Blogs from Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia

No sooner we came out of the plane in Manado (North Sulawesi) then a worker of the tourist office showed up and asked if we needed an hotel. We did. After all problems we had faced in Papua she was very welcome. A quick taxi brought us to our hotel, the Celebes Hotel, which turned out to be one of the nicest hotels during our trip. Manado and Tangkoko The famous naturalist Alfred Wallace wrote already how much he liked Manado. That was about 150 years ago. A lot has changed since then, but Manado has still that special atmosphere, which makes you feel at home. Nowhere on our trips we have met such a friendly people. There are pleasant restaurants along the sea. There is a big shoppingmall with all kinds of fruits and Indonesian ... read more

Hi everybody, a few weeks has past since my last entry. Sorry about that but the internet conection hasn't been that good as I hoped. But here we go with the latest storries. Kuala Lumpur A city under construction - the headder I've kept in my mind since I saw this city fist. You can not locate a city center right now, betweeen the new well polished skycrapers you can find the old dirty "slums". Not really slums, but not that much better. Beside the Petronas towers it has also nothing special to offer. Riding the metro could be really anoying! Three different lines, opperated by three different companys so you have to buy a new ticket every time you have change headding. But at least they can improve :) I would like to come back ... read more

Bira, c’est encore un de ces coins de plongée un peu roots, dont on entend si peu parler qu’il est très difficile de savoir ce qui s’y trame. Les quelques voyageurs qui m’en ont parlé auparavant parlent de conditions difficiles, de courant, de vagues mais de gros poissons, de pélagiques et de requins... Ce qui m’intrigue, parce qu’on ne peut pas vraiment dire que de manière générale, l’Indonésie soit très fournie en requins durant les plongées. Après avoir bossé sur Pulau Hoga, je me met donc en route avec François, un autre Divemaster de Hoga, à la découverte de Bira, au sud de Makassar. Pas facile de s’y rendre, mais ça ce n’est pas une surprise... On se trouve un petit bungalow en plein milieu de la nuit et le lendemain matin, c’est parti pour la ... read more

Hurry through Sumbawa we did, but only because there was little to specifically hang around for. The countryside is mountainous, arid and pretty monotonous; there are no ‘sights’ as such. Contrary to rumour, it turned out that the people were perfectly welcoming, greeting us not with sticks and stones but smiles and “Selamats” (good morning, good day, etc…) Indeed, one bus driver took a particular shine to us and on changing buses he insisted on speaking to the subsequent driver to ensure that we paid local price. The only other tourists we saw in three days, while crossing the entire island, were two hard-core surfer dudes - apparently there are some serious “breaks” off the north coast. Sape on Sumbawa’s east coast is a pleasant little port town with somewhat of a frontier feel to it, ... read more