Sangatta to Balikpapan via Bontang and Samarinda - a journey through sky

After a melancholic 60 days stay at Sangatta,Indonesia, I was sitting in  a twin otter plane seated right behind the pilot and peeking  through the glass  window, waiting for the plane to take off. Onward journey from balikpapan to sangatta was through land and also exciting one, but without knowing a bit of language at that time, I was just talking with eyes and expresions and actions. Hectic googling prior to my jouney two months ago about the place where i am going to live(sangatta) did not reveal any information. It is quite an unexplored place. So now sitting in the plane , i am going to see the island of borneo(now renamed as kalimantan) from top of the world with an iphone5S in my hands. 

I started clicking things whatever i could see around. The pilot and co-pilot getting ready for starting the flight - The moments i was waiting for.
 

Just before take off i realised the wings and fan blades are going to be a big hindrance for my photography obstructing part of the view, Limiting the views for you all too.
  The entire journey was over Celebes sea off the coast of east Kalimantan(Borneo) passing through the outskirts of the cities Samarinda and Bontang.  The flight duration was one hour and I got some good aerial views of samarinda city and the Mahakam river and of course the beautiful Island of Kalimantan. I tried my best to capture Sun, land , Sea and Sky in a single view. I felt requirement of a  wide angle lens for my iphone. Got one now (Learn from your mistakes). So the next time I go in the route,  you will get to see the photo on my blog.
My first photo from sky 
Sunlight, Land, Sea, Sky



The pathway into the sea at sangatta


The path you see is actually a very wide road for carrying containers for loading ships. You can see some huge vehicles in the pathway appearing small. 

And then i could see the place where i live from sky-The Sangatta town, The ship loading station at Sangatta,  The beautiful landscapes, Small rivers, and some unmanned islands- people are yet to inhabit these places.
The Sangatta town




The bontang City and its gas plant


The beautiful  Samarinda city

Aerial view of samarinda city

Aerial view of Samarinda industrial area 
Aerial view of stadium at samarinda


The Mahakam river

The Mahakam river at samarinda appears muddy due to the rains.

Yes the wings and blades have obscured a major view of the mahakam river through a large landscape. The beautiful curves of the river on this island is so far the best river view i have seen from sky. 

Another attempt to get shot of the curves of samarinda. The flight was faster. I should have gone for video and edited. These places will not remain the same in the future. The Borneo rainforests are occupied by people faster than ever. Lot of trees are being cut everyday, forest burnt for construction purpose.

The flight landed at Balikpapan International aiport. and my journey to India continued...............................................

Comments

  1. Ivan @AeroJanuary 7, 2019 at 12:23 AM

    Sorry dude, you wrong. Those are the urban of Bontang aerial, not Samarinda. And please allow me to use your photos to Bontang article in Wikipedia.

    ReplyDelete

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