We have just returned from 10 days in the Togean Islands, actually island. We didn't island hop as we had planned but stayed on one island for the whole time. I couldn't imagine any of the other islands being any better and it was already hard enough for me to leave after 10 days. The 3 day trip to get to the island was a nightmare but that's what deter's other tourist from going and in the end if you stay for a while it is well worth it. The boat ride was exciting, or maybe others would say dangerous, as they pile way too many people onto a rickty boat. There are two levels, both just high enough to stand up (and the average person is shorter than me) and no seats to sit down. So everyone just lays down and the smart ones bring little plastic stools to sit. We chose to sit outside at the front of the boat, I figured if it sank I would have a better chance of swimming to shore from there. We practised our poor Indonesian, thank god for the phrase book, and the indonesians practised there enlish. They are very curious and so happy to talk to you. We are immediately surround be kids and adults saying "hello mister" and it always makes for an enjoyable trip. After 4 hours we arrived in the first islands port and had to wait til they unloaded and loaded the boat again, again with way to much weight. I of course asked if there were any life jackets on board and if I could dine at the captains table, phrases form the book, which they thought quite funny. The life jacket questions wasn't meant to be funny. After 2 hours of unloading and loading we headed another hour to the next island, where Leslie, an american from california who we had been traveling with for the last 3 days, got off. We could see the island across the way and the pier where people were sitting, I thought "wow that looks great, we will come back in a few days". As we waited to load and unload a German guy and his wife got on who were leaving the island. I asked him how his stay was and he said "incredible, I came for 4 days and stayed 4 weeks". I asked if he had ever visisted Melenge (where we were headed) and he said yes. I then asked which he thought was better and he said " this island". I immediately jumped up and yelled to Antonio "get the backpacks". I jumped off the boat and ran over to where Leslie and the guys from the Fadidirah cottages (name of hotel on the island) were getting ready to leave, and yelled "wait for us". Best decision we could have made.
We were given a bungalow on the beach with a nice porch with a hammock, tables and chairs. The inside had a big bed with a mosquito net, a headboard (very rare), a dresser and a shelf. The bathroom was outside, open air and was a bucket shower, where we were brouht fresh water 2 or 3 times daily. We had electricity after 6pm until we went to bed, usually not more than 3 hours. The price was 9 euros or 11 dollars daily per person with 3 meals a day included. When we arrived there was a swiss guy, francois, and a retired australian Tony staying there. So all together we were 5 tourists on the island. The people who worked there were very friendly and really did there best to interact and talk with you. Tony was a dive instructor and offered his services for free, a refresher diving course, all we had to do was pay 10 dollars for each tank. So the first day Francois, Leslie and Antonio and I went to a Bajo village, gypsy fisherman, who live on the water. The villages was about 2 hours away and we passed thru mangroves to get there, where I think I saw crocodile. The gypsy's homes are built on stilts and they have one walk way connecting all the houses. Once we got to the village we were immidately engulfed by children all walking next to us, touching us and trying to talk to us. We walked thru the village talking to the locals, visiting the market, stopping for a coffee in someones house and buying fresh caught tunas for our lunch. Then the children showed us there school and sang us songs. The chanted " Bule masuk Kampung", the white people have come to the village, learned from a show on Tv. We had given some money to Saiful, our guide and boatman, to buy some notebooks and pencils and after our visit on the jetty he passed them out. It was crazy. The kids were all screaming and then after receiving there books each one came over and thanked us personally. It was really an amazing experience. On the way back it started to rain really hard so we stopped at a near by island where we were given shelter in someones home and tea and coffee. That afternoon we snorkled around the island, which had some really nice coral and a good amount of fish. The next morning Tony did our refresher course and we were in the water by noon. After about an hour of swimming around I decided, which I already knew, that scuba diving was not for me and got out of the water. I wanted to try again but I really perfer to snorkel. So the next day Antonio, Leslie, Tony and I went out on the boat to a nearby reef and they went diving and I went snorkeling. The reefs here are amazing, Tony said they were world class, and although they said there weren't too many fish I was impressed. In fact we saw dolphins swimming at a distance. I had never seen coral that colorful and diverse and I was really impressed. So for the next few days we dived and snorkeled in the morning and read and studied Indonesian in the afternoon. My only complaint was that the food wasn't very varied and we were given egg at almost every meal. Not my favorite food. It rained about half the time but that wasn't too big of a deal since it was warm. The only bad thing was the mosquitos who seemed immune to the mosquit repelent, spray and coils.
We decided to come back yesterday to Poso, 6 hours by boat plus 5 by car, an arrange transport back to makassar from here. Luckily we came early enough as all the busses are full til Sunday and our plane leaves Tuesday at 3 am and it is a 24 hour bus ride. Today when we went to buy the ticket the only 2 seats left were the last 2 on a non AC bus, UUGGGHH. We thought about it and checked our options and finally went back an hour later. As we sat preparing to buy our tickets someone called and cancelled the front 2 seats for Sunday. I thought Antonio was going to kiss the woman. So we will spend an extra day here, which isn't so bad. The people are really nice and I think we are the only tourists here. About 5 years ago there was major conflict in the area and some foreigners were killed and 4 little girls beheaded. So as you can imagine tourists are weary about coming here. But now it is safe and they are super excited and happy to see tourists in there town.
On tuesday we fly to Jayapura and hopefully in the same week will get our visas for Paupa New Guinea and if we are lucky may make it over the border for July 25, my birthday. How exciting.
0 comments:
Post a Comment