Banjarmasin on a Shoestring: Sweat, Numbers, and Regret
i've been in banjarmasin for what feels like a decade, but it's only been four days. my brain is fried from the heat and these numbers: 1628884 and 1360020231. they're scribbled on my hand, on a napkin, in the margins of my notebook. i think they're coordinates, but google maps laughs at me when i type them in. maybe they're the combination to a locker at the bus station? who knows.
anyway, the weather here is a beast. i just checked and it's...32.44 degrees celsius, but it feels like 36.87 - like i'm wearing a wool blanket in a sauna. humidity at 56%, pressure 1006, and the sea level is 1006? i have no idea what that means, but the air is so wet i can wring it out of my shirt. if you like that kind of thing, you'll love banjarmasin.
look at this map i pulled up:
see all those blue lines? that's the barito river and its tributaries. banjarmasin is built on water, and right now, the water is in my shoes.
i'm a budget student, so i came here to 'experience culture' on 30 bucks a day. laugh all you want, but i found a hostel for 100,000 rupiah a night on Hostelworld - yes, that cheap. it has a fan, but the fan just moves hot air around. still, it's better than the street where i saw a man napping on a pile of tires.
neighbors: if you get bored of banjarmasin's canals, palangkaraya is a three-hour bus ride away. i heard that the orangutans there are friendlier and the coffee is stronger. or you could head to balikpapan for beaches and oil rigs, but the bus ride is notorious for motion sickness. someone told me to take Dramamine, but i forgot, and now i regret everything.
reviews: i relied on tripadvisor for the floating market, but the reviews are all sugar-coated. TripAdvisor Floating Market says it's 'magical,' but at 6 am, it's just a bunch of boats with bananas and tourists taking selfies. i heard from a local that the real magic happens at 5 am when the fog is thick, but i was asleep. yelp recommended a satay place that turned out to be a hole in the wall with no menu - perfect, until i realized i couldn't communicate and pointed at a chicken. Yelp Banjarmasin might save you if you speak indonesian.
i also used this indonesia travel forum Indonesia Travel Forum where someone warned about the chili in sambal. they said 'pedas means pain,' and i learned that the hard way. my mouth is still on fire. another forum post mentioned a secret waterfall near martapura, but i got lost and ended up in a rice field. worth it? maybe.
oh, and those numbers 1628884 and 1360020231? i think 1628884 is the price of a boat tour in rupiah, and 1360020231 is the number of mosquito bites i have. okay, exaggeration, but it feels like it.
i've uploaded some photos from unsplash to give you a taste:
see the humidity? it's visible.
lastly, i heard a rumor from a drunk backpacker that the best kopi in town is at a place called 'kopi tubruk' behind the stadium. i went, and it was gritty and strong, just like i like my coffee. no fancy lattes here, just black gold.
so, if you're coming to banjarmasin, bring sweatbands, cash, and a sense of humor. and maybe decode those numbers. i'm still trying.