If you ever go on the
Mahakam River in Kaltim (Indonesian Borneo), make sure you stop by Sangkuliman.
This small Banjar village is a good place to stay if you’re looking for the smiling
pesut (river dolphin). It is also
a good starting point for your trip on the Mahakam.
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Water rises and it can last for few months. Kids are not complaining about the floods...
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I’ve been there for around 2 months, teaching English,
environmental awareness, and other stuff in the Elementary school and I quite
liked it. Thanks to RASI, a NGO taking care of the pesut Mahakam, they made it all
possible. I was part of an Eco-tourism project that should make travelling
there in the future a little bit easier. We also try to make people aware of the
importance of not throwing everything in the river. The same river where they
shower, fish, and wash their clothes or dishes.
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| 3rd grade class in Elementary school |
Staying in this village was nice. I think you need to spend
quite a while in order for locals to really get close to you. They’re so nice
they quickly become like family. I was amazed by their politeness, especially
kids. Let’s put it this way. I was teaching English (my second language) with
my poor bahasa Indonesia to students who also just learned how to speak bahasa
Indonesia, as their first language is Banjarese. I think if I were to have some kind of similar
experience in Canada it would have been complete chaos. The kids were like
really nice and trying to help you teach them. They would barricade their class
door to keep students from other grades from entering or disturbing the class.
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| painting garbage bins (from water galon) |
Apart from teaching, living there is quite nice. There is
football going on everyday on a field that looks like it has experienced war. There
are ping-pong tables and I find myself quickly addicted to it. Indonesians are
really good at playing badminton and games keep going till very late. I thought
I could play badminton but I found out I was better at watching only. It is
also nice to swim over there or fish all night long using crushed Mie Goreng as
bait.
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playing football
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Living there is very simple, and I can’t help noticing that
people look happier than in the big cities. It was refreshing, car free, and
stress free. I also learned about being happy not doing anything, or taking it
slow, which is something hard to do for white folks. Make sure you stop over
there. :)
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| CES (motorized canoe) |
