Nunukan

Everybody (bar none) in Sabah has heard of Nunukan, which is the last town in Indonesia from which the tens of thousand of Indon workers pass through when they come to Sabah. But not many Sabahan or other Malaysian has ever been or want to go there and most only have the faintest idea of how this place looks like.
On my trip to Sulawesi in April this year I finally got a little glimpse of this Nunukan as I alighted on its quay from the express boat from Tawau, Sabah and had just enough time to rush up the waiting big ship KM Tidar that would take me to Sulawesi. However on my way back I flew into Nunukan airport in the evening and slept one night near the port and left Indonesia for Tawau in the morning. In this post are some of the few photos I took there.
Photo 1: From Tawau Port you take an express boat for the 1.5 hours ride to Nunukan

Photos 2 & 3: Nunukan Port - The big ship is the KM Tidar bound for Sulawesi, South Kalimantan and Java

Nunukan is the name of the island and the town which is situated on its northern side. It is also the name of the Regency (Kabupaten) A kabupaten I think, is an administrative unit somewhat like, but I guess one rank higher than "District" in Malaysia and is headed by a bupati (regent, "district officer"?). Kabupaten Nunukan is in the Province of East Kalimantan (Provinsi Kalimantan Timor or Kaltim for short). Photos 4, 5 & 6: On the return leg of the journey I took a plane (middle photo) fromTarakan to Nunukan. Top photo shows the old terminal in use then, bottom photo shows the brand new terminal beside it.