Jami Mosque. Both are located in Dalam
Bugis Subdistrict, East Pontianak. It is about 1 km from downtown, and it can
be reached overland or through waterways of Kapuas River. |
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Central Kalimantan |
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Balangga Provincial Museum |
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The Palangka Raya Museum Balanga is laid out in such a way that the visitor
moves one by one from the artifacts and customs of birth, childhood, and
marriage to death. There are carved birthing stools and inclined benches,
slings and hammocks for babies and the delicatedly sequined backdrops and
clothing for weddings. An intriguing miniature collection of sandung or
bonehouses flanked by their attendant carved guardians is next to the rows of
gongs and musical instruments that always accompany traditional rituals. A
stunning series of tall, weathered carvings stand together in a group around a
Kaharingan altar, an integral part of the faith of the indigenous Dayaks.
Collections of masks, mandau or swords and highly prized traded procelain pots
and vessels make this small collection a fascinating insight to the unique
local culture. |
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Lambung mangkurat
Provincial Museum |
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Located In Kotip Banjarbaru, 36 km from Banjarmasin. This Museum is the one
museum, which stay in South Kalimantan Province. In this museum we can see the
historical objects of the empire omissions of Banjar like traditional custom
and decorative wedding-bed of Banjar couple, jars, antique saucers and the
other objects history, and it also on file Al Qur'an that written by a famous
scholar Moslem hand, late Sheikh Muhammad Arsyad Al Bajari (1710 - 1812 M). |
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South Kalimantan |
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Waja Sampai Kaputing Museum |
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The museum is located at the edge of the river, side by side with kokohnya a
bridge that long again large, called the Bridge on May 17, or in more familiar
with the bridge Banua Anyar.
In the museum, inaugurated on 10 November 1991, there are more than 400
historical objects in the War of Independence |
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Mulawarman Provincial Museum |
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East Kalimantan |
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The collection of the Mulawarman Museum is not what it used to be. A big
number of nice objects has been replaced to the Museum Nasional in Jakarta.
Another part has been given to high political leaders. Still, the museum has
several things to offer. An example is the high, nicely decorated Dayak totem
(belawang) near the entrance, with on top a rhinoceros-bird. The museum
contains regalia from the former sultan, among that gamelan-instruments,
sacred kris (knives) and nice pieces of clothing. The objects with beads in
the royal sleeping room is very special, as well as the chairs made from
deer-horn, with images of mythological animals. Furthermore interesting things
are the oldest known writings in Indonesia. The texts were written in Pallawan.
They tell good about king Mulawarmans generosity during a ritual sacrifice.
You should know that the tablets on display are made from paper-mache. The
stone originals from the 4th century are in the basement.
The museum contains several examples of Dayak handworks, but best Dayak art is
located in a hard-to-find location along the outskirts of the city. There you
can also see nice woodcarvings, especially related with the burial-culture of
the Benuaq and Tunjung. Behind the garden of the museum is the royal funeral
site of the sultans of Kutai. Because islam forbids display of humans and
animals, the scene is decorated with flower patterns as well as geometrical
patterns and calligraphed quran-texts.
The Mulawarman Museum is opened daily from 10 to 14, but closed on Mondays
(as is common in Indonesia). If it is closed during normal times, you can ask
for information at the tourist office (office hours) along Jl. Diponegoro 2. A
fee will open up the museum for you, also on Mondays.
The beautifull collection porcelain from the former sultan - estimated at
US$450,000 in 1910 and inhertited by the museum - can only be seen on Sundays.
On other days, the guard can open up for you as long as you pay him to do so.
In the main room of the museum, dances can be performed on Sundays. A show can
be arranged when paid for, and arranged a few days in advance.
Passenger boats which stop in Tenggarong, will not stop long enough to bring a
visit to the museum. Who wants to have a decent look will have to break the
trip. With complete packages, a visit is included. |
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Gunung Tabur Museum |
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Gunung Tabur Palace now functioning as museum, which is containing of various
monarchic relics like chair an empire, bed, ceramic that is including a cannon
being found in forest by the first king of Gunung Tabur Palace. |
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Apokayan Trekking |
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APOKAYAN TREKKING ADVENTURE I
Duration 14 Days / 13 Nights
Starting every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Day 01: BALIKPAPAN , SAMARINDA (D)
Upon arrival at Sepinggan airport in Balikpapan meeting service then transfer
by Bus / minibus to Samarinda, check in at Mesra International hotel.
Day 02: SAMARINDA, LONG AMPUNG, LONG URO, LIDUNG
PAYAU (BLD)
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flight to Long Ampung. On arrival
at Long Ampung cruise Kayan River by motor canoe to Lidung Payau. On the way
stop at Long Uro to observe Dayak longhouse. Meals and overnight at local
house.
Day 03: LIDUNG PAYAU, SUNGAI BARANG (BLD)
After breakfast, start between 5 - 7 hours trekking to Sungai Barang to
observe Dayak Kenyah, with the long ears and traditional way of life. All
meals provided at long house.
Day 04 to 06: SUNGAI BARANG, SUNGAI PAYANG (BLD)
After simple breakfast early in the morning, by motor canoe up river sungai
Barang afterwards trekking through the rainforest of the Apokayan to the Boh
River . All meals provided, overnight at base camp in the forest.
Day 09: LONG LEBUSAN, MAHAKAM RIVER (BLD)
After breakfast, downstream Boh River to Mahakam River passing rapids, meals
on the way, overnight at local house.
Day 10: MAHAKAM RIVER , LONG BAGUN (BLD)
After simple breakfast by Longboat downstream Mahakam River passing rapids. On
the way you will see fascinating rocks, mountain and prime forest along of the
river. Meals provided enroute and overnight at Local house.
Day 11: LONG BAGUN, TERING, BARONG TONGKOK (BLD)
In the morning by boat downstream Mahakam River to Tering, Arrival at Tering
direct transfer by car to Barong Tongkok. Overnight at Losmen.
Day 12: BARONG TONGKOK, EHENG LONG HOUSE, MELAK,
DOWNSTREAM (BLD)
Early in the morning drive and visit Eheng Long house, afternoon proceed to
Melak and take Long Boat downstream to Kota Bangun. Overnight at Losmen.
Day 13: KOTA BANGUN, TENGGARONG, SAMARINDA (BLD)
In the morning drive to Tenggarong to visit the former palace of Sultan Kutai
Kertanegara. Where you will see the Sultan's impressive collection of
heirlooms, ceramics, Dayak's art and culture items. Afterwards continue drive
to Balikpapan . Overnight at Mutiara Hotel.
Day 14: SAMARINDA, BALIKPAPAN , DEPARTURE (B)
Breakfast, free at leisure until departure time then transfer to Sepinggan
airport for your flight next destination. |
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APOKAYAN TREKKING ADVENTURE
II |
Duration 18 Days / 17 Nights
Day 01: BALIKPAPAN , SAMARINDA (D)
Upon arrival at Sepinggan airport in Balikpapan meeting service then transfer
by Bus / minibus to Samarinda, check in at Mesra International hotel.
Day 02: SAMARINDA, LONG AMPUNG, LONG URO, LIDUNG
PAYAU (BLD)
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flight to Long Ampung. On arrival
at Long Ampung cruise Kayan River by motor canoe to Lidung Payau. On the way
stop at Long Uro to observe Dayak longhouse. Meals and overnight at local
house.
Day 03: LIDUNG PAYAU, SUNGAI BARANG (BLD)
After breakfast, start between 5 - 7 hours trekking to Sungai Barang to
observe Dayak Kenyah, with the long ears and traditional way of life. All
meals provided at long house.
Day 04 to 08: SUNGAI BARANG, TREKKING to LONG LEBUSAN
(BLD)
After simple breakfast early in the morning, start trekking through the
rainforest of the Apokayan to the Boh River . All meals provided, overnight at
base camp in the forest.
Day 09: LONG LEBUSAN, MAHAKAM RIVER (BLD)
After breakfast, downstream Boh River to Mahakam River passing rapids, meals
on the way, overnight at local house.
Day 10: MAHAKAM RIVER , TIONG OHANG (BLD)
After simple breakfast full day trip by long boat cruise up Mahakam River
through the rapids. On the way you will see fascinating rocks, mountain and
prime forest along of the river. Meals provided enroute and overnight at Local
house.
Day 11: TIONG OHANG, LONG APARI (BLD)
After breakfast, short sightseeing in Tiong Ohang Village , afterwards cruise
the river proceed to Long Apari. On the way you will see beautiful flora &
fauna at both sides of the river. In this remote area you may see some of the
Dayak people with long ears. Meals provided enroute overnight at local house.
Day 12 & Day 13: LONG APARI, Surrounding, Long
Pahangai (BLD)
Early morning after breakfast, whole day trek to the prime forest & hunting
with the Dayaks, Late afternoon return to the village for overnight. The next
day downstream Mahakam River by motor canoe / long boat to Long Pahangai,
arrive in the afternoon, meals provided, evening free at leisure, overnight at
local house.
Day 14: LONG PAHANGAI, MAHAKAM RIVER , LONG BAGUN (BLD)
After simple breakfast in the morning by Long boat downstream Mahakam River
passing rapids. On the way you will see fascinating rocks, mountain and prime
forest along of the river. Meals provided enroute and overnight at Local
house.
Day 15: LONG BAGUN, TERING, BARONG TONGKOK (BLD)
In the morning by boat downstream Mahakam River to Tering, Arrival at Tering
direct transfer by car to Barong Tongkok. Overnight at Losmen.
Day 16: BARONG TONGKOK, EHENG LONG HOUSE, MELAK,
DOWNSTREAM (BLD)
Early in the morning drive and visit Eheng Long house, afterwards proceed to
Melak for downstream to Kota Bangun. Overnight at Losmen.
Day 17: KOTA BANGUN, TENGGARONG, SAMARINDA (BLD)
In the morning drive to Tenggarong for visit the former palace of Sultan Kutai
Kertanegara . Where you will see the Sultan's impressive collection of
heirlooms, ceramics, Dayak's art and culture items. Afterwards continue drive
to Balikpapan . Overnight at Mutiara Hotel.
Day 18: SAMARINDA, BALIKPAPAN , DEPARTURE (B) |
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Apokayan Hinterland Duration
: 6 Days / 5 Nights |
Day 1: Balikpapan, Samarinda (D)
Upon arrival at Sepinggan airport in Balikpapan meeting service then transfer
by Bus / minibus to Samarinda, check in at Mesra International hotel.
Day 2: Samarinda, Long Ampung, Long Uro, Lidung Payau
(BLD)
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flight to Long Ampung. On arrival
at Long Ampung cruise up Kayan River by motor canoe to Lidung Payau. On the
way stop at Long Uro for sightseeing and observe their traditional activities,
longhouse, etc. Meals and overnight at local house.
Day 3: Lidung Payau, Sungai Barang (BLD)
After breakfast, hiking between 5 to 7 hours to Sungai Barang to see the long
ears Dayak Kenyah, their traditional houses and their way of life. All meals
provided at longhouse.
Day 4: Sungai Barang, Lidung Payau, Long Uro, Long
Ampung (BLD )
Early in the morning, return to Lidung Payau through prime forest, upon
arrival continue by motor canoe cruise Kayan River to Long Ampung. Meals and
overnight at local house.
Day 5: Long Ampung, Samarinda (BLD)
After breakfast, explore the village until departure time to Samarinda, Check
- in at Mesra International Hotel.
Day 6: Samarinda, Balikpapan (B)
Breakfast, free at leisure, until departure transfer to Balikpapan Airport for
your next destination. |
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Tanjung Isuy & Mancong Tour
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Duration : 4 Days / 3 Nights
DAY 1: Balikpapan, Samarinda, Mahakam ( LD)
Upon arrival at Balikpapan airport, meeting service and transfer to Loa Janan,
to board houseboat for exciting adventure on Mahakam river. Meals provided and
overnight on houseboat.
DAY 2: Muara Muntai, Tanjung Isuy, Mancong (BLD)
Jempang Lake to Tanjung Isuy by motor canoe. Arrival at Tanjung Isuy welcomed
with a traditional ceremony by the Dayaq Benuaq. Afterwards by motor canoe to
Mancong. During the cruise you could see wildlife at Ohong creek like monkey's
and birds. Afternoon return to Tanjung Isuy for Overnight at Longhouse.
DAY 3: Tanjung Isuy, Tenggarong, Samarinda (BLD)
Early in the morning downstream by houseboat to Tenggarong. Arrive at
Tenggarong, visiting the former palace of Sultan Kutai Kertanegara. Where you
will see the Sultan's impressive collection of heirlooms, ceramics, Dayak's
art and culture items. Afterwards return to houseboat for downstream to
Samarinda, check in at Mesra International Hotel.
DAY 4: Samarinda, Balikpapan (B)
Breakfast, free at leisure, and enjoy the hotel atmosphere, soaking up the
pool until departure transfer to Balikpapan Airport for your next destination.
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BANJAR MASIN - SOUTH BORNEO
UNIQUE ADVENTURE TRIP |
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Nice villages visit along the way from Loksado to Haratai. Can mingle with
locals who take doggies and piggies as pets. Locals addressed piggies as gunik.
And greenery forests during trekking. Tropical and rainforest vegetations
along the way. Loksado is a small town about 5 hours ride from Banjarmasin,
the capital city of South Kalimantan. Or about 3 hours from Marabahan. From
Loksado, travelers can start trekking to Meratus Mountaineous Range with
itinerary Loksado-Malaris-Haratai. With additional attraction bamboo rafting
in Amandit river. Trekking from Loksado to Haratai is nice, especially if the
time close to sunset and evening. Passes wooden bridge and forests and small
rivers and several villages. And the evening sky showing thousand stars that
feel so close to the earth. And in Haratai, you can stay with locals. If
you're lucky, you can witnessing the locals who are still have Hinduism
beliefs [called Hindu Kaharingan] arrange a ceremony called Jujuran. A
pre-wedding procession where both sides of bride and groom doing Beruji in
Indonesian so called pantun or poem in English] for a dealing about expenses
should be paid for the wedding ceremony. This Jujuran can take all night long!
With intermission traditional music and song using drums in trance conditions.
This event will be held in a communal house, which connected with several
families' houses from the same ancestor.
LOKSADO TREKKING and BAMBOO RAFTING I
4 Days / 3 Nights Day 01 :
ARRIVAL IN BANJARMASIN
Meet at Banjarmasin. Free at own leisure.
Day 02 : FLOATING MARKET - TRADITIONAL DIAMOND MINING
- LOKSADO
Early morning, leave to floating market, then proceed to Cempaka village to
see traditional diamond mining and polishing, next proceed to Loksado to visit
village and longhouse of Meratus Dayak. overnight at lodge. (B, L, D)
Day 03 : BAMBOO RAFTING
Going to forest to cut bamboos and set the bamboo raft with villagers, then do
the bamboo rafting crossing mount Kantawan and tropical forest on riverside.
The bus will wait on the downstream to transfer to Banjarmasin. Overnight at
hotel.(B, L, D)
Day 04 : DEPARTURE
Transfer to airport. Tour end. (B) |
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LOKSADO TREKKING and BAMBOO
RAFTING III |
7 Days / 6 Nights
Day 01 : ARRIVAL IN BANJARMASIN
Meet at airport. Free at own leisure.
Day 02 : FLOATING MARKET - TRADITIONAL DIAMOND MINING
- LOKSADO
Early in the morning leave to floating market to watch people trading boat to
boat, then proceed to Cempaka village to see traditional diamond mining and
polshing. Next, visiting Pandak Daun village to see water buffaloes return to
the stall. Afterwards, leaving to Loksado. Overnight on lodge.(B, L, D)
Day 03 : LODGE - PAMANDIAN ANGGANG WATER FALL
Trekking to Loksado crossing secondary forest, then continue trekking to
Pamandian Anggang waterfall crossing forest, hanging bridges, longhouses and
farms. overnight in bivouac.(B, L, D) Day 04 :
WATERFALL - KADAYANG VIRGIN FOREST
Trekking to Waja village passing waterfall, farms, rivers. Next continue
trekking to Masiban virgin forest crossing rivers, suspended bamboo bridges,
longhouses, forests and hills. Overnight in monitoring tower at the virgin
forest (b,l,d)
Day 05 : VIRGIN FOREST-LOKSADO
Exploring the forest, then proceed to Kadayang village, then return to Loksado
through different trail., Afterwards, proceed to lodge by bamboo rafting for
2,5 hours approximately.(B, L, D)
Day 06 : BAMBOO RAFTING - BANJARMASIN
Get the bamboo rafting crossing Mount Kantawan and tropical forest on
riverside, the bus will wait on the downstream to transfer to Banjarmasin.
Overnight in hotel (B, L, D)
Day 07 : DEPARTURE
Transfer to airport for next destination. (B) |
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7 days Gunung
Palung National Park |
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Day 01 : Pontianak - Arrival (D)
Upon arrival, meeting service and then transfer to your hotel. Dinner at local
restaurant. Accommodation at hotel.
Day 02 : Pontianak - Ketapang - Telok Melane (BLD)
Early in the morning depart to Ketapang by flight , the on to Teluk Melano by
coach. Overnight at a simple accommodation.
Day 03 : Telok Melane - Gunung Palung National Park (BLD)
Depart to Semanjak by motorized boat, then by rowing boat along Meandering
river to Gunung Palung National park. Stay at the base camp depend on river
condition.
Day 04 : Gunung Palung National Park
Jungle trekking, birds watching, seeing different types of ecosystem with
different flora and fauna (see orang utan if we are lucky).
Day 05 : Gunung Palung National Park - Melano (BLD)
Depart early morning same route to Telok Melano (the return journey will be
faster following the stream). Late afternoon, take a long boat to Kampung Baru
to see proboscis monkeys soaring on trees by the river. Stay overnight at
Telok Melano.
Day 06 : Telok Melano - Pontianak (BLD)
Take an express boat to return to Pontianak. Transfer to hotel.
Day 07 : Pontianak - Departure (B)
After breakfast transfer to the airport for your next destination flight. |
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MAHAKAM RIVER ADVENTURE II |
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DAY 01 : AIRPORT - LOAJANAN - MAHAKAM RIVER.
Depart from Balikpapan 09.,00 leaving for Loajanan for boarding the house boat
for exciting Mahakam river. Lunch, dinner and overnight on boat.
dayak longhouse, mahakam river, borneo
DAY 02 : MUARA MUNTAI - TANJUNG ISUY -MANCONG - MELAK.
after breakfast on boat stop at Muara muntai for observing the way of the
people life at wooden village then continue the trip by motorized canoe over
Jempang Lake and passing a beautiful views along the river for reaching
Tanjung Isuy and continue by motor for Mancong for grand long house. On
arrival welcome ceremony will be performed by Dayak Banuaq tribe in front of
their Long house and return to the house boat cruise up for Melak. Lunch box,
dinner and overnight on boat.
DAY 03 : MELAK - - EHENG - TREK - KERSIK LUWAY -
MAHAKAM.
Breakfast on your boat then fullday excursion by car for visiting Eheng
village for old communal long house , and then you may have oppurtunity for
jungle trekkng to observe the huge trees, the return to KersikLuway for Black
Orchid forest waterfall then back to the boat down river. Lunch , dinner and
overnight on boat.
DAY 04 : TENGGARONG - LOAJANAN - BALIKPAPAN.
Breakfast on your boat then visisting to the Museum and Royal cemetery at
Tenggarong then down river for Loajanan and proceed to Balikpapan .
DAY 05. HOTEL - AIRPORT.
Breakfast at hotel then transfer to the airport for next destination. |
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Mount Kelam Expedition Tour |
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07Days / 06Nights
Day 01 : Pontianak - Arrival (D)
Upon your arrival at Supadion airport of Pontianak (West Borneo - Indonesia),
our local representative will meet and greet you at the airport. Transfer to
your hotel for accommodation check in. All your meals provided. Rest of your
day free at leisure.
Day 02 : Pontianak - Sintang (BLD)
Assemble at the lobby, then depart for Sintang by small aircraft, Cesna 02
engines with maximum capacity of 9 pax. From the air you can see the Kapuas
River criss-cross through the green sprawling landscape. On arrival, you will
be transferred to a simple hotel. Sintang is a small town divided into three
parts by Kapuas River and Melawi River, Sintang town-Shopping area, Sintang
Tanjung Puri-Government area and Sintang Kampung Raja-now used as the Dara
Juanti Museum. Dinner will be provided at local restaurant.
Day 03 : Sintang - Kebiau River (BLD)
Today we take a small boat to go upsteam the Kapuas River enjoying the water
traffic and the scenic river. The trip will take full day to arrive at a small
river of Keliau and set up a tent to stay overnight.
Day 04 : Kebiau River - Sabang Laja - Ensait (BLD)
Today we continue our boat trip to Sabang Laja Village and then on foot
following tracks to Ensait Panjang. There are two Ensait Long-houses : Ensait
Panjang and Ensait Pendek, situated at a distance. We pass through Ensait
Pendek and stay overnight in Ensait Panjang. Dinner will be served together
with the community and hospitality with the chief. Here we can see how they
traditionally weave clothes, plait baskets, etc. and how the natives live in
harmony.
Day 05 : Ensait Panjang - Bukit Kelam (BLD)
Taking an "oplet" (public transport) to Kelam Hill. The peak of Kelam Hill can
be reached within 05 hours' climb. Overnight at the peak and for those who
cannot climb they can stay overnight at the foot of the hill.
Day 06 : Kelam Hill - Sintang (BLD)
By public transport we return to Sintang to relax after a few days tiring
trips. In the evening, farewell with the guides.
Day 07 : Sintang - Pontianak - Departure (B)
Transfer to airport for departure to your next destination via Pontianak
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Serimbu Rapids
Adventure 6D/5N
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Day 01 Airport - Kampung Saham - Longhouse (L-D)
Meeting service upon arrival at the Airport, transfer to the Longhouse located
at Kampung Saham Approximately 2,5 hours drive. Overnight stay in the
longhouse. The natives entertain us with their traditional meals and drinks.
Meanwhile, the cultural dances will be performed and we may listen to the
songs and typical sound of drums.
Day 02 Kampung Saham - Ngabang - Temoyok (B-L-D)
After breakfast, depart for Ngabang then go upriver by motorboat through
challenging rapids ; Riam Pulau. Feel the thrills as our boat is being tugged
by other motorboat to enable us to pass through the rapids. We will encounter
another more challenging rapids: Riam Panjang where we have to get off boat
and pull the boat across the rapids with all our might . Stay overnight in the
Temoyok village to relieve our tiredness and gain strength for the next days
challenge (it depends on river condition, if it is not possible then we have
to stay overnight at Kuala Behe).
Day 03 Temoyok - Serimbu (B-L-D)
After breakfast , going upriver by our motorboat to continue our rapids
adventure, along the way we can see the natives are seeking for diamonds/golds
in the river in a traditional way. By permission, you may participate to pan
gold by the river, After that ride along the most challenging and the most
feared rapids; Riam Jambu before we arrive at a little village ; Serimbu. Stay
overnight .
Day 04 Serimbu - Malanggar Waterfall - Serimbu
(B-L-D)
After breakfast, a two-hour boat ride along a tiny shallow meandering river
full of pointed rock will lead us to a starting place for our jungle trekking.
Trek through the jungle and stop by Malanggar waterfall where we take rest .
After lunch we continue our jungle walk through a steep hill where we have to
climb up with the only rope available. It takes another one-hour walk to a
place where our boat is waiting to take us back to Serimbu.
Day 05 Serimbu - Ngabang - Pontianak (B-L-D)
Early morning we return to Ngabang using our motorboat. Feel the different
excitement as we go down stream passing through the rapids we encountered the
previous day. On arrival at Ngabang we return to Pontianak by coach.
Day 06 Pontianak - Departure |
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National Parks |
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Go to my site
Indonesia National Parks |
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Illegal Mining
Kalimantan |
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Traditional miners pan for gold at a mine in Hampalit, Central
Kalimantan |
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 9:48 AM MINING GOLD:
. A gold miner stands waist-deep in a polluted pond, dumps a capful
of mercury into a bucket of ore and mixes it in with his bare hands.
The darting liquid metal wraps itself around the gold to form
a silver pellet the size of a marble.
The use of mercury in gold mining is illegal in Indonesia
because it is toxic to both human health and the environment. But
the price of gold has tripled since 2001, and mercury is the easiest
way to extract it.
"Of course I'm worried," said miner Handoko, 23, a grim man in
a baseball hat who goes by one name. "But this is the job."
Tens of thousands of remote mining sites have sprung up mostly
in Asia, Latin America and Africa, using as much as 1,000 tons of
mercury each year. The mercury ravages the nervous system of miners
and their families. It also travels thousands of miles in the
atmosphere, settling in oceans and river beds in Europe and North
America and moving up the food chain into fish.
Small-scale gold mining is the second-worst source of mercury
pollution in the world, after the burning of fossil fuels. And
Indonesia ranks behind only China in the use of mercury in gold
mining.
Mercury's impact is evident in mining regions like Central
Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. Acres of tropical forest are
now virtual desert. Villagers say fish populations have dropped by
70 percent. The Galangan gold mining site stretches several miles,
stripped of trees and dotted with mercury-laced ponds.
"This area is finished," said Fauzi Achmad, a gold shop owner,
as he drove past the moonscape-like dunes and abandoned mine sites.
Despite the hazards, buying mercury at gold mining sites is as
easy as purchasing toothpaste. The international trade in mercury is
largely unregulated. And most of the 55 countries where small-scale
gold mining is rife lack the political will or capacity to prevent
the toxic metal from falling into the hands of 10 to 15 million poor
miners.
"The continued use of mercury in gold mining threatens
millions of people all over the world, since mercury is a global air
pollutant," said Michael Bender, a coordinator for the Zero Mercury
Working Group, a coalition of 40 groups worldwide that campaigns to
reduce mercury use. "We're talking about a neurotoxin that science
clearly shows threatens pregnant women, their fetus and those who
eat large amounts of fish." -
TOWING A GOLDEN BOAT: A traditional gold miner tows a boat at
a mine on Takaras river in Kasongan, Central Kalimantan. AP/Dita
AlangkaraTOW, ROW YOUR BOAT: A traditional gold miner tows a boat at
a mine on Takaras river in Kasongan, Central Kalimantan. AP/Dita
Alangkara
The use of mercury in gold mining goes back thousands of years. The
Romans forced slaves and criminals to extract gold and silver with
mercury.
By the 20th century, mining companies had abandoned mercury in
favor of chemicals like cyanide. But small-scale miners like it
because it's easy to use, fast, cheap and leaves the gold cleaner
than traditional panning.
"The miner cannot be separated from the mercury," said Achmad,
the gold shop owner, who has campaigned to persuade miners to use
less mercury. "With mercury, it makes the work fast."
Traders once relied on mercury from Spain, Algeria, China and
Kyrgyzstan, but most mines are now shut and China only supplies its
own market. So mercury comes from the leftover stockpiles of
shuttered mines or the dozens of companies in Europe and the United
States that recycle the metal from old light bulbs, batteries or
industrial waste, according to the U.N. and the Zero Mercury Working
Group.
Flasks of mercury worth hundreds of dollars are sold into an
opaque and largely unregulated network of brokers who crisscross the
globe, according to Peter Maxson, a Brussels-based expert on the
trade. They divert mercury supplied for legal purposes to the gold
mines instead, where it can fetch prices 10 times higher than on the
global market, he said.
"Countries import several hundred times the mercury they need
for dental and other legal uses," said Pablo Huidobro, project
manager for the U.N. Industrial Development Organization's Global
Mercury Project. "The excess makes its way to the miners through the
black market."
Maxson and other experts said it can be almost impossible to
track the liquid metal as it passes through brokers and even
criminal gangs on its way to a gold mine. A flask of mercury can
originate in Spain, be sold to brokers in India, go on to popular
transit points like Singapore or Vietnam and then get dumped in
Indonesia.
The United States alone exported nearly 498 tons of mercury in
2007, up from 378 tons in 2006. It mostly was sent to Canada,
Suriname, Hong Kong and Mexico, according to the U.S. Geological
Survey.
"The whole trade has gone underground in the last five to 10
years. It's very secretive," Maxson said. "The companies dealing
mercury won't tell you who their customers or even who the end users
are."
Experts in the trade say D.F.G. Mercury Corp. and Bethlehem
Apparatus are among the top suppliers of mercury worldwide. Robert
Goldsmith, president of D.F.G. Mercury Corp. of Evanston, Ill., said
he sells his mercury domestically but acknowledged it can be
difficult to determine what happens to it. Bruce Lawrence, president
of Bethlehem Apparatus in Hellertown, Pa., declined to discuss the
trade. On its Web site, Bethlehem describes itself as a global
supplier of prime virgin and high purity mercury.
Mercury traders say it's unfair to blame them for what happens
at gold mining sites.
"If people don't want mercury to be used in artisanal gold
mining areas, particularly in China, Indonesia and Souh America,
then they should stop importing it," said Howard Masters, the
managing director of Lambert Metals International, a British company
that sells 25,000 to 30,000 flasks of mercury yearly worldwide.
"It is up to the governments themselves, as all imports into
these countries are only allowable undr license," he said. "But
don't stop genuine consumption of mercury around the world, where it
has very good uses and is not an environmental problem when used
correctly."
Marc Claushuis, director of the Dutch firm Claushuis Metals,
which sells 200 tons of mercury each year to Latin America, Africa
andEurope, expressed frustration over his inability to control its
use.
"Of course, I feel unhappy ... You send your end product to
countries where you know it gets a lot of pollution," he said.
"There is not so much you can do."
Once in Indonesia, mercury is trafficked through chemical
shops in big ities like Surabaya or Jakarta and transported to mine
sites in energy drink and vitamin bottles to avoid detection. It
ends up beind the counters of gold shops in Central Kalimantan,
Papua and North Sulawesi.
Indonesia periodically tears down illegal gold mining camps
and slapped a ban on mercury use in mining three years ago, but
mercury prices then doubled. Irwanto Thomas, a government
environmental official in Central Kalimantan,acknowledged that
mercury is widely used and will remain so until miners have better
opportunities.
"They ask what job we can provide them," Thomas said. "Until
now, the government has not provided them with an answer."
---
TOILING UP A GOLD LAND: Traditional gold miners use a
high-pressure water jet to blast through soil at a mine in Hampalit,
Central Kalimantan. AP/Dita AlangkaraTOILING UP A GOLD LAND:
Traditional gold miners use a high-pressure water jet to blast
through soil at a mine in Hampalit, Central Kalimantan. AP/Dita
Alangkara
The dusty main street of the Indonesian gold mining town of
Kerengpang is lined with dozens of gold shops. It takes only a
gentle inquiry to send a shop owner scurrying to a back room for the
mercury.
"Sometimes, I sell mercury to the miners or just give it to
them for free," said gold shop owner Rachmadi, who also trades gold
for mercury.
Mercury is easily found at mst mining sites worldwide. In
Africa, miners buy it in small plastic bags stored in Tupperware
containers or Vitamin C tubes. In Peru, it is sold in dental shops.
In gold mines, as much as one to three grams of mercury are
lost for every gram of gold produced. But mercury is a slow and
silent killer, so miners scoff at health concerns. They recall how
they breathed mercury fumes or handled the toxic liquid for years
with no problems. Some Indonesian miners have even smeared mercury
on their skin in the belief it will make them stronger, according to
a U.N. report.
"Sometimes the gold and mercury gets into my mouth," said
Sumardianto, a jovial 36-year-old miner who has dug for gold in
Central Kalimantan since 1996 and lives in a tented camp with his
wife. "I'm OK. I don't have any illnesses. I don't worry about using
mercury."
Numbers of people killed or disabled by mercury are impossible
to nail down, experts say. But tests on miners in Indonesia, the
Philippines, Colombia, Guyana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Brazil found
mercury levels up to 50 times above World Health Organization
limits, according to a 2006 U.N. report. Symptoms such as reduced
motor skills, fatigue and weight loss are routine at mining sites,
the U.N. said. Gold shop owners also breathe the mercury vapor they
burn off.
The U.N. has spent $7 million in six countries, including
Indonesia, to educate miners and gold shops about mercury. The
European Union agreed earlier this year to ban mercury exports from
2011. And President George W. Bush signed a bill in October
sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama, now president-elect, that bans all
elemental mercury exports by 2013.
Mercury recyclers argued that bans would promote the mining of
more mercury and shift the export trade from Western countries to
developing nations like India.
Already, 83 percent of mercury in the U.S. is believed to come
from abroad, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
and 44 states have issued health advisories about eating
contaminated fish.
"What is motivating governments at the highest level is a
strong recognition that mercury is a global pollutant," said Kevin
Telmer, an expert on small-scale mining at the University of
Victoria in Canada. "It's clear that small-scale mining is adding to
the global mercury problem."
Associated Press writers Irwan Firdaus in Jakarta, Jorge Sainz
in Madrid and Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to
this report. |
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Illegal Mining Has Reached Unprecedented Levels |
Illegal mining has reached unprecedented levels, harming
legitimate
companies and putting the economy and environment at risk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By John McBeth/SOUTH KALIMANTAN and NORTH SULAWESI
Issue cover-dated July 13, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THEY COME EQUIPPED with scores of excavators and more than 500
trucks.
Their backers have wealth and influence. They have been known to
cajole
and threaten. Over the past two years they have taken illegal mining
to an
unprecedented level, pillaging three million tonnes of coal alone
from the
two South Kalimantan concessions run by Australian mining company
Broken
Hill Proprietary. BHP is the biggest but by no means only victim of
a
phenomenon that has swept Indonesia since the economy nose-dived
three
years ago. The government estimates there are 62,000 illegal miners
across
the country, twice the number working legally. Mines and Energy
Minister
Bambang Yudhoyono told parliament recently that annual losses
amounted to
30 tonnes of gold, four million tonnes of coal, 2,800 carats of
diamonds
and 3,600 tonnes of tin concentrate. Even without tax and royalties,
the
export value is more than $150 million.
Government officials are frank about the problem. They
acknowledge that
miners are being funded or backed by local and regional financiers,
military officials, bureaucrats and other powerful interests--and
supported by a network of international buyers. Organized illegal
operations are meanwhile being passed off as "indigenous mining,"
providing a veneer of legitimacy that distracted environmental
activists
are willing to accept. Meanwhile, Jakarta seems unable to act
against
newly emboldened regional power-holders who collude with the illegal
operators and criticize central government for siding with foreign
mining
companies. As with illegal logging, which costs Indonesia $2 billion
in
lost revenue a year, the benefits are shared by a few.
These developments bode ill for the spread of local autonomy.
Short-sighted provincial officials scrambling to line their own
pockets
ignore the damage to the economy and environment of their provinces.
"The
political and bureaucratic elite join together with the private
elite;
they get power and they can do what they like," says the
government's
director-general for mines, Surna Djajadiningrat.
State-owned mining businesses are also affected. In West
Sumatra,
coal-miner Bukit Assam recently expelled thousands of industrially
equipped miners from its Ombilin mine. In West Java, Aneka Tambang
says it
has whittled down the number of illegals at its Pongkor gold mine to
1,000. On Bangka and Belitung islands, off Sumatra's southeast
coast, tin
giant Tambang Timah has a different problem: Singaporean buyers,
working
for Malaysian smelters, try to undercut the prices the company pays
to its
300 contractors.
Elsewhere, authorities in Central Kalimantan have finally
cleared illegal
miners from Aurora Gold's Mount Muro mine--two months after
President
Abdurrahman Wahid issued a decree instructing officials to deal with
illicit mining "in a functional and comprehensive manner." But
another
5,000 miners and migrant ancillary workers still occupy the
company's
promising gold deposit east of the North Sulawesi capital of Manado.
Until
the local administration expels them, the mine can't open,
executives say.
Government officials, industry experts and researchers agree
that illicit
mining is most serious in South Kalimantan, where it involves
official
connivance in everything from the falsification of documents to the
protection and sanctioning of the mining and transport of coal.
Researchers say some of the excavators and trucks come from former
President Suharto's failed $3 billion rice-growing project in
Central
Kalimantan. Other equipment belongs to the regional government or to
scores of small-time construction contractors whose businesses have
been
left idle by the economic crisis.
Along the banks of the Barito River, where it flows through
the
canal-laced South Kalimantan provincial capital of Banjarmasin,
mounds of
illegally mined coal lie on giant 5,000-tonne barges and in dockside
stockpiles. Coal looted from BHP's Satui and Senakin pits is shipped
out
from Sangai Danau on the eastern coast, and even through a
state-owned
port lying next to BHP's Pulau Laut coal terminal. Barges lug the
coal to
South Sulawesi and Java, or transfer it to ships anchored off the
coast
for delivery to overseas markets.
Officials and experts say the illegal operators use falsified
quality and
export documents from firms that own barren concessions far away
from
where the coal is actually mined. Some companies engaged in the
illegal
trade hold permits that allow them to sell only bulk samples--which
in
some cases are as big as 100,000 tonnes. Many firms are licensed for
exploration, not exploitation.
There's no way to stop it," sighs Satui mine boss Sumarwoto,
unfolding a
map showing 81 illegal mining sites along the remaining half of
BHP's
14-kilometre coal seam. "Everybody shifts responsibility to someone
else.
We have enough regulations, but not enough enforcement." Not only
has the
expected life of the Satui mine been slashed by five years but also
the
illegal operators are damaging the environment. And they play havoc
with
the mine by stripping off the top 10 metres of coal--the only part
their
equipment can reach--and leaving the hole to fill up with water.
India, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines are the
main overseas
markets, accounting for about 80% of the illegal coal, which sells
for as
much as $8 less than the market price of $19 to $20 a tonne.
Domestic
customers include state enterprises, as well as dozens of private
companies. Surna, the mines director-general, says he has written to
the
state-owned Paiton power plant and a South Sulawesi cement factory
warning
them not to use illegally mined coal. But he and others acknowledge
that
because of falsified papers, firms aren't always aware of the
origins of
the coal they buy.
New to the job, Surna is candid in acknowledging the role of
the
cash-strapped Indonesian military. He recalls being telephoned by
three-star generals asking him to go easy on this or that company.
Sometimes callers warn him to be careful. "I ask them to come to my
office
to talk to me face to face, but they never come," he says.
Researchers from the privately funded National Academy of
Technical
Development say individual military officers protect the enterprises
rather than get directly involved. They trace the history of the
problem
back to the mid-1990s, when illegal miners forced Taiwanese firm
Chung Hwa
off its deposit near Binuang, across the Meratus mountains from
Satui.
When that mine started to run out, operations moved into BHP's area
and
later accelerated.
Thus far there are no answers to the problem. President
Wahid's decree
calls on the police chief and attorney-general to take "stern legal
action" against anyone involved in illegal mining--"both government
apparatus and community members." But it also seeks to recognize the
rights of indigenous miners and calls on legal mining firms to
provide
more help to local communities. In South Kalimantan and other areas,
however, the hard part is going to be cutting the umbilical cord
between
the miners and their influential backers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mercury Timebomb
By John McBeth/TALAWAAN, NORTH SULAWESI
An ecological disaster looms over North Sulawesi's Minahasa
Peninsula.
Rampant illegal gold mining is pouring hundreds of tonnes of mercury
into
the environment. The deadly flow threatens to undermine the economy,
contaminate food crops and leave a horrifying health problem for
future
generations.
Driven by populism and greed, local officials either turn a
blind eye to
the problem or play an active part in its making. Researchers have
identified a police officer as the owner of one of hundreds of crude
mills, or trommels, that use mercury to separate gold from ore.
The head of the government's North Sulawesi environmental
bureau merely
distributes posters showing how to handle mercury, which attacks the
central nervous system and causes appalling genetic disorders.
Preoccupied
with foreign mining firms, Walhi, the country's largest
environmental
group, pays scant attention to the issue. The one organization that
does,
tiny Manado-based Yayasan Bina Cipta AquaTech, puts the number of
illegal
miners in North Sulawesi at 22,000, spread over five or six
different
sites. Among them are 1,500 working on Australian mining company
Aurora
Gold's Talawaan gold concession, where more than 100 trommels are in
operation. Samples from the Talawaan River--used by residents for
domestic
purposes and fish-ponds--show mercury levels 70 times higher than
the
internationally accepted limit for drinking water.
YBCA co-director Inneke Rumengan says miners complain of
trembling and
stomach and head pains: "They know the mercury is bad for them, but
they
don't know how bad." Robert Lee, of the overseas-based Wildlife
Conservation Society, says miners in parts of the Bone Dumogg
National
Park are letting mercury-tainted water seep into the Gorantalo city
catchment area.
According to the Bureau of Statistics, mercury imports reached
62 tonnes
last year, up from five tonnes in 1996. But people familiar with
mining
and environmental issues say illegal mining consumes as much as 200
tonnes
of mercury annually in Talawaan alone.
That compares with the 60 tonnes of methyl mercury dumped
between 1920 and
the mid-1960s in Minamata, Japan, scene of the world's worst case of
mercury contamination. Methyl mercury is more easily absorbed than
metallic mercury, but the effects are the same, particularly if
trommel
operators breath in the toxic fumes during the final burn-off. Says
a
metallurgist: "They simply have no idea how dangerous that is."
Miners get little reward for their huge risks. They use
mercury during
initial crushing to extract about 35% of the gold from each
20-kilogram
load of ore. When the miner has gone, the trommel owner draws out
the
rest.
----- End of forwarded message from Nabiha Zain Muhamad -----
--- NEW OFFER: Lifetime _email_ subscription to any 1 (one) of
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(five) 'apakabar' lists now available for a one-time donation of
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support Indonesia Publications' online projects. Email apakabar@radix.net
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