South Kalimantan - The southern section of the province, however,
is much flatter and is characterized by large and powerful rivers, meandering
through lowlands and depositing enormous of silt, at vast mangrove swamps
all along the coast helping to make South Kalimantan an exceptionally fertile
land. Many villages and settlements have been built along these rivers,
particularly the Barito river, by the indigenous majority, the Banjar.
South Kalimantan is full of colorful and distinctive traditional arts and
culture which can be seen in it's people's way of life, art, dance, music,
ancestral dress, games and ceremonies. Exquisite traditional and commercial
handicrafts are all made from local raw materials which include a variety
of precious and semiprecious stones, gold, silver, brass, iron and a wide
variety of woods including bamboo and rattan. South Kalimantan, is one of
the largest wood producers in Indonesia. Extensive forests with a wide variety
of trees such as ironwood, meranti, pinus and rubber have helped to make
the province a unique and rich natural resources.
The provincial
capital, Banjarmasin, lies a short distance from the mouth of the Barito
river at its confluence with the Martapura River. The rivers are literally
the life-blood of the city and every thing revolves around them. They
support hundreds of boats of all descriptions and are lined with tightly
packed stilt houses. A lot of business is done on the waterways; floating
markets flourish selling an enormous variety of goods including a tropical
selection of fresh fruits such as Kesturi, a rare aromatic species of
mango, durian, rambutan, butter fruit, pineapple, watermelon and banana.
South Kalimantan
is well connected with cities all over the Indonesian Archipelago through
Syamsuddin Noor airport which is about 25 km from Banjarmasin. This busy
airport is able to cater ro DC-9's allowing Merpati Nusantara, Bouraq,
Sempati and Dirgantara Air to service the province.
About 66 are routine
flights per day. South Kalimantan can also be reached through seaport
of Trisakti and Banjarmasin harbour. To towns in Kalimantan there are
plenty of good radars. If waterways are preferable, go by boat along large
rivers which to almost every direction.
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