Eleven Hours Drive - from Pontianak to Sandai

From Potianak to Sandai -11 Hours Drive

On 3 Oct, we began our journey early as we expect to cover 1400 km of un-chartered territories, probably over the next 2 to 3 days - from Pontianak to Banjamasin.

Day1.
Starting early at 0715, we headed for Taiyen, some 200km fr Pontianak. Traffic from Pontianak was smooth and on metal road. 30 mins later, we were into village type of environment. Still metal road but getting narrower, just enough for oncoming traffic to come to almost a halt to pass thru each other.

Challenge No 1. Running Out Of Gas.
Our petrol tank was 2/3 full. Chanced upon Petrol station, but their Power95 /97 were sold out. We did not fill up - took the chance as we still have another spare tank to cover 200km.. The road to Taiyen was bad – potholes, lahterite tracks and gravel paved .We did not encounter much problem as GPS was working fine. But it slow as we learn to negotiate the terrain. Finally reaching junction of Taiyen and road leading to Sosok we found a Petronas station. Still no power 95 /97. We had no choice but to go for the Premium grade and mixed it with " Fuel additive " to boost up the power. This is the 2nd time we used this additive which Neo Chian brought along. The first time was in Sabah when we found that the power of our car was not there, despite filling in the correct grade.

Challenge No 2. Embarking and Disembarking on steep ramp.
We reach the river bank of Taiyen to cross to Piasek by ferry - the only way across the 500m river -Interestingly, only one ferry was plying this point and we waited only 1.5hrs, 2nd on 2nd in the quque before we managed to cross. The ferry turnaround was an hour, including embarking and disembarking of vehicles . Waiting, gave us the chance to interact with the locals .

The drive into the ferry at an incline of 60degrees was a real challenge, esp when we saw that vehicles coming out of the RPL ( Pamp Propelled Launcher ) need to be assisted by home bank vehicles using cable to drag it out. With Neo Chian 4 wheel drive and following the instructions of the guide and my previous training in driving 10 tonners, it went on smoothly. Next -having to do 3 point parking on board the RPL ferry , was an experience to remember. Disembarking was equally difficult as one cannot see clearly as the 60degree incline - means the driver is facing the sky when going up the ramp. "Faith ", to follow the instructions of the guide was the order of the day.

Challenge No 3. Navigation without GPS.
From Piasek to Kg Berkuak, a 200km midpoint without GPS was where our military training came to play. Heading Eastward and getting directions from friendly kampong folks and drivers passing thru was the way to do it. For sure I know that " God Will Make The way " .

With Durians and potatoe chips we endured the next 6hrs,

Challenge N0 4. Overcoming mud puddles and minor fording.
30 + bridges under repair concurrently. It was visible that the Indonesian Govt is trying to link East and West Kalimantan very quickly. - Governor of West Kalimantan was doing a real good job -. Understand later on that the entire East ot West road will be up by 2010. Well Done Governor. For those who want to explore the ruggered terrain, you don't have much time.

The 500 km route that we travelled over the 11 hours saw some 30 odd bridges undergoing new constructions concurrently. At 4 of the bridging points, the mud logged potholes, made by trucks and bogged down vehicles made crossing extremely difficult. Besides using 4 x4 drive, NC pajero has further HLC and LLC gears to shift to higher power. Trafficability techniques like holding onto the steering wheel tightly so that the car is not allowed to skid when encountering such terrain saw us thru with some difficulties ,though with much anxiety at times. Especially with the first encounter, thoughts of how to recover if we are really bogged down ran thru our minds. Perhaps we finally have to use our “ Sleeping Bags “ and get our burners ready for field cooking – living some 30 years back during SAF training. Neo Chian told me he has the same thoughts and feelings when we were encountering the problems. Fording was not serious although there were a few spots .

Challenge N0 4. The journey to find suitable accm was met with darkness. We drove carefully as rain during the afternoon period made the tracks very slippery. Our wheels are now fully of muds and tractions was not that effective. We were fortunate to be able to make it to SANDAI by the 11th hour, just after sunset. The town was run down and had perhaps a 2,000 people spread over the hillsides.

Challenge No 5. Hotel Accomodation.
When we finally reach SANDAI, we found the best hotel around !!! How about that. Well it was a 1+ star type at RP 100/night.. The rooms were badly lit, the beds were creeking and there were a lot of noise the whole night thru. Soundslike war zone area !! Lighting was a real issue for us city folks. The village and hotel was lit with their own Generators, providing with just enough light for the room, until proper lights comes on from 10pm to next morning. Not sure why but sure way of saving energyfrom 6pm to 10pm. The toilets were also not lit and we had to use candle initially. Squatting type - fortunately my weak knees improved over the years as a result of continued qigong training. Also don't forget to bring your own toilet paper - another cost savings

Hotel staffs were however very friendly. promised to look after our car and directed us to good food. We had another round of good " Char Kway Teow ", fried rice , vege and fresh lemon juice all at RP 70,000.

The next day we woke up early because of compulsary sleep in view of no internet services. The mud streets town was more visible in the morning, but the air was fresh. The 2 receptionists at the hotel came early to send us off at 0630 hrs . Had our morning black coffee with a piece of " goreng pisang " ( fried bananas ) and we are off to endure another 10 hours of drive to SAMPIT.