The floating market at Lokbeintan

Near the town of Banjarmasin, on South Kalimantan

Near to the town of Banjarmasin  - the capital of the Indonesian province of South Kalimantan, we find the famous floating market at Lokbeintan. Locals claim the tradition of holding markets on boats goes back over five hundred years. Over a hundred boats arrive at dawn, mostly run by women, and moor at the appointed river location. 

The current there is relatively fast, so the whole market is continuously drifting down-river. The customers come by boat, too – and all of the business is done while on the water. 

The floating market makes a colourful scene, with an astonishing range of goods on sale – fish, coconuts, palm leaves, cooking oil, vegetables, fruit, water spinach, baskets, wickerwork mats – in fact everything that the region can produce! You can even get coffee and donuts for breakfast on board a boat. By 11am there are fewer people, and the whole thing has wound down by the time the severe midday heat sets in. And so it has gone on every day, for centuries.

The existence of the floating market is linked to the time-honoured local tradition of building river-huts on stilts, alongside the river banks, The Martapura River makes an important travel artery – not only for the surrounding villages, but also for getting to the modern nearby town of Banjarmasin.