Pontianak

A pontianak is a type of vampire in Malay folklore. The pontianak is usually a woman who died during childbirth and becomes undead, seeking revenge and terrorizing villages. She often appears as a beautiful woman and there will be a strong scent of frangipani. Man who are not wary will be killed when she morphs into a ugly vampire, she will also eat babies and harm pregnant women. People believe that having a sharp object like a nail helps them fend of potential attacks by pontianaks, the nail being used to plug a hole in the back of the pontianak's neck. In Indonesia such a creature is also known as Kuntilanak.

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Pontianak is also a medium size city in Indonesia. It is the capital of the Province of West Kalimantan in the Indonesian side of Borneo island. Notable primarily for being located precisely on the Equator, it is famous for its Aloe Vera drink. Pontianak is about an hour flight from both Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and Batam an island neighbouring Singapore and Johor, 40 minutes flight or 8 hours bus from Kuching in Sarawak, East Malaysia. The city is also connected by air to Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan and Pangkalanbun and Sampit in Central Kalimantan. Hotels in Pontianak include Hotel Santika a nice boutique hotel with three stars quality located at Jalan Diponegoro in the CBD area catering for business people, Hotel Kini(***) opened in early 2004 to cater for the tourist and business people, Hotel Kapuas Palace(***) a resort style hotel, Hotel Gajahmada located right in the CBD area at Jalan Gajahmada. Shopping malls available include Mal Matahari, Mal Gajahmada, Mal Ramayana Pontianak, Megamal A. Yani Places of interest include the Equator monument which mark the virtual line of equator which divided our planet into Northern hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere and Kapuas River the longest river in Indonesia. The best time to visit Pontianak is at the end of the moslem's fasting month of Ramadhan and the chinese celebration of Cap Go Meh. On the final eve of Ramadhan or eve of Idul Fitri the moslem malay will play there traditional canons that produce noises that can be heard miles away. While on Cap Go Meh the Chinese community perform a street parade of dragon dance and lion dance, with the Malay and Dayak performing their own cultural dances in support of the Cap Go Meh event.