There's an awful lot of East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur, or Kaltim). The bits we've seen have been a meld of the natural and the industrial, the basic and the sophisticated. Possibly not a destination for everyone, but we found it fascinating. Here are my stand-outs:

1. Riding the Kangaroo on the bucking bronco road between Balikpapan and Samarinda. The website needs updating (it does not depart, we found out the hard way, from the Hotel Grandeur); it's not cheap; and it's not even spectacularly comfortable. BUT it's very efficient. Departs every 10 minutes, so you pretty much turn up and get on; runs non-stop from the airport, which means it's definitely the quickest way to cover this road; and really deserves commendation as an innovative business model that could surely be replicated elsewhere in Indonesia.



2. Getting under the gritty surface of Samarinda. "Why would you want to come here?", asked my student, a native of the town. And, yes, it's functional, rather than pretty; it has a heap of problems; and the evident dearth of tourists means you get stared at a LOT... But it's worth persisting. Visit the Islamic Centre for great views from the tower and a wander round the lovely mosque; sit by the big, busy river, watching those controversial coal barges slide gracefully by; visit the oldest mosque in East Kalimantan (on the opposite bank, where the buildings are more traditional and extend out into the river), admire its gorgeous green and yellow livery, and climb the series of ladders to the top of the windmill-reminiscent minaret; eat soto Banjar at Amado; go to Pak Kumis's place for the best es campur ever; and sample the little fishy crackers (amplang) that are a speciality of the city.



3. Cruising the Mahakam River. This needs a whole collection of "top things" all of its own. Let's start with the river itself. We went from Samarinda to Melak and back, and totally loved it. This is a working thoroughfare, so don't expect raw nature, but observing the life of the river slip slowly by, from the brightly painted deck of a big old wooden boat, is absolutely fascinating. Coal barges, log rafts, fishing operations, sand-extraction operations, ferries, long-tail boats, stilt houses, floating houses: we never got tired of watching it all.



4. Seeing river dolphins. Yes, seeing RIVER DOLPHINS!! That magical last late afternoon. Macaques, silver leaf-monkeys, and proboscis monkeys, all visible on the banks. And then the dolphins... Round heads, blue sheen, small dorsal fin, and an endearingly intimate snort as they come up for air. Lump in throat... As the dolphins finally moved upstream, and we turned south again, the full moon (a "supermoon") was rising, and the mosques were calling for evening prayers. God is great, they chanted, God is great... Indeed. God is great. He made river dolphins.



5. Living on board. This was the longest we've ever spent on a boat, but it's surprising how quickly you adapt to rolling on the river, especially when the vessel is fantastically clean, tidy, and well run, the captain has been navigating this river since 1975, and the cook makes you want to wrap him up, and take him home.







6. Exploring the watery spaces off and off-off the Mahakam. You need a "ces" to do this. These small, slim longtails will get you into the narrower tributaries or shallower lakes. On offer are pretty townships, an array of water-borne ways of life, and a good collection of wildlife (including proboscis monkeys and hornbills).



7. Getting a tantalizing glimpse of the Dayak community. The Dayaks make up 30% of East Kalimantan's population, and are divided into several subtribes. Longhouses are fading out, as is the use of carved, suspended coffins. But wooden grave markers stand in front of many houses; the dancers and elders who welcomed us at a rebuilt longhouse also regularly perform at "ordinary" weddings, funerals, and other ceremonial occasions; and people routinely consult shamans about medical matters. A ferry-load of Dayak people docked near us in Melak. They were coming back from a big Dayak congress in Samarinda on "progress". So presumably the bonds are alive and well.



8. Seeing a little of the terrestrial world that wraps itself around the river. Near Melak, for example, it's worth visiting the orchid park to see the rare black orchid. And the glossy forest round the waterfall is also very beautiful. Then there's pretty Tenggarong, with its sultans' graveyard; its lovely, serene old mosque, full of the twittering of nesting birds; and its museum, which is housed in a classic art deco building.



9. Sampling Balikpapan. We stuck to the town, as a complement to our river experience. Over the course of a couple of days, we cruised the Plaza Balikpapan; ignored the fancy places on the seafront in favour of the simple restos selling coto makassar with pressed rice; walked out to the beaches in the evening (tiny Monpera and more substantial Kemala), where we joined the locals, eating, drinking, listening to the sea, and watching the oil rigs, well heads, and transport ships lighting up for the evening; and became regular consumers of coffee and cake at De Cafe. Balikpapan was recently voted Indonesia's most comfortable town, and I can see where that accolade comes from.



10. Treating ourselves to a night or two at the Gran Senyiur. It's a very nice thing indeed to have dim sum for breakfast in their opulent dining room, swim in their big, quiet pool, or survey the city lights from their Sky Bar.