The Indonesian state of Kalimantan covers threequarters of Borneo – one of the very wildest, and least visited, parts of Asia. Infamous for their former practice of headhunting, the indigenous Dayaks who inhabit the region’s primordial jungle have retained many aspects of their traditional way of life in the face of rapacious deforestation, wildfires and intensive missionary activity since the 1970s.

For visitors, however, Kalimantan’s abundant wildlife is the prime incentive to cross the Java Sea. Providing a compelling side trip on journeys between Borobudur and Bali, the state’s national parks offer the best chance in the world of sighting orangutans in their native habitat, along with proboscis monkeys, sun bears, gibbons and rare jungle birds such as hornbills.