Journal Entry 6
July 12th, 2002
"One Giant Leap"
It's been a while...last emailed from Makassar (also known as
Ujung Padang), Sulawesi. Stayed on Sulawesi 3 wks, and did quite a lot of travel
there. First night in Makassar,
we (still traveling with John and Josie, the Dutch couple) ate at an open-air
restaurant under a tent. We were definitely the biggest attraction there, as
everyone else in the place was Indonesian. I guess most people stick to the
places with English on the menu. Incidentally, there was no menu at all, but we
ordered what ended up to be fish and rice. Now the fun part...no utensils, just
hands. Sounds nice, but try eating rice that way! We watched, learned, copied,
and ate one of the nicest meals I've had on my trip. Cost under $3.00...for all
three of us.
From Makassar, we took an
all-day bus north to Rantepao, the heart of a region called Tana Toraja. It's a
scenic, hilly place. We spent days walking down roads in the countryside,
passing countless rice fields being tended by hand, visiting burial sites, and
otherwise experiencing the local culture. Went to a livestock market. Depending
on the size of the pig, an Indonesian either slings one over his shoulder, or
they carry them in bamboo slings--the pigs
don't enjoy this at all.
The burial customs of the Tana Toraja people are quite strange. It's a mix of
animism and Christianity. They bury families in holes dug in the sides of
cliffs, or sometimes in caskets cantilevered off of rock faces. A funeral takes
place several months after a death (during which time the body stays in the
house), and is accompanied by slaughter of pigs (stabbed in the heart) and water
buffalo (jugular cut with a dull knife). Sadly, they believe that the more
animals slaughtered after your death, the higher "level" of heaven you reach, so
the rich, obviously, get to better heaven than the poor.
But personal opinion aside, we saw a lot of these graves and such, which means
we saw lots of bones, skulls, broken caskets, in some eerie settings (caves,
climbing bamboo ladders) that had me thinking Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom somehow.
The traditional houses are shaped like buffalo horns, which sounds really
strange, and it is--see the picture I put on the web page--they're all over the
place. Even slept in one in a tiny village called Batutumonga, way up in the
sticks. One of the most amazing landscapes I've ever seen in my life was right
outside the place where we stayed.
Back in Makassar, we spent a nice chunk of the day searching for a flight to Manado. The nice twist was that the flights were
booked for a week out, and we wanted to leave that day. In traditional
Indonesian style, however, it worked out, somehow, and I suspect that 3 people
somewhere were wondering why they didn't get to Manado that day and the 3 of us
did...I don't understand the system, still don't.
Got to Manado on Mandala
Airlines, the Indonesian equivalent of Tinkertoy Airways. True, the plane was a
Boeing, but even good planes should be serviced now and then. There were many
more strange noises than I care to elaborate on, and I was quite positive that
my chances of survival would have been better on the bus through Poso (more on
that later). When we landed, the plane didn't really slow down, and my Dutch
friend John, in not-quite-perfect English, but a
perfect line nonetheless, stated, "I have seen many planes land, but sparkles I
have seen for the first time." Refering of course to the fireworks from the
engines on landing. Anyway, wind drag and the wheel brakes slowed us down to a
halt that couldn't have been far from a someone's field or whatever at the end
of the runway, and I vowed to never fly Mandala Airlines again.
In Manado (North part of Sulawesi), we spent several days bumming around.
Saw some nice lakes, climbed a volcano (and looked into the steaming
crater--very nice, but smelly). Had one of the more unusual foods I've
eaten--stewed bat. The meat is very dark, and the wing is like a big piece of
rubber...not much flavor.
Went to Tangkoko Reserve, a national park/rainforest. There, we went on some
hikes. We saw a community of 20-30 macaques (black monkeys) in the trees. We
waited around and they decended to the surface and we followed them around for a
while, getting within about 10 feet of them at times. We also saw a bunch of
tarsiers...probably the most amazing animal I've ever seen. Got within a couple
feet of some that were hanging out on a strangler fig tree. They are the world's
smallest primate--a monkey that would fit in the palm of your hand
with a head that takes up nearly half the body. The funniest thing is watching
them move. They can hop really far, and are lightning quick, and have big eyes.
Cross between a mogwai and a hamster, I'd say.
John and I went SCUBA-diving in the Lembeh Straight, famous for its unique fish.
Among other things, we saw Harlequin ghost pipefish (look like seaweed with
eyes), and several types of lionfish, seahorses, pipefish, and scorpionfish.
Next stop was Pulau Bunaken, a world-famous SCUBA destination. I did a bunch of
dives there, and got my Advanced PADI certification. Lots more cool stuff--trumpetfish,
cuttlefish, a big sea turtle up-close, a few types of eels, blacktip reef shark,
leaf scorpionfish, a big Napoleonfish, and some blue-spotted rays. Stepped on a
sea urchin. Don't recommend it.
Also did my first night dive on one of the coral walls, which was amazing. I'm
convinced that there is no experience on earth that is more like being in a
science-fiction movie, very alien, haunting, surreal... Lots of glowing things,
huge lobsters peering from under cliffs with 5-foot-long tentacles, big worms,
plankton that lights up when you move your hand in the water.
Anyway, had a great week on the island. Stayed in a nice little bungalow, did
dives during the day, slept in my hammock out in front of the bungalow between
dives, ate a lot, got some sun, snorkeled (nice, until I got chased by a pair of
titan triggerfish).
Yesterday, parted company with John and Josie, and headed back to mainland Sulawesi.
So my current plan:
Never had a real plan, but somehow I thought I'd be in the SE Asia mainland
again by now, maybe Cambodia
or Laos. Obviously, that
hasn't happened. I did have a general sketch of a route, though, that has been
slowly connecting itself in my mind. And I realized a few weeks back that my
hopes to reach Mongolia by
late summer weren't going to happen unless I zipped north soon. Which leads to
my current location...
I started this morning in Manado,
Sulawesi. Yesterday
afternoon, I bought a ticket to Jakarta.
I had to make several phone calls and wait at a travel agency for a few hours
(the flight was booked), but I got on this morning's flight somehow. The general
plan was to arrive in the Jakarta
airport and buy a ticket to Kuala Lumpur
or Singapore, spend a few
days there, and find a ticket to Hong Kong.
Well, when I got to Jakarta,
the airport was a mess, KL and Singapore
tickets where expensive, so I said f#@k it, and hopped on an afternoon flight to
Hong Kong.
General thoughts on flying:
Now, I had this glorious plan that after I got to
Indonesia, I wouldn't fly again unless NOT flying was: (1)
Dangerous, or (2) Really Inconvenient (would mess up the Greater Plan by taking
too much time or money). I figured this would get me on buses, trains, and
boats, even when it was a real pain in the ass, which would lead to fun and
untold adventure. I have stuck with the plan except for:
Concession #1: I flew from Makassar to Manado.
I actually booked a bus ticket, a 2-day, 2-night journey that the guidebook
calls "bone-jarring" to make this journey. Sounds great! But this ended up
falling under Category 1 (Dangerous), as the bus passes through Poso, in the
troubled region of Central Sulawesi,
where 2 weeks previous, a bomb went off in a public bus. Situation apparently
fine now, but better safe than sorry.
Concession #2: Flying from Manado
to Hong Kong. This falls
under Category 2 (Really Inconvenient). The only other ways I could do this
journey from sea is (1) taking a 4-day boat to Java, then a day on a bus, then
boat across to peninsular Malaysia, then about 2 weeks in buses and trains and
pickup trucks to Hong Kong, or (2) taking a boat to Davao, Philippines, then
from there finding a boat to Hong Kong. This option is not only Really
Inconvenient, but also Dangerous, as Davao
is on the island where all the really bad stuff is happening in the Philippines.
So I guess I'm justifying why I'm flying to myself, and just including all of
you in on it. Bottom line: Mongolia
gets cold when summer's over. Mongolia
is far away. If I don't fly at least partway there, I will freeze because I
won't be there until winter.
Some random notes on today's flights...I already mentioned the bad plane that I
took 2 weeks ago (Mandala Airlines). Well, Lion Air, the carrier I took from Manado to Jakarta,
was cheaper than Mandala. And my confidence wasn't assisted when I noticed that
each seat had a prayer card, with prayers for several religions in it. I copied
down the Islam one (as Indonesia
is 80% Muslim):
"We seek the help of Allah, the most Gracious, the Most Merciful.....Who has
bestowed upon us the will and ability to use this aircraft, without Whom we are
helpless. Verily, God alone we worship and to God alone we shall return. Oh
Allah, shower us with Your blessing and protect us on this journey from any
hardship or danger and protect also our family and our wealth."
Oh, it gets better. My flight to Hong Kong?
China Airlines. Yep, the ones
that crashed, what, 3 planes within a 2-week-period back in April or May. That
fact didn't dawn on me until I was talking to the travel agent after she
ticketed me. A light bulb went off in my head, and I said, "Isn't China Airlines
the one that crashed a few times in April?" She said, "Yes, I think so." To
which I replied, "S@#t!" She then wisely stated in her broken English, "but I
think not every flight..." I started laughing, and hoped that China Airlines
also had prayer cards in the seats... To top it off, the 4 1/2 hr flight was
quite turbulent. Strike another one up to experience. I'm here, I'm alive, and I
plan to not fly again for quite a long time.
That's it for now. Hong Kong,
so far, seems great. Expensive, but nice. I got to my hostel at 11pm, and am
heading back to rest as soon as I finish this message...Tired, I had to get up
at 4am this morning to get to my first flight. Looking forward to China...I feel like a kid at Christmas!
"When hungry, eat;
when tired, sleep." (- Po-Chang)
All rights reserved
Away Awhile is hosted by Josh Trutwin.
