Loksado
A Valley In The Meratus Hills Where You Come Down The River On A Raft Lashed Together From Bamboo, Which Is Taken Apart And Sold At The Bottom · Hulu Sungai Selatan, South Kalimantan
Loksado sits in the MERATUS HILLS of South Kalimantan and the thing to do there is gloriously simple: YOU GET ON A RAFT MADE OF BAMBOO POLES LASHED TOGETHER, and a man with a pole takes you down the AMANDIT RIVER for a couple of hours through forest and small rapids, and AT THE BOTTOM THE RAFT IS TAKEN APART AND THE BAMBOO IS SOLD. It is not a tourist contrivance - IT IS HOW BAMBOO HAS BEEN MOVED DOWN THIS VALLEY FOR A VERY LONG TIME, and visitors simply ride along with the freight. AROUND IT ARE THE MERATUS DAYAK, with BALAI - communal longhouses - in villages reached by walking, suspension footbridges over the river, cinnamon and rubber smallholdings, and hot springs at TANUHI. It is cheap, green, quiet and almost entirely undeveloped, and it is a few hours from Banjarmasin. The river decides whether there is a trip at all - too low and the rafts ground, too high and they are stopped - so ask before committing to four hours of road, and bring cash, because there is no banking.
Loksado, Hulu Sungai Selatan, South Kalimantan, Hulu Sungai Selatan, South Kalimantan, Indonesia
REACHED BY ROAD FROM BANJARMASIN, roughly FOUR TO FIVE HOURS via KANDANGAN - there is no airport and no rail. BAMBOO RAFTING IS ARRANGED IN LOKSADO VILLAGE ON THE DAY OR THE DAY BEFORE, at a negotiated price per raft, and RUNS IN THE MORNING; the trip takes a couple of hours and a vehicle meets you at the bottom. IT DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON WATER LEVEL - too low and it does not run, too high after heavy rain and it is stopped. WALKS TO THE MERATUS DAYAK VILLAGES AND THEIR BALAI take anywhere from an hour to a full day and NEED A LOCAL GUIDE. THE HOT SPRINGS AT TANUHI are nearby and charge a small fee. Accommodation is simple homestays and one modest resort. BRING CASH; there is no banking.