Indonesian Archipelago Series-7: Balikpapan, Borneo

Voilà! After two weeks of landing in East Kalimantan (Borneo) and being very tired of the internship routine, my friend and I tried to explore Kemala Beach, which is located near the Perjuangan Monument and near the Benua Patra Beach. She was also an intern at Pertamina but at the part of Process Engineering. From the boarding house in the navy complex we take an angkot, bemo or here called a taxi to Balikpapan Super Block (BSB) Mall. Interesting fact is that here they call the old public van as taxi and the real taxi as argo, which means the price meter inside the real taxi. The price started at 9000 IDR or around 80 cents. We should have taken two taxis from the navy complex to the BSB mall. In the BSB section of Penta City (a new part mall) there is H&M. Since in Surabaya there was no such thing, we just bought some outfits. I know that here in Europe, H&M is like a class of students, whereas in Indonesia it is still considered costly to shop in H&M. We then went to the information center which one we should choose: the Benua Patra Beach was with Kemala, then they said Kemala. So, off we go there!

Kemala Beach 

We arrived at the beach before breakfasting time because at that time we were in the month of Ramadhan. It is a period of time where the muslims fast since the sunrise until maghrib time. They end it at Eid-Al-Fitr day.  Because we entered before breakfasting, no staff was there so the entry ticket was free. After breakfasting, it may start at around 5,000 rupiah, I guess. Inside the beach complex, there is a restaurant that sells a variety of Nusantara seafood, which was surprisingly open during the Ramadhan time. Too bad we didn't make it to taste some.

Kemala Beach is covered with white sand, very clean because it might be too quiet at that time there were only two of us and 5 other people. From a distance, we could see the  tanker ships or perhaps crude oil storage vessels headed for Pertamina Balikpapan RU V jetty. In the outside area of the restaurant there are chairs like white benches that match the palm tree, woody gazebo and sand. On the left side there is a pier where many people are fishing so we decided to go there. It turns out that the way to get there must pass the Monumen Perjuangan, as a hommage to the heroes fighting for our independence. There were some youngsters doing skateboarding so we spent some time to watch their practice. At the end of the day, we joined some friends for breakfasting. It is at Pasar Segar which can literally translated as Fresh Market. Here, you can find hundreds of food stalls and you can just sit and eat in every outer part of each stall. We ordered Middle Eastern food consist of curry and roti. 

Crocodile conservation Teritip 

The distance is about 1.5 hours from the city center. From the direction of the city, the closest is Lamaru Beach then Teritip. They are in the same direction so we started from the farthest one: Teritip. This Teririp crocodile breeding has been there for couple of years but when my friend was in elementary school, which means around 2000, this place used to be the family trip destination or school trip destination. Entrance fee per person is 15,000 and 5,000 four-wheeled vehicles which is in total like 1 euro. I know, everything is so cheap compared to euros.

After the entrance gate there was a traditional Kalimantan house and there are two elephants that are rolling around in the mud! It was really a magical view and I was kind of sure they are there not for the sake of touristic attraction. At the beginning, I was fooled by the small location, not as what I imagined. So there is a kind of pavilion where we have to take off our shoes where around the pavilion there is a sake-wall and trellis which are actually crocodile cages. The first crocodile that I saw was the buaya sumpit or chopstick-mouthed crocodile! They are indeed so unique because of their mouths shape which resemble chopsticks. They were very static, just kept being quiet. Sadly, the pond in this part is really small, maybe only 3 × 3 m2. It's a pity if they want to take a dip they have to take turns between them. The pool is also full of lichens. These are the chopstick-mouthed crocodiles:

Apparently, on the right side there are other cages but bigger ones. It contains baby or estuary crocodile. One pond can accommodate 60-80 young crocodiles. I could not imagine the heat, poor little crocodiles. Honestly, I do not know if these people are doing the best for the crocodiles. Actually the most exciting thing is that if we throw a chicken into a pond, that cost around 10000 IDR or 80 cents. But I don't know why at that time we were not in the mood of seeing the crocodile being barbaric so we just strolled along the rest of the park. 

It turns out that if you continue to go inside, there are still many zones containing each of around 70 estuarine crocodiles. In addition there are two giant pools where the breeding parents were kept separately. Well, these two were looking so much like what I imagine Amazon will be and are very much in line with my expectations. What is unfortunate is the condition of the walls and the cubicles have begun to be damaged by visitors with stupid writing and some torn wooden doors may be due to crocodiles. Well, it is scary for that broken part. So in total, there are around of 500-1000 crocodiles in this whole place. There are also shops that sell processed products such as crocodile satay and some body parts that I have never heard in my life before. The seller said it was for medicines. I did not and would not try. 

At the end of the route, you can take a picture with a replica of crocodile. When I was around, I kept thinking about Steve Irwin, the documentary film host on animal planet who died while shooting with sea animals. I sent my prayer for him! He must be happy if he can visit this place! I hope that the management really take care for the cages condition, cleanliness and especially the sizes of them to create larger spaces for the poor crocodiles. Well, I am not a crocodile effort, this is just my point of view as a visitor. 

Lamaru Beach 

Our next stop was Lamaru Beach, just about 10 minutes from Teritip by car. Lamaru Beach is now managed by the hotel management, not by the local government anymore. That's why admission is priced at 15,000 or 20,000 per person around 1-2 eur. Because it is also more crowded compared to Manggar Beach, which is neaby. I forgot the exact price. But Lamaru beach is indeed so peaceful and beautiful.

A tips if you come here is that you should bring your own hammock because when else will there be a beach that also has a pine forest? The brownish white sand is more brown than Kemala as I remembered. Many wooden pegs are set as a wave or tidal boundary. As far as I remembered, there were only us and 3-5 other cars there. Otherwise, it was so serene maybe also because we visited during Ramadhan time. 

Bukit Alpha (Alpha hill) 

So, actually this hill is not an official hill for tourists. It was just like jaddih hill in Madura, East Java in terms of its license. The entrance was so remote, if from Lamaru to the city look for the sanitary landfill signboard then turn right. The road is a bit narrow until you find an alley on the left side of the road which was much narrower. Fortunately, our car could get inside and there was no need to travel far in the middle of the day and some of my friends were fasting.

After going up the road a little uphill, we became so disappointed because most of the hill area was burnt because it was deliberately burned, we dunno what for. This is another kind of Teletubbies Hill in its own way. At that time, I thought of the sequel to Supernova written by our famous author Dewi Dee Lestari that took place in this kind of hill.

If you have time, have a seat in the famous crab restaurant Dandito where you can have crabs with so many different sauce options. People even bring this crab in ther airplane cabin because they just love it so bad. I have not tried it yet. 

Balikpapan is so far kind of like Surabaya, East Java in terms of modernity. Most of the people are here to work in the offshore and the refinery around the city. That is why the prices are almost double the price you can find in normal city in Java, Surabaya for example. For a bown of bakso or meatball, for instance, we had to pay 20,000 or 1.2 eur while in Surabaya it can be the quarter of it. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to visit Borneo in my life. My goal is to visit all the main islands of Indonesia. 

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