Where is Rune?

Last Monday (13 July) I went to the immigration office here in Balikpapan to have a third extension of my visa. I submitted my application (which included a guarantee letter from my sponsor) and was told to come back on Thursday. So I did, and on Thursday I was given a brown envelope, and was told to bring it to the provincial immigration office located in Samarinda. Samarinda is the capital of East Kalimantan province. In Samarinda I would be given another brown envelope in return to bring back to Balikpapan immigration. This is the standard procedure for the third and fourth visa extension.

Brown envelope.

So on this Monday (20 July), I took a bus to Samarinda, at noon exactly. The bus was a non-AC bus, took around two and a half hours, and cost Rp 21,000. Upon arrival in Samarinda I asked an ojek (motorbike taxi) driver to take me to a penginapan (a cheap lodging) in the city centre. He brought me to Hotel Aida, but it was full, so I opted for the place next door instead, Hotel Hidayah I, where I checked in and paid Rp 125,000 (~USD 12) for one night, for a non-AC room. Paid the driver Rp 15,000. Nothing special about the room, but the hotel has a common balcony at the second floor, where I could sit and watch the city life.

I strolled around downtown Samarinda for two hours, and had a meal at a restaurant as well. I then went back to the hotel, became very sleepy, and slept from 18:00 to 20:00. I tried not to, since it would be difficult to sleep later on. At 22:00 I strolled a bit around the city again and ate a martabak for Rp 15,000 at a food stall, before returning to the hotel to retire for the night. The city looks pretty dead in the evening.

Tuesday morning at 08:30 I checked out of the hotel and asked an ojek driver to take me to the immigration office. He didn’t know where it was, and took me to the wrong address first (another government office), where an officer explained the correct address to my driver. He said it was very far away (bullshit), and after some negotiating I paid him Rp 35,000 in total, since I had no idea how far it was. Off we went again, and after a while we found the correct address, which was on the other side of the city. My driver asked me if I wanted him to wait for me to bring me to the bus terminal afterwards, but since he optimistically demanded Rp 100,000 for this, I just laughed and said thank you but no thank you.

I then entered the Samarinda immigration office, handed over the brown envelope, and waited two hours.

While waiting, I had an interesting conversation with some officers. The interesting part was to hear one of the officers (I think his name was Zaifal) telling about all the foreigners he had deported from Indonesia in his previous position, including a Norwegian working illegally in Balikpapan on a tourist visa…

I was then given another brown envelope to bring back to Balikpapan. So I did, and reached the Balikpapan immigration office at 15:00, 30 minutes before closing time, after an angkot (public minivan) ride (Rp 3,000), a bus ride (Rp 21,000), and finally an ojek ride (Rp 25,000). I handed over the brown envelope, paid the fee of Rp 250,000, and was told to come back the next day to pick up my passport with the extended visa.

So I did, and today I picked up my stamped passport! Now I am sitting in Kafe Excelso in Plaza Balikpapan and posting this.

Pictures (click picture to enlarge):

View from balcony at Hotel Hidayah.

View from balcony at Hotel Hidayah.

Masjid Raya Darussalam Samarinda.

The billboard in front of this mosque reads: “Wake up, people of Samarinda!! Avoid the drug trap! Samarinda drugs agency.”

Imigrasi Balikpapan.

Plaza Balikpapan.