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The Togian Islands,
Kadidiri |
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Sulawesi
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On
these photos you can see impressions of the Togian Islands, Central
Sulawesi. It is stunningly beautiful, isolated, quiet. There is amazing
diving and snorkling possibilities and the only thing you can do here is
relax, since there is really nothing else you can do! The journey to the
islands, from Ujung Pandang is long and tiring, and (trust me) not
something youīd do for fun....I will tell you all about it.....So before
we arrived on this beautiful deserted island, before we could relax in the
hammocks, before we could snorkle and see octopus, dolphins and the most
amazing colourful fish, before we could eat fresh fish all day, before we
could sunbathe all day long......................... |
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Paradise Beach, Kadidiri, Togian
Islands
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before
all
that, there was this journey during which our flexibility was tested to
the extreme, as
was our patience. We started in Ujung Pandang, where we arrived by
plane from Bali. I didnīt expect anything from Ujung Pandang, but it was
a little bit of a culture shock after Bali. Dirty, poor and dusty. After
Ujung Pandang, we took an air-con bus to Rantepao. This trip was fine,
lasted 8 hours, and of course the air-con was ībrokenī (like it is
always in Indonesia) but it was fine. It would have been heaven if the
rest of Sulawesi also had this kinds of buses. So, up to Rantepao
everything went fine. This town as well is very pleasant and has beautiful
scenery. After 3 nights, we left again and were picked up by our bus
in the morning. The bus was awful, but hey, īit is only our pick-up
bus! The real bus is waiting at the tourist |
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Togian Islands, Central Sulawesi
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agencyī.....not!
Apparently the same bus was going to bring us to Poso,
a town at 12 hours driving. We were
with 4, and we thought we were smart to take the back seats. Lots of leg
space. When we hit the seats, kilos of dust blurred our vision.
Well, okay, letīs just go. First 3 hours of the trip was on this
winding, winding road. We all got sick, and had to take pills against
sickness. After 3 hours, we were back on a straight road again. More and
more people came into the bus, and the bus stopped really on every
streetcorner to pick up more people. Making reservations for a seat is
unknown here. Our leg space became smaller and smaller, because at least
10 guys and sacks full of I-donīt-know-what, |
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Togian Islands
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were
standing and lying on the floor in front of us. My seat was not fixed so I
was constantly trying to stay seated. All the other million passengers
smoked, one
sigaret after the other, and were blowing the smoke into my face. The woman in
front us was vomitting. We didnīt stop for food, so we ate all our dirty
dirty biscuits and got even sicker. After 8 of these, already horrible, hours, it
got dark. The
guy next to me, thought my shoulder was a pillow and he thought it to be normal
to put his hand on my leg. At least 25 times I told him to stop with that,
but of course he didnīt understand me. Suddenly we saw a bus wreck
alongside the road, and all the smoking men got out, to take a look at
it. Of course we waited for that. Then, after 12 hours, we thought that
finally, we were approaching Poso, but no, it appears it takes 4 more hours!!! Finally, we arrived
in Poso at 2 am. I was determined to look for a hotel and get some sleep.
My travel mates werenīt; they wanted to take another bus to Ampana,
where the harbour is. This would ONLY take 5 more hours. I decided to go with
them. |
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Sunset at the Togian Islands
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So
we
hired a bemo (smal bus) with 8 travellers, and we had to pay way too much
money for that, but what other possibilities do you have at 2 am?? 8
people and 8 backpacks didnīt fit in the back of this bus, but still we
managed to get in. Sleeping was out of the question. Only 1st and 2nd
gear worked, The driver didnīt care and for 5 hours, I had my
fingers in my ears. After 3 hours, we crossed a bridge, but this one
wasnīt finished yet! We crashed, and the car got stuck in between the
parts. My bowels were
too upset, and there was no toilet available, except for the bushes....after
half an hour, we continued our trip and at 6 we arrived in the harbour.
Oops, we forgot to change money. We took a horse and carriage to the bank.
This carriage got a a flat tire...we went on, walking, rush rush, since
we had to get to the boat on time as well. The bank
was unwilling to change
dollars or traveller |
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Enjoying the late afternoon sun and a cold
beer, Bir Bintang
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cheques and
told us to go to Poso to change it (where
we just came from....!)We had enough money to spend only 1 or 2 days on the
islands.....We ordered breakfast, but the only thing they served was gado gado
peanut sauce. Well, one thing is for sure, and that is that I never feel
like eating that at 6 am, but after 16 horrible hours in a bus, with bad
bowels, it almost made me puke! But what can you do? After breakfast we rushed to the harbour. One
boat went to an island one hour away. The other to Kadidiri, 5 hours away.
Please, letīs go the the closest! No, we went to the farest of course. So
after another 5 hours on a dirty and uncomfortable, little wooden boat, we
finally arrived. Full of dirt, dust but great expectations I stepped on the shore, and my god, this
was FABULOUS! It is very very good, and I decided to stay here for a week. In
the end, I could pay with traveller cheques...fortunately...... |
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Tanah Toraja Region (Central Sulawesi) |
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This
is a photo of the region of Tanah Toraja, where I stayed before I headed
for the Togian Islands. It is a beautiful region, with a lot of
culture and very friendly people. It is quiet (at least in low season) and
the main attraction is visiting a funeral of the Toraja people, or one of
the other ceremonies. Go to the next Sulawesi page to see and read
more about it. Therefore click at the bottom.
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