Banjarmasin = City Area

BANJARMASIN. A city of close to 1,000,000 people, mostly Muslims, this city forbids the consumption of alcohol. Large city and hyper active as in the offshore wet market, the town is bustling with heavy traffic especially with motor cycles. The people seems very entrepreneur in their way they do their business. The sun glassed " Rambo " parking attendant was clever and enterprising enough to provide card boards for motor cycles that are parked in his area, for RP 1000. His car park has no parking space at 10am .

Large buildings can be seen as we tour the market area . Interestingly, English Chess game seems to a past=time hobby for the entire Borneo island. We saw similar activities in Sabah and Sarawak as well. Bridges linking the city from one side to another because of the numerous canals and rivers in this city makes it somewhat fun to move around. Traffic however is slow as bottlenecks are created


"Tudong " fashion are also seen in the busy market place. Pic also shows Dayak shopping center showcasing their handicrafts and light industries.


The Mesjid Raya Sabilal Muhtadin is a majestic and well designed mosque which entices one to go near and visit this holy ground. Unfortunately we were in shorts and was therefore not appropriate for us to see the interior.



Our host Ah Men showed us his experiment of a 4 storey house to entice the swallows to create bird nests for his business. With just RIP300,000,000 Ah Men now has a century for the swallows and each bird is reproducing 4 others in a year. according to what we saw, Ah Men tried to create a natural cool environment and large entry points for the swallows. He is now reaping his efforts and invited us his Ah Mei home cooked turtle soup, and watching the hundreds, if not thousands of swallow returning home at sunset.

Local delicacies at specially created recreation sites saw us tugging away - this time no chairs, no tables and " pakai tangan ".

Recreational sites for children to do boating on logs and small paddle boats seems a draw for many. Perhaps a " Lantern Show here ? Hmmm !