Blog Pages

May 5, 2013

The Land with No Roads

My brother and Dad each spent a day here flying along with an MAF plane & pilot. Jordan's day ended up being fairly long & adventurous as he spent time with 3 different MAF pilot's, 2 airplanes, 1 nose gear tire change in the jungle, and about 11 take off & landings.

Contrary to the title of my blog post, this particular region of Inland Borneo (the Krayan) does have the odd road, but they just don't go very far and are more suited for a 4x4 vehicle or dirt bike. I have heard there is a road leading from one part of this area into Malaysia (Approx. 1/3rd of the western side of Borneo is Malaysia and the wee Kingdom of Brunei), but alas, there is no road connection to the rest of Indonesia.

So, you could certainly say it is the Land with No Roads to the Outside World.
 Above, a muddy Cessna 206 that they flew in on being loaded & unloaded with people and cargo at the end of a grass air strip.
A family patiently waits in Long Bawan to board the MAF plane. I love this photo, as a Dad & 3 kids are occupied by his phone, but everyone else in the family is gazing off in different directions, lost in their own thoughts as they wait between fuel barrels and cardboard boxes.
Kids, kids, and more kids!
 At best, education in these areas stops after grade school. If you want your kid to attend the equivalent of Junior High (SMP) or above, they have to move out of the village, and out of the region.
Helping carry the load!
Another small village built along the outskirts of a runway. (Although, I think what you see in the picture is a road, and the runway is where the picture is taken from).

More pic's to come!

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