Hornbill home

Native to many parts of the Indonesian archipelago, the species common to Central Kalimantan is known as the burung tingang or tingang hornbill. It is a magnificent bird with striking white feathers in the mostly black plumage, and crowned by its glossy yellow horned bill and jaunty red crest. I heard a story recently which relates that, once the eggs are laid in a cosy hole in a tree, the male bird then closes it with twigs and mud, apart from a small feeding space it uses to bring food to the broody female. Whether true or not, we often catch glimpses of hornbills (or they of us?) swooping across the rivers. Since the forest on nearby land has been left to regenerate, and all birds protected, many species of hornbill have been spotted by keen birdwatchers. The feathers were greatly prized by locals, and some can still be seen adorning the headgear of traditional dancers. This carving was made to decorate a sandung, or traditional bone house.

Pagatan by speed

A group of friends here are talking about taking a taxi speed boat to Pegatan on the Java Sea to see proboscis monkeys. From Palangka Raya it takes about 4 hours by speedboat down the black water Sebangau River. Winding through uninteresting country initally, land that has been logged and burned, the boat reaches the mangroves, standing in the quiet, still black waters which are fed by many streams and canals draining from the peat domes in the Sebangau National Park. Leaving the dark river behind, the speedboat bursts onto the Java Sea for a 30 minute bumpy ride to pass on the sheltered side of Damar Island before reaching Pagatan. This port town sits on the tip of the sandy promontory at the mouth of the Katingan River. A town on stilts, with tidal waters creating large differences in river levels, Pagatan lives from trading and fishing. They also want to initiate a tourism enterprise on Damar Island, where they say a white ocean beach is the main attraction. I hope the proboscis monkeys are still as numerous as they were during my last visit in 2003, when the attached photo was taken from our boat. We'll let you know!

Speedboat trips

Trips by speedboat are one of the perks of living in Central Kalimantan. Speedboat taxis regularly service routes to regional centres that are usually inaccessible by car, especially during the wet season, when roads are turned into mud baths. The boat trips can be as short as an hour, for a cruise on the Rungan River, or as long as 4 hours, to Tumbang Malahoi and Pegatan, on the Java sea, or even 6 hours if travelling upriver to Tumbang Hiran. These journeys are exciting and comfortable in the big boats, designed to carry 20 or more passengers under a tarpaulin. You can sit back and enjoy the passing river scenery through a cool curtain of spray. Just as some roads can be impassable in the wet season, so the levels of many rivers go down in the dry, hot season to reveal rocky rapids, sandbanks and fallen trees, and often closing the rivers altogether.

Borneo Beat Newsletter, June 2007

The longhouse at Tumbang Malahoi

Longhouses, or betang, are traditionally built up the rivers by extended Dayak family groups seeking protection. A 3 hour trip by speedboat up the Rungan River to the village of Tumbang Jutuh, and then a short but rough road trip to the tiny village of Tumbang Malahoi, brings you to an area outstanding for its old longhouse and traditional carvings. This betang, lived in by 23 successive generations of the same family, also houses in front of it, the sandung, or ritual burial structure holding the bones of past family members. Flanked by tall totems representing some of those buried or guardian figures, the whole stands opposite ascention poles, said to be needed for each soul to reach heaven, on the back of one of the hornbills at the pinnacle. This betang stands on magnificent ironwood poles soaring 7 metres overhead and is clad in bark. Clambering up to the dim interior on niched poles, worn smooth by countless feet, is an entry to a bygone time. Before having to return to the speedboat, a walk through the village yields many other fine examples of sandungs and their guardian poles.

Isen Mulang Festival

The Isen Mulang Festival is an annual event in Palangka Raya which brings together dancing groups from all the regions in Kalteng. Dressed in stunning costumes, and providing a magnificent splash of colour for the Governor's VIP guests before they enjoyed their meal in the traditional longhouse, these dancers were competeing for the winning laurels throughout the 5 day festival. Other hotly contested events included fireball, wood chopping, blowpipe and forwards/backwards test of strength paddling orbesei kambe! Why not arrange your holidays here next year? This festival brings the city out to the stadium and onto the streets to create a lively, almost riotous event. Capped by a public concert with both contemporary and traditional music and dance forms, this is a true festival of the people and of their living culture.