Kumai,Borneo, Indonesia

We arrived at the Kumai river yesterday morning after a pleasant sail overnight. It's much hotter and muggier here and this morning there was so much smoke and haze that we could not see the other side of the river. We went ashore this morning to find out about tomorrow's tour. The dock area was pretty much the usual situation, dirty and dilapidated. We were shown a boat that was completely unacceptable, it listed twenty degrees to port and smelled of diesel. We also found out that we had paid too much from other cruisers who had not pre booked their tours. Fortunately, two of our party of six had not yet paid so we were able to negotiate a much better price and a different newer and cleaner boat. We look forward to the trip to see some new and strange flora and fauna. To any other cruisers reading this, you should know that you do not have to pre book anything the locals will always find a way to accommodate you and when asked for a price,negotiation should begin with the aim to pay about half of the initial asking price. The buyer will still be making a healthy profit!