Kumai, Kalimantan

Just a fairly short post this time after my mammoth orangutan report. I've said previously how I love to wander round new towns and villages to see how the regular folk live and all the little touches that they add to mark their homes with their own individual flavour. And I do love a harbour or port town.

After we arrived at Pangkalan Bun to start our orangutan adventure, it was about a 30 minute drive to Kumai, where we boarded our klotok for our trip. I was dying to have a bit of a look round, but apart from firing off a couple of quick photos, I didn't get a chance for a better look around until we had finished our three days on the river.

Kumai was delightful. I loved the brightly painted houses, and the locals were absolutely charming and so friendly. I had run both my camera batteries flat zooming in on the wildlife over the previous couple of days, but Adri kindly lent me her spare while I wandered  the streets.

A beautiful birdcage hung between two riverside houses

Mie Ayam - a chicken noodle stand

A trio of very enthusiastic subjects

Gado-gado is a traditional Indonesian vegetable salad served with peanut sauce

These lovely ladies were making banana fritters

This lady looked a little stern, but she was very happy with her photo and kindly agreed to another.

Typical for their age, these girls were a combination of coyness and giggles.

Love these beautiful colours against the blue.

The pink flowering plant in front of this house and below is a euphorbia.

I liked this lime and rose combination for a bit of a change.

My final images of Kumai are from our klotok, and there is a fascinating explanation behind the featureless buildings that line the riverfront. They are roosting houses for swifts, whose nests are harvested and sold to be used in birds' nest soup.

There were dozens of swifts nests under the balcony on this building but our guide told us that they were a different kind of swift to those nesting inside the buildings.

A fabulous work in progress looking almost like Noah's ark

So I bid a very fond farewell to Kumai and its wonderful inhabitants, and hopefully too, farewell to my photography and camera woes (sorry about the date stamps!)  In my next few posts, I will be returning to my gardening blogging roots (pun intended!) and have some real botanical treats in store for you.