Current Location : Samarinda, E.Kalimantan
Last entry date : 07/Mar/09

Scene at one of the rough section of the Tanjung Redeb to Sangata jungle road. Almost every vehicule that climbed this slope had to be pulled out. Great driver solidarity seen here.

From 27/Feb to 07/Mar/09

……… I know, I know I am a bit late to update this site with postings of my trials (since end Jan !!) into Laos, back to Thailand, Malaysia, into Singapore for repairs, then to Sabah in E. Malaysia. Well … meantime here’s some FLASH NEWS from East Kalimantan, Borneo.

Have not expected it to be so …. TOUGH to get into Borneo Indonesia from the Eastern side. No one expects a biker to come in. Those officials on duty for years don’t remember having seen one. Just as TOUGH once in (details later on).

Just got out today from 3 rough days of Borneo jungle road. It’s the meanest I’ve seen so far.

Meantime enjoy some of the photos I picked out. There are plenty more to come.

24 Responses to « FLASH NEWS from East Kalimantan, Borneo ……… »

  1. Toutes les autres routes vont te sembler bien faciles maintenant!!:)On était bien loin d’imaginer tout ça. On a adore la façon indonesienne pour conduire un bateau!!Biz. Lydia et les enfants.

  2. Siew Hoon & Victoria7 March 2009 à 8:17 pm

    Hi-Sheen,
    Good to hear you’re O.K., & about yr. experience in the jungle. Great photos. Enjoy yr. journey further, & take care.
    Siew Hoon.

  3. Salut!!
    comment vas tu? j’ai passé la journée avec Lydia et les filles et gem elle nous a fait de bons petits plats miam!!!
    c’était super, profite bien de ton voyage et fais attention à toi.
    Mon stage se passe bien, ca fait déjà une semaine.

    je t’envoie de gros bisous!

    Oriane

  4. Hi Sheen,

    Way to go! It must have been very tough on you but when you gotta do it you gotta do it. I’m glad you had plenty of help along the way. The pictures of the jetty and the houses are so beautiful.

    Cheers

  5. Yves et Francoise9 March 2009 à 9:46 pm

    Bravo, tu es devenu expert en offroad, c’est très impressionant.
    Jusqu’a Perth, y a t il prolongation , pour tenir compte des arrets de jeu ?
    Attention au travel blues du retour!!!.
    Prepares la route, on arrive…..

    Francoise et Yves

  6. Je suis fatiguée pour toi ! “on this road again” ?? NONNNNN
    Biz and “to be continued” ;o)

  7. je programe le baby guling pour quand.

    Et la saison des pluies n est pas fini bon courage .

    cedric okti

  8. Bjorn, Anja & Holger10 March 2009 à 3:24 pm

    Hi Sheen,

    Mate… we’re not on a blimmin’ holiday here – it’s SUPPOSED to be like that! We can not believe you lost your enthusiasm for adventure and actually decided to put your bike onto a truck. This really is cheating… 🙂 🙂

    Serious, though… good on you! A very unusual route & well done for overcoming this horrendous stretch of road!

    Keep the rubber side down!
    Bjorn, Holger & Anja

  9. hi sheen,

    well, that was a long wait. please keep updated 🙂

    nice to see you that enjoying your riding. hope i can do the same one day.

    see you in france soon!!

  10. Update :
    Since last update few days ago, rode from Balikpapan over inland roads to Banjarmasin. Enjoyed passing through the Kalimantan kampung style villages.

    Just arrived this evening by ferry with bike to Surabaya Java. Am quite pleased this episode went well, despite … some “troubles” with entry and some surprises. So its possible to enter Indonesia from Tawau Sabah and ride down the eastern flanc of Borneo, but bikers, don’t do it yet as there are still points to iron out before going in (or risk big like getting your passport taken away and bike locked up !! My post on this later).

    Thx your msgs, hope to get some replies out soon.
    Sheen

  11. Siew Hoon & Victoria11 March 2009 à 9:35 pm

    Hi- Sheen,
    Good knowing where you are now. Take care.
    Siew Hoon.

  12. Just got back down from Mt Bromo crater in Eastern Java. Thx your msgs, some quick replies to :

    – Bjorn, Anja & Holger : Are you all still sitting out, keeping bikes shinny, in Thailand ?? We rode some kms together. I get sore *ss if I sit out too long. You should have followed me to Kalimantan !!

    – Mark Remenyi : Don’t know if I’ll get to Sydney, but if I do will surely take up your welcome offer. I think you+Nikki will have a great time when you start out. If you’re passing thru Bromo, Indon, give it a visit as its really beautiful and unique – 2 live volcanos in a row(or call on me later if you’re in France).

    – Werner+Claudia : More likely heading your way. Will contact when on way. Thx.

    – Ozhan Unverdi : When’re you starting your trip?? Will wait for you in France. Food + lodging waiting for you.

    – Yves + Francoise : On se voir avant votre départ pour l’Inde + l’Asie, peut-etre à Nice ??

    Sheen

  13. estelle et laurent15 March 2009 à 1:00 pm

    Bonjour Sheen!
    aprés avoir vu ces photos Laurent pense que tu aurrais du prendre son quad!!!!!
    j’espere que le babygouling sera bon!
    à bientot estelle

  14. annie jeanmichel erwan gwen19 March 2009 à 4:44 pm

    hello sheen
    tu pourrais mieux choisir ton itineraire
    je trouve que le dernier etait un peu boueux en moto
    les photos sont toujours aussi sympas a regarder
    mais je te trouve un peu fatigue
    attention a toi
    biz annie et jean michel

  15. lydia and the kids26 March 2009 à 7:36 am

    You made it to australia! What a long way from France! Congratulations from all of us here! Lydia, Jade, Pearl, Gem

  16. salut mon parrain!!

    alors ca fait longtemps qu’on n’a pas eu de post!! je veux des photos de Melbourne 😉 J’espère que tout va bien pour toi!
    Moi oui ca va, les choses sont en train de se décider pour l’avenir …

    Gros bisous!!!!

  17. Coucou Oriane, ca va venir … suis arrivé à Adelaide aujourdhui, beaucoup de kangouroos morts sur la route !! Les hostels de YHA ici sont sympas. The Great Ocean Road est très belle.

    Big Biz, Sheen

  18. Johanna & Christian11 April 2009 à 8:27 pm

    Hello Sheen, I have to agree with your friend Oriane – it’s been too long since we saw any new photographs! The hostels in Oz are very different to Asia aren’t they? I remember it well. Looking forward to seeing photos of the Great Ocean road.
    Have fun and keep enjoying yourself,
    Johanna

  19. Hi Sheen,

    Glad to know you spotted some kangaroos. I hope you were able to take pictures of them with their babies cause they’re so cute. Hope all is well. Have fun and enjoy the ride.

  20. Hey Johanna, crossed the vast Nullabor plains of Australia few days ago, approx. 2000kms, almost no one in between. Quite a different ride !! Will be in Perth v.soon … so will be catching up then. The YHA hostels here are great and camped in the Nullabor. Saw many kangaroos dead on road.

    Sheen

  21. Oh, that’s so sad….I suppose they died because of the recent forest fires. You might still be able to see some kangaroos alive in Perth.
    I’m looking forward to more travel tales.
    Have fun.

  22. Hi Very interesting tour!

    I was wodering if you would mind sharing your route through the Kalimantan side of Borneo? i am planning to do a bike ride around the entire island Sabah-Kalimantan-Sarawak-Sabah and find it really hard to get accurate route information for Kalimantan side.

    thanks

    JP

  23. Hello JP, you’re right, its hard to find road info for Kalimantan. You got challenge ahead ! If you manage to get your bike across from Tawau into Nunukan, you can jungle ride from Nunukan down to Samarinda, then on sealed roads to Banjarmasin. From here others have done similar tough jungle sections across Kalimantan Tengah & Barat to the Tebedu checkpoint into Sarawak. I’ll private mail you so I may try answer your specific questions. A+, Sheen

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