Kalimantan

Join the Hipporoller Challenge

Help the Travel Guide reach 20,000,000 characters and we'll donate 63 hipporollers worth over $6000. Read more.

On Travellerspoint

Contributors

• Utrecht (76%)
  from http://utrecht.travellerspoint.com
• joffre (24%)
  from Itinerant Traveller

Help contribute to this article to share the ad revenue.

Introduction

Kalimantan staircase

© All Rights Reserved zags

Kalimantan is the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, which is shared with Malaysia and Brunei. Unlike these countries, the Indonesian part is less developed and travelling through the interior is still quite an experience, yes even an expedition if you like.

Geography

Cities

• Pontianak
• Singkawang
• Sintang
• Ketapang
• Pangkalanbun
• Sampit
• Palangkaraya
• Banjarmasin
• Loksado
• Balikpapan
• Samarinda

Sights and Activities

• Tanjung Puting National Park
• Betung Kerihun National Park
• Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park
• Danau Sentarum National Park
• Gunung Palung National Park
• Kayan Mentarang National Park
• Kutai National Park
• Sebangau National Park

Events and Festivals

Weather

Kalimantan has a hot and humid tropical climate. Temperatures are usually between 25 degrees Celsius at night and around 30 or a little more during the day. There is little variation regarding temperatures throughout the year, and even rainfall is possible in all months. There is no real dry season, but rainfall is highest between October and April and somewhat lower from June to September. The interior is both wetter and cooler than the coastal areas.

Getting There

By Plane

There are several airports in Kalimantan with flights to for example Jakarta and several other destinations in Indonesia. By far the busiest airport though is Sepinggan International Airport (BPN) near Balikpapan on the eastcoast of Kalimantan. It has flights to Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Manado, Kota Baru, Makassar and Singapore.
The airports near Banjarmasin and Pontianak serve as the main gateway for the the south and west of Kalimantan respectively, with at least flights to Jakarta and also to Kuching in Malaysian Sarawak from the latter. Kalimantan has no connections with Kota Kinabalu in Sabah or with Brunei.

By Car

The only crossing over land is the road between Kuching in Malaysian Sarawak and Pontianak in West Kalimantan.

By Bus

Buses connect Pontianak with Kuching, usually leaving in the morning and arriving around 9-10 hours later during the late afternoon or early evening.

By Boat

Pelni, the main ferry operator in Indonesia, has connections to a number of cities/islands, including Sulawesi and Java (Jakarta and Surabaya). There are ferry connections from Balik­papan, Samarinda, Banjarmasin, Pontianak and Kumai. Catching a cargoship might be an option as well.

There are also connections between Tawau in Sabah and both Nunukan and Tarakan in East Kalimantan.

Getting Around

By Plane

There are quite a few airports apart from the major three mentioned above. Most of them have daily connections, including a few airstrips in Central Kalimantan. Dirgantara Air Service (DAS), Batavia Air and Trigana Air have most flights, but routes and airlines change quite frequently, so ask around.

By Car

Hiring a car with driver is recommended and quite cheap, especially if you are with 2 or 3 persons. Driving yourself, unlike in Malaysian Borneo, is not recommended in Kalimantan.

By Bus

Buses travel regularly between Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan and both Balikpapan and Samarinda in East Kalimantan. West Kalimantan has no services to/from South or East Kalimantan, you have to go trekking and take river boats or take a flight. There are buses however between several places in West Kalimantan, from Pontianak both inland and in northern and southern direction. Central Kalimantan has few roads.

By Boat

One of Kalimantan’s highlights is to travel up the Sungai Mahakam river on a longboat. This bascially is a narrow vessel with two large outboard motors at the rear and bench seats in a covered passenger cabin. They still ply the river on a daily basis despite more and more roads opening up for buses and 4wd vehicles.
Small motorised canoes and speedboats are common modes of transport at the smaller rivers in the central parts of Kalimantan and river taxi's in more remote areas.
Along the Sungai Kapuas river in West Kalimantan there are large large cargo-cum-houseboats (called 'bandung') that take up to a month to move upriver to Putussibau!
There are also a few boats travelling all around Kalimantan's southern coastline, mostly ferries en route to other islands, stopping in various ports on Kalimantan.

Eat

Drink

Sleep