We’re about to take off!!! This is our first flight into the heart of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo.
It certainly won’t be a comfortable journey, but it will bring us into close contact with the primeval forest and Dayak tribes unaccustomed to tourism.
There are just the two of us—myself and a friend who is traveling incognito. From now on, I’ll refer to him as Dominus Trium Subligarium, or DTS; as we progress on our journey, even the three pairs of underwear he insisted on bringing to keep his load light will take on lives of their own, gain names, and if they survive, might even write an article…
On-site, specifically in Balikpapan, we’ll meet Datu Bambang, and three porters will join us for the trek. So, in total, there will be nine of us: six humans and three living pairs of underwear.
Our journey, known to the few who’ve heard of it as the Cross Borneo, is a grand adventure in close contact with the untouched rainforest on one of the wildest islands on earth. It’s a challenging journey that follows the Old Dayak Punan Route, a path taken by Georg Muller in 1825 and the German explorer Anthony Schwaner between 1843 and 1848. We’ll be crossing Kalimantan from east to west through rough terrain, mud, steep mountains, rivers, streams, and rapids, all within the primary forest.
We’ll begin our adventure in Balikpapan and finish in Putussibau. Here’s our rough itinerary:
| 13/04/17 | Francoforte – Singapore |
| 14/04/17 | Singapore |
| 15/04/17 | Singapore – Jakarta – Balikpapan – Samarinda |
| 16/04/17 | Samarinda – LONG BAGUN (3 giorni in barca) |
| 17/04/17 | barca |
| 18/04/17 | ARRIVO IN LONG BAGUN |
| 19/04/17 | LONG BANGUN – TIONG OHANG |
| 20/04/17 | TIONG OHANG – MUARA HUBUNG – ATIKOP HILL – MUARA SAITE |
| 21/04/17 | MUARA SAITE – SUNGAI BEKANA – ARINGE |
| 22/04/17 | ARINGE – MULLER RANGE |
| 23/04/17 | MULLER RANGE – SUNGAI SABANG |
| 24/04/17 | SUNGAI SABANG – BUNGAN LEA |
| 25/04/17 | BUNGAN LEA – BRAKAN |
| 26/04/17 | BRAKAN – SUNGAI BULIT – DATAH OPET |
| 27/04/17 | DATAH OPET – BURU HONGKANE – TANJUNG LOKANG VILLAGE |
| 28/04/17 | TANJUNG LOKANG VILLAGE |
| 29/04/17 | TANJUNG LOKANG – NANGA LAMPUNG – KAPUAS RIVER – PUTUSSIBAU |
| 30/04/17 | PUTUSSIBAU – PONTIANAK – JAKARTA – Singapore |
| 01/05/17 | Singapore – Francoforte |
| 02/05/17 | Francoforte |
wherever traveler 