|
|
Day
12 (October 30, 2018) Pangkalan Bun
Before
The only purpose for this day is to reach Borneo Island in
order to be ready for the tour tomorrow.
From yogyakarta, where it's scheduled we'll leave at 9 AM,
we'll
need two separate flights for Pangkalan bun. The link is in Surabaya,
where we'll hae about three hours checking in to the other flight.
If everything goes as expected, we'll reach our destination
by 2:45 PM.
|
After
We’re the first ones at hotel’s restaurant waiting for
they open for breakfast at 6 AM, as we just have one hour until our
taxi for the airport comes. We enjoy again this buffet breakfast at
Gallery Prawirotaman Hotel and leave to the Yogyakarta’s airport. We
arrive with plenty of time.
After checking in we can access to the big waiting hall
for all boarding gates, which are around six of them in line in the
same side of the room with glass walls, so we can see the planes
outside. The other three walls are full of shops, which we explore.
Soon, our flight appears as one hour delayed on screen. We were
expecting it as it was no movement at all in the gate for the scheduled
boarding time. As we had three hours to change airline in Surabaya we
still were thinking we could manage it but, when the screen shows one
more hour of delay, then we think we can’t.
We talk to Wings Air staff when they appear for giving us
complimentary food and water because of the delay. As the link we have
is with a different airline we knew the help they can provide to us is
limited, but the take note of the codes for our baggage and tell us our
bags will be waiting for us when we leave the plane in Surabaya to
avoid waiting in the carousel, so we can go directly to NAM Air
checking desk as soon as possible. Even with that I don’t think we’re
going to manage it, then I make a search online for available flights
from Surabaya to Pangkalan Bun today and find that next one is from
Wings Air, so I come back to the staff mentioning that but they answer
me I must go to the airline desk at Surabaya airport to buy tickets for
that flight.
With this, all we’ll need to do will be once in Surabaya.
Finally, our flights scheduled for 9 AM leaves nearly at 12 PM and we
have more than one hour to Surabaya, where we should check-in and board
to a NAM Air flight scheduled for 1:30 PM.
 
We land a bit before 1 PM and the only chance I can see to be
able to check in to our next flight is it is delayed too. When we leave
the plane cannot see our bags out there, so we get into the building,
but they’re not there either. When I explain our problem to the first
person I meet from airport’s staff, he takes me to NAM air desk which,
surprisingly, is still checking in for our flight. They give us
boarding passes and ask us to bring the bags as soon as possible, so I
run back to my wife, which tells me our bags are not there and there is
no one from Wings Air staff. We can only wait for them to appear in the
carousel. When we finally bring our bags it’s the time planned for the
plane to take off, but they’ve waited for us and I’m shocked they can
still check-in our bags. We run to boarding gate and boarding is not
starting until we get there. It’s amazing how NAM Air has work out the
way we can get our flight when our problem had nothing to do with them.
When I’m seated at the plane I can’t believe we’re here.
 
It’s just one hour and fifteen minutes to Pangkalan Bun, in
Borneo island. We arrive at 2:45 PM as scheduled and, after taking our
baggage in the only carousel in this tiny airport, I see the taxi
office by the exit and pay 90,000 rupees for the ride to our hotel.
 
What we see in Pangkalan Bun is not looking like for walking
around from our hotel as this is a road with shops here and thee along
it instead that streets. After getting our room in Arsela Hotel, we go
to the restaurant for a proper lunch and dinner, as it’s 4:30 PM now
and we only got that poor portion of chicken from Wings Air since our
early breakfast. We pay 179,000 rupees for a cheese omelet, fried
noodles with seafood and a spectacular steamboat.
At evening, when it is already dark out there, I go out for a
walk following the road looking for mosquito repellent, as they took it
from us in the airport. We’ll receive a visit from Wati, from Varada
Tours, to talk about our two days tour starting tomorrow morning.
|
|
|
|
