Jukung boats
Trading boat to boat.
Adiwijayanto23 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Crisco 1492 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Muhammad Haris — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Muhammad Haris — CC BY-SA 4.0
One of Borneo's loveliest and most authentic sights, a market held every morning on the Martapura River, where village women paddle small wooden boats called jukung loaded with fruit, vegetables and traditional cakes, trading boat to boat under wide traditional woven hats. The market starts at dawn and is over by about nine, so trips leave by klotok boat from the Siring jetty in the city centre around five in the morning, passing wooden riverside houses and daily life on the water, from bathing to washing. At the market you can buy fruit and breakfast straight from the boats. The market itself is free, while the klotok is hired whole at an agreed price and fits a family or group. Bring small cash for buying. Do not be late, as the market disperses a few hours after sunrise. Combine the trip with Sultan Suriansyah Mosque and Kampung Ketupat on the way back.
Trading boat to boat.
Village women on the water.
Houses on the banks.
Martapura River, about an hour by boat from central Banjarmasin
Lok Baintan is the real, authentic market every morning; Siring's is a smaller tourist version in town at weekends. The first is worth the early start.