Tourism of Indonesia
Ready to Go to Kayan Mentarang National Park
Planning to go on a tour or travelling, we definitely want a smooth trip, comfortable accommodation, cheap hotels, good food, cheap plane tickets, close to everywhere, and can rent a motorbike or car.
Attraction
In Kayan Mentarang National Park, there is natural beauty and unique culture of the local community. There are many uniqueness, starting from the village (desa), sub-district (kecamatan), district (kabupaten) and provincial levels.
In Indonesia, each province has different and interesting characteristics. Each province has a different and unique culture and lifestyle.
Kayan Mentarang National Park is located at the border between Indonesia and Malaysia. The park is central to the WWF Heart of Borneo initiative, which aims to protect the trans boundary highlands of Borneo, which straddle the three Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.
Kayan Mentarang National Park is a densely forested national park in North Kalimantan province, Borneo Island, Indonesia.
The national park is named after a great dispersed Mentarang mountain trails plateau of Apau Kayan which covers the entire park from Datadian area in south region to Apau Ping area in mid region until Long Bawan in north region.
Kayan Mentarang National Park is the biggest uniformity of primary and secondary forest, which covers 1,360,500 hectare, and still remains in Kalimantan and in the Southeast Asia.
It is located in Bulungan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, with humid weather and temperatures around 16°C – 30° C. This national park, situating at 200– 2,258 meters above sea level, has approximately 3,100 mm per year of rainfall.
Because of its geographical location, this national park is blessed with various biodiversity, ranging from tropical flatland area to heavy rain-forest at mountain range, which becomes cocoon for many types of vegetation and endangered animals.
A few vegetations are:
- pulai (Alstonia scholaris),
- jelutung (Dyera costulata),
- ramin (Gonystylus bancanus),
- agathis (Agathis borneensis),
- kayu ulin (Eusideroxylon zwageri),
- rengas (Gluta walichii),
- gaharu (Aquilaria malacensis),
- aren (Arenga pinnata),
- various types of orchids,
- forest palms, and
- Tropical pitcher plant or Kantong semar.
Interestingly, many of the vegetations are not yet identified, and considered new ones in Indonesia. There are 100 species of mammals (15 species of them are endemic), 8 species of primates, over 310 species of birds, and 28 species among them are Kalimantan endemic and have been registered by ICBP (International Committee for Bird Protection) as the endangered species.
A few endangered animals are as follows:
- Clouded leopard/ macan dahan (Neofelis nebulosa),
- Honey bear/ beruang madu (Helarctos malaynus euryspilus),
- White Head Lamur/ lutung dahi putih (Presbytis frontata frontata), and
- Buffalo/ banteng (Bos javanicus lowi).
There are approximately 20,000 – 25,000 people from Dayak tribes, namely Dayak Kenyah, Punan, Lun Daye and Lun Bawang, live in the vicinity of this national park.
They live side by side with the surroundings in reference to their indigenous knowledge and wisdom. That uniqueness is apparent in the way they preserve natural diversity.
Many kinds of archaeological inheritance like burial places and ancient stone equipment could be found in this national park. It is estimated that Kayan Mentarang National Park is one of the major archeological sites in Kalimantan.
The government is taking good care of the preservation of nature and maintaining the condition of the forest.
The environment is also well maintained.
Activity
Visiting Kayan Mentarang National Park, we will witness routine community activities in unique traditional cultures. And there are special dishes and food as part of culinary tours that are delicious and yummy.
There are many activities in Kayan Mentarang National Park:
Travelers are invited to do many activities in several spots, among few are:
- Pulau Datok Beach and Lubang Tedong Hill;
It is the best spot sea cruising and swimming.
- Palung and Panti Mountains;
Mount Palung (1,116 meters above sea level) and Mount Panti (1,050 meters above sea level) are perfect choices for hiking, observing flora and fauna, savoring the waterfalls, and camping.
- Cabang Panti;
It is a nature research center, which features research station facilities, lodges, and library. Travelers will have the opportunity to see orangutans, gibbons, and leaf monkeys.
- Kampung Baru;
Here, visitors could conduct an observation on proboscis monkeys.
- Matan and Simpang Rivers;
These rivers are ideal spots for visitors to do an observation on archeological sites, or just having fun experience with the rapids of these rivers by longboat.
In this place there are also regular events or activities held every year, both national and international.
Accessibility
The journey to Kayan Mentarang National Park is now very easy. We can enter through various modes of transportation.
Access to go to Kayan Mentarang National Park:
To go to Kayan Mentarang National Park, we can start from Balikpapan or Samarinda.
If start from Balikpapan, then go to Samarinda. From Samarinda go to Long Ampung, and Tarakan – Long Bawan routes, for approximately one hour).
Another alternative is by boat from Tarakan – Tanjung Selor – Long Pujungan routes. Cruising Mentarang River by speedboat will take around 6 hours, and smaller motorboat requires 1 day to get there.
Alternatively, to access the southern part of this park, travelers can fly from Samarinda (East Kalimantan) or Malinau to Long Ampung Airport.
From Long Ampung, the trip continues heading for Data Dian (Kayan Hilir Village), taking about 5 hours journey by boat. Since fuel is oddly expensive, boat cruising is considered costly, although travelers might find half the price when going with the locals on public boat, heading to Data Dian.
You can move around this national park on foot or cruising the rivers by longboat. Chartered motorized canoe costs about 180,000 IDR per hour (20 USD).
The condition of the infrastructure is getting better. Starting from highways, airports, trails, ports, bridges, stairs, even some places can be reached by toll roads.
We can visit by plane, car, ship, bus, motorcycle and bicycle. At some point, we can take the train. We can also walk freely.
Amenity
In Kayan Mentarang National Park, as technology getting better. We can easily find locations for mini markets, shops (warung kedai), Money Changer, ATMs, Bank BRI BCA BNI Mandiri, BTPN Bank Nagari BJB, supermarkets, and restaurants. So we will not starve or lack the necessary items.
Suggestion Before visiting Kayan Mentarang National Park:
- The ideal time to visit this national park is on September up to December each year.
- Temperature: 16° – 30° C, Rainfall: 3,100 mm/annual (on average), Altitude: 200 – 2,558 m asl., Geographical location: 114°49′ – 116°16′ E; 1°59′ – 4°24′ N
- DAS (Dirgantara Airline Services) and MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) flights require advanced booking (minimum 1 month before departing date) and both airlines reserve the authority to prioritize seats for local citizens from around the park.
- It is good to bring luggage less than 10 kg when flying with DAS (DAS limits each person, including luggage, up to 80 kg). This makes it more flexible to secure a seat on board on last minute seat available. MAF puts even more restrictions on luggage weight (up to 10 kg/person) on regular flights unless chartered.
- Necessities for the trip include a flashlight/ torch, warm clothing, sleeping bag, comfortable trekking shoes or rubber shoes, and glove as a protection against the freezing temperature at night.
- Before start trekking, hiking or climbing, make sure that you eat beforehand, or you can bring some food and drink from your places of stay.
- It is wise to hire local guides with some knowledge of Indonesian Bahasa, as no one in this area speaks English (cost 70,000 IDR per day / 7 USD).
- Bring mosquito repellent and at least two pairs of knee-high socks for leaches. Preparing anti-malaria pills is a good idea, although there seems to be no malaria.
For further information:
Kayang Mentarang National Park
Jalan MT Haryono
Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Phone/Fax: +62 541 743 556
If you are sick and need help, you can also visit clinics, drugstore pharmacies (apotek), practice doctors, hospitals, and health centers (puskesmas).
In this place we can also look for places of worship such as mosques, churches, and others.
Accommodation
Finding place to stay in Kayan Mentarang National Park is very easy. We can stay at home stays, hotels, inns, hostels and other places.
To get lodging at a cheap and definitely comfortable price, please see below:
Booking.com
Experience and Reviews
There are already many visitors have visited Kayan Mentarang National Park, there are many interesting stories that are told. Like feeling satisfied, happy, wanting to come again, sleep well, and almost no one is disappointed or complains to come here.
So, visitors will find out on how to find the best hotels, where is exactly located, why it is amazing, how much is the fare and rate, who are the people, whom to ask, and when is the best time to visit.
We can visit these tourist attractions from Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Redep, Tanjung Selor, Tapak Tuan, Tarakan, Tarutung, Tasikmalaya, Muara Bungo, Muara Enim, Muara Teweh, Muaro Sijunjung, Muntilan, Nabire, Negara, Nganjuk,
That’s all the information we provided, hopefully useful.
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