Location : Kota Tarakan, Kalimantan Utara, Indonesia.
Tarakan is an island and the largest city of the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is located in northern Borneo, just across the border from Sabah, Malaysia.
So finally, this is our last post for the trip comprising of photos of the things we did before we left Tarakan for Nunukan, connecting to Tawau and Kota Kinabalu, Singapore and as for us to Kuching. We had to return to Tawau via Nunukan as no express boat was plying Tawau direct on that particular day. Thanks to Mr Ivan Kansil for his good local connections we were able to have a smooth connecting boat ride through Nunukan.




Just to mention that on the day before our departure, we were able to squeeze a few a visits such as the oldest Chinese temple, souvenir shop, Gajah Mada Hotel and most interesting of all the ‘red light’ joints of Tarakan.








Upon the offer of Mr KP to lead the tour, 6 of us from Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak took up the offer as Mr KP honestly explained that it was all part of the tourism industry. Nothing to hide. We agreed of course and off we went for the window shopping. If we had expected bikini bars and pole dancing like in Pattaya or Angeles City we would have been greatly disappointed. They were mostly Indonesian girls in hot pants sitting in multi tier seat ‘aquariums’ playing with their handphones while waiting for customers to book them by the hour for karaoke. I believe anything is negotiable after the singing is done.


I need to take this opportunity to mention that when we were taking the express boat from Nunukan to Tawau, the air-conditioning was broken and passengers were sitting on the steps at the doorways indicating there was over booking. We had to open the porthole windows otherwise we would die from suffocation.

The Maritime Department of Nunukan needs to fix the negligence in enforcement here. Otherwise, the whole trip was simply awesome. Thanks to North Kalimantan Tourism Board and all the crews who made our stay so unforgettable.



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Also please check out our posts on our Fam Trip Journey: