You pick up your luggage from the carousel and walk out of the Arrivals hall. Your driver is waiting outside to drive you to Loa Janan, close to Samarinda, where you get on board of your own houseboat for the next few days. It is a simple river-boat but clean and neat. Downstairs you find the kitchen and dining-room, your bedroom with AC is upstairs. Simple but clean sanitary facilities. You’ve got your own cook on the boat and your meals are prepared on board with fresh produce. The Mahakam river is very wide near Loa Janan. You see many big ships, especially with logs and coal. The further away from Loa Janan we get, the calmer the traffic on the river and the sparser the buildings on the river banks. The boat also moves on during the night.

The boat moors and you walk through the village on stilts on the river Muara Muntai. Here live the Kutai. There are no streets but over beams of ironwood you walk along the market and the (little) school. You then step into a motorised canoe and sail to Jempang Lake and Ohong Creek. The village Jantar is built on the water. In Ohong Creek there are lots of long nosed proboscis monkeys and birds such as kingfishers and birds of prey. Today you also visit the Dayaks, who welcome you in Mancong. In Dayak Nenuaq you visit one of the oldest longhouses of East Kalimantan. You will see beautiful wood-carved statues here. In the late afternoon you get into the canoe again and sail back to your houseboat which takes you to Muara Pahu.

Today you will go out again with the motorized canoe and sail up the Bolowan River. This is the area of ​​the Kutai Dayak. Previously, many freshwater dolphins could be encountered here, but they are now becoming rare. What you will see are proboscis (nose ape) monkeys, many species of birds and macaques. In the afternoon you sail upstream to Melak. You sleep on board in the harbor of this lively city. You can take a walk through the city.

In Tenggarong you visit the palace of the sultan of Kutai Kertanegara. You can admire his collection related to the Dayaks. After a short walk you go back to the houseboat and sail to Samarinda. Here you say goodbye to your houseboat and the crew and your driver will drive you to your hotel in Balikpapan.