Hi there, we use cookies to improve your experience on our website. You can update your settings by clicking the Privacy policy link at the bottom of the page. However, I don't find much information about the region between say Pontianak and Tanjung Puting.
Is there anything of interest that can be recommended? In a previous life I already visited Gunung Palung near Ketapang. I traveled from Balikpapan to Pontianak a couple of years ago, along the main routes south. I think I took about three weeks for the trip, maybe slightly more. From Pontianak, I'd recommend the "river cruise" boats to Sukadana; there should be one or two boats leaving every morning.
You'll arrive in the early afternoon, giving you the choice of spending the night in tiny Sukadana or heading straight-away on a bus to Ketapang. There's one so-so beach near Sukadana. I found nothing of interest around Ketapang; from there, it's a long way through an absolute mess of roads, palm oil plantations and prostitute villages to a town who's name I can't remember but I can look it up , from where you can catch a river boat to Sukamara.
It's kind of a quaint river town. From there it's easy to hitch a ride to Kotawaringin Lama. That's home to a nice longhouse and a beautiful little wooden mosque; you can try sleeping at the longhouse, though there's also at least one very basic penginapan. From there it's a fun little river trip to Pangkalan Bun. There was a road under construction when I visited; if it's opened by now, there might be road transport from Sukamara all the way to Pangkalan Bun.
That was my take of the region. It's interesting to see, but apart from Kotawaringin Lama, I came across few obvious tourist attractions. The river boat rides themselves are probably the highlights. Basically, there is very little of interest along the entire coastal route, Kalimantan's main attractions tend to be inland and mostly away from the roads.
