Experience the best of Pangkalan Bun

Pangkalan Bun is the main town of the Kotawaringin Barat regency, lying on the Arut River a short way inland from the Java Sea. It grew as a trading town for the river and the forests, and its streets are lined with shops, offices and mosques. The port of Kumai, a short drive away, is where boats for the national park set out.

Tanjung Puting National Park lies a few hours upriver by boat, its peat swamp and rainforest holding wild orangutans. Camp Leakey, a research camp linked with the primatologist Biruté Galdikas, is a well-known stop, and wooden houseboats travel along blackwater rivers stained tea-brown by the peat.

Food is Indonesian, with rice, river fish and sambal, a hot chilli paste, at most meals. The climate is hot and wet, with rains from about November to April and drier weather from May to October. The park is best visited in the drier months, when the paths are firmer and the river is lower.