Blogs from Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia

For many years, we had an aquarium in our home. I recall spending whatever free time I had at the end of the work day with my face glued to the glass, mesmerized by the aquatic ecosystem I was watching. However basic, it was always calming to loose myself in that water world. So when I find myself now, twenty metres below the ocean surface, buoyantly floating amidst schools of thousands of fish; hovering over an enormous sleeping turtle; captivated by a gigantic manta ray or an angelic spotted eagle ray passing by - at all times awestruck by the brilliant colour and extensive diversity of the coral reef, and the equally vast array of marine life sustained within the reef ecosystem - I again experience a deep sense of calm, along with a profound sense ... read more

One benefit of living and working in the Netherlands, especially working in academia, is that you get plenty of holiday and it is perfectly normal to take four or five weeks off in one go. So that’s what we did. I’d always always always wanted to travel around Indonesia and had planned multiple trips that never took place. The first time was supposed to be during my year-long round-the-world trip when I was 22, but the Bali bomb went off while we were in Malaysia, a few days before our arrival in Bali. Therefore, the Indonesia part was skipped and we went to Australia a month sooner. Planning this most recent trip, therefore, was more a process of exclusion because I probably know the Lonely Planet Indonesia section off-by-heart and it was tough to decide what ... read more

Tana Toraja-A Land Like no Other. I went in December 2019, my time there seems like a dream. Woke in my little room near the harbor in Bau Bau, SE Sulawesi in the early morning hours, 4AM. Bad sleep night, excitement on my mind, reflecting for hours on my great journey so far and what was to come. Walked outside, toward the end of the lane I found a guy I had talked with the night before about a lift to the airport. We hopped on his moto, streets almost empty, zipped up the hills of this lovely city and headed south in the cool (ish) morning air. Though I had only spent 2 whole days in this town, I had grown to love it. Something special, beautiful setting, pretty much no tourists around. I think ... read more

I hope you enjoyed the silly third person narrative in my previous blog. It was my attempt at putting a humorous spin on the bus ride from hell. I knew that there wasn’t much sightseeing to be done in Makassar, and, with my flight to Bali being in the evening, I wanted a centrally located hotel with a pool. Citadines Royal Bay fit this bill perfectly. My plan was to enjoy my room as much as possible, check out around 11am, store my bag at reception, do a round of sightseeing, and return to the hotel to cool off in the pool. My first stop that morning was Chinatown. I walked to the requisite Chinatown gate, looked around a bit, and thought to myself that this was the quietest Chinatown I have ever been in. There ... read more

If you followed my Midlife Crisis Flashpacking trip two years ago, you may recall that I chose not to travel to Tana Toraja after traveling overland through Flores because I couldn’t handle the prospect of yet more crazy winding mountain roads. So, I opted to chill in Bali instead. Last year, my friends Ryan and Anthony announced they would be getting married in Bali this July, so I decided to check off another bucket list item - Tana Toraja - before heading to Ubud. As an added bonus, my friend Trixie - you might recall her from my various blogs from Australia two years ago - was going to the wedding as well, and so we planned to spend eight days exploring Bali. Getting to Tana Toraja My initial plan was to arrive in Makassar on ... read more