Chronicles from South Borneo
As we were rafting our way downstream, a colorful bird flew right across the river valley we were in. Its feathers reflect the most beautiful combination of hues, almost like a rainbow, in contrast to the lush green shrubs of the mountainside. As we turned around the meander, Alvian spotted a family of otters sliding into a dive from the river rocks. Meanwhile, our local guide recounted stories of elephant snakes and pythons the size of small trees that are found in the area.
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| View of Bukit Langara and river in Loksado |
Having never been to the island before, there was such an exotic attraction of visiting Borneo, and I genuinely looked forward to it. In this trip, Alvian would take me around to witness not only the natural beauty of the lands, but also experience the diverse culture of the multiethnic population that inhabits it. Who could reject such an offer?
Lucky for me, my high school's semester break was just around the corner. Just in time, I thought, as I could really take a break from all the pressures of homework and competitive debating which took up most of my time back then. One plane ticket later, I found myself flying over to his home.
I was seated by the window of a Batik Air A320 flight departing from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. As we arrived in Syamsudinnoor Airport of Banjarmasin, I was struck in awe by how smooth the topography of the region seems. There aren't as many mountains there compared to other Indonesian islands (say Java or Sumatera), for which the explanation I remember from geography class is that the whole island is void of volcanic activity. That would explain which would explain the lack of jagged terrain. Instead, sights of vast greeneries, flat swamplands and the prevalent palm oil plantations dominate the landscape.
My plans for the trip were naught at worst and blurry at best. I fully pledged Alvian as my tour guide, he'd knows best what to do and where to visit throughout the trip. With his 155cc bike, we would take turns manning the steering wheel across a small segment of the almost 40.000km² province, navigating our way through the winding country roads. In truth, Alvian did most of the riding as he's way more of an experienced motorcyclist than I am. We would start from his hometown on the southernmost tip of Borneo, Pelaihari, make our way north through the Meratus Mountains, then all the way to the stilted swamp villages of Bararawa.
Here is my perspective on the things I found most interesting during the trip. Note that some of the orders may not be exactly chronological, but I will try to confine my ramblings into broad themes.
First Interaction with Dayak Culture
The Dayak people are the indigenous inhabitants of Borneo which consists upon hundreds of smaller specific tribes across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. They are traditionally known for their ruggedness and off-the-grid lifestyle, as some groups still live deep in the jungles. They hold a legendary status among other Indonesians as they are perceived to possess sacred knowledge of mystical powers. For example, when I informed others of my trip to South Kalimantan, they would always tell me to be very respectful of Dayak customs as to not induce a bad omen or a curse. Of course, whether you believe in that stuff or not, respecting the local culture is always a must wherever you are.
My first experience with the local culture in Banua was actually right after disembarking the plane, specifically at the luggage claim area of Syamsudinnoor Airport. There was a performance taking place of a traditional Dayak dance accompanied by a traditional Dayak instrument called Sape. The Sape is a guitar-like stringed instrument usually played in special ceremonies. The sound it produces exhibit a relaxing tone, almost like its hypnotizing you into a laid-back vibe in what I can describe best as a "jungly daze". I highly encourage you to search Sape music on Youtube to get an idea of how it sounds like. However, one of the things that really caught my attention was the attributes of the dancer from head to toe. Bells were strapped to his feet which rung at each rythmic stomp, effectively serving as a percussion instrument of its own. The Dayak have their own woven fabrics with unique motifs, which is seen worn by the dancer, hanging from his waists down. The other most notable part was the blade he's holding; the Mandau.
The Floating Market of Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan, is home to one of Indonesia's many famous floating markets. They are not initially created to attract visitors, although they are promoted in such a way to elevate tourism in the region. Truth is, they originate out of the necessity of the locals to trade and sell products of their harvest. Fruits, vegetables, fish, you name it. The docks of riversides are crowded throughout the day as its a great place to get food and other needs. With such a large river system (the Barito) playing an important role in the region, it makes sense for the village people who live up the river to paddle their way downstream and conduct business where most of the people live.
Alvian and I went there on our first morning in Banjarmasin to get some grub for the day. While walking through the crowd and making our way down to the stilted docks, I noticed how fully packed the place is with people, despite the sketchy structure that is the only separation from us and the water. Stalls manned by women sell all sorts of food, but the most popular ones are nasi kuning and some sweet dishes which look like pancake with a watery sugar dressing. I opted for the former, and it was delicious! Savory, filling, and boosts your mood to face the day ahead.
There weren't that many floating sellers on the river when we came down there, only about a dozen at most. These boats are paddled by women from upstream and are filled with fruits. Baskets containing bananas, guava, dried cinnamon, soursop and oranges are what's most commonly found to be sold there. Another interesting thing to note is that the women coat their faces with a yellowish paste that makes them look pale. Later on, Alvian explained to me that it's a natural sunscreen made out of ground rice and spices, a traditional facemask called lulur banjar, named after the Banjar people who make it. It was very interesting to see traditional remedies that parallel modern pharmaceutics to solve a timeless issue.
Land of the Sweet Tooth
A disclaimer before you continue, this part is purely my personal opinion :)
Something I couldn't get my mind off even till today about South Kalimantan's cuisine: almost every food is too sweet to the taste! Be it a savory meal or a refreshing snack, almost every bite tastes like it's at least a spoonful of sugar sweeter than it should. Apparently he tells that it's how people normally eat there. Pardon my hyperboles, but you will know what I mean in the next examples.
Kue Bingka Kentang
Some famous food from Kalimantan Selatan are its many cakes and traditional snacks. One of which Alvian introduced to me was kue bingka kentang, a traditional Banjar cake made out of potato and wheat. But trust me when I say it is SUPER SWEET (yes with capital letters!), I'll even say is too sweet for my own taste (and I consider myself a sweet tooth). On some recipes I found online, the ratio of sugar necessary to make it is almost 1/2 of its total mass. It scared me seeing how easily Alvian downed this cake while I took some minutes to process the sweetness of every bite. I'm not gonna lie, I think its scrumptious and I don't mind the energy it gave me, but I wouldn't even think of eating something that sweet once every month.
Martabak Manis vendor
On another day, we ordered some good old martabak manis straight from the cart at a night market. I do enjoy myself some martabak manis every once in a while, so I always love seeing martabak sellers craftily concoct the batter and other ingredients into one cohesive cake. However, never before have I seen the seller pour so much sugar in addition to the normal chocolate, cheese and peanut toppings that it comes with! There must've been someone that tried martabak manis before and said "this is not nearly sweet enough for me", thus making the seller put even more extra sugar on the already deadly sweet treat! Either that or I am just overreacting, but I do believe that South Kalimantan is a good contender for the title "Land of the Sweet Tooth" among other Indonesian provinces (The central Javanese are worthy contestants).
Rafting Our Way Down-River in Loksado
The Meratus Mountains is a mountain range that spans the middle of South Kalimantan's jungly terrain. With its beautiful landscape consisting of rivers and ragged cliffs, it's considered a must-see tourist destination if you ever visit South Kalimantan. One point of interest is Loksado, a small traditional village in the regency of Hulu Sungai Selatan. Among the things the place has to offer are bamboo rafting tours, hiking trails through its many hills, and observing the local culture. I was exceptionally excited to visit this place as I've seen a video on Instagram showing the wonders of Loksado and I thought that was very intriguing. As a an outdoorsy type of person myself, I think nothing could beat the immersion you have with nature while rafting down the jungle river.
Another intriguing part of the place is the local demographics of the region. A very interesting remark Alvian told me was that a part of the population formally identifies as Hindu. Back then, I thought you could only find notable numbers of Hindus in Bali and Java, but there is in fact a pretty interesting story behind the ones in the Meratus Mountains.
During the latter half of the 20th century, the Indonesian government formally recognized only six religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Roman Catholicism), Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. As a citizen of the country, you are legally required to identify as one of them. However, the Dayak (and many other indigenous tribes of Indonesia) holds the traditional belief of Animism (attribution of a soul to objects and nature) that does not exactly adhere to any of the recognized religions. As Animism itself isn't an established belief according to the government, some of these people chose to identify as Muslims or Christians (which are more commonly found throughout Indonesia) but a good part also identify themselves as Hindus, more specifically Karahingan Hindus. It's a very interesting topic that has a lot to do with colonial history and socio-political authority that I can't possibly do justice going over in this blog, so I suggest you look more into that. Thankfully, since 2017, the Indonesian Government has formally recognized beliefs other than the six established religions under the term "aliran kepercayaan".
Fern bracelet
One of my most favorite souvenir that I got to bring home with me is the traditional bracelet made out of parts of a fern plant. What's unique is that these bracelets are made by wrapping and weaving the material directly onto your wrist, so that the only way to take it off is by cutting it. Of course, I was excited to get such a uniquely traditional attribute on myself. However, this made me go into a dilemma as my high school at the time wouldn't allow such accessories to be worn during school, yet I would be really sad to have to cut the bracelet in order to take it off. In the end, I just enjoyed what time I have left of my holiday wearing the thing, only then to cut it when school starts again. I still keep it as a memorabilia though.
Navigating the Sweltering Swamps of Bararawa
Our last and northern-most stop in this trip was a village unlike any other. Houses and other structures here are built upon either one of these two categories: stilts or floats. This is Bararawa Village of the Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, a small community that hails from the heart of South Kalimantan's river swamps. To even access the place, you need to charter a two hour long boat ride not far from the nearest major settlement, Amuntai, a duck-mascoted town (seriously look it up it's kinda cute tbh). That is two hours of you sitting pretty while the noise of the boat motor pierces your eardrums. It's not actually that bad, especially if you have company to kill time with by chatting it through the journey, albeit having to scream in each other's face just to be able to understand what you're saying.
Me and Alvian were accompanied by two of his colleagues, Akhdi and Reza, which he got to know from the regional student organizations. Being locals of the regency, they acted as our de facto guide that answered all my obnoxious questions about every little observation that I found interesting. We disembarked from the docks of the port, and soon found ourselves in the midst of a sea of reeds. That's all there is for miles, just reeds as far as the eye can see and the occasional islands with trees on them. The only clear path is the waterway that connects all these small settlements with the larger ones. Along the way, we must have passed through a handful of other villages just a bit less remote than Bararawa. These places are a hub for fishermen and not too rarely too do we see cultivation towers/buildings for swallow birds. Their nests are a highly sought after commodity, a famous delicacy believed to contain many health benefits. The further inland you go, the less of them you'd see.
Bararawa's design is a linear settlement as it conforms to the length of the river, no longer than two kilometers. For a small village that is literally built on the surface of a significant water body, it doesn't lack the characteristics of any other typical community. An elementary school with kids running around the wooden decks, a central mosque, fully functioning regional office, and other such things make it seem like such a normal place to live. I just still couldn't get used to the fact that the whole place is built on stilts! It feels kinda otherworldly being there in person, and that is awesome. Another thing I notice was how hot it was. I guess the tropical sun is not shining its rays here any more intense than any other place, but the water that's evaporating from below makes it so much more humid. Feels like being in a steam pot for the most part. Other than that, this place is famous for its herds of water buffaloes that instead of walking, graze the reeds by swimming around. These large animals in the hundreds make for a stunning show whenever they are out and active looking for sustenance.
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