Tarakan, Capital Northern Kalimantan

Indeed, as I had been warned there weren’t a whole lot of things going on in Malinau and it was with an eagerness I was getting on the boat to Tarakan, capital of the north, a boat ride from which I came. Funnily, a capital situated on an island outside of Kalimantan island.

It’s always with an excitement I learn how I’m greeted at a destination’s entry point, be it an airport or dock. I find it says much about the culture one’s visiting. It’s a relief when they’re not being too aggressive in their attempts to offer me “help”. In the case of Tarakan, I learnt they were mostly friendly.

I succeed in finding a motorbike from one of the employees working at the accommodation I’m staying at. I take it for a ride to see what’s on offer, coming across a good bit of friendly, local life curious to see a white man.

In the evening as I stop by a food center, a young man approaches me. He’s a speaker of English, one of few and has come from Java to work. As I’m told, the more central islands of Indonesia is a overcrowded, so many find themselves on the move to other islands in search of easier lives. An occurrence that have been going on for some time, referred to as transmigration; in turn a source for tensions arising between various ethnic groups.

We agree to go sightseeing the following day. He takes me to see some of the popular spots of Tarakan as well as to the local university. It was interesting to see the conditions and observe more the ways things function at this level of society.