Discovering Celebes
Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia, 2009-05-03 12:00 by Laerke
Our flight from Denpasar to Makassar, Sulawesi went fine, it was an hour late but at least it showed up! We were a tad apprehensive about Indonesian airlines and the frequency with which they cancel their flights after our trip to Flores.



Our hotel, Pondok Suada Indah, is according to Lonely Planet the closest you get to a boutique hotel in Makassar, and it is kinda cute, with a slight air of times gone by. This was to be our base from which to explore the city.
We started the day with “nasi goreng” (fried rice with egg) for breakfast, and soon we were on our way to Fort Rotterdam, which is one of the best-preserved examples of Dutch architecture in Indonesia. A Gowanese (The Kingdom of Gowa) fort dating back to 1545 once stood here, first built in clay and later on upgraded to stone. Still it couldn’t keep out the Dutch, and their cannon balls, who took over the fort and rebuilt it in Dutch style in 1667.
It really was a nice place to walk around, the gardens around the buildings were nicely laid out with palm trees and pink flowers, the Dutch architectural style reminded us of Danish buildings from that period, but the baking sun, the lush palm trees and the Indonesian flag waving in the hot air above still made the place seem pretty exotic.



Later we found a becak (a bicycle taxi) to take us to a harbor (Pelabuhan Paotere) where a lot of Bugis ships laid anchored. The Bugis are a people of seafarers, they are Muslim and renowned as excellent seamen and boat builders. To such an extent that in the colonial days these majestic wooden ships were feared by European spice traders, who were often attacked by Bugis pirates - earning the Bugis a prominent place in folklore: "boogeymen".
The harbor was great, it was mid-day by now and the harsh sunlight gave the whole place an almost surreal atmosphere, the dock was made of the thickest wooden planks, I’m sure some millionaire would kill to have it put in as floorboards in his mansion. It was HOT and the people were minding their own business, but a few did notice us, smiled and waved. We are definitely in “Hello Mister” land now, so many kids (and adults!) has been very enthusiastically waving and shouting “Hello Mister” after us on the streets. It is endearing in a way that people get that excited over seeing two pale tourists especially considering that historically “the white man” has never been very kind to Indonesia.



Tomorrow morning at 10 we are gonna embark on an 8 hour bus ride into the interior of Sulawesi to the famous Tana Toraja.

2009-07-07 21:07 by Martin
Martha doesn t have a phone, so the only way is to turn up ;) She has 6 or so huts, so outside peak periods there is a good chance of securing one - in peak periods...I don t know?

2009-07-07 21:08 by Martin
Martha doesn t have a phone, so the only way is to turn up ;) She has 6 or so huts, so outside peak periods there is a good chance of securing one - in peak periods...I don t know?