Southeast Asia 14th Edition, March 2008 [PDF] / se-asia-14-indonesia

310 K A L I MA N TA N • • P o n t i a n a k

May. Unlike Kalimantan’s usual urban sprawl, Pontianak’s inner core, now centred along Jl Gajah Mada, thrives. An 18th-century gold rush attracted waves of Chinese immigrants; their ancestors and influence remain, though Pontianak’s sophisticates sip coffee, not tea, at roadside cafés.

Orientation & Information

Airport taxis into town (15km) cost 60,000Rp. Opelet (3000Rp) routes cover downtown. Main streets have ATMs aplenty.

BNI bank (Jl Tanjungpura) Changes money.

Borneo Access (%081 2576 8066; www.borneoaccess

.com) Alex Afdhal, West Kalimantan Guides Association general secretary, arranges tours and is a fount of regional knowledge and enthusiasm.

Kalimantan Barat Tourist Office (%742838; Jl Sutoyo 17; h8am-2pm Mon-Thu, to 11.30am Fri) Friendly Pak Iwan speaks English and has myriad travel suggestions.

Klinik Kharitas Bhakti (%734373; Jl Siam 153; h24hr) Medical services.

Mitra Tour & Travel (%733544; Jl Teuku Umar Komplek; per hr 4000Rp; h9.30am-midnight) Internet access, plus air bookings.

Panorama Anugrah Pratama Tour & Travel

(%739483; tour_panorama@yahoo.com; Jl Diponegoro 149) Air, boat and Kuching bus tickets with local delivery, plus responses to English emails.

Post office (Jl Sultan Abdur Rahman 49)

Book accommodation online at lonelyplanet.com

oAteng House (%732683; atenghouse@yahoo

.com; Jl Gadjah Mada 201; s/d incl breakfast 79,000/89,000 plus 15% tax; a) This place bills itself as a transit hotel but it’s plenty comfy for longer stays. All rooms include air-con and homely extras such as bedspreads and drinking water dispensers. Above is Ateng Tour for travel assistance, and opposite Borneo’s best Java at Cafe Corner.

Food and coffee stalls spring up nightly all over Pontianak, the widest selection along Jl Gajah Mada. Eat and drink until at least 10pm. For a stellar Chinese street feed, try

Sam Hak Heng (mains 8000-14,000Rp), a stall opposite Hotel Gajahmada.

Getting There & Away

AIR

Batavia Air (code 7P; %734488; www.batavia-air.co

.id) flies to Kuching (US$45), Putissibau (725,000Rp) at the head of Sungai Kapuas, Pulau Batam near Singapore (continuing to Pekanbaru), Jakarta, and Surabaya via Yogyakarta. Kal-Star (%

and DAS (%736407) fly to Ketapang (320,000Rp) and Pangkalan Bun (600,000Rp). Kal-Star also serves Semarang (1,170,000Rp). Garuda (code GA;

%734986; www.garuda-indonesia.com), Sriwijaya (code SJY; %768777) and Adam Air (code KI; %767999; www

.flyadamair.com) also fly to Jakarta.

BOAT

Riverboats for the 800km journey to Putussibau are now very rare.

Pelni (%748124; Jl Sultan Abdur Rahman 12) ships leave every other week for Jakarta (210,000Rp, 36 hours), Surabaya (197,000Rp, 40 hours) and Semarang (165,000Rp, 38 hours) from the harbour at Jl Pa’kasih, north of the Kartika Hotel.

Titian Kapuas (%731187; Jl Usin 3) sells tickets for

Dharma Kencana to Semarang (179,000Rp, 32 hours) and Marisa to Jakarta (170,000Rp, 32 hours). Daily jet-boats travel to Ketapang (90,000Rp to 135,000Rp, six hours), near Gunung Palung National Park.

BUS

Pontianak’s intercity bus station is in Batu Layang, northwest of town. Take a boat across the river to Siantan bus terminal for a white bemo to Batu Layang, or a direct bemo from Jl Sisingamangaraja.

Several companies along Jl Sisingamangaraja and at the south end of town on Jl Pahlawan offer executive bus service to Kuching

I N D O N E S I A

312 S U L A W E S I • • M a k a s s a r ( U j u n g Pa d a n g )

(see boxed text, p310), Sintang (90,000Rp, nine hours), Putussibau (200,000Rp, 20 hours) and Sinkawang (40,000Rp, 3½ hours). Fares are higher than at Batu Layang, but consider the savings in time and hassle.

Getting Around

Opelet routes run throughout town (3000Rp). Unmetered taxis can be flagged down or picked up from the stand near Matahari Mall at Jl Pattimura and Jl Jendral Urip. Becak congregate near Katedral Santo Yosef on Jl Pattimura. River ferries (1000Rp) cross from the Kapuas Indah building to Siantan bus station. More frequent motorised canoes (3000Rp, charter 10,000Rp) to Siantan depart next door.

SULAWESI

Directly north of Nusa Tenggara is a twisted orchid of an island, with four mountainous peninsulas that sprawl haphazardly into the sea. This is Sulawesi – once known as Celebes – and within her mountains, river valleys and coves are jaw-dropping landscapes, evocative cultures, spectacular beaches and damn-good food. The surrounding sea is blessed with world-class coral walls, and pristine underwater canyons and caves that nourish an amazing variety of sea life. The diving around Pulau Bunaken is the biggest draw, but the entire island deserves tropical playground status. And if you explore deeply, Sulawesi will give you a buzz that’s hard to shake.

Getting There & Away

AIR

Garuda, Merpati, Lion/Wings and Adam Air service domestic routes to Sulawesi, via Makassar and Manado. SilkAir flies from Manado to Singapore four times a week.

BOAT

Makassar is a major hub for the Pelni network, with nearly a dozen liners servicing ports throughout Sulawesi. See www.pelni

.com for details.

MAKASSAR (UJUNG PADANG)

%0411 / pop 1,380,800

Makassar – the long-time gateway to Eastern Indo, and Sulawesi’s most important city – can be unnerving, so most travellers immediately

Book accommodation online at lonelyplanet.com

head for Tana Toraja. But there’s poetry in this mad swirl. Chinese lanterns dangle and sway from makeshift power lines in the bustling seaside city centre that’s home to some of the best eating in Indonesia. The busy port is stacked and packed with Bugis schooners, and the neighbourhood surrounding it is accented by children playing football on dry docks, as huge trucks are loaded down with endless bananas and a windfall of rice.

Makassar played a key role in Indonesian history. The 16th-century Gowa Empire was based here until the Dutch weighed in. Three centuries later, in the 1950s, the Makassarese and Bugis revolted unsuccessfully against the central government. Loud, independ- ent-minded, intense and proud, Makassar certainly leaves an impression.

Orientation & Information

Hasanuddin airport is 22km east of the city centre, 80,000Rp by taxi or 4000Rp by pete- pete (bemo). Most of the action takes place in the west, near the sea. The port is in the northwest; Fort Rotterdam is in the centre of the older commercial hub. Countless banks with ATMs surround Lapangan Karebosi. Wartel are ubiquitous.

Cybercafé (%322664; 3rd fl, cnr Jl Kajaolalido & Jl Ahmad Yani; per hr 6900Rp) Web connection above Pizza Ria.

Main post office (%323180; Jl Slamet Riyadi 10)

Rumah Sakit Pelamonia (%324710; Jl J Sudirman 27) Well-equipped hospital.

Sulawesi Tourism Information Centre (Dinas Kebudayaan & Pariwisata; %872336; Jl J Sudirman 23; h8am-4pm Mon-Sat) Helpful staff, minimal maps.

Sights & Activities

Fort Rotterdam (%321305; Jl Pasar Ikan; admission by donation; h8am-4pm) dates from 1545. First a Gowanese fort, usurped by Dutch forces in 1667, this is one of the best-preserved examples of colonial Dutch architecture in Indonesia.

Bugis schooners dock at Pelabuhan Paotere (admission 2000Rp), a becak ride north from the city centre. This place is captivating. You can spend hours wandering the sweltering alleyways.

Sleeping

New Legend Hostel (%313777; Jl Jampea 5G; dm/s/d 50,000/75,000/100,000Rp) Legend is the best budget traveller’s choice. The digs are clean, there’s an attractive art gallery–café upstairs and management is friendly and knowledgeable.