The Visitors (Part I)

Pontianak, my hometown, is not known as a tourist destination, hence it's actually interesting to see what tourists, especially those from foreign countries, think about it. I once joked that if they ever visited Pontianak during Chinese New Year, for sure they'd be served with soft drinks whereas us locals had to make do with some hot tea. That is to illustrate how friendly we are (at the expense of the locals, haha), and curious at the same time, for we seldom see tourists, especially the foreign language speaking ones. Recently I had a chance to bring Singaporean friends for a visit, so here's the story of the first world visitors going through the road less traveled to visit a backwater place called Pontianak.

At the Batam airport runway.

Even by today's standard, it's still not easy to go to Pontianak. From Singapore, one will have to come in from either Jakarta, Kuching, Batam or Kuala Lumpur. For us, we traveled via Batam. That alone was an experience by itself, because walking on a runway to get into our aeroplane was definitely uncommon in Changi. It was totally unthinkable that one could stop to pose and take picture on a runway in front of a propeller aircraft but, hey, welcome to Indonesia. Once we reached the new Supadio airport, we went through what seemed to be a normal walkway to me, only to be pointed out by Lawrence that we actually entered from a loading bay! A culture shock to him and a funny one at that.

Oh yeah, by the way, our guests here go by the names of Lawrence and James. We were at the airport, collecting our baggage from the belt and already it was hilarious. The electricity was cut off twice, causing the belt to stop and there was always a sound of siren right after that, prompting Lawrence to ask, "is it some sort of a sign so that the airport staff can get on the bike and start pedaling to generate the electricity again?"

My cousin picked us up at the airport. He is one of the few that speaks English down there, as the language is alien and not widely spoken in town, a common problem across Indonesia with the exception of Bali. On our way to city, we passed by a crowd of people dressed in white and headwear called the turban. The day we went there coincided with the 4/11 event in Jakarta where the hardcore muslims gathered at the roundabout, so there was a similar action, albeit in a smaller scale, in Pontianak. Coming from Singapore, a peaceful country that promotes racial harmony, I believe this was like sitting on front seats to watch a social unrest unraveled. A first hand experience, if you like.

Pontianak chicken rice, the messy and sticky affair.

Harris Hotel, the one where the guys were staying, was cheap and presentable. It was a walking distance from my home, therefore I chose it in the first place. After checking in, we had the chicken rice, a local cuisine that actually had more pork than chicken (a strange reality that I never questioned until, again, it was pointed out to me when I worked in Jakarta). A walk to my home could have been an adventure by itself: Singapore is so clean and pedestrian-friendly whereas Pontianak is dusty with non-existent pavement and the path for walking could be covered by pools of water after the rain. As my home is located in a small alley, we passed by a stuck drainage with still, black and smelly water, a total nightmare and yet, for the lack of sceneries in Pontianak, I actually had to stop and explained that to our dear tourists.  

Nasi uduk Borobudur, the talk of town.

We took a break before we went out again at night by car for sightseeing. Had nasi uduk for dinner, a localised version of nasi lemak that was served together with fried chicken, tempe, tofu and crispy flour. I remember James was paying for the dinner as he guessed the price wrongly, haha. Pontianak is a small town (although this is arguable as we never crossed the Kapuas river) that we completed the city center in just a while. We ended up visiting the one and only decent shopping mall in town and then went back to the hotel. On a hindsight, it was a good thing that we ended early, because later on, the unforeseen riot took place that night and the rioters smashed a coffee shop nearby the hotel...

Top row, from the left: Lawrence and Anthony
Bottom row, from the left: Parno, Andrew and James

Para Wisatawan (Bagian Pertama)

Pontianak, kampung halaman saya, tidak dikenal sebagai tujuan wisata. Oleh karena itu, menarik untuk dicatat bagaimana sebenarnya reaksi dan kesan para turis, terutama yang berasal dari luar negeri, selama berada di sana. Saya pernah bercanda bahwa jikalau mereka berkunjung ke Pontianak pada saat Tahun Baru Cina, sudah pasti mereka akan disuguhi minuman soda sedangkan orang lokal seperti saya harus berpuas diri dengan teh hangat. Ilustrasi ini sengaja saya pakai untuk menunjukkan ramah-tamah orang Pontianak yang jarang dikunjungi turis, apalagi yang berbahasa asing. Nah, bicara tentang topik yang satu ini, berikut ini adalah kisah kunjungan teman-teman Singapura ke Pontianak.

Bahkan untuk standar hari ini pun tidak gampang sebenarnya untuk berkunjung ke Pontianak. Dari Singapura, pilihan yang tersedia adalah transit di Jakarta, Kuching, Batam atau Kuala Lumpur. Pada kesempatan ini, kita menaiki feri dari Singapura ke Batam, setelah itu baru terbang ke Pontianak. Pengalaman berjalan di landasan pacu bandara Batam pun menjadi daya tarik sendiri bagi turis-turis kita ini, sebab hal ini tidak lazim di bandara Changi. Bagi mereka, bisa berhenti sejenak untuk berpose di depan pesawat baling-baling sungguh merupakan sesuatu yang unik. Saat kita tiba di Supadio, mereka juga terperangah saat menyadari pintu masuk dari landasan pacu ke bandara bersebelahan dengan tempat bongkar-muat bagasi!

James dan Lawrence di bandara Supadio.

Oh ya, dua tamu kita ini bernama Lawrence dan James. Ketika kita sedang menunggu bagasi, untuk pertama kalinya mereka mengalami mati lampu di bandara. Tidak hanya sekali, melainkan dua kali, dan selalu ada bunyi sirene setelahnya, sehingga Lawrence bertanya dengan polosnya, apakah itu tanda bagi petugas bandara untuk membangkitkan listrik lagi.

Sepupu saya Andrew menjemput kita di bandara. Dia adalah satu dari segelintir orang yang bisa bercakap-cakap dalam Bahasa Inggris, bahasa yang jarang dipergunakan di Pontianak. Dalam perjalanan ke kota, kita melewati sekelompok orang berpakaian putih dan mengenakan surban. Hari itu bertepatan dengan aksi demonstrasi 411 dimana para pelaku unjuk rasa radikal berkumpul di bundaran Thamrin. Di Pontianak, semacam aksi solidaritas skala kecil pun digelar. Datang dari Singapore, negara damai yang selalu mengutamakan prinsip ras yang harmonis, pengalaman ini tak ubahnya seperti duduk di bangku terdepan sambil menyaksikan kericuhan yang tidak pernah mereka lihat sebelumnya.

Di Hotel Harris. Dari kiri: Anthony, James, Andrew dan Lawrence.

Dari Supadio, kita menuju ke Hotel Harris, tempat dimana mereka tinggal. Hotelnya murah, bagus dan tidak jauh dari rumah saya. Setelah registrasi kamar, kita menikmati nasi ayam khas Pontianak, kemudian kita berjalan ke rumah saya. Datang dari Singapura, perjalanan ke rumah pun menjadi petualangan tersendiri bagi mereka. Singapura adalah kota yang ramah pejalan kaki, sedangkan Pontianak hampir tidak memiliki trotoar dan kubangan air setelah hujan juga ditemukan di sana-sini. Karena rumah saya berada di dalam gang, kita juga berjalan melewati got yang hitam dan bau airnya. Turis-turis kita ini benar-benar tidak habis pikir, bagaimana orang bisa tinggal di lingkungan seperti ini.

Setelah berkunjung ke rumah, mereka beristirahat sejenak di hotel sebelum kita keluar lagi untuk makan malam dan berkeliling kota dengan mobil. Kita menyantap nasi uduk di malam itu, makanan yang terlihat seperti nasi lemak lengkap dengan ayam, tahu dan tempe goreng bagi mereka. Saya ingat James yang membayar makan malam tersebut karena ia salah menebak harga, haha.

Acara keliling kota pun berlangsung tidak lama, mengingat pusat kota Pontianak tidaklah besar. Kita berkunjung sejenak ke A. Yani Mega Mall dan kembali ke hotel tidak lama kemudian. Kalau dilihat kembali, syukurlah kita tidak mengitari kota hingga larut malam, sebab kerusuhan terjadi tidak lama sesudah kita pulang dan sebuah warung kopi di Jalan Ketapang, tidak jauh dari Hotel Harris, dihancurkan oleh para perusuh...

Parno dan Lawrence di Pontianak Mall.