I wanted to go to Papua another island east of Bali; it’s next to Papua New Guinea. I wanted to visit Papua to see the culture of the tribes in Papua. Unfortunately, after learning about the logistics of transportation to Papua and the time it will take I decided it won’t be a good idea. I had only 5 days left on my visa to expire and although I’ve been here for one month, I still think there are so many things to see and I just have to plan to come back on a second trip. Instead, I decided to go to Kalimantan an island north of Bali, and thought will make my way through Kalimantan to Sabah in Malaysia and then to the Philippines since it’s not that far from Sabah, Malaysia. I want to go there by boat to add more to the experience.
I took a bus back from Bali to Surabaya because I found it’s easier to find transportation from Surabaya to Kalimantan. While on the bus and then on the ferry, I was asking other travelers about transportation options from Surabaya and found it will take 36 hours on the boat from Surabaya to Kalimantan south point, so I have to change the plan and take the airplane. I arrived in Surabaya late at night and decided to spend the night next to the bus terminal because the shuttle bus will take me to the airport from that terminal. I also learned that there are some tribes called Apo Kayan in north Kalimantan and thought I will visit them since I didn’t have the chance to go to Papua. Next day, I took the plane and head to Balikpapan in south Kalimantan. I arrived at the tourist information center at the airport and no one seems to ever heard of that tribe. The girl at the information center Yuli was very helpful; she really tried her best running around to help me. Finally she said I need to go to Berau and from there I can go to see the tribe, but the felt the people she asked were not sure. Finally, I decided to go by bus to Berau, so I took the bus from the airport to Samarinda and stayed the night there. Most of the information I found online about Berau mentioned that the road in a very bad situation. I decided to continue, it will give me more opportunity to meet the locals and live like them.
