With a 0715 bus departure, I had to wake early to catch a taxi to the bus station called Kuching Sentral which is on the outskirts of town, next to the airport. I hopped into the taxi five minutes before 0600 not knowing that it was only five minutes till the 50% night surcharge was lifted.
It was a costly mistake, but I tried to tell myself that I had saved a similar amount by booking the bus ticket online. As the taxi driver drove like a madman in the dark while the streets were still clear, I reached the station in about a third of the time it would have taken during the day. As it was very early still, I had a coffee and some breakfast of pau (superb!) and curry puff.
I collected my boarding pass and waited for the bus. I boarded a few minutes before the official departure time and found myself to be the only passenger. A few others turned up later and we eventually departed 30 minutes later. Going through the countryside around Kuching, I was reminded by the presence of many churches that the rural population is largely Christian. Being a city-slicker, I tend to forget that.
We collected a few passengers at Serian before eventually getting to the border town of Tebedu 2 hours after departure (seems like quite a long time for a short journey). We had a scheduled breakfast stop here and were welcomed by Rehana and Lilik, two Indonesian dancers (statues) into the restaurant. After that, we reboarded to be taken to the Malaysian immigration checkpoint. We disembarked and cleared immigration before continuing by foot to the Indonesian side to do get our entry stamp and luggage scanned. The Indonesian officer by the name of Henry asked me something about my feet and heaven … as it was a bit noisy, I shrugged and said I didn’t understand. I then changed some money into Rupiah right under the sign “No currency exchange services and hawkers allowed”.
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- Rehana and Lilik welcome us into the resto at the border town of Tebedu.
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- Walking from the Tebedu checkpoint in Malaysia to the Entikong checkpoint in Indonesia. Indonesian checkpoint in photo.
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- Local bus at our stop.
About 5 hours after we had set-off from Kuching we arrived at a lunch stop. The food didn’t look too appealing so I gave it a miss. There was no significant big town en route to Pontianak at all. There were many villages, again largely Christian. Dangdut music (thankfully muted), filled the bus for much of the journey. The areas as we approached Pontianak were very low lying. Many homes were surrounded by black canals, some of which had overflowed to take over their front yard. While it looked somewhat picturesque, I didn’t think it was the best living environment with malaria and dengue in mind.
Some 9 hours later (including 2 meal breaks) we crossed Equator monument and then the bridge which spanned the mighty Kapuas River to arrive into Pontianak. To Malaysians, this city is named after the ghost of women who die during pregnancy. The name always brings a giggle. But to Indonesians that variety of spirit is known as Kuntilanak.
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- Another local bus with our bus in the background.
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- Hawkers at the lunch stop.
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- Lunch stop from Entikong to Pontianak.
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- Many homes near Pontianak are on low-lying marshy peat soil which is nearly black. In high water, the homes are often surrounded by black water.
Hopping into the taxi to my hotel, I was offered girls, pork and dogs. Pontianak is very Chinese (Teochew) city and I it shows; I never get offered anything like this in the other cities!
After checking into my hotel, I went to the ATM at the Bank Danamon (I always think Doraemon, for some reason). There was enough daylight for me to sit on the sidewalk and grab a slushy fruit shake.
Having a fruit shake after arrival.
After dinner, I christened my sleeping bag liner (bought in Saigon). The typically budget hotel doesn’t change the blankets after each guest and doesn’t provide a top-sheet. In all my years of travel, I’ve just grimaced … but now I have a sleeping bag liner 🙂