From Palangkaraya to Banjarmasin

After ±1 hour doing parkour jam around Kahayan Bridge; Jeffri, Jovi, Fauzan, and I decided to swim and do some flip training on the river under the bridge, while Andreas preferred to practice controlling the drone for documenting our activities. Even though the weather was hot that afternoon, but it’s really a memorable experience, because on that day, October 20^th 2017, for the first time in my life I set foot in Borneo/Kalimantan island. A few hours earlier Jeffri & I had just landed at Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangkaraya city, where Jeffri also came home to visit his family (Jeffri took his time-off from his job in Surabaya).

Overall, as long as I watched, Palangkaraya is much more quiet than Surabaya. It still has a lot of vacant land and not too many vehicles, which make this city is quite comfortable to live in. Just info, there will be a plan from Indonesian government for moving the capital city to Palangkaraya in the future, although there hasn’t been any certainty about it until now.

From Kahayan Bridge, around 4.00 PM we left to Fauzan’s house for showering and changing clothes. Then after resting for a while, we left Palangkaraya riding Jovi’s car. There were total 9 people who joined in it. The trip to Banjarmasin took about 4-5 hours through the dark forest and quiet road at night. Thankfully we all got to the destination safely.

We arrived at Menara Pandang Banjarmasin (Watch Tower) around 11.00 PM, which located beside Martapura river (just info, Banjarmasin time is one hour faster than Palangkaraya). Right next to it, there had been attached the portable obstacle that would be used for Fornas IV Banjarmasin on the following day. Fornas itself stands for “Forum Olahraga Nasional” (National Sports Forum), and this event was also at once used as Regional Jamming of Parkour Kalimantan. After trying and experimenting some movement around the obstacle, we decided to rest in Juanda’s house that night. Juanda is one of Parkour Banjarmasin practitioners who provides his house for accommodation.

The next day, a lot of people had been gathering around the obstacle since the morning. Most participants obviously came from Banjarmasin along with the surrounding areas in South Kalimantan. There were also from Palangkaraya, Surabaya, and Soreang. The committee also invited guest judges from Jombang (Ulin Nuha) and Jakarta (Ahmad Syafei). After free jamming session and lunch-break, the main event began. Starting from the opening speech of Adi Suprayitno as B-Jump Parkour Banjarmasin representative, then continued with speed contest and freestyle competition. I idly joined the speed contest, although not winning it of course, because it’s just for having fun.

After exploring the portable obstacle along with its surrounding area the whole day, the first day’s event ended towards sunset. Andreas, the Palangkaraya crews, and I immediately returned to Juanda’s house for resting. The traffic in Banjarmasin was quite congested that night, so we decided not to go anywhere else for the rest of that day.

Final round of the freestyle competition was continued on the next day after coaching clinic session, where Ihas finally became the winner. Meanwhile the speed contest category was won by Abidin. After the winner announcement and closing speech, almost all participants headed to the wedding reception of Syamsul. He is one of the senior practitioners of Parkour Banjarmasin. The last time I met him was on Parkour Indonesia National Jamming 2013 in Bali. It was also the first time I got acquainted with B-Jump crews.

By the way, we had no time anymore to change clothes or even take a shower. So, with still wearing sweaty-smell-parkour-clothes, every one of us “raided” the reception hall. Honestly I was really embarrassed going to a wedding party with such an appearance, but because it’s done together with many people…I just ignored my feeling. Apart from that, the most important thing is our friendship and brotherhood have to keep lasting forever.

From Syamsul’s wedding reception, some people went home, and some people still continued the parkour jam at the small park near the river, under the bridge around S. Parman street. Of course I joined the jam because that was my last day in Banjarmasin, so I had to make this trip as satisfying as possible. We trained and explored in this park until sunset.

In the evening, all the remaining participants gathered for a sharing session in Juanda's house, then continued to eat dinner at the nearby restaurant. By the end of dinner time, we had to say goodbye to all the Palangkaraya crews. They went back to their hometown that night riding Jovi’s car.

And finally, after 3 nights and 4 days in Borneo island, it’s time for me to return to Surabaya. On the following day after eating breakfast, I was escorted to Syamsudin Noor Airport, while Andreas still stayed in Banjarmasin for one more day. Although it was a short trip, but overall this was one of the most memorable adventures for me in 2017. Hope one day there would be a chance to visit here again.

video by Andreas Lucio Ivanno