Tanjung Puting Day 1 (Kumai River, Tanjung Harapan)

Arrival

Welcome to day-1 of #rtanjungputingtravelog. First thing first, please throw away your perv mind.

Tanjung Puting is located at Central Kalimantan/Borneo, but to go there, there's a direct flight from Jakarta. No need to go to Pontianak (correction: Palangkaraya), capital of Central Kalimantan first.

From Pangkalan Bun airport, it's only 20 mins car ride to reach this port. Oh well, the port was very modest that there's no way to spot it if there's no locals or tour guide letting you know. At first actually I was afraid that we got scammed. Since well, it doesnt look like a spot for tourism.

We put our bags at the boat (let's just say it 'klothok', perhaps from the way it sounds). Since some other participants hadn't arrived, or perhaps because it's just not the departure time yet, so we were able to find some breakfast.

Well, not many warongs were open, but we were able to find a nasi kuning kiosk then had some meal there.

Kumai River

Kumai River is actually quite wide, so vessels could go through it. The color of the water is brown though, I expected a clear one since for me, we're like already in the middle of nowhere. So the pollution should be very minimal. But apparently, there are many factors affecting the color of river water.

At around 12pm, our klothok was finally departed from the port. It was heading to the downstream part of the river. Yes, going to the sea. There were other guests too departing with us, some of them were Indonesians, and some of them were foreigners (hi guys!)

On the right and left side of the river, we could see many nypa palms around. It's kinda unique scenery for me, since well, in Java it's not that common afaik

We had our lunch on the boat! The weather was good, and I knew the journey was gonna be exciting!

So, the klothok actually went from Kumai River to Kumai Bay (Java Sea), then the klothok turned to enter another river: Sekonyer River (see the pic on the last slide).

We would go to three destinations in Tanjung Puting National Park, and to go there we would use klothok only. Yes, those were located by the river.

If you wanna know how what's on top of klothok look like, just slide the pic. Yes, you could put a bed and the lying on it while enjoying the scenery during your river trip. But ours didnt look like that. Well, perhaps the size of our klothok was similar but the number of passengers is different. If you could put a bed on the "main space" during the day, that means it's like a "private klothok" with very few or no other passengers.

Tanjung Harapan

4:40. First stop: Tanjung Harapan. This area was developed for ecotourism, and hosts the information center, guest house, watch tower and camping ground.

To get off from the boat, we ought to pass thru other klotoks first, by hopping from one to another. Yeah, that's what we always did whenever we want to get to land during our 3 days trip. Sometimes even the parking lot was kinda full, that our klotok had difficulty to find vacant spot.

Actually, when I read the photo, the name of the spot is Tanjung Harapan, but there's a signboard written Pesalat. Actually I'm confused! Even looking at the internet doesnt satisfy me, since it tells me that Pesalat is 45 mins boat from Tanjung Harapan. huft.

Aha! I remember, I have my super-guide, Mas @zulham_tri here in Instagram. Mas, could you let us know the difference between Pesalat vs Tanjung Harapan? :D

And here we go, entering the rainforest! I don't create video with music background, so you could listen what we listened.

14:53. In Tanjung Harapan, the feeding time is scheduled once a day at 15:00. 7 minutes from the time and we ought to not miss it!

The feeding station fortunately wasn't that far from the dock, it was shortly reached by easy trekking.

Well, it's not guaranteed that we could always see the orangutan tho. Remember, this is national park where they supposed to live in the wildlife, not zoo or safari park.

If they're supposed to live in the wildlife, so why they feed them? Is it only for tourist attraction? Please stay tuned for the answer 🤪

Anyway, at the feeding station, we see some staff preparing bananas for the orangutans.

15:04. It's coming! Apparently, the orangutan was pretty on time! It came from the middle of the forest, hanging and swinging from tree to tree, beforing approaching the feeding station.

Ambil dari artikel di liputan6: Feeding yang disiapkan bukanlah sumber makanan utama orangutan. Makanan mereka tetaplah ada di dalam hutan, sementara feeding hanya bersifat sebagai suplemen sekaligus indikator kondisi hutan di Tanjung Puting.

Bila saatnya musim buah tiba, tetapi feeding tetap habis dilahap, itu pertanda ada yang tak beres dengan kondisi hutan. Feeding juga untuk mengabsen populasi orangutan. Jika sudah tak datang lagi, ranger akan mencari tahu kondisi si orangutan.

15:59. We didn't see other orangutans coming, so we decided to leave the spot, and back to the river. Well, when I see some articles, it's said that sometimes the orangutans come even until 5pm.

Found an interesting insect! It's mimicking the shape of a leaf so it's hard to recognize if we don't pay attention.

16:44. Floating by the river, and we found some things. Curious? Stay tuned!

17:00. So, a group of Bekantan were spotted on the trees by the river. Few klothoks ahead of us were already reaching the riverside to get a better view of the Bekantans. You know Bekantan, right? umm, the mascot of Ancol's Dufan is Bekantan. The primate with big and long nose. Well, not elephant's long.

Can you see them? Their color is reddish-brown so they're easily spotted (esp when they're moving of course).

It is endemic to the Borneo and is found mostly in mangrove forests and on the coastal areas of the island.

Apparently, its conversation status is Endangered. What does it mean? Endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction.

So happy that we're still be able to see them in their natural habitat, and hopefully we would be able to see them for a long time coming.

After satisfied watching Bekantan fam, the klothok then moved on.

The sun was gonna set, so where would we go next? where do would stay that night?

Sunset at Sekonyer River

Apparently, the driver was seeking which spot where we would stay. Yes we would spend that night on the klothok! Finally the driver and crews found the proper spot (no idea what's the criteria of the spot), but then they hooked up the rope from the boat with the plants.

18:01. Sunset @ Sekonyer River. Look at how beautiful the water mirroring the shapes above.

Well, in the national park, most of the location has no cellphone coverage. No wifi of course, no data network, even we couldnt do simple phone call.

I loved listening to the sound of nature (water, insects, birds, breeze, other animals). But well, you know, growing up in hectic city like Jakarta, sometimes it feels weird. It feels like I miss something if I dont do anything. So, I turned to my kindle and opened it up, since I could read while listening to the nature sound right. But I opted to not put my music on..

18:53. Candle light dinner. So romantic, weren't we? We had our dinner on our klotok, served and cooked by the crews.

Well, the electricity was limited, but that doesn't mean we were totally off the grid. Every once in a while, the genset was turned on and we hungrily charged our phone and other batteries.

After having our dinner, the crews then prepared our beds! so they moved our dinner table as well as the chairs on top of the roof (well, you know what I mean). Then, they spreaded out the bed for us. Not only bed, but they also set up the mosquito net for us. It was necessary since we were basically in the middle of the forest, kinda, where many types of insects were around.

20:13. Not long after everything was set and we entered our "sleeping area", we could see some insects on the outer part of the net. Well, not the scary ones, but it.wouldnt be really nice if they're inside the net.

Aside from that, the crews also set tarpaulin on the sides of the klotok, so the wind didnt enter easily, as well as if there's any rain.

Since there's no signal whatsoever, so we could only do offline activities, such as playing charades, and sleep!

Kasih Sayang dan Syukur

Kayaknya khutbah agama Islam di Indonesia ga banyak ya yang ambil dari sudut pandang besarnya kasih sayang Allah. MUNGKIN apa karena kondisi masyarakatnya belum pas ya? Atau saya saja yang jarang denger ceramah agama. Memang ada sih beberapa yang ambil dari angle ini, tapi tidak banyak. Kalau ada, biasanya isinya standar.

Di case saya secara personal, menggunakan angle ini terkadang lebih berhasil ngena, daripada angle dimana fokus di dosa dan hukuman saja. Karena apa? Kalau fokus dosa dan hukuman saja, tendensinya akan menimbulkan ketakutan dan orang akan menjauh. Walau dosa dan hukuman itu memang ada, dan perlu ada. Perjalanan spiritual saya secara pribadi lebih untuk mengejar cinta Yang Kuasa, mengharap cinta-Nya. Hmm, kayaknya agak terlalu bombastis ya bahasanya. Kalo simple-nya, ingin disayangi Tuhan supaya hati tenang (dari yang tadinya tidak tenang), dan dibantu terhadap segala macam permasalahan yang dihadapi, since my life is not always sugar and everything nice.

Dan saya yakin Allah itu pasti cinta makhluk yang mengharap cinta-Nya. Keyakinan ini datang tidak seketika, dan tidak begitu saja. Sometimes you need to experience some moment in your life to realize it.

Al-Fatihah dan Kasih Sayang

Surah paling terkenal di dalam Islam adalah Alfatihah. Bisa jadi yang non-muslim juga pernah denger tentang surah ini. Karena apa? Ini surat yang perlu dan wajib untuk dilafalkan tiap rakaatnya pada saat shalat. Tiap rakaat lho. Kalo ada satu surah yang wajib dihafal oleh pemeluk agama Islam, inilah surahnya.

Nah, surah Alfatihah ini kan ada 7 ayat.

• Ayat pertama: In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. (Dengan nama Allah, yang Maha Pengasih, Maha Penyayang)
• Ayat kedua: All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
• Ayat ketiga: The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. (Maha Pengasih, Maha Penyayang)
• Ayat keempat dst tidak dituliskan di sini ya.
  

2 dari 7 ayat ini emphasize kata Maha Pengasih dan Maha Penyayang. Perlu diperhatikan bahwa kata Maha ini sifatnya lebih dari kata “sangat”, artinya "paling" yang superlative.

Maha Pengasih artinya lebih pengasih dari yang paling pengasih yang bisa kita bayangkan. Coba kita berhenti 10 detik, kemudian bayangkan siapa orang paling baik yang kamu tahu.

Sudah?

Jawabannya bisa bermacam-macam. Mungkin ibu kamu, sahabat kamu, atau siapapun. Nah, kebaikan orang tersebut hanya setitik dari kebaikan Allah. Although we may not consciously feel it.

Kalo ga salah kata Rahman dan Rahim ini, sulit sekali ditemukan padanan dalam bahasa Inggris (apalagi bahasa Indonesia-nya). Karena pilihan kata di bahasa Indonesia jauh lebih sedikit dibandingkan bahasa Inggris. Dan pilihan kata di Bahasa Inggris juga lebih sedikit dibandingkan di Bahasa Arab. Jadi, Most Beneficient, Most Merciful not really the best words.

Ohya, familiar dengan kata rahim kan dalam bahasa Indonesia?

Jadi, Rahim di surah Alfatihah itu ya memang memiliki arti atau akar yang sama dengan rahim ibu, womb. Lah, apa hubungannya? Jadi, rahim adalah tempat dimana segala sesuatu, mulai dari makanan, zat hidup, proteksi, dan lain lain diberikan oleh sang ibu kepada janin tanpa henti. Basically semua yang diperlukan oleh janin akan disediakan dan diberikan oleh sang ibu dengan tulus. Kenapa tulus? Soalnya, si janin ga bisa kasih apapun ke sang ibu kan? It's a total unconditional love. Mau si janin acting up kayak gimana pun, tetap saja si Ibu akan nurture si janin tersebut.

That's how Allah loves us. Allah loves us, like, a lot.

Keindahan Al-Quran

Nah, terus ya, Al-Quran itu memang indah banget. Pemilihan katanya itu sangat juara. Bahkan kenapa suatu kata itu ga ditaro di situ, itu pun ada maknanya.

Pas masih kecil, saya heran sih, kenapa Nabi Muhammad SAW kok mujizat terbesarnya itu Al-Quran. Dalam hati saya berpikir, "kok cemen sih? kok mujizat nabi yang lain lebih keren?". Ya bandingin aja mujizat Nabi Ibrahim AS, misalnya tidak mempan dibakar, atau Nabi Musa AS yang membelah laut, dan lainnya. 

Setelah belajar, saya sekarang tahu, dan juga acknowledge, bahwa mujizat-mujizat rasul sebelumnya tersebut sifatnya momentual, dan perlu menjadi saksi untuk bisa merasakannya langsung.

Al-Quran ini sifatnya kitab, yang bisa selalu direfer sampai kapan pun, yang kalau ditelaah pun seperti ga ada habis-habisnya kehebatannya. Zaman sekarang, dimana ilmu pengetahuan semakin diagungkan, hal ini menjadi semakin relevan. Like, each and every one of us could experience and see it by ourselves about the amazingness of AlQuran, bahkan ribuan tahun setelah diturunkan. And it is, personal. Like, the way I experience it, might be different than the way you experience it. Kayak baca novel aja, mungkin part yang ngena untuk si A, beda dengan part yang ngena untuk si B.

Kalau di dunia digital kan sekarang kan anggapannya, "once you post it online, it stays there forever". Al-Quran mungkin similar ya, it's like an eternal miracle gitu dengan banyaknya mushaf yang tersebar dan juga orang yang menghafal. Like it stays in the world, forever.

 

Little Nuance That Matters

Kalau dengar khutbah-khutbah ulama yang jago bahasa Arab, Al-Quran begitu intricate even to every single detail. Salah satu simple thing yang does matter contohnya gini:
QS 2:186 - "And when My servants ask you concerning Me, I am nearby indeed". [ID: Dan apabila hamba-hamba-Ku bertanya kepadamu (Muhammad) tentang Aku, maka sesungguhnya Aku dekat.]

Klausa pertama: "And when My servants ask you concerning Me"
Klausa kedua: "I am nearby indeed"

Jadi, di klausa pertama kan Allah berkata kepada Nabi Muhammad SAW, dengan menjadikan umatnya dengan kata ganti ketiga. 

Tapi di klausa kedua, dimana bisa ditambahkan kata "katakan pada mereka bahwa Aku dekat", atau "maka katakan bahwa Aku dekat" atau "katakan Aku dekat". Tapi ini yang dipilih adalah "Aku dekat" saja. It's so short. Seakan-akan Allah tidak meminta Rasulullah untuk mengatakan kepada umatnya sebagai perantara untuk menjawab pertanyaan tersebut. Tapi Allah seakan-akan, "hey, let me say this to them Myself". It's.so.profound.

Hmm, ga tau sih ya, mungkin ada yang bilang ini agak mengada-ada, kebetulan, dan bisa-bisanya aja interpretasi. Tiap orang bisa jadi punya persepsi yang berbeda-beda. Tapi bagi saya, little nuance, small simple detail ini, yang bisa jadi does matter and pretty impactful.

Tapi ga semua terjemahan atau tafsir sedetail ini memang. Tapi karena di terjemahan itu suka ditambah-tambah artinya dengan tujuan "agar lebih mudah dimengerti", tapi that little nuance yg menurutku jadi hilang.

Ohya, saya bukan ahli Al-Quran ya, dan bukan untuk argumentasi juga. Mungkin dibilang kalay cherry pick ayat yang dirasa pas. And I know there are some critiques out there about Al-Quran, and it's not my current capability to answer.

Gratefulness

Gw orangnya ga pengen untuk mengecewakan orang yang sudah percaya sama gw, orang yang sudah baik ke gw. Kalo ada orang yang sudah baik ke gw, pasti gw pengen bales berbuat baik ke orang tersebut, even bales yang lebih baik lagi kalau memungkinkan.

Gimana kalo berbuat baik ke orang lain? Dulu, biasanya gw expect setelah gw berbuat baik ke orang, orang lain tersebut juga kemudian perlu untuk berbuat baik ke gw, at least say thanks gitu. Jadi sifatnya resiprokal. Atau bisa dibilang pamrih gak ya?

Misalnya ada temen numpang di rumah selama sebulan, gratis, terus dikasih makan tiap hari. Nah, tapi dia ga bilang terima kasih sama sekali. Pasti dongkol kan. Sebenernya tergantung apa yang sudah gw lakukan/berikan sih, kadar dongkolnya akan berbeda juga, hehe.

Kalau sekarang, gw mencoba untuk ikhlas. I mean, I do good deeds to others is only for the sake of doing good deeds. Why? since that's a good thing. As simple as that. umm, that's not simple actually, haha. Karena apa yang orang lain lakukan itu kan ga bisa kita kontrol ya. Tapi berbuat baik kan merupakan perintah Allah, dan saya tahu dan yakin bahwa Allah lah yang akan membalas. Berbuat baik adalah lebih ke urusan saya dengan Allah, bukan agar orang lain berbuat baik juga ke saya. Berbuat baik is the right thing to do.

Jadi, kalo misalnya berbuat baik ke orang lain, terus tapi orang lain tersebut ga berterima kasih, gapapa nih sekarang? Hmm, sekarang sih agak mendingan ya. haha. Kadang-kadang (atau cukup sering? lol) sih masih ada rasa kesalnya, namanya juga manusia. I'm not a emotionless human. Tapi gw mulai membiasakan diri untuk acknowledge hal tersebut, dan kemudian choose how to react the way I want saja. Easier said than done, and sometimes I fail too. But I can always try, right?

Terus apa hubungannya dengan bersyukur? Cerita di atas coba angle-nya agak dimodifikasi, dimana bukan gw sebagai yang memberikan sesuatu, tapi gw yang mendapatkan sesuatu. Nah, sudahkan gw menjadi orang yang pandai berterima kasih?

Gw cukup suka untuk ambil this kind of angle. Jadi, gw dalam posisi sebagai orang yang banyak dapat kemudahan, tapi apakah gw sudah termasuk orang yang pandai berterima kasih? apakah gw sudah termasuk sebagai orang yang pandai bersyukur?

Jadi ingat suatu kisah Nabi Muhammad SAW, dan kayaknya kisah ini sudah cukup terkenal.

Rasulullah SAW prayer would cause his feet to swell and crack due to its length. Ā’ishah (radiyallāhu ‘anhā) said to him, “Why do you do this when Allāh has already forgiven your previous and later sins?” He responded, “Should I not be grateful servant [of Allāh]?”

Sebelumnya, my reaction would be just "oooh". Lately, I can quite understand to that one, karena gw coba menggunakan analogi kali ya? Gini, misalnya gw dikasih rumah seharga 50 M oleh Bapak X misalnya secara cuma-cuma. Pasti dong gw akan say thanks ke dia. Ga hanya say thanks, mungkin gw akan kasih hampers senilai puluhan juta, or even more, or gw akan coba melakukan like almost anything that will make Bapak X happy. Since what I do or give actually means nothing dengan 50 M yang gw dapet. Dan kalo ada orang yang tanya, "ngapain sih kirim hampers, padahal kamu udah dapet lho rumahnya". it's like, hello, can I be grateful toward the one who has been so kind to me? It's just, the right thing to do.

Nah, angle ini yang menurut saya jarang digunakan. Atau mungkin itu perasaan saya saja ya? Atau di case yang saya alami saja? Atau memang banyak penceramah Islam yang kurang pandai menyampaikan saja? Biasanya cukup "text book", dan sudah sangat sering didengar, sehingga terkesan kosong tanpa arti, atau sedikit arti. Atau arti yang hanya menyentuh kognitif tanpa afektif.

Seandainya sedikit dimodifikasi, misal, "orang tua kamu sayang sama kamu? Nah, Allah itu sayang kamu berlipat-lipat dibandingkan sayangnya orang tua kamu itu". Mungkin, kalau kalimat itu yang digunakan, pendengarnya juga jadi ikut berpikir. Nope, tidak hanya ikut berpikir, tapi juga ikut merasa. Karena, bukankah merasa itu hal yang esensial? Dan saya berpikir bahwa perasaan yang jernih merupakan hasil dari pikiran yang jernih pula.