I was there over Chinese New Year in January. I must admit that I was only in Samarinda for one day before hearing up river but I was pretty shocked at the filth. On the street my hotel was on, the open sewer drains on both side of the road were clogged to the top with trash. I could not tell from sight but the stagnant water underneath was visable to my nose. There were several piles of rotting rubbish the sive of an SUV, including mostly previously edible stuff. At 4:00 in the evening, rats were clearly visible running up and down the road and were not bothered by the people around. The smell of urine was pretty strong when passing any back lane. I carried an empty water bottle for a half hour while looking for a bin to toss it; in that time, we must have seen 20-30 people just dropping trash where they walked. Sitting on the riverside for a half hour also allowed us to see several people walk over to throw their trash in the river.
Again, I wasn't there for long and didn't see much of the city but I have been to lots of cities that size in Asia and never saw things as bad as that place. Then again, I did like the place. It had style even if it was covered in grime.
I didn't take pictures of the rubbish but here's a guy who was yelling and spitting at passing traffic:
The main mosque:
...and how can you not love a place that has children this happy?:
Again, I wasn't there for long and didn't see much of the city but I have been to lots of cities that size in Asia and never saw things as bad as that place. Then again, I did like the place. It had style even if it was covered in grime.
I didn't take pictures of the rubbish but here's a guy who was yelling and spitting at passing traffic:
The main mosque:
...and how can you not love a place that has children this happy?:
