East Kalimantan Tourism Travel Guide

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East Kalimantan Tourism Travel Guide and Tourist Information.

East Kalimantan is the second largest province in Indonesia, located on the Kalimantan Island region on the east of Borneo Island and also the oldest Hindu kingdom in Indonesia, Kutai, the existence of which is attested to by a stone manuscript which is now kept in the National Museum in Jakarta. The manuscript is written in the Pallava alphabet and the Sanskrit language. The replica of this manuscript can be seen in the Governor’s Office in Samarinda.

The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda (the capital and a center for timber product) and Balikpapan (a petroleum center with oil refinery). Ever since Indonesia opened its mineral and natural resources for foreign investment in 1970s. Area of East Kalimantan is approximately 211 440 square kilometres (about 28% area of Borneo), the capital city of East Kalimantan Province is Samarinda. Home to the longest river in Kalimantan, the Mahakam river, where freshwater dolphin can be found. Its surrounded forest (80 percent of this province is covered by forest) and river. River is vital to society in East Kalimatan, other than as a source of well water for transportation. Most can be navigable rivers and rivers of which there are eight major cruise lines that are important, namely the Mahakam (920km), Kayan (576km), Sesayap (278 km), Sembakung (278 km), Segah (162 km), Belayan (319 km ), Kendilo (191 km), Kelay (254 km) and Berau (292 km).

East Kalimantan located between 1130 44' - 1190 00' east longitude and 40 24' north latitude and 20 25' latitude south, with borders to the north with the state of Sabah (East Malaysia), while on the west side of Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Sarawak (East Malaysia). On the east by the Makassar Strait and Sulawesi Sea, while in the south with the South.

East Kalimantan is growing to be an industrially advanced area. This is contributed by its position as a major producer of oil and timber, and as the second largest province in Indonesia. Also home to Kalimantan's indigenous inhabitant, the Dayak Tribe (Kutai, Tidung), in this province visitor can find many of Dayak cultural materials and other prominent migrant ethnic groups include Javanese, Chinese, Banjarese, Bugis and Malays, who mostly live in coastal areas. Population growth in East Kalimantan, characterized by a predominantly ethnic structure of migrants, so the natives a minority.

Beside oilfield exploration, natural gas, gold mining and agriculture, East Kalimantan also has tourism object that is become tourist destination and its not less interesting to the tourist destination in Indonesia, such as Mangrove Forest, Derawan Islands in Berau Regency, Kayan Mentarang National Park ini Nunukan, Crocodile Husbandry at Balikpapan, Dayak’s Pampang Village in Samarinda and many others.

East Kalimantan tourism travel guide and tourist information popular destination :

Crocodile Husbandry.
Crocodile Husbandry is located at east of the airport, about 27 km from down town Balikpapan. Visitor can feed to crocodile with a chicken that bought in that place, seems become entertainment amusement for some people. The area of this place is about 5 Ha widths with about 3000 tails Crocodile that consisted of three types that is Muara Crocodile, Supit Crocodile and Swamp Crocodile.

Kemala Beach.
Kemala Beach is located in the heart of the city of Balikpapan, its tiny white sandy beach that offers a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere, beside the beach it self, there is also foodcourt arranged nicely on the beach complete with a touch of candlelight in the evening makes this beach an option to enjoy dinner by the beach in the open air.

Manggar Segarasari Beach.
Manggar Segarasari Beach is broadly 13000 m2 has clear seawater, small waves and white sand. This beach is balmy place for they, who wish to swim, sail and also volley beach. The Beach location is resided in Manggar and Teritip sub-district with distance about 22 Km from Balikpapan downtown.

Derawan Island.
Derawan Island is preserve area at the Eest coast of Borneo, Berau Regency and it part of Sangalaki island, which is located not far from offshore Batu foreland, between Berau and Tarakan. This island has beautiful panorama with clean white coast with adjoining coconut palm forest, and a number of small villages encircle island. This place has known as sea tourism location especially for dive and snorkeling activities. Although situation of outlying, but the popularity of Derawan Island and islands in vicinity increasingly as location sea tourism. The marines around Derawan Island is rich with fish especially a kind of fish that always forage on the surface of water whereas birds fly above it to pounce adrift food on the sea. Green tortoise, which is scarce laid eggs along the Derwan Island beach. Beside for swim or sunbathing this island is popuar and well know as sea tourism especially for dive and snorkeling activities.

Dayak Pampang Culture Village.
Pampang, a village inhabited by Kenyah Dayaks, an indigenous people of Indonesian Borneo, was recently declared the first "culture village" in the province of East Kalimantan. This study traces the development of "Pampang Culture Village" and examines the incipient effects of tourism on the lives and livelihoods of local people. Even as the village's cultivation as a tourist destination has begun to garner benefits for residents, their role in the enterprise remains ambiguous. Left unresolved, this confusion could contribute to fissures within the community.
Pampang, which in the Indonesian language means "expansive," is populated mostly by people known as Kenyah Dayaks, among the largest Dayak groups in Kalimantan. Like some other Dayaks, many Kenyah refer to themselves as "people of tradition" (masyarakat adat). However Dayak traditions, like Dayak languages, vary widely across the island. Kenyah are further divided in subgroups that speak distinct dialects and whose customs vary. These subgroups are sometimes called uma or lepo. Kenyah who live in Pampang today include representatives of several different lepo. Thus, unlike the situation in more remote Kenyah villages where nearly everyone may speak the same dialect, two neighbors living in Pampang may speak quite differently from one another. The Kenyah practice a hereditary ranking system that includes aristocrats (paren) who traditionally comprised the villages' political leadership, various types of commoners (panyin), and, formerly, slaves (ula). At the same time, traditional patterns of leadership are gradually changing as villages become increasingly incorporated in state administrative structures, and the role of church leaders in many communities is increasing in importance (Conley 1976:187-201). The relative affluence of some families who participate in new wage-earning opportunities has also affected the balance of power. Thus it is not surprising that questions of cultural identity and the effects on tourism many dimensions of local community life loom large in Pampang.

Isuy Cape (Tanjung Isuy).
This little settlement around Lake Jempang in the lake-studded East Kalimantan hinterland, has a traditional Dayak long-house which has been turned into lodges for visitors. The grave of a Benuaq Dayak chief lies aside the hamlet's only road. Visitors are usually given a traditional Benuaq Dayak welcome. The trip to Tanjung Isuy over the Mahakam river is a long but interesting one past floating villages and forest scenery. If you are lucky, you can watch a belian,or witch doctor, dressed in his skirt of leaves, cures his patients at night by performing the rites prescribed by ancestors to the frenzied accompaniment of gongs and drums. Many Benuaq Dayaks still prefer the old cures to the modern ones at government public health centers which are nearby.