So, after last week's flurry of marking, packing, farewelling, and part-time touristing, we're chilling for a week in Pontianak, West Kalimantan (Kalbar), Indonesia, before embarking on the next flurry (which will involve applying for MM2H in Kuching).

Not that one exactly "chills" in a place that is slap bang on the equator...

It's actually a pleasant little expedition to the Equator Monument, involving a brief trip on the ferry across the river, and another in an opelet (a kind of minivan that accommodates 8-10 people, plus children and market goods). The monument doesn't strictly mark the equator any more (rumour variously places this crucial circumference at the inconspicuous pipe about 100 metres south, or even out in the river -- you see, everything's mobile, even equators...). Be that as it may, it's interesting to view the old photos, poke along the river bank, and have iced tea and freshly made pisang goreng at one of the many stalls.








The big, beefy, no-nonsense Kapuas River is Pontianak's finest asset, in our view. There's always something interesting riding its flow, whether it's a towed barge full of cargo, or a little passenger boat, or a "boat cafe", or the busy ferries.




Either side of the river, walkways offer pleasant breezes, good river views, and slightly voyeuristic glimpses into the watery lifestyle of the riparian kampungs.










At the confluence of the Kapuas and the Landak stand the monuments of old Pontianak: the wooden mosque and the palace of the first Sultan. There are various versions of the origins of Pontianak's name (it's a fluid kind of place, in many senses). One is that it derives from the Hakka "Khun Tien"; another is that it refers to tall trees ("pohon-pohon punti"). The most colourful version is that this first Sultan fired his cannons to get rid of a nuisancy pontianak (the ghost of a woman who has died in childbirth, and returns to gouge out people's innards with her long, spiky fingernails...).




When the tide is high, the river nonchalantly expands into the surrounding streets, and climbs over the bank into the park (Taman Alun Kapuas). I'm sure this makes for much inconvenience, but it also offers interesting photo opportunities.




We spent a slightly surreal couple of hours in the park, watching the tide creep slowly across the flagstones, listening to the "boom boom tra-lah tra-lah" of the band that was accompanying some police event nearby, and agreeing to occasional requests for selfies from officers who'd wandered away from the event to take a look at the river. (Generally speaking we draw quite a bit of attention. I don't think many "bule" stop off here.)

Nearby is Pontianak's oldest Buddhist temple, the Vihara Bodhisatva Karaniya Metta.









The abundance of such temples underlines the city's strongly Chinese streak, which is also evident in the local version of chicken rice, described by one source thus: "It does include a small, token piece of chicken, but this is hidden under several different kinds of pork."




But Pontianak is nothing if not multicultural:




Which makes it all the more lovable.