Friday, July 27, 2018
Today, Nazar and his family took us to see the countryside of South Kalimantan, along with a ride down the river on a bamboo raft. It was a four hour drive, so we needed to get off to an early start. Above is the sunrise near our hotel. Beautiful.
The bridge near our hotel in Banjarmasin. The sun rises at 6 a.m. and sets at 6 p.m.
Nazar always worried about me being a vegan in Indonesia, so his family brought me this traditional rice that is compressed in banana leaves and covered in a sweet peanut sauce. Amazing!
Unlike Jakarata, the sky is blue and the water is clear. The entire ride up, the streets were lined with houses and storefronts. Most families have a storefront or restaurant with their home next to or behind the establishment. Also, there are many mosques and places to pray. Nazaar and his family pray five times a day.
That's me on our raft. We noted that this would never fly in America. There would be wavers to fill out, an instructional video, harnesses, and leather seats. Also, you would think this is a 15 to 20 minute excursion, but we rode down the river for almost two hours. Peaceful.
That's what the raft looked like. One man guided us along using bamboo staffs. He made it look easy, but I found his ability to navigate rocks above and below us to be astounding.
Group photo. Nazar has a wonderful family. We had a great time together. Nazar mentioned that he had a family wedding to attend on Sunday and felt sad we could not join them. I felt really close with them and would have liked to have been to a traditional Indonesian wedding with good friends.
Me in front of as small waterfall on our hike.
Some of these bridges made me feel like Indiana Jones.
Group picture on the hike. Tomorrow we are off to Jakarta. I will miss South Kalimantan and the friends I have made, here.
How did your guide manage to navigate rocks below you? Was the river shallow enough that a simple reflection of the sun's light allowed him to get a good look below?