Balikpapan: the gateway to Indonesia's new capital

Former petroleum center of Borneo, Balikpapan remains the most convenient access point to Nusantara, Indonesia's new capital under construction in the jungle.

The center, gateway to the new Indonesian capital under construction, is visited comfortably by taxi or rental car.

The Manggar Beach, the city's main bathing area, comes alive each evening with strolls and street food markets along the shoreline.

Just minutes away, the Balikpapan Oil Museum tells the history of the extractive industry that made the city a key economic center in eastern Borneo.

Moving inland you can visit the construction site of Nusantara, Indonesia's new capital being built to replace overcrowded Jakarta.

In the evening, the Kebun Raya Balikpapan, a botanical garden protecting primary rainforest, hosts orangutans and proboscis monkeys, long-nosed primates endemic to Borneo.

Nusantara, Indonesia's new capital under construction near Balikpapan, will gradually replace Jakarta as the seat of government, partly to address the problem of sinking in the current capital.

The proboscis monkey, endemic to Borneo and recognizable by its elongated nose, remains one of the island's most threatened species due to deforestation for palm oil plantations.