Days 164 – 165: Pulau Derawan to Semporna

The following two days were spent in transit, and the only thing that came out of them was the cementing of the fact that travel in Kalimantan is a real pain in the ass. The distance from Pulau Derawan to Semporna (across the border, in Malaysia) was only a couple hundred kilometers, which in any other place would be easily knocked out in half-day bus ride, but here it took me two long days of pain. Here's a brief synopsis:

I wake up at 6:30am, eat a quick breakfast of fish soup, pack my bag, and set off for Tanjung Batu via speedboat.

I arrive in Tanjung Batu at 7:30, find a share-taxi driver who is going to Berau, and then wait for three hours for the share-taxi to fill up. Once the car is so full that no one can move a muscle, we set off for Berau, just before 11am.

The car ride passes without incident (not even any vomiting this time), and we arrive in Berau at 1pm. I find a bus that's headed to Tanjung Selor, 100km up the coast-- it leaves at 2pm.

Like any good Kalimantan bus ride, this three hour journey affords me the opportunity to breathe my body weight in a combination of secondhand smoke and exhaust fumes. Lightheaded and hooked on nicotine, I arrive in Tanjung Selor at 5pm.

I catch the last boat to Tarakan, an island off the coast that is the only gateway to Malaysian Borneo, to the north. I arrive at 7pm and immediately inquire about ferries to Tawau, in Malaysia, for the following morning. Everyone gives me the same answer: "Ada dua kapal besok pagi: jam delapan, jam sepuluh" (There are two boats tomorrow morning: 8am and 10am). Satisfied, I check into a grungy hotel and pass out on the cigarette-singed bed.

I wake up at 7, catch a motorbike down to the pier, and attempt to buy a ticket for the Tarakan-Tawau ferry. "No ferry today." Ok, then what about the 10am? "No ferry today." Why no ferry today? "No ferry today."

Getting desperate, I ask around and find out there's a ferry to Nunukan, 50km to the north and just south of the Malaysian border, leaving at 9am. I buy a ticket and hope I can catch another boat north to Tawau from Nunukan.

We arrive in Nunukan at 11am, and there is a boat to Tawau, but it doesn't leave until 2pm. Annoyingly, it costs the same as the much longer journey from Tarakan to Tawau that was cancelled. I sit and wait outside immigration, silently inhaling cigarette smoke and glaring at all the Indonesian men who seem to relish blowing it in my direction.

The boat departs an hour late, at 3pm, and arrives in Tawau at 4. I glide through customs and immigration (Malaysia is a bit more organized than its neighbor to the south) and walk to the ATM down the road to withdraw some Malaysian currency. Predictably, the ATM is out of order, and it's the only one in the entire town. I change some US dollars at rip-my-face-off rates and proceed to the minibus station, where I catch a ride north to Semporna.

We drive through a veritable downpour that lasts for nearly two hours, turning the quick hour and a half trip into a three hour marathon. At one point we hit a massive puddle and hydroplane off the road. Fortunately, the shoulder is wide and there's no harm done, besides the minor heart attacks suffered by all the passengers.

We arrive in Semporna, gateway to the diving mecca known as Pulau Sipadan, at 7pm. I run through the rain to the nearest dive shop and inquire about a PADI dive certification course. I'm in luck-- the next one starts bright and early the following morning, at 7am. I sign my name on the dotted line and set off to find somewhere to sleep. Rest is for suckers.