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Pontianak is one of the very few cities through which the equator passes. Most of the time the equator bisects remote territories or the ocean, but when traveling to Pontianak, one of the rare urban intersection points, make sure you visit the Equator Monument, known as Tugu Khatulistiwa. It’s about a 20-minute drive from central Pontianak and it is easily reached by taxi. The monument’s architecture is interesting and it’s fun to be able to stand in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres at exactly the same time. I guess I am just a weird geography nerd, to be so excited to make a trip with the primary purpose of being able to straddle an imaginary line!
I visited Pontianak mainly because I wanted to visit the Equator. I only spent a couple days there. Not a lot of tourist attractions, but it is a very normal, pleasant city. There isn’t anything extraordinarily exciting, but I also didn’t notice any big pockets of squalor or poverty. Perhaps I wasn’t exposed to the wrong parts of the city, but everything I observed seemed just wonderfully average and normal. My guess is that it is a city that is typically Indonesian, without any extreme highs or lows, and that’s a great experience, because it just might be the closest thing you’ll find to “regular” Indonesia. But, probably not, because Indonesia is so diverse, there probably is no such thing as “regular” Indonesia, but I enjoyed visiting a city that seems to be functional and calm and is comfortable to visit.
I was in Pontianak for an entire weekend, and I was the only white or foreign person I noticed. The Equator Monument isn’t enough of an attraction for tourists to make side trips from Jakarta or Bali. You can tell when a place isn’t accustomed to speaking English when half the children of the community approach you and shout “Hey, Mister!” as you walk down the street.
Then I would reply “Hello! How are you doing?”
This was always followed by the children running away laughing. I felt like a visitor from Mars, I was such a strange novelty.
Even those in the tourist industry (taxi drivers, hotel clerks, etc.) aren’t really able to communicate with you, unlike the English-friendly situations you will find in much of the rest of Indonesia. That’s why I would recommend learning a few basic Bahasa Indonesia phrases if you plan on traveling to Pontianak (or anywhere in Indonesia for that matter) and make sure that you can easily access Google Translate on your phone. The great news is that everyone is cordial and friendly and will work with you until you reach a common understanding.