Kumala Island - Tenggarong ....

Tenggarong is in East Borneo, around 1 hour drive from the capital city of East Borneo, Samarinda. I went there in 2006.


Kumala island entrance gate

Kumala island is a small island surrounded by Mahakam river. In the past, this island was a forest island. Then, the local government transformed it to be an amusement park. To reach this island, we have to take cable car or a speedboat. I took the cable car at that time ... quite new and impressive ... you know, I mean I thought I only can see cable car in Jakarta or other big cities ...
I walked around the island. There are some attractions in the theme park, such as small roller coaster, bumper cars, carrousel, etc. The interesting thing that I found was a house called 'rumah panggung' with Dayak decorative painting. There are some wood statues in Dayak engraving in front of the house.



I also took the shuttle car to see the Lembuswana statue. Honestly I don't know what this statue means. I believe there are stories or legends related to it. I only can show you the picture of this statue. I'll try to find out next time I go to East Borneo again :-)


LEMBUSWANA - INTERESTING ISN'T IT???

Unfortunately, this island seems not to be well-managed. You cannot find map to identify places around the island. There is also no information about Tenggarong or Kumala island. It is disappointing as I know that the oldest Hindu Kingdom in Indonesia, Kutai Empire, was located in Tenggarong. So it must be very interesting to know the history about the kingdom, Tenggarong or Lembuswana statue. I think if this island is well-managed, it can be one of the best tourist resort in East Borneo like Sentosa island in Singapore.