Penetrating Sungai Mahakam

Sungai Mahakam is the second longest river in Borneo, at just under 1,000 kilometres it isn’t a matter of popping up and back in a day or so. Winding deep into the heart of Borneo it bears you into the mystical realms of headhunting tribesmen, traditional longhouses, and a way of life that is only now succumbing to the advances of modern life. It’s the only practical transport route into the heartland, without river transport the communities would be virtually cut off from the rest of Borneo. It promised to be anything but straight forward, which is just what I wanted! While it’s recommended to catch a bus to Kota Bagung from Samarinda, and miss the heavily industrialised lower reaches of the river, I opted to do the entire length by boat, of one sort or another. The kapal biasa, public ferry, goes as far as Long Bagun when the water level allows. These are double decker ferries with open communal sleeping arrangements. Raised platforms line each side of the upper deck, sleeping spaces benefit from a thin kapok mattress. Other than that you bring your own comfort. (Photo: Typical Kapal Biasa, with handy viewing platform on the upper deck - Sungai Mahakam, Samarinda, Kalimantan)

I nearly missed the damned thing, courtesy of NatWest bank putting a stop on my cashcard. Burdened by a heavy load and buggered knees I loped rather than ran down the dock, only to see the boat a metre from the dock. The kind-hearted skipper eased back towards the dock, allowing me to step across and be hauled aboard. Thank God for small mercies, fate had dealt me a bum hand that morning. Only sheer bloody-minded determination drove me on, just managing to reap the rewards of not quitting. (Photo: The product of open caste mining - Sungai Mahakam, Nr Kota Bagun, Kalimantan)

An expanse of silt laden, murky brown water spread before me. With little early morning traffic the river seemed at a standstill, only slightly ruffled by a light breeze. The deep throbbing of a powerful diesel engine drowned out other back ground noise. It wasn’t exactly deafening, in fact I found it a comfort, like the sound of a well tuned engine on a motorbike while you're riding. The forward motion, helped by the breeze, carried the worst of the noise and any exhaust fumes away from my perch above the skipper on the bottom deck. Tailgating another ferry belching black smoke, I choked on thick cloying clouds of diesel fumes. A sure sign its engine suffered from neglect, which, thankfully, my own ferry showed no signs of. The quality of many river boats leave a lot to be desired, safety issues are common. In reality you accept what’s available, otherwise you’d be waiting an eternity. Whilst my kapal looked nothing special, the sleeping area was clean and mattresses relatively new, rubbish bins were provided (though rarely used) and both the toilets and kitchen area were spotless. The Nissan diesel, which sat in plain view, looked clean and well cared for, it suffered from no untoward mechanical noise. (Photo: Outside toilets come docking platforms - Sungai Mahakam, above Kota Bagun, Kalimantan)

Kapal biasa act as passenger and goods carriers. They handle small scale, private loads for distributors further upstream, cigarettes, mineral water and other common consumables. The lower deck is for the goods, though cheaper tickets are sold to travel on the goods deck. A single deck version of the kapal biasa transports mainly goods, they are the same size and design, simply without the extra passenger space above. (Photo: A pretty little floating home, a far cry from some hovels - Sungai Mahakam, Kalimantan)

Boats of all shapes and sizes plied the waters, most common were the squat and powerful tugs. They were the workhorses and invariably belonged to large commercial concerns, mainly timber and mining companies. Pulling barges the size of football fields, they shipped down colossal quantities of timber and power station grade coal. Their range upstream was limited, water levels in the higher reaches make navigation to unreliable for these ungainly behemoths. Despite its size the Mahakam has quick changing water levels. Twelve hours of rain might make passage possible for some of the largest boats, while twelve hours later they might be become stranded as levels plummet once more. Water levels were low the day I boarded, the ferry could only sail as far as Tering a mere eighteen hours upstream, from there I’d have to negotiate passage on a speedboat. I can remember the days when the banter over price used to amuse, nowadays people seem less inclined to accept a reasonable price from a foreigner, you pay over the odds or go without. fortunately for me they were kind enough to let me sleep on the Kapal, so I wouldn't have to contend with haggling over price until the morning. (Photo: Goods carrying kapal run aground - Sungai Mahakam, Nr Long Bagun, Kalimantan)

Everything has a tree-lined background when viewed from the river, even the city of Samarinda has a backdrop of tree clad slopes. It can be misleading, areas devastated by mining or logging aren’t apparent from the river, all you can see is one small clearing, or the conveyor belts used to load the coal onto barges. Of them there were plenty, rows of them in places. Observing the numbers of loaded barges does it apparent how badly the forest is being depleted. (Photo: Logging raft being brought downstream for loading onto barges - Sungai Mahakam, above Long Bagun, Kalimantan)

As far as I can tell the mines are operational up as far as Melak, which is about a third the way up river. But the bulk are lower down, transportation being the big factor here, the further upstream you go the more expensive fuel becomes. It has to be lugged from Samarinda. They use long, low and wide boats to carry barrels of fuel, with three  engines strapped to the transom. A separate handler is used for each of the outside engines, which are used for steerage. The middle, bigger engine, is the powerhouse providing forward thrust only. They are shallow draft, so ply the entire length of the river despite low water levels. Even shooting the rapids far upriver, which makes them one of the most versatile, if cumbersome looking, boats on the river. They’re really a broad and very long version of the canoes, or ces as they’re referred to locally. Apart from the tugs, and an occasional heavy plant transporter, only the speedboats resemble modern day boats. Everything else is made of hardwood to traditional design. The important part is the engine used, this really determines their use. Small ces with low horse-power engines stand no chance against the rapids up river, though a few hardy souls use more powerful outboards and power through. Considering how little freeboard they have I think it’s suicidal. (Photo: Scenic riverside view, overcrowded with secondary growth - Sungai Mahakam, between Tering and Long Bagun, Kalimantan)

For me the Mahakam conjured up images of wild Borneo, overgrown rain forest and near naked natives toting blowpipes and bows. But I’m not naïve enough to have been expecting that in reality, not in this day and age. So I wasn’t too disappointed to find the first stage of the journey a voyage past well-developed villages and lots of commercial exploitation. It was my choice to see it in its entirety, I didn’t want any romantic illusions, they’re too easily shattered. That doesn't mean to say you can't recognise it when you see it. (Photo: Romantic sunset along the river- Sungai Mahakam, Kalimantan)

However much I prepared myself though I was quite overwhelmed by the amount of riverside frontage that had been claimed for human habitation. The first few hours seemed to unveil nothing but settlements and commercial operations. Admittedly, trees crowded the banks between them, I only wish they had been old hardwood giants. But no, tangled together and battling for the brilliance of the sun they may be, primary growth it is not. Land around the villages had been cleared for cultivation on a domestic scale, bananas, coconut palms, papaya and maize were the most common. Homes were also shoulder to shoulder as though fighting for space, hanging high over the water’s edge on stilts and generally in decent condition, if in need of a lick of paint. Without fail they were built of tropical hardwood, no doubt locally sourced. No wonder the nearby primary growth had vanished. (Photo: Towering cliffs cut off escape from extremely shallow rapids - Sungai Mahakam, Kalimantan)

I do wonder whether so many independent settlements may be due to transmigration, a policy of the Indonesian government to move people of heavily populated areas into newly developing areas. Many people I spoke to are not Dayak or from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). They’d been given financial incentives to move here and settle down, promises of land and a better quality of life. (Photo: Reflecting on riverside life, the calm before the storm - Sungai Mahakam, Kalimantan)

As we approached each settlement the ferry skipper would give a long blast on the ship’s horn, announcing its presence. Seldom would he need to stop, more often than not when he did it was to drop people off. Sure people travel upriver to visit family and relatives, or return home, but the main attraction for river dwellers is the big city lights. Whether for business or pleasure, Samarinda was the lure. Travelling downstream passengers were picked up, upstream was mainly to drop off those on board. The nature of housing slowly changed as we progressed, or at least became more varied. The stilted houses still lined the shoreline, but floating houses appeared and grew ever more common. In fact, in time, every village expanded into the river, two or three homes deep. At first there were only floating docks extending into the river, with outside toilet cubicles. But they expanded into shacks, and eventually quite elaborate houses were common. Some of the finer examples were gorgeous, brightly painted with wide curtained windows, table and bench outside, and a ces, just as nicely painted, moored alongside too. (Photo: Traditional Longhouse, now used only as a meeting house - Sungai Mahakam, Long Bagun, Kalimantan)

The demarcation between wealth and poverty wasn’t transparent for a while, but as we sailed further the disparity grew wider. I’d say the further upstream you travel the more poverty you encounter. Living on the water was the cheapest option, you needed no land ownership and accommodation tended to be a lot more basic. Some of the places were hovels, water lapping over the doorstep, slowly rotting into the fetid water. They were held stationary by surprisingly thin rope anchored to a convenient tree, or simply lashed to their neighbour’s raft. (Photo: Winding through a slalom of course of rocky outcrops - Sungai Mahakam, above Long Bagun, Kalimantan)

Construction of these floating homes couldn’t have been simpler. They all rely on tree trunks for flotation, the number of which and size really depended on the required dimensions of the house. Two or three are generally used, braced and spaced by sawn hardwood joists. Cheaper versions would build directly onto the initial set of joists, leaving a space of only ten centimetres from the water and the floorboards. Obviously it makes a stronger and drier house to use a second set of joists, doubling the clearance underfoot and probably increasing the longevity of your home exponentially. Uprights, as far as I can tell, are bolted to the joists, if time and money is spent they will actually be jointed, as will the rest of the framework. Cheap and shoddy homes are nailed together with little forethought or planning, they tend to degrade very quick, hardwood or not. There’s a depressingly high number of dilapidated shacks to be seen, luckily many in very good condition. Much of the trading is river borne, so living on the river doesn’t have to mean you’re poverty stricken, in reality a lot are though. (Photo: Hard to starboard, or is that port? - Sungai Mahakam, On the way to Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

Properly constructed they seem to last an indefinite period of time. Once you have the frame, sturdy or otherwise, all you need is to clad it in nice hardwood planking. I’ve seen a couple of guys cutting planks, they used a chainsaw and cut by eye, the planks are remarkably uniform in thickness. Some homes have extended porches, walkways, even chicken runs and storage sheds. Whether during construction or after, you can simply add another trunk and  extend to your heart’s content. Having a walkway all around is favoured, making it look like a house sat on a large raft rather than an integral construction. The toilet cubicle will be perched near the edge of the raft, inside which is a hole in the floor and a plastic pan to scoop water from the river below, so you can wash yourself clean after your ablutions. The final touch, and an important one, is a docking buffer, as you don’t really want something as large as the kapal biasa nudging into your main structure. Hence another log or two, the length of your raft, with a number of recycled truck tyres for extra stopping power. (Photo: As the river narrows the water gets faster, and more fun - Sungai Mahakam, On the way to Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

 River flow isn’t too fast, it’s quite steady and carries flotsam and jetsam downstream at a reasonable rate. The flotsam consists of an abundance of driftwood and natural waste, the jetsam a whole host of unsavoury substances. Basically the locals throw everything into the river, literally emptying their rubbish bins into it. But the worst for me is the sewage. All the floating homes, and the docks with outside toilets, have nothing but a hole in the floor to vacate your bowels through. Considering the number of them, and the number of people dependant on them, that’s a lot of shit each day. Bear in mind the rows of toilets, and that they use these docking points to bathe from. To me that’s a considerable health issue. People are bathing a few metres downstream of where their neighbour is having a dump. They even dip their toothbrushes in the water to brush their teeth. As cholera isn’t running rampage I must assume the river deals with it quite efficiently. I can’t bring myself to bathe in the open water, bathing in sight those toilets turns by stomach. Though all the showers and mandis use untreated river water, so I am in effect still washing in sewage water, eeuwch! (Photo: It's nice to throw a couple of cheeky monkeys into the fray - Sungai Mahakam, On the way to Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

The exposed banks are strewn with rubbish, eddies between homes are collecting points for it. Outside each home overlooking the river is a dumpsite for household waste, cascading down towards the river. Every can, bottle, plastic bag or wrapper used on the boats are thrown straight into the river. It’s a nightmare, and not a single person shows the slightest hesitation or concern over doing so. There must be thousands of tons of rubbish disgorging into the ocean from this one river alone. (Photo: Gradually getting rougher, the rocks get bigger the water more turbulent - Sungai Mahakam, On the way to Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

Once halfway up river it becomes less developed, there are fairly long stretches with no villages. A few isolated abodes are evident, but not many organised settlements. The one’s you come across are increasingly likely to be Dayak villages, the head-hunters of old. Longhouses are still very much the centrepiece of the villages, none are used as communal housing any longer, but there are some lovely examples to be seen. They're cherished as part of their heritage, but have been relegated to community meeting places. Exquisite carvings stand guardian at the entrances, intricate designs grace the outer walls, and some even display the tribal weaponry and musical instruments. Traditional clothes are worn for ceremonial occasions in a few places, but everywhere daily clothes are strictly western style. Women no longer stretch their ear lobes, though you do see them on some of the eldest women. They became frowned upon, viewed as uncivilised, women even went as far as cutting off the stretched lobe. Tribal tattoos also went out of fashion, for a while. With recent influences they’re starting to make a comeback, many young men have tattoos in traditional designs. I failed to determine whether there are particular symbols for particular achievements in life, as there used to be. Like many dying cultures it is making a resurgence, this generation look as though they’re beginning to fight afresh for their tribal identity. (Photo: Traditional practice of stretching ears - Sungai Mahakam, Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

Few foreigners make it very far up the river, it is a long slog though not especially hard. For those who do the welcome is superb. Without fail I’ve been greeted with warmth, treated with respect and bombarded with questions I don’t understand. In general I’ve been charged fairly, and while they’ve been openly envious of my wealth few have showed desires to unfairly relieve me of it. To me my wealth is a misconception, but I know they’re right, I am wealthy beyond their dreams. Hell, it’s nothing to me to blow a cool million in a day! (Photo: Looking further upriver - Sungai Mahakam, Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

For me the highlight of coming so far up river was the rapids between Long Bagun and Tiong Ohang. Thrilling or what! To travel so far up here and not shoot the rapids would be a waste. There are four distinct sets of raging torrents to overcome. Travelling upstream they get progressively better as you go, but you do need a 400 horse power speedboat to take you through, and they don’t come cheap. The prelude alone is exciting enough, it’s a high speed slalom through large looming rocks and towering cliffs. With few distractions on the bank it’s better to sit back and enjoy the rush. Banking over hard, left, right, left again, and sharply to the right, you twist and turn through narrow channels, almost scraping giant boulders, watching jutting rocks whizz past the hull. Juddering over shallow rapids makes your teeth chatter, your spine jar, it increases the grin factor, builds up the excitement. There was no shortage of shallow rapids, they reminded me of riding over washboard trails on my motorbike. (Photo: Full force of water, a very strong flow - Sungai Mahakam, On the way back from Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

Only the day before water levels had been too low to attempt the rapids. I didn't give a damn as we approached the first crushing body of water rushing full force between two huge boulders, pounding through the defile, erupting over jagged, half concealed rocks, I was eager for some action. Awsome, utterly brilliant, the raw power of water crashing through a confined space never fails to impress. The boatman’s skill was admirable, matching his speed to the onslaught of water he’d nudge the throttle forward a touch more, gauge his best course of action and launch the boat into the tumult, powering through the torrent.  I was grinning from ear to ear. After each rapid they looked for my approval, it was always a thumbs up exclaiming the only word they might understand, ‘bagus,’ good! And as I said, it just got better. Taking photos was nigh on impossible, but I had to give it a go. I’ve been white-water rafting and thoroughly enjoyed it, never have I tackled tumultuous rapids in a speedboat though, it was fantastic. There’s something about pitching horsepower against the power of nature, weaving in and out of rocky projections, forcing a path through violently boiling water, adjusting your plan of attack and gunning the engine to pull you clear. Yeah, it’s not so different than riding a bike over arduous terrain. (Photo: Shooting the rapids - Sungai Mahakam, On the way back from Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)

The water level dropped again over night. I hadn’t planned on returning so soon, but water level dictates life on the river. If I hadn’t taken the opportunity when available there might be no telling when I'd be able to leave. Quite a few people had the same idea so we were full to the gunwales, therefore sitting quite low in the water. So much so that for the roughest of the rapids we had to walk around while the boat plunged through the most treacherous parts. Due to the boatman over loading the boat, maximising his profits, our draught had doubled, he either had to unload luggage or passengers. Some will take half the load and half the passengers, then return for the rest. This guy was lazy, he wasn’t about to waste his precious time or any more fuel than absolutely necessary. I wasn’t complaining, the ride was still worthwhile, and it gave me a chance to watch the boat in action. I was most impressed seeing it negotiate the wild water, it was lost from sight completely for a split second as it’s prow plunged deep into the breaking water. Shooting the rapids was a large part of why I came all the way up the Mahakam, and I can only say it was worth every damned minute. I haven’t seen much in the way of wildlife though, so now I want to go in search of some animals. (Photo: Boulders the size of trucks - Sungai Mahakam, On the way to Tiong Ohang, Kalimantan)