Boating about splendid Banjarmasin

Text and photos by Simon Marcus Gower

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan (JP): Sixteen hours of travel in our jet-setting age would probably make us think of a flight from Jakarta to Western Europe but if you take a slow boat from Surabaya, East Java, 16 hours would be your journey time to Kalimantan (or Borneo, as it is more typically known in the West).

This particular boat, a Korean built ferry, that now steams under the name of Marina Nusantara, offers a pleasant, if long, voyage across the Java Sea to Kalimantan. The staff are welcoming and one of them in particular - the customer relations officer - (coincidentally named Ferry) is extremely diligent in his efforts to welcome passengers.

But after so many hours aboard, the sight of land becomes quite welcome and one is pleased to be chugging up the deep Barito River heading for the port of Banjarmasin. As the boat's engines recede and we glide up the river towards the docking point, it is quickly apparent that Banjarmasin is a busy industrial center.

Huge saw mills, plywood factories and coal ports line the river and large machinery stands as testament to the industrial output of Banjarmasin. Large clusters of deep green vegetation float down the river, presumably washed down from Kalimantan's rainforests. In fact much of that rainforest can be seen floating in the river, in the form of huge tree trunks awaiting processing in the mills and factories of Banjarmasin.

Read of Banjarmasin and one may come across a description of it as "the Venice of the East". In terms of rivers and canals weaving their way through the city, there may be some comparison but architecturally Banjarmasin has little of comparable quality or aesthetic note. Rusting corrugated steel regrettably predominates throughout much of the city leaving little to attract the eye.

One exception is the centrally located Grand Mosque which, with its modern, low elevation dome and similarly domed minarets, has quite an imposing presence.

Banjarmasin may not have the architectural splendors of Venice but its waterways are every bit as busy, if not more so. Klotoks (a form of motorized gondola), persistently chug along the waterways and high speed narrow boats sweep up and down the wider canals and rivers carrying every kind of passenger - from workers commuting to their offices or factories to a whole host of traders and school children going to and from school. The houses that line the canals and rivers also add to the vibrant nature of the waterways.

Standing, sometimes precariously, on tall wooden pilings that look like stilts, thousands of houses line what are effectively the water-borne streets of Banjarmasin. From these houses people may be seen bathing, fishing, doing their laundry, (less pleasantly) going to the bathroom and children may even be seen swimming and diving in fun from the "backdoors" of their homes - their backyard play area being the water.

The waterways are quite literally alive with people, either directly in them or very near to them.

On top of the water, sellers and traders of almost every imaginable kind can be viewed navigating the waters in boats of a variety of shapes and sizes - from sellers of basic food commodities and clothing right through to pharmaceutical traders and waterborne cafes from which meals may be ordered and duly prepared on the narrow boat.

Floating market

There is, though, a location on the outskirts of town, (on the Barito River), where trade on the water is a hive of swarming activity - namely, at the Pasar Terapung (floating market). Here, even before the sun has risen on a new day, dozens of boats congregate to trade their fresh fruits, vegetables and fish. It seems that it is "trade" in the true sense of the term because, on this particular visit, not once was any monetary payment seen to be made. Exchange of goods and an accompanying bartering system seems to be the way business is done here.

Young and old women alike skillfully paddle their narrow boats through the congested traffic of the market, seeking out their deals and making their trades. The men, meanwhile, tend to maneuver the bigger motorized boats that carry larger quantities of goods.

The skill of the paddling women does not truly become apparent unless one actually takes to the water. Numerous "taxis" and "buses" scoot along the river sides but once "out and about" on the waters of the deep and wide Barito River, one quickly becomes aware of the bumpy and hazardous ride the river can give. In order to maintain direction (and indeed remain afloat) no small amount of expertise is required to overcome the difficulties of these congested waters. Navigating such waters is complicated by the intensity of vessels on the river.

Not only are there river-going vessels but sea-faring cargo ships and barges are also able to travel far up the Barito River, (thanks to its width and depth). Thus the big ships that come in to gather their cargoes of timber products and coal add to the swell and generally challenging choppiness of the river.

The hazards of these waterways seem to present little challenge, though, to the local "navigators", and buses heavily laden with early morning passengers headed for the factories and mills of Banjarmasin are readily converted into "double-deckers" with passengers jumping aboard onto their rooves. Fear of falling does not seem to be an issue for these passengers, no doubt years of similar travel has equipped them with ample balancing skills to handle the bumpy river-ride atop a narrow boat on a deep and wide river.

Humans are not, however, the only "inhabitants" of the Barito River, for in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of markets and industrial complexes is Monkey Island. This small isolated island is home to a colony of monkeys -- mostly macaques but unseen proboscis monkeys are also apparently present here. A boat may be taken to this island and fun may be had feeding the monkeys but caution should be taken because although the monkeys are only small they can be quite aggressive and snarling faces and exposed teeth can strike fear in the more sensitive visitor.

Back in the center of the city near the Grand Mosque on a Friday one sees the central role the waters of Banjarmasin play in the lives of its inhabitants, (and indeed vice-versa). The crowds flocking to the mosque for Friday Prayers mostly arrive via the rivers and canals of the city. From new speed-boats bringing small families through to larger, longer narrow boats "taxiing" and "bussing" people to the mosque, the masses gather for their religious devotions.

Banjarmasin may not have any great aesthetic appeal and its architecture may, largely, have the look and feel of neglect as it falls into disrepair (perhaps it will eventually fall into the rivers and canals). But as a watery world of intense activity and life it is an unusual and interesting point of destination.

Modernity may be changing this "Venice of the East" with greater pollution levels coming from the big cargo ships entering the rivers and from the tiny klotoks that pollute with their dirty noisy motors, but Banjarmasin still maintains an unusual character and rarity of nature that is a sight worth seeing.