{"id":379,"date":"2023-05-03T10:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T02:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/?p=379"},"modified":"2024-03-19T21:28:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T13:28:08","slug":"boat-ride-sabah-kalimantan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/boat-ride-sabah-kalimantan\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun Boat Ride in the Heart of Borneo (Sabah and Kalimantan)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Borneo Island is the third largest island in the world, and its territory is shared by three countries, i.e. Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak States), Indonesia, and Brunei. Though the land border of Sabah and Kalimantan (Indonesian portion of Borneo) spans more than 300 KM, there is no highway to connect both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Left:<\/a>
Left: Map of Borneo and its countries. Right: river passage from Sapulut to Kalimantan (North Kalimantan Province)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, for thousand of years, people of Sabah have been going in and out of Kalimantan freely. Dense forest and treacherous terrain form the natural barriers between Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo, but human can get around these by network of rivers that cover the inland of Borneo. For example, you can reach Kalimantan from Sapulut, a small district in Sabah interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Village<\/a>
Village next to the river<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’ve tried the boat ride from Sabah to Kalimantan, which takes only 1.5 hours, to experience the ancient river passage in the Heart of Borneo.<\/strong> Overall, it’s a fun river cruise to explore the scenic countryside of two countries. Please read on if you want to know how I travelled between two countries in half a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kampung Salung Jetty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First we drive about an hour on the gravel road from Sapulut town to the jetty of Kampung Salung (Kampung<\/em> means Village). On the way, you would see dozers and trucks are busy upgrading the 38-Kilometre road from Sapulut to Pagalungan town. Salung Village is somewhere in the midpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Road<\/a>
Road between Sapulut and Pagalungan town under construction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The road is located near the Sapulut River, which flows to Kalimantan. As Sapulut is a mountainous region, road is expensive to construct. Though this road may eventually connect to Kalimantan, that would be an ambitious project that needs a lot of time and fund to complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kampung<\/a>
Kampung Salung, starting point of the river cruise. Mia and Barbara follow us for the rapid shooting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kampung Salung is a peaceful village next to a big river. After we park our car and take a toilet break, we depart at 10am on a 20-feet-long traditional wooden boat that is powered by two engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ready<\/a>
Ready to depart from Kampung Salung jetty on a twin engine long boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n