Trip To The Equator Riverside City

I had made plans to be away during my birthday as early as mid-January. Then the surgery took place but I still asked my doctor hopefully if I could travel (barely a week after the surgery). He said that I could, as long as I exercised necessary caution. Sought second opinion from my therapist and she said it shouldn’t be a problem either so I rushed back from therapy and scrambled to check in for my flight, search for and rebook hotels as I’d cancelled the hotels booked earlier, pack and get ready.

 

I flew out to Kuching on the late afternoon of 4 July. From the airport, I took Maxim car to Kuching Sentral to find ticket to Pontianak for the following morning. I finally called a bus company and he said there were some seats on the morning bus but that I must come early to pay for the ticket. I then walked to Kuching Transit Inn to spend the night. It was the nearest inn I could find to Kuching Sentral. Well, it wasn’t great but somewhere I could rest. I could hear the next door guests and after a while, a noise that continued until I realised it was rain.

 

I woke up early on Friday for prayers and packed. It was raining and I walked out in the rain to Kuching Sentral. Alhamdulillah, I packed my brolly for the trip. After queuing up and paying for my ticket (the man I talked to the previous evening told me I could pay online but counter lady said no so I had to find an ATM to withdraw money. I was in such a hurry that I didn’t dig out moure cash to bring.

 

The bus finally left at almost 10:00 and we stopped at a supermarket for passengers to use the facilities or do last-minute shopping or purchase snacks for the trip. The rain still poured. We continued after thirty minutes until we reached the border at Tebedu where we had to get all our bags and go through passport control and immigration, cross over to the Indonesian side and go through passport control again.

 

We continued our journey and stopped en route at a restaurant for lunch. I thought the price was a bit steep but the owner could get away with it as it seemed to be the only eatery around and most, if not all, bus operators stop there.

 

We resumed our journey and finally reached Terminal ALBN (Antar Lintas Batas Negara). There’s WiFi at the terminal but passengers cannot arrange for e-hailing car to pick them up. I had to ride a cab to Garuda Hotel. It took about 25 minutes in the after-office peak traffic to reach the hotel. I checked in and performed prayers. I ventured out after dark to Ayani Megamall to find dinner. The mall is across a busy road and I had to walk further to use an overhead pedestrian bridge to cross over. I spent about an hour there before turning back.

 

I slept badly that night, no thanks to the traffic noise outside the window.

 

I woke up on Saturday, 6 July, for prayers then lingered before going for breakfast. After breakfast, I walked to the riverfront. I had thought of taking the ferry across but it looked like it was a vehicle ferry and I didn’t feel like asking. I had initially planned to visit the Equatorial Monument but changed my mind that it doesn’t lie on the Equator but 117 metres off. Plus it looked like it was going to rain so I turned and walked back to the hotel. I went to the hotel rooftop for a bird’s eyeview of the surrounding area before returning to the room. I checked out after noon prayers. After depositing my bag at the left luggage, I went to find lunch. I then sat in the lobby and read. It rained shortly after and I was glad that I was safe and dry in the hotel lobby.

 

 

I sat reading and occasionally swatting mosquitoes away. There was a small mixed prayer room for hotel staff and guests (? It looked a bit horrible for guests) hidden away so after freshening up and changing clothes, I performed prayers.

 

The Maxim car I had arranged arrived early, driver said to avoid the traffic jam. So we left before 21:00 and arrived at Terminal ALBN 25 minutes later. My bus (I purchased the ticket online from another bus company) was leaving at 23:00 and we left on time. In contrast to the trip over, the bus was empty. I moved seats to get comfortable but couldn’t sleep, surprise, surprise.

 

To my surprise, we stopped at the same restaurant just before 03:00. And I was even more surprised to find people actually eating - and rice at that - at that hour.

 

We finally resumed our journey and arrived at Pos Lintas Batas Negara (PLBFN) Entikong before 05:00. I heard the call for morning prayers and went to find the mosque to perform prayers. it was drizzling. After that, we waited in the bus before we were told to bring our bags and queue at the gate. I didn’t know borders actually closed. The Azerbaijan-Georgia, UAE-Oman borders for instance didn’t close when we crossed in the middle of the night.

 

We stood waiting in the drizzle and the gate finally opened at 07:00 Indonesian time. There was a stampede as we rushed towards the passport control building where we joined yet another queue. Another bout of standing ensued. And of course, the kiosk I queued for opened much later. Having had my passport stamped, I crossed over to the Malaysian side and repeated the process. No queue this time!

 

When all passengers had boarded, we continued our journey to Kuching Sentral and finally reached it at 11:40 (!), 12+ hours after we left. I walked over to Kuching Transit Inn to meet SAK who’d parked there. We went for lunch and then she dropped me off at Marco Polo Guest House in Padungan. After checking in, I walked to the city centre and returned after buying dinner. it’s hard to find halal food in Padungan.

Gula apong ice cream

Guest house resident cats

 

On Monday, 8 July 2024, I woke up early and went for a walk. I came back after 45 minutes, freshened up and finished packing. I left shortly after breakfast for my flight back to KL.