Hi,

Has somebody traveld in Borneo or is planing so?

I will drive my sidecar from south to north from end of Oktober to end of November.

Would be nice to meet someone on the road, or to get new informations about ferrys, road conditions, border...

Greetings Heiko

Which port do you hope to arrive at, and leave from?

Hello,

I will take the Ferry from Surabaya to Banjarmasin and leaving in Kuching/Malaysia probably by Air.

Can you tell me about road conditions, specialy as rain season is mooving in?

Thanks Heiko

Sorry I cannot comment on the West side of Kalimantan, I spend my time on the East side mostly Banjarmasin, Balikpapan, Samarinda, Bontang, Sangatta and further north on the east coast.

I took the ferry from Java to Borneo last week (Oktober 2012) here are the Infos

Ferrry Surabaya - Banjarmasin

The Surabaya Ferry Terminal is in Tanjung Perak habour north of the cente. Car/Truck Ferrys to Benjarmasin run at least every second day.
I shipped with PT. Jembatan Nusantara, but there might be more companys sailing to Banjarmasin.
There is also a Ferry from Semarang to Banjarmasin.

I bought my ticket from an agent, but I am sure he overcharged me. His office is on Jl.Perak Timur No. 308 (Just u-turn in front of the habour gate and drive back for 1-2 km, the office is at the lefthand side). Next time I would try to find the official ticket office.

The passengerticket cost 200.000 IDR (17€) and the ticket for a scooter is 350.000 IDR. As I travel with a sidecar, my Agent charged me 1.300.000 IDR for the Sidecar ~3,5 times scooter. Lucky day for him...

My ferry depart at 7PM and takes around 20h. It was quite a large ferry but I was the only falang.
The big economy sleepingroom has AC and no karaoke so I sleept well. Cabins were already sold out.
In Benjarmasin the ferry-Terminal is about 5 km southwest of the center (market).

Greetings Heiko

I just finnisched the first part of my Borneo-Tour (in Okt. Nov. 2012)

From Banjarmasin in the southeast to Kuching in the northwest. Traveling clockwise I took following route:
Banjarmasin to Sampit(415km); to Pangklanbun (245km); Nangabulik(110km); Kudangan(110km); Nangatayap(75km); Sandai(40km); Tayan(190km); Pontianak(116km); Ngabang(150km); Entikong-Bordercrossing(150km); Kuching(100km)
Altogether close to 2000km and it take me 8 riding days.

Roadconditions:
Good paved road from Benjarmasin to Kudangan appart from some short construction areas and a few large pothols. Around Kundangan the road is new, but bridges are under construction. From Kudangan to Nangatayap the road is paved till past the West-Kalimantan-Province border. Then there is a stretch of 50km earth road winding through the jungel. Nice and mostly smooth to ride during dry weather. But seems to be slippery/muddy when wet. From Nangatayap further north to Kuching the road is paved, and in good condition.
Small scooter or overloaded Big-Bike even midsize Truck can travel all the way. (Dryseason)

Petrol:
There are enough Gas-Stations on the way, and if not (No open Stations between Nangabulik and Tayan) in every Village you can by Petrol out of glasbottels from private shops. So no worrys.

Orientation:
Some roadsighns, helpfull people everywhere and a Reise-Know-How map, had no GPS-Map

Bordercrossing:
40 minutes in total. You need a Carnet.

Accomidation:
In the bigger citys are hotels. In between I slept in Nangatayap (basic losmen) nearh the Intersection wehere you have to turn east (traveling nort to south) GPS:1°30'57''S, 110°33'49''E and Tayan (Hotel Marinas GPS:0°2'7''S, 110°6'51''E). Ferry crossing in Tayan is some kilometers east of town.

Hope this Information will help other travellers on this less traveld route.

Greetings Heiko