It’s a jungle out there. Exotic birds call, an orangutan swings in the branches and a rare fresh water dolphin leaps beside the passing boat. A cruise along the Mahakam, East Kalimantan’s, longest river, is a journey that takes the traveller into the living heart of Borneo.
The fabled Mahakam River (Sungai Mahakam) snakes sinuously for over 900 kilometers from the central mountains to Samarinda and the sea through some of the world’s richest remaining ecosystems. Its waters also carry a cargo of human history. Sultans, pirates, Dayaks and European adventurers plied the river in search of treasure, territory and human heads. Their exploits live on in literature and legend.
The Mahakam Adventure
These days a journey on the Mahakam is still an adventure. Rising in the highlands near the Sarawak border, the upper river tumbles over a series of dangerous rapids. The Dayak in this remote region live by subsistence agriculture and the occasional sale of birds’ nests, rattan and gold.
Few travellers brave the perilous white water of the upper river, and transport and supplies are expensive in this isolated area. The village of Long Bagun, 300 kms from the headwaters, is as far as most river traffic can travel, with the big boats ending their journeys at Long Iram.
The broad highway of the middle Mahakam is easily accessible, though tourists are still quite rare. Several tour companies offer river safaris in houseboats starting from Samarinda or Balikpapan, also the beginning of the challenging cross-Borneo trek. Most tours feature a combination of river trips, visits to parks, wildlife observation, jungle treks and cultural encounters with traditional Dayaks.
Accommodation along the Mahakam River
Accommodation may be in simple hotels, local houses, jungle camps and houseboats. A variety of fish and freshwater lobster is usually available and with any luck, the beer might be cold. Water levels may rise and fall suddenly, which adds an element of unpredictability to the journey and the rations available.
Map of the Mahakam RiverYour journey begins here: Bridge over the Mahakam River in Samarinda.A Klotok boat plies its trade along the Mahakam.‘Last Guardian of the Mahakam’: a documentary on the critically endangered freshwater, or ‘Irrawaddy’ dolphin.
Life on the Big River
Dayak tribes continue to dwell in their customary longhouses along the river and most welcome visitors. Many still practice the old religion of spirit worship – decorating their bodies with intricate tattoos, sporting heavy iron earrings and hunting the creatures of the jungle for meat.
The river’s waters, rainforests and floodplain are home to a wealth of flora and wildlife found nowhere else in the world. Almost 150 indigenous freshwater fish species found here include the critically endangered freshwater or Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris). And about 300 species of birds, 70 of them protected, call from the forest. Treks and short detours from the main river reveal a treasure trove of unusual wild orchids, orangutans, sun bears, reptiles and proboscis monkeys.
The Mouth of the Mahakam
The river widens as it approaches the sea, fed by tributaries and punctuated by large and small lakes. The villages along its banks grow into towns and small cities as river traffic increases. Passing through the bustling capital of Samarinda, the river soon divides into a vast delta of mangroves and swamp before meeting the sea at the Makassar Strait, its epic journey over.
The Mahakam River In Photographs
A traditional floating village on the banks of the Mahakam.Who needs cars? Motorised dugouts and speedboats are the quickest way to get around.Schoolchildren on their way back from school in the village on Melintang lake near the Mahakam.A floating convenience store on the banks of the river.Dusk falls over the Mahakam as the river widens towards its mouth.Local ferries are the only way to get to the other side, if you don’t have your own boat…A traditional wooden houseboat is moored on the banks of the river.Just another day on the Mahakam River.A mother paddles her two young children down a quieter stretch of the Mahakam.Local women hard at work at a floating fish market.A proboscis monkey searches for leaves on the jungle banks of the river.Watch where you walk: a millipede crawls through the jungle.A hornbill (Bucerotidae) cruises over the jungles of Borneo.
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Samarinda’s city centre is certainly not be one of the Republic of Indonesia’s most distinguished, or visually arresting – and the city’s small handful of decent hotels and malls are offset by thousands of dilapidated, tin-roof shanties that sprawl haphazardly over the surrounding hills.
While Muara Pahu might not have the extensive list of attractions found in larger tourist destinations, its charm lies in its simplicity and the opportunity to experience rural life in a picturesque setting.
Lake Semayang has an area of around 13,000 hectares, while Lake Melintang has an area of around 11,000 hectares. These two lakes are part of the Mahakam Watershed (DAS) and are surrounded by dense tropical rainforest.
Bali generates an estimated 3,436 tonnes of waste per day — around 1.2 million tonnes annually — and approximately 40% of that waste is still burned or dumped illegally, according to Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Ministry. The island's primary landfill, Suwung, has reached capacity after more than 40 years of operation, forcing tighter restrictions on organic waste and pushing communities toward rivers and roadsides. Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has publicly criticised Bali's cleanliness, warning that the island's reputation as a tourism destination is at stake. Bali has enacted some of Indonesia's toughest plastic regulations, including a ban on single-use plastic bottles under one litre, with full enforcement for malls and hotels planned by January 2026. Whether authorities will actually sanction non-compliant businesses is the question that will determine whether the rules mean anything.
Muara Muntai is called the wooden village for the houses and the road that is made of wood. The road is about 3 km long and connects the houses, shops, schools, mosques, and other public facilities in the village.
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