A journey to Pontianak, West Kalimantan 2013 (Part 1)

West Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat in Indonesian Language) is one of the five Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. The borders of West Kalimantan roughly trace the mountain ranges surrounding the watershed of the Kapuas River, which drains most of the province. Its capital city is Pontianak, located at the Equator line. 

From Kuching, Pontianak is only accessible by air and by land. MasWings a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines operates the air route and the air travel takes about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, buses to Pontianak can be boarded at Kuching Sentral (about 7 miles from Kuching city centre). Pontianak is 6 hours drive from Kuching (10 hours if using the old road). Read here for Maswings latest air routes around Borneo. 

We decided to celebrate the long Gawai (harvest festival) holiday in Pontianak city. Gawai is celebrated on June 1st and 2nd, every year in Sarawak.

According to folklore, the 'pontianak' is a vampiric ghost in Malay and Indonesian mythology. The pontianak are said to be the spirits of woman who died while pregnant. The word 'pontianak' is reportedly a corruption of the Malay perempuan mati beranak, or 'woman who died in childbirth'. Another theory is that the word is a combination of puan (woman) + mati (die) + anak (child). The term matianak means 'death of a child'. The city of Pontianak is named after this creature, which was claimed to have haunted the first sultan who once settled there.

Our journey by bus.

The bus journey took us more than 10 hours, it was a mind blowing experience. The road journey is not for the faint hearted traveler. If you are the type that suffer from motion sickness, this journey is not for you. We were surprised that the bus took a fourth unscheduled stop along the journey. It turned out that a lady was so sick that she spent her time vomiting in the bus toilet. My children, on the other hand were tough cookies, they were munching their potato chips throughout the journey much to the surprise of the other bus passengers. What the other passengers did not know was that, the two had already traveled by land all the way from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to Kuching, Sarawak twice. The journey to Pontianak was an extension of their Borneo adventure.

For more information on Eva Express buses, click here. I sent them an email and Mr. Nelson, the owner of Eva Express replied my email. He even helped us arranged for a vehicle (Toyota Innova) with a driver to pick us up at the hotel in Pontianak for our journey to Singkawang.

Bus on the way to the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.

At Tebedu (Sarawak border).

Walking to Entikong Immigration check point (Kalimantan, Indonesia border).

First stop at Roda Minang, pure wilderness. It was in the middle of nowhere.

This is what we saw along the journey, green forest as far as the eye can see.

Lorries hauling loads are common scene in Borneo due to the limited and expensive alternative transportation system.

Checking in at Hotel Kini. Exhausted beyond words.

Inside our hotel room.

Bear in mind, you must take down your luggage for security screening at Entikong Immigration checkpoint. Malaysian has to fill in disembarkation card, the bus operator will provide this card at Kuching Sentral. A german who was traveling with us in the same bus, was taken to a small room for an interview. I think it was part of the entry requirement for a foreigner from European country. We, on the other hand, headed straight to the immigration counter.

Overall, it was a tiring long journey, we felt like we were walking on air when we reached the Eva Express office, in Pontianak. Luckily, the chinese coffee shop next to the office was still opened, we decided to have our dinner there at the advice of Pak Lau (the manager of Eva Express in Pontianak). We were extremely lucky, Pak Lau arranged for us to be sent to Hotel Kini in his van by his second son. Hotel Kini is just a block away from the bus office. I am not sure if the new Pontianak bus terminal is ready at the time of typing this blog entry. We were told that Eva Express buses would ceased to stop at their town office after the completion of the new bus terminal.

By the time we reach our hotel room, it was time to hit the hay and drift off to sleep. We had to get an early start in the next morning.

My next post will be about the journey to Singkawang.