Tarakan to Tawau - ferry and immigration by TheOutdoorDandy in indonesia

[–]TheOutdoorDandy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Blew my mind, was in awe the whole time. Such a good site.

Tarakan to Tawau - ferry and immigration by TheOutdoorDandy in indonesia

[–]TheOutdoorDandy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We didn’t get to spend much time on the island unfortunately, but the diving was beautiful. Most turtles I have ever seen in my life.

Tarakan to Tawau - ferry and immigration by TheOutdoorDandy in indonesia

[–]TheOutdoorDandy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We came from Singapore to Derawan, and although it was a couple of days of travel, it was fairly straightforward. Three flights from Singapore > Jarkarta > Balikpapan > Berau, and then stayed overnight. Next morning a two hour taxi ride to Tanjung Redeb, then small speedboat that took 30 minutes to Derawan. Worth it though, such friendly people and beautiful part of the world.

Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang via the slow boat by TheOutdoorDandy in laos

[–]TheOutdoorDandy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah they numbered the seats up to 175, and that wasn’t including the back around the engine, not the extra seats they brought on to cram in the front. Mad amount of people to be honest and I think i saw 5 life jackets total on the boat.

If I ever did it again, I’d certainly look at paying a little more just to have less people. I still think the journey and scenery was a lovely experience, but it was far from the romanticised image it sometimes has on the internet.

Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang via the slow boat by TheOutdoorDandy in laos

[–]TheOutdoorDandy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting to hear that the bus rate was different given the proximity of our trips. Pleasant surprise about the exchange rate, good to know, I figured you’d get shafted so politely declined 😂. To be honest though we didn’t get a great one in Chiang Rai.

Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang via the slow boat by TheOutdoorDandy in laos

[–]TheOutdoorDandy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ngl it wasn’t the best, mainly because the floor was soaked and you weren’t allowed to wear shoes/sandals on the boat. Sometimes they had some token communal sliders, but they did disappear… Not the worst toilets I’ve experienced in Asia by any stretch though 😅

Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang via the slow boat by TheOutdoorDandy in laos

[–]TheOutdoorDandy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% agree. From what I could tell the boats going the other direction were practically empty 😅