Traditional Wealth of Lok Baintan Floating Market, Banjarmasin

South Kalimantan, especially the City of Banjarmasin, is known as the City of a Thousand Rivers. For a long time, rivers have been the main route in various community activities, be it social, economic, or cultural life. Even now the role of the river has been related to the tourist area in Banjarmasin.

The tourist attraction of river in South Kalimantan is the Floating Market. The Floating Market is a cultural heritage of Banjar people which is said to have existed for hundreds of years, to be precise since the days of Banjar Sultanate. This Floating Market originated from the traditions and culture of the Banjar people themselves.

One of the floating markets that still survives today is the Lok Baintan Floating Market which is located in Sungai Pinang village (Lok Baintan), Sungai Tabuk sub-district, Banjar district, South Kalimantan. Lok Baintan Floating Market has been named a National Tourist Destination by the Central Government of Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

To get to the Lok Baintan Floating Market from the city center, there are several alternatives. The first alternative is to walk along the Martapura river using a klotok (traditional boat). With klotok, the trip from the city center to floating market is fairly fast because it only takes 30 minutes. The second alternative is to use land vehicles. For the second alternative, it takes a longer time, 1 hour to reach the floating market. This is due to the terrain of the journey which tends to be heavy and tortuous. However, for visitors who have used land vehicles to Lok Baintan Village and want to continue to experience using a klotok to reach the floating market, the trip can be continued using a klotok from the dock there.

The Lok Baintan Floating Market has been going on since the 18th century along the coast of the Martapura River. Along the coast of the Martapura Lokbaintan River, you can see a convoy of jukung (Banjar-style boats) heading to the floating market location. The jukungs are owned by traders who will market the produce of gardens, agriculture, and local specialties. The traders are dominated by women wearing tanggui (a typical Banjar headgear). Trading activity starts at 06.00 am until 09.30 WITA. In this market, there is still barter between traders. There is no merchant organization so the number of those who sell is countless. They come to sell, and disperse by themselves when the morning sun starts to heat up. This market is unique because in addition to transactions carried out on a jukung, traders and buyers are also not fixed in one place, but continue to move with the flow of the river.

There is a Lok Baintan suspension bridge located not far from the Lok Baintan pier. Visitors can see the activities of the floating market traders from the top of this suspension bridge. Lok Baintan suspension bridge is also a favorite location for photographers to capture the naturalness of the Lok Baintan Floating Market.

Article: http://bappelitbang.banjarkab.go.id/
Photo: https://kataomed.com/

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