Kalimantan Travel Guide
Covering two-thirds of Borneo’s lass mass, Kalimantan is an area of intense natural beauty where visitors are treated to glimpses of a vast range of flora and fauna as they explore.
Introduction
This part of the world is still largely unvisited by tourists, which gives the tourist a strong sense of adventure and mystery. Those wishing to travel deep into the forest will need to hire a guide, preferably combined with a boat trip along the network of waterways that bisect the forest.
There are a number of villages located within the forest, where most of the inhabitants still follow traditional cultural and spiritual practices. For many visitors, Kalimantan offers a rare insight into the true nature of Borneo and the people who live there that can be seen in few other places these days.
Another great way to see some of what the area has to offer is by taking a dawn canoe ride to the floating markets at Banjarmasin. Trekking in Kayan Mentarang National Park is also popular as lucky visitors can glimpse animals such as sun bears, orangutans, macaques and proboscis monkeys.
Kalimantan is a good place for adventure tourism as the unspoilt natural beauty offers a number of surprises such as the rapids of Sungai Mahakam. The Dayak villages offer the chance to interact with the region’s native people and perhaps learn a little about their traditional way of life.
Although it is possible to camp out in the forest, most visitors prefer to stay in the city of Pontianak where there are plenty of good places to stay and restaurants serving a range of different cuisines. This is a good place to use as a base, perhaps spending two or three days to embark on a series of different daytrips.
Getting There & Away
Getting to Kalimantan is rather tricky. The closest access point is Pontianak, where there is an airport with regular flights to Jakarta (2 hours) and Kuching (1 hour). There is also a regular bus service running between Pontianak and Kuching (10 hours). From Pontianak airport, visitors to Kalimantan will need to take a short taxi ride and a longboat through the area itself to see the sights.