• Understand
• Get around
• Do
• Buy
• Eat
• Drink
• Sleep
• Get out

Banjarmasin is the capital of the province of South Kalimantan. The city population is 572,000.

[edit] Understand

The official birthday of the city is 24th of September in the year 1526, but its history are older than that date. From the time of the ancient kingdom of Nan Serunai, to the Buddhist kingdom of Tanjungpuri and the Hindu kingdom Negara Dipa and its succesor Negara Daha, the rivers of Southern Kalimantan were always been the favorite spot of the Malay people. That’s why Banjarmasin old name was “Bandar Masih”, meaning the port of the Malay in Dayak Bukit dialect. In the chaotic time of civil war between the rightful heir of Negara Daha, Pangeran Samudera, and his uncle, Pangeran Samudera was forced to flee for his life. At this time, Bandar Masih received him warmly, stopped paying taxes to his uncle and support Pangeran Samudera’s fight to get his throne back. When his uncle finally surrendered, Pangeran Samudera decided to make Bandar Masih his new capital, converted to Islam, and begun his rule over the new Islamic Kingdom of Banjar. His day of victory was then celebrated as Banjarmasin’s birthday. The name "Bandar Masih" slowly changed into "Banjarmasin" as the water tastes salty when in dry season (salty is "masin" in Banjarese language). The Kingdom flourished and back in its golden era, its power enveloped almost all of the area of what is now Indonesia’s part of Kalimantan. After the fierce Banjar War which produced a lot of highly-revered local heroes such as Pangeran Antasari, however, it was forced to surrender the colonial Dutch, following the total destruction of the palace ground and the capture of the last Banjarese Princess (Ratu Zaleha). Banjarmasin continued to be the capital of Dutch Borneo throughout the colonial era. Even after the forming of the Indonesian Government, Banjarmasin was the capital of Kalimantan province until it was divided into 4 Provinces (West, East, Central and South), then it became the capital of South Kalimantan. Few is left of its previous glory, but Banjarmasin silently kept her forgotten charm in unexpected places for the persistent travelers to find.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Banjarmasin’s airport is Syamsuddin Noor (BDJ), half an hour drive from the city. To go to the city, you can take a taxi (with fixed rate) or better yet, tell your hotel to pick you up. There are daily flights from many Indonesian cities including Jakarta and Surabaya. The airport is 26km from Banjarmasin.

[edit] By car

The roads of Trans-Kalimantan are in bad condition, but if you’re patient and adventurous you can try to reach Banjarmasin from the neighboring provinces of Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan by car.

[edit] By ship

Another alternative to get to Banjarmasin is by ship from various places in Indonesia to Banjarmasin’s main harbour, Trisakti. Be forewarned that the condition of ship transportation in Indonesia is poor, and you might want to consider that before spending the night (at least 1 night if you come from Java). You best bet is Express Ferry where it’s available, only 8 hours from Java.

[edit] By boat

Alternatively, if you are coming from the neighboring provinces of East Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, there are a lot of boat transportations through the rivers of Kalimantan. This could be an adventurous or boring ride depending on your taste. A range of boats are available, from slow moving boats to speedboats. It’s a great choice if you are extremely adaptable with the locals’ way of life.

[edit] Get around

Your best bet would be the metered taxi, insist the driver to use the meter if you have to. Alternatively, you can use “angkot” or “bamikro”, which interesting enough are also called “taxi” too by the locals.

[edit] See

Floating markets.

[edit] Architectural Heritage

Banjarese, the name of South Kalimantan’s ethnicity, have a unique way of building their houses and other strucutres in order to keep the harmony with the nature. There are at least 12 types of traditional Banjarese house, which are unfortunately lost their popularity in the modern days. Still, you can still see few houses that were built with the traditional techniques all over Banjarmasin if you really search for them. The palace ground was totally destroyed by the colonial Dutch, but you can still visit it remnants in Kampung Kraton, along Jalan Pangeran Samudera. There, you can still see Masjid Sultan Suriansyah, the first Mosque in South Kalimantan built in Pangeran Samudera’s rule and the royal burial site.

• Museum Waja Sampai Ka Puting - this was an old and genuine Banjarese traditional house in "Bubungan Tinggi" style (one of the 12 styles and the most bona fide one) before it was transformed into a museum.
• Masjid Sultan Suriansyah - The oldest mosque in South Kalimantan, 300+ years old.
• Masjid Raya Sabilal Muhtadin - a giant modern mosque completed in 1981, the second largest in Indonesia.

[edit] Rivers

Banjarmasin is abundant with wide and mighty rivers. The rivers have always been a part of Banjarese way of life. To this very day, every morning there are floating markets in which farmers and traders brought their goods to trade on boats. It has always been a farmers’ market and it’s interesting to see the genuine river-based way of life. The rivers are also the main venues for boat races and other festivities. The main attractions are the waterlogged suburbs traversed by canals; much of the city's commerce takes place on water.

Pulau Kembang.

• Floating markets - trading is from dawn until around 9am. Get there early. Journey takes around 20 minutes by boat.
• Canal trips
• Pulau Kembang (lit. Flower Island) - visit the long-tailed macaques at the decrepit Chinese temple, 20 minutes by boat. You can buy nuts to feed them. The monkeys are quite aggressive if you have food and will try to steal it from you.
• Pulau Kaget (lit. Surprised Island) - see the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), the mascot fauna of South Kalimantan. No guarantee you would have a good look at them, though, as they are really shy.

[edit] Do

In Sunday mornings, people from Banjarmasin have a tradition of walking, running, jogging, cycling or go with whatever you want toward the suburbs that is called "Pal Tujuh". There, they would go to the "Pasar Ahad" or "Sunday Market" which, obviously, opens only on Sundays. Enjoy local treats such as Ketupat Kandangan and Apam as your warm breakfast over there.

[edit] Buy

Semi-precious gems and stones. Rattan products.

[edit] Eat

Banjarese love their foods and even though they are most of the times very excited about other kinds of foods, they adore their own local specialties more than others. The ones in restaurants, malls, or foodcourts are fine for beginners, but to find the real taste of Banjarese food, you have to go to hidden places in small streets because there you’d find the ones that are famous among the locals.Foods that are available throughout the year and are very popular with the locals:

• Soto Banjar - "Soto" is a type of Indonesian soup. Soto Banjar is a uniquely Banjarese variant of Soto, popular in other places throughout in Indonesia. Don't miss the chance to try the real and genuine taste in its place of origin!
• Apam - Although not specifically Banjarese, the Apam here has its own twist. Enjoy it sweet and warm, accompanied with tea.
• Bingka - A specialty of Banjarese, it came in many flavors. The pride of the Banjarese people, it's very sweet and creamy.
• Ketupat Kandangan - It's actually a specialty of Kandangan, but you can also find it in Banjarmasin. Known as a festive food, especially favored during Eid al Fitr.

However, in the month of Ramadhan, the Banjarese went all out with their traditional delicacies. Heaps of wadai (traditional cakes) and other treats mostly unavailable throughout the year will suddenly appears in Ramadhan. Though most travel guides won't suggest you to travel during the month of Ramadhan in Indonesia, it's an amazing experience to see the emergence of many "Pasar Wadai" (Cakes Market) all over the city, with treats such as:

• Amparan Tatak - banana pudding
• Bingka Barandam - Although named "bingka", tasted nothing like it. It's somekind of a cupcake soaked in sweet syrup.

[edit] Drink

One should try the Banjarese tea, which is somewhat different with the teas found elsewhere in Indonesia. It is a strongly Muslim area, so don't expect to find alcohol outside large hotels.

[edit] Sleep

• Swiss Belhotel http://www.swiss-belhotel.com/borneo/borneo.html Rates from $67.
• Hotel SAS
• Hotel Istana Barito

[edit] Get out