Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 322

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Most accommodation is to the east down Jl Sudirman,
within 150m of the centre.
Makmur Jl Yos Sudarso 1 T 0821 4879 9014, W hotel
makmur.com. Clean rooms with TV, fridge and city views
for Rp330,000. Rates include local in-room breakfast and
good wi-fi. If it's full, take a room (windo wless) over t he
road at the cheaper sister property, Sakura . Rp250,000
Rumah Makan Cahaya Jl Sudirman. A popular Chinese
restaurant, serving large portions of spicy seafood
(Rp18,000), nasi goreng (Rp12,000) and more. Daily
8am-10pm.
Taufiq Grand Jl Yos Sudarso 7 T 0551 22402. Friendly
business hotel in the centre of town; rooms are clean
and come with a/c and good views of town from the
upper flo ors. Breakfas t in the small café downstairs is
included. Rp225,000

family home. Friendly, English-speaking owner Rio can
arrange tours or provide plenty of advice on h ow to get
further upriver. Breakfast included. Rp150,000
Tepian Pandan Opposite the museum. Highly recom-
mended rumah makan with a great location right on the
river and excellent Kutai food. Fresh grilled prawns are a
speciality (from Rp40,000). Daily 8am-10pm.

TA R A K A N
A 24km spread of low hills just off the
coast northeast of Tanjung Selor, Pulau
Tarakan floats above extensive oil
reserves: offshore rigs dot the horizon,
while the west-coast town of TA R A K A N is
surrounded by smaller-scale “nodding
donkey” pumps. An island still physically
scarred by World War II battles between
the Japanese and Australian forces, this is
a convenient hopping-off point for Sabah
in Malaysian Borneo, just a stone's throw
from Pulau Nunukan and the open
border with Malaysia .

DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange The BNI bank on Jl Sudarso has
good exchange rates and ATMs.
Internet Starnet beside the Hotel Makmur on Jl Sudirman
17 (Rp9000/hr).
Pharmacies Tarakan Plaza, Jl Sudirman.
Post o ce Jl Yos Sudarso (Mon-Fri 7.30am-6pm, Sat
7.30am-2pm).
Travel agents Panjung Harapan, Jl Sudarso 38 ( T 0551
21572), for ferry tickets to Nunukan and Tawau.

4

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By plane The airport is 2km north of town, Rp35,000 by
taxi or Rp3000 by taksi from the main road.
Destinations Balikpapan (11 daily; 1hr 5min); Jakarta
(daily; 2hr 50min); Tawau (daily; 40min).
By ferry The port is 2km south of the town centre (taksi
Rp3000). Ferries to and from Berau and Nunukan use the
Tengkayu jetty, while Mulundung harbour, 500m further
down, is served by Pelni ferries to Balikpapan, Nunukan,
Sulawesi and Java as well as ferries to Tawau in Malaysia.
The Pelni o ce is here too ( T 0551 21529).
Destinations Balikpapan (1-2 weekly; 34hr); Berau (2
weekly; 10hr); Nunukan (3 daily; 2hr); Tanjung Selor (10
daily; 1hr 30min); Tawau, Malaysia (daily except Sun; 4hr).

Sulawesi
Sulawesi sprawls in the centre of the
Indonesian archipelago, a tortuous
outline resembling a 1000km letter “K”,
and one of the country's most
compelling regions. Nowhere in
Sulawesi is much more than 100km
from the sea, though an almost complete
covering of mountains isolates its four
separate peninsulas from one another
and from the outside world. Invaders
were hard pushed to colonize beyond
the coast, and a unique blend of cultures
and habitats developed. he south is
split between the highland Torajans and
the lowland Bugis , there are various
isolated tribes in the central highlands,
and the Filipino-descended Minahasans
reside in the far north.
he most settled part of the island, the
south, is home to most of Sulawesi's
fifteen million inhabitants. his is also

INTO MALAYSIA: TARAKAN TO
TAWAU
The border crossing into Malaysia lies
between Nunukan and the Malaysian
town of Tawau in Sabah (see p.513).
Ferries link Tarakan with Nunukan (several
daily; 2hr; Rp85,000), from where you can
continue to Tawau (several daily; 1hr
Rp110,000). More conveniently, there are
direct ferries from Tarakan to Tawau
(Mon-Sat 10am; 4hr; Rp300,000), run by
Indomaya Express and Tawindo ferries,
and a daily flight for the same trip run by
Malaysian Air (40min).