Thursday 20 October 2011
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Canopy bridge walk
15th October 2011
Sun bear sanctuary
In the morning we went to the sun bear sanctuary, the sun bears are also known as honey bears because thats their favourite treat.
We arrived at feeding time. The grounds of the sanctuary are really beautiful. The sun bears get to roam freely around a big forest and you can watch them from a raised platform. The staff spread food around the forest for the sun bears to find, so its cool watching them hunt around and climbing. They are so fluffy and deceivingly gentle looking!
They are pretty skillful climbers!
Bukit Bengkirai, canopy bridge
In the afternoon we went to Bukit Bengkirai, a conservation area which has several treks through the rain forest and a canopy bridge. There are some bungalows available to rent so you can spend a few days exploring the area if you like.
The canopy bridge is about 30 metres high up in the trees of the rain forest. There is a path through the dense forest that leads to the canopy bridge and then you have to climb the steps up into the tree tops. There are 4 wooden bridges between trees up there and the view is very impressive, you can see for miles. The first few steps onto the bridge are a little unnerving and the bridges obviously sway around but its ok.
I had been up there a while when some of the randoms I met down on the ground came up to join me, I looked back and saw one of the girls faces as she made her way across the bridge, she looked pretty terrified, her face said it all.
After being harassed by a huge group of school kids for my photograph I took a 1km trek back through the forest to the car and I made it back alive!
These 2 pictures are from the journey back to Balikpapan, there is miles and miles of scenery like this when you go an a road trip.
Padangnese restaurant
We had a late lunch at a Padangnese restaurant, its a siang malam restaurant which means it never closes! You get a really fast service and the food is awesome. Basically its like a buffet but they bring all the food to your table, you eat whatever you like and then they come back later and work out what you ate so they can charge you. I ate quite a lot having worked up an appetite walking around the Sun bear sanctuary and Bukit Bengkirai. :D
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Sun bear sanctuary
In the morning we went to the sun bear sanctuary, the sun bears are also known as honey bears because thats their favourite treat.We arrived at feeding time. The grounds of the sanctuary are really beautiful. The sun bears get to roam freely around a big forest and you can watch them from a raised platform. The staff spread food around the forest for the sun bears to find, so its cool watching them hunt around and climbing. They are so fluffy and deceivingly gentle looking!
They are pretty skillful climbers!
Bukit Bengkirai, canopy bridge
In the afternoon we went to Bukit Bengkirai, a conservation area which has several treks through the rain forest and a canopy bridge. There are some bungalows available to rent so you can spend a few days exploring the area if you like.
The canopy bridge is about 30 metres high up in the trees of the rain forest. There is a path through the dense forest that leads to the canopy bridge and then you have to climb the steps up into the tree tops. There are 4 wooden bridges between trees up there and the view is very impressive, you can see for miles. The first few steps onto the bridge are a little unnerving and the bridges obviously sway around but its ok.
I had been up there a while when some of the randoms I met down on the ground came up to join me, I looked back and saw one of the girls faces as she made her way across the bridge, she looked pretty terrified, her face said it all.After being harassed by a huge group of school kids for my photograph I took a 1km trek back through the forest to the car and I made it back alive!
These 2 pictures are from the journey back to Balikpapan, there is miles and miles of scenery like this when you go an a road trip.
Padangnese restaurant
We had a late lunch at a Padangnese restaurant, its a siang malam restaurant which means it never closes! You get a really fast service and the food is awesome. Basically its like a buffet but they bring all the food to your table, you eat whatever you like and then they come back later and work out what you ate so they can charge you. I ate quite a lot having worked up an appetite walking around the Sun bear sanctuary and Bukit Bengkirai. :DView Larger Map
Don't feed the crocs!
12th October 2011
Today I went to Taritip crocodile farm. They breed crocodiles there for their skin. They have many different types and they all look pretty scary! In the breeding area there were some huge ones lurking in the water, watching us.
You can pay to have one of the staff throw a chicken in to the crocodiles, which we did, so here is the video of the battle for the chicken!
Today I went to Taritip crocodile farm. They breed crocodiles there for their skin. They have many different types and they all look pretty scary! In the breeding area there were some huge ones lurking in the water, watching us.
You can pay to have one of the staff throw a chicken in to the crocodiles, which we did, so here is the video of the battle for the chicken!
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Last day in Banjarmasin
8th October 2011
Diamond Mine
First thing in the morning we went to a diamond mine between Banjarmasin and Martapura at Cempaka village. The people that work there all live in the small village right beside the mine. There were lots of hawkers there trying to sell diamond encrusted jewellery to the visitors, probably all fake though methinks.
Many people are panning for diamonds, gold and other precious stones. It looks like really hard work, especially in the heat of the sun, reaching around 35 degrees and very humid.
They are all working so hard to find something big, but seldom do and I think they are still very poor. One guy found a small diamond just as we were leaving and he rushed over to show us, he wanted 300,000 rupiah for it (about 21 pounds) I cant imagine how small it would have been after a cut and polish.
Meek Farm
After the diamond mine we went to Meek Farm, which has a durian plantation and lots of other fruit, such as Jack fruit, papaya and mango. We were walking through the trees to find some ripe durian, its not hard once you pick up the smell!
We stopped for food at a restaurant right by the river and I had chicken satay, nom nom nom - obviously very popular, judging by the amount of satay they were cooking! There was a small band playing traditional Indonesian music in the middle of the restaurant which was pretty cool. And the view across the river was nice.
Later in the evening we caught a flight back to Balikpapan - it took about 30 mins, as opposed to 15 hours by bus.
I really enjoyed the time in Banjarmasin. Indah and Iwan made me feel right at home, they showed me some amazing places and we had a lot of fun especially with my Indonesian language mistakes! So MAKASIH!!
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Diamond Mine
First thing in the morning we went to a diamond mine between Banjarmasin and Martapura at Cempaka village. The people that work there all live in the small village right beside the mine. There were lots of hawkers there trying to sell diamond encrusted jewellery to the visitors, probably all fake though methinks.
Many people are panning for diamonds, gold and other precious stones. It looks like really hard work, especially in the heat of the sun, reaching around 35 degrees and very humid.
They are all working so hard to find something big, but seldom do and I think they are still very poor. One guy found a small diamond just as we were leaving and he rushed over to show us, he wanted 300,000 rupiah for it (about 21 pounds) I cant imagine how small it would have been after a cut and polish.
Meek FarmAfter the diamond mine we went to Meek Farm, which has a durian plantation and lots of other fruit, such as Jack fruit, papaya and mango. We were walking through the trees to find some ripe durian, its not hard once you pick up the smell!
We stopped for food at a restaurant right by the river and I had chicken satay, nom nom nom - obviously very popular, judging by the amount of satay they were cooking! There was a small band playing traditional Indonesian music in the middle of the restaurant which was pretty cool. And the view across the river was nice.
Later in the evening we caught a flight back to Balikpapan - it took about 30 mins, as opposed to 15 hours by bus.
I really enjoyed the time in Banjarmasin. Indah and Iwan made me feel right at home, they showed me some amazing places and we had a lot of fun especially with my Indonesian language mistakes! So MAKASIH!!
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Thursday 13 October 2011
Durian fruit.. I wouldn't say I like it!
7th October 2011
Sight seeing fail
We went to go sight seeing today, after an hour or so drive we ran into a massive traffic jam. We took a detour but the road was too bad to continue on so we turned back, got a bit lost and then went to the Burito river instead. Burito river is huge, theres even a few islands in it! The biggest bridge in Kalimantan stretches over the river and clears one of the islands too.
Durian fruit feast
In the evening after dinner we went to the mall. On the way home Iwan bargained for some Durian fruit while I hid in the car. He opened the boot of the car and before the 3 Durian fruits were even in the car the smell was very strong. After being in the car a few moments it was wreaking!
We got home and Indah cracked open the first Durian fruit.. I once saw one of those cool David Attenborough nature programs, where he went to Borneo and tried Durian fruit. I remember he described the smell of an open Durian as "an open sewer, with a dash of coal gas", which I would say is a fair description, maybe not correct but it certainly conveys just how bad it is! I found the clip on youtube.
The fruit smells incredibly bad but some people love the taste, others hate it, and apparently you can get drunk from eating it too. The fruit is white and slimy, covering the seeds. I took one of the slimy, stinking seeds from within the Durian and sampled the "tasty" fruit.. It was absolutely rancid, but I gave it another go anyway and for a minute I thought the taste was getting better.. I ate 4 pieces in total and although the last of it was incredibly hard to swallow, I managed to avoid throwing up! At least I can say I gave it a good go! The smell sticks to your hands too, and we proved that using salty water in the empty husk of the Durian to wash your hands gets rid of the smell.
I had the taste of rotting sewage in my mouth for hours afterwards and feared burping. Apparently there are several kinds of Durian and they taste different, so I feel somewhat obliged to try them too, what the hell!
Sight seeing failWe went to go sight seeing today, after an hour or so drive we ran into a massive traffic jam. We took a detour but the road was too bad to continue on so we turned back, got a bit lost and then went to the Burito river instead. Burito river is huge, theres even a few islands in it! The biggest bridge in Kalimantan stretches over the river and clears one of the islands too.
Durian fruit feast
In the evening after dinner we went to the mall. On the way home Iwan bargained for some Durian fruit while I hid in the car. He opened the boot of the car and before the 3 Durian fruits were even in the car the smell was very strong. After being in the car a few moments it was wreaking!
The fruit smells incredibly bad but some people love the taste, others hate it, and apparently you can get drunk from eating it too. The fruit is white and slimy, covering the seeds. I took one of the slimy, stinking seeds from within the Durian and sampled the "tasty" fruit.. It was absolutely rancid, but I gave it another go anyway and for a minute I thought the taste was getting better.. I ate 4 pieces in total and although the last of it was incredibly hard to swallow, I managed to avoid throwing up! At least I can say I gave it a good go! The smell sticks to your hands too, and we proved that using salty water in the empty husk of the Durian to wash your hands gets rid of the smell.
I had the taste of rotting sewage in my mouth for hours afterwards and feared burping. Apparently there are several kinds of Durian and they taste different, so I feel somewhat obliged to try them too, what the hell!
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