13 Aug - 16 Aug 2011 Tanjung Karang

Republic of Indonesia
Central Sulawesi
Tanjung Karang
Golden Park Cottages +6285241414245
Primitive and spartan beach bungalow with private veranda and a stunning sun-set view, but also with an overpriced tag of INR 150,000.- or US$ 17.50 per night.


Click below for an interactive road map of the Golden Park Cottages in Tanjung Karang and for directions:
S 00° 38.72' E 119° 44.21'










Crossing with a speed of c. 15 knots both (i) the invisible Wallace Line (which marks the eastern boundary of the Asian fauna) from west to east, and (ii) the likewise invisible equator (which marks the southern boundary of the counter-clockwise turning bathtub outflow) from north to south, on board of Pelni’s rugged passenger ferry KM “Tidar” during our 20-hour long, uneventful sea passage from East Kalimantan to Central Sulawesi.

Taking a shared minibus taxi (INR 5,000.- or US$ 0.55 per person) from outside the port of Pantoloan to Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province, and thereafter a shared Toyota 4x4 Kijang (INR 20,000.- or US$ 2.20 per person) from Palu’s useless Terminal Tipo via Donggala, a quiet backwater which only springs to life on Mondays and Fridays when it hosts large and vibrant country markets (a ten-pack of creamy durians between INR 70,000.- or US$ 7,75 and INR 90,000.- or US$ 9.95), to the remote kampung Tanjung Karang, situated on the north coast of the Coral Peninsula and a diver’s paradise.

"...its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect." 

Enjoying the main attractions of sun, sand and water and the laid-back, bucolic village life in the remote beach hamlet kampung Tanjung Karang aka Coral Peninsula where both Bugis and Kaili people live peacefully together and rather sustainably exploit their cash crops: (i) coastal fish and seafood, (ii) domestic tourists from as far as Palu and Jakarta, and (iii) the ever reliable coconut palms whose uses are extremely manifold, from their nutritious juice, meat and copra via their timber and fronds for building houses, to the coveted coconut oil which is used for the manufacture of soaps and perfumes.



Discovering the most delicious and spicy Buginese meals at Ika's unpretentious but superb warung Andika +6282193712014 and having there many excellent (and economical) pescetarian dinner meals: (i) barbecued red snapper (ikan bakar) with cooked jackfruit, sambal and white rice for INR 20,000.- or US$ 2.20 per portion, (ii) smoked tuna steaks (ikan tuna goreng) with a variety of cooked veggies in coconut cream, hot and fresh sambal, fried tempe and tofu and white rice for INR 17,500.- or US$ 1.95 per portion, (iii) barbecued octopus (cumi cumi bakar) with cooked veggies, sambal and white rice for INR 15,000.- or US$ 1.65 per portion, (iv) sumptuous veggie platters with omelettes and gogos (sticky rice filled with spicy minced fish, cooked inside a banana-leaf package) for INR 15,000.- or US$ 1.65 per portion, or (v) barbecued prawns (udang bakar), with the usual vegetarian accompaniments, for INR 20,000.- or US$ 2.20 per portion, yummy; many thanks, Ika & Cecep for your great hospitality.
  


Snorkelling the fringing reef just offshore from our cottage, allowing the incoming tidal stream to carry us off course, discovering, by pure chance, the most pristine and well-preserved coral reef ever, floating over an incredible diversity of colourful marine life (e.g. titan triggerfish [Balistoides viridescens], lionfish [Pterois antenata], black clownfish [Amphiprion ocellaris]), as if we were in "Finding Nemo", and, eventually, making landfall at the very welcoming Prince John Dive Resort, to which this reef belongs, situated only half a mile away from our cottage and professionally managed by Alex +6281210444162 alex@prince-john-dive-resort.com, an experienced and friendly enough PADI IDC Staff Instructor from Germany.

 

Click below for more blog posts about lekker Indonesian food
21 Oct - 26 Oct 2013 Pangkalan Bun
04 Oct - 19 Oct 2013 Pontianak
03 Sep - 13 Sep 2013 Singkawang
03 May - 04 May 2012 Padang
12 Apr - 28 Apr 2012 Tuk-Tuk

Click below for a summary of this year's travels
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09 Aug - 12 Aug 2011 Nunukan


Republic of Indonesia
East Kalimantan aka Kalimantan Timur (KalTim)
Hotel Melati Indah +6255623453
Comfortable and clean double room, including a light breakfast, for IDR 120,000.- or US$ 14.- per night. Agricultural wifi from nearby Narman’s hotspot: 11 [no typo] hours for INR 20,000.- or US$ 2.35. Friendly staff, limited English.

Click below for an interactive road map of the Hotel Melati Indah in Nunukan, which we would recommend, and for directions:









Exploring the rather nondescript and low-key (especially during the holy but dehydrating fasting month of Ramadan when hard-core Muslims can't even swallow their saliva let alone drink water or even the precious Bintang beer during daylight, unless they are travelling and/or menstruating, are diabetic, sick and/or pregnant) air-con town of Nunukan (regular minibuses between Tunon Taka Port and the town centre for IDR 4,000.- or US$ 0.45 per person, one way), coping with frequent power cuts and enjoying tremendously many cordial encounters with open-minded and friendly locals in East Kalimantan’s very remote north-east corner.



Booking an overnight sea passage in economy class for a reasonable IDR 235,000.- or US$ 27.35 per passenger (including full-board with three meals and some unspecified compulsory insurance) from our friend Gita’s reliable and professionally managed travel agency Tanjung Arief +6281322950001 gita_9t4@yahoo.com and embarking on the proud but incredibly run-down 145-m long Pelni passenger ferry KM “Tidar” (once upon a time made in Germany by Meyer Werft) which calls now and then into Nunukan on her Tarakan-Pantoloan-Parepare-Makassar-Surabaya run along the dangerous Strait of Makassar.



Reading in Alfred Russel Wallace’s classic 1860 CE study The Malay Archipelago about the Wallace Line (between Kalimantan and Sulawesi), which divides the Asian and the Australian flora and fauna, “... I have arrived at the conclusion that we can draw a line among the islands which shall so divide them that one-half shall truly belong to Asia, while the other shall no less certainly be allied to Australia. I term these respectively the Indo-Malayan, and the Austro-Malayan divisions of the Archipelago...”; and keeping a sharp lookout for it.


Click below for more blog posts about travelling during Ramadan
11 Jul - 01 Sep 2013 Kuching

Click below for a summary of this year's travels
2011 Map Konni & Matt

Visit the Konni & Matt Online Albums and order high-res travel photos


Facing Borneo
© Konni & Matt


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01 Aug - 09 Aug 2011 Tawau

Malaysian Borneo
Sabah aka Land Below the Wind
Jalan Chester
Hotel Grace@Chester +6089751155 grace_chester_hotel@yahoo.com
Clean and spacious twin room, with air-con and wifi, for MYR 60.- or US$ 20.10 per night.

Click below for an interactive road map of Hotel Grace@Chester in Tawau, which we would recommend, and for directions:









Exploring the rugged, predominantly Malaysian Chinese frontier town Tawau (clearly visible: wide choice of booze and very little police presence) which boomed in the early 1980s because of its lumber and cocoa farming industry and has become a bustling transit hub to all neighbouring islands, waiting for the scheduled departure day of the next Pelni ferry from "round-the-corner" Nunukan/Kalimantan to Pantoloan/Sulawesi and whiling the time away with orgies of fresh fish and seafood delicacies at the exceptional Kam Ling Seafood Restaurant +6089756457; our favourite dishes: (i) grilled snapper with mango, fresh ginger and Chinese cabbage aka bok choy, (ii) cooked clams/cockles with plenty of garlic and young spring onions, (iii) braised sea cucumbers with a variety of cooked Sabahan veggies.



Joining the local border traffic thus crossing the invisible maritime border between Malaysia’s hot and damp Borneo and Indonesia’s hot and damp Kalimantan as tourist-class passengers of MV “Labuan Express Lima”, a daily high-speed ferry (top speed: 28 knots, 75 min between departure and arrival, MYR 60.- or US$ 20.- plus MYR 5.- departure tax per person) between Tawau and Nunukan (Tunon Taka Port), a busy Indonesian border town, located on the northern shore of Pulau Nunukan Timur and attached to Tawau by an informal economical umbilical cord, and, on arrival, changing uneventfully our Malaysian ringgit into Indonesian rupiah (exchange rate: MYR 1 = INR 2,800) with one of the loitering self-appointed money changers; selamat siang, Indonesia, one of the most evocative countries on earth.



Click below for more blog posts about yummy seafood
07 Jun - 10 Jun 2013 Sokcho
29 Nov - 31 Dec 2011 Kuah
30 Jun - 13 Jul 2011 Kota Kinabalu
01 Mar - 01 May 2010 Bangkok
13 Sep - 14 Sep 2009 Miri

Click below for a summary of this year's travels

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Konni & Matt Travel Photos


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