Farewell Derawan...

Hungry for adventure and stories to tell later on, Free, Giulia and I decide to reach Samarinda/Balikpapan by road rather than the more expensive and way faster airway. So that means one hour of speedboat from Derawan to Tanjun Batu, then about 3 hours cramped in a car from Tj Batu to Berau, and then, after very complicated logistical and linguistic challenges, 21 hours cramped in a small Toyota with 4 other people (totalling 7 passengers!). 21hours of travel for $30 we figured it was a decent price and most definitely hoped it would lead to some adventure. Well, let me tell you, our driver only stopped a total of 3 times. Twice for twenty minutes to pee and eat, and once for two hours, at 4am, to nap a bit. He is by far the craziest and at the same time the best driver I have ever met. The conditions of the roads were an absolute nightmare. As if the entire road had been bombed. Not only it was going up and down, with dramatic ups and dramatic downs, but the pot holes were more like elephant holes! And the guy was just speeding through it the entire time. On several occasions the three of us looked at each other wondering if we were going to make it.
The sunset vistas over the lush and gigantic jungle, spread with little groups of diving clouds here and there was just magical, just magical! None of us expected such sights and were quite blown away. Then came the torrential rain, and since the car's wipers were of very bad and greasy quality, well...you get the picture...or rather the blurry picture. And once the rain stopped, in the middle of the night, still driving full speed with all windows down, we get suddenly woken up by a wave of water splashing us in the face and full body right inside the car. A truck coming the opposite direction drove into a deep pond of rain (and certainly mud) as it passed us and thus splashing it all over us. I was totally soaked. But it made me laugh. :0)

So, we took off from Berau by car at 14:22hr. We arrived at Samarinda by 9:30am next day. Fede and Guilia got out and we bid farewell. They had plans to go up the river from there on the tracks of the remains of Dayak tribes. Quite sad to split after 10 days of adventure and fun together, but I was looking to change scenery from Borneo and head to Sulawesi, and also didn't want to impose any more on their trip and intimacy.

I arrived at Balikpapan at 12:30, scouting out info to get to Makassar Sulawesi. I am told to rush to the Pelabuhan (port) as there is a ferry (Dharma Ferry) leaving a 2pm...well actually more like 1pm. Uffff....so I run, my two backpacks on me, under the grilling sun, no food in my bags and only half a water bottle left. I mention this because the ferry to Makassar lasts 24hours!!! (But it is the cheapest option, less than $20). Thank god I am told that there is A/C and food/water for sale on the boat. So i hop on board...I feel that yet another adventure awaits me for the next 24 hours...