Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Tawau to Tarakan, Borneo

Anna's entry:
We chose to cross the Malaysia-Indonesia border by boat, making a crossing from Tawau to Tarakan. Surprisingly for the border town and a port, Tawau was pleasant and very friendly. We didn't spend too much time here, but while there, were treated very well and felt welcome.
The boat price went way up in price (and not the quality), the sailing was delayed by two hours, the passengers were friendly but very loud (lots of kids and shouting), and getting to the bathroom was an experience in itself. You would have to climb piles of boxes, seats and people, but that part didn't bother me too much. What happened after the arrival was another story....

We arrived into a port of Tarakan (Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo) a lot later than expected due to a long delayed departure from the Malaysian side. That meant no currency exchange options. The port was located about 4km out of town, and not having a local currency, we couldn't really use a pubic bus service, so we started to walk. We decided to walk for about 2km, and find the place to stay on the South end of town. The first km, the second km.... Where is that edge of town? We asked locals for directions and they told us we were on the right way, we just have to walk further. So we did, but walking further just didn't seem getting us closer to town. It was getting dark, we didn't have any local money, and we didn't have a place to stay yet... We were welcomed by hundreds hello's, smiles, and waiving hands, but still no edge of town was in sight... We kept walking with our huge backpacks, sweaty and tired, politely responding to all the smiles and hellos. How much further do we need to walk? At one of the corners a local guy welcomed us and asked where we were going. We told him "Yos Sudarso". He told us we were still about 4 km away. He motioned us to sit down on the bench next to his shop while he began talking to another young guy. Then, he said he had two motorcycles, and that he and his friend could give us a ride to town. Not having many options we decided to do it. They gave us helmets, and we were off on the motorcycles though busy streets, we realized how far we would have had to go if not for this ride offer. The motorcycle was designed for one person, so there was no support for the feet, and yet we managed to fit two people, one large backpack, and one small day backpack. They dropped us off at the hotel we wanted to stay at only to find out that all rooms were full. We felt bad keeping them late and offered to pay for the ride. They refused to take it, but we insisted and they highly appreciated it. They were still worried about us not being able to find a place to stay and kept offering their help. We told them the name of another hotel that we could consider, and we were off again on the motorcycles to our next destination. Luckily, that hotel had rooms available, so we were OK, or were we? Apparently, the hotel had to have payment before the check-in (which we normally do)m but wait, we still don't have a local currency, and all the money change facilities are closed... The guy at the reception did not speak English, but through a gesture language and writing, Rob was able to explain the situation and offered to give $8 (hotel cost) until the next morning when we could exchange some local money. The receptionist agreed, and Rob followed the same approach in securing a couple of cheap delicious Nasi Goreng's (fried rice with vegetables, chilies, and fried egg) from a street stall seller.
We took a cold bucket shower (cold water and a bucket is often the only option in SE Asia), and were ready for a good night sleep. Around 5 a.m. I was woken up by a local mosque call - the singing is conducted in the microphone so that the residents could join in prayer even if they were a air distance away from the mosque. At 5:15 another mosque joined in singing, also in microphone. And, and 5:30 a.m. The third mosque joined in. So, there we had it, beautiful exotic voices singing all over the town roofs until around 5:45 a.m. At 6 a.m. we finally went back to sleep, however, about 30 minutes later were woken up by persistent knocking on the door. What now? We opened the door - the hotel guy was standing with a smile and a tray. "Breakfast, breakfast," he said. The tray had two cups of tea and two cups of coffee so we could choose, and carefully prepared toasts, without a crust, with pineapple jam. How could we be mad at being woken up when such an attention to detail was given? I must say, the coffee was absolutely great - fresh and delicious, if not counting the numerous grinds that were not sifted. No prob on my end.
That morning, we put currency exchange on priority, but the (mis)adventures continued. We visited every bank in town to find out they do not accept AmericanExpress Traveler's checks. We came back with cash for exchange to find out that either the banks did not want US dollars, or they want only 100 USD note bills. What?? Apparently, local people want only 100 USD notes, and smaller ones are not "in style". Are you kidding me? I thought Indonesia is supposed to be poor? OK, we came back to the back the third time with 100 USD notes, but this time we were told that only the bills with H and F series were accepted, while ours were B and C's. Are we in twilight zone?? We went back and forth in circles for about 4 hours trying to exchange the money and no bank wants the USD. Is this for real? Is the US economy really that bad that even the developing world countries do not care to have the dollars? Then, we considered using ATMs, nope, not going to work - only 100 USD withdrawal max per day with huge fees. Finally, we went to our last option - private money changer, the only one in town. And, much to our misbelieve were able to exchange the USD (including smaller denomination bills) at a reasonable rate, yes, that happens sometimes. Finally we could pay for our room, get some food, and plan our next step. What a relief...
We headed out to get some food, which was somewhat scarce in Tarakan during the daylight hours. We found a street stall that happened to be right next to the guy selling live chickens. The guy helped us to figure out what the food items were, and we had a decent snack.
The next stop was to find out the boat situation to our next place - Pulau Derawan. Should be pretty easy I thought. Not really, the information in our guide book was outdated (not the first time), no one spoke English, and boat ticket office was unreachable. Kalimntan (Borneo) has very limited roads, and a lot of the travel is done by water ways. Eventually, we found out our plan of action. No, there is no direct boat. We'll have to take a boat, bus, another bus, and another bus. OK, it is going to be another long day.
We stayed another night in Tarakan, had another coffee-toast breakfast the next morning at 6 a.m., and we off to the boat pier. It was raining, we were still tired. Why are we doing this? As we walking through the puddles of water carrying our heavy backpacks, a local man on a motor bike honked at us, have a big smile and big thumbs up. And then, it occurred to me... Maybe it is not always about our strengths, maybe it is our weaknesses that make us appreciate and accept who we are? Maybe we learn and become stronger when we feel weak, and maybe it is OK not to have all the answers all the time.
Being welcomed constantly by complete strangers, friendly hello's and waving hands, we finally considered a possibility that Indonesia may just become a big hit.


Note kitty on top of something in a grocery store...


Boat from Tawau to Tarakan

posted by Rob and Anna @ 6:00 AM