Off to Borneo

Other highlights of possible roundtrip itineraries are Martapura, a town famous for its diamond trading- and polishing industry, rafting on Dayak bamboo rafts along the Amandit river, and above all, using a river houseboat to explore Tanjung Puting National Park. The park houses Camp Leakey, a celebrated Orang Utan rehabilitation centre, where visitors get to see these endangered apes up close. Unlike in Malaysia, chances of seeing wild populations of Orang Utans are very high. Nearby Pankalanbun airport can be reached directly by domestic flights from Jakarta, Surabaya and Semarang and is more and more the preferred choice of visitors to enter Kalimantan. This area of the island has not seen any deforestation as partially encountered on the route coming overland from Banjarmasin.