Indo East

(click on a place to go there)

Just the Eastern Part was a long way.

This is Debut, a small town on the west side of Kai Kecil. Our first sight of exotic Indonesia! We sure weren't in Oz any more.

We have often read that Indonesia was the "world's largest Muslim nation". That implies only Muslims live there - wrong. About 40 million Christians live in Indonesia, mostly in the eastern islands. If you look closely at the pic above, just to the left of the big white mosque is a more distant, pink, Protestant Church. Surprise! Most of the Kai islands are inhabited by Catholics and Protestants.

The next big surprise we received was the greeting we got. Not only were the officials available to check us in at Debut (whew!) but they were almost apologetic to have to board our ship, didn't look for a thing and asked for even less. Then we were brought ashore by flag-bedecked boats and met by the entire town, complete with native dancing and banners. All of this for just 9 visitors.

We spent days attending huge ceremonies, just for 9 people. We had a police escort of a dozen officers. And most amazingly, they held a big parade in our honor. We were frankly stunned after years of arriving somewhere and being scarcely noticed, or worse.

Here's a shot of Debut Harbor. See the road? They paved it just for our visit.

One of the things we got to do was visit a village deep in a mangrove swamp, sort of a cross between the Amazon and a 6 Flags ride.

This is a public pool, built around a natural spring, similar to Barton Springs in Austin. The kiosks you see surrounding the pool sell snacks, though mostly of the 3rd-world variety. Many of the cruisers took a dip but we opted NOT to due to my deep aversion to public bathing. Three guesses why???

Speaking of snacks, this is a coconut crab, about 1.5' (45cm) across. It's not too cute but is quite tasty, with a pronounced coconut flavor.

Our next stop was in the Banda Islands, which until the Brits stole some seedlings in the 19th century was the sole source of the world's nutmeg. Here we see the entire Eastern Rally tied up at a hotel. While convenient, this mooring situation meant we had to go though hotel's facilities and were constantly being exhorted (extorted?) to buy stuff at ridiculous prices. Unfortunately for them and us we were low on cash, which meant we couldn't buy much. Banda has no ATMs or other modern conveniences. What they do have is fabulously clear water with billions of unusual brilliant fish.

So, what the heck is this and why do we show it? This is the island of Rhun. It is significant because the Dutch got it by trading a similar-size island to the British, by the name of Manhattan. We suspect the Dutch came to regret this particular real-estate deal, especially after the Brits started growing nutmeg in Malaya, Grenada and elsewhere.

Downtown Bandanaira. Not the worst hole we've seen, but a contender.

A church at the entrance to Harie Harbor, Saparua Island. The people here are fiercely proud of their Christianity. In Banda and Ambon they died by the thousands in the late 90s at the hands of Muslim jihadis. Things are quiet now but there remains a significant military presence here to keep it that way.

Another town, another band to greet all 9 of us. It's tough being floating celebrities. A downside to being feted all the time was the Indonesian love for loud karaoke - not our cup of tea. At one dance they held in our honor we had to leave because the sound level was beyond deafening.

Yes, they have kitties in Indonesia. This one was hiding under shelves at a pottery factory.

Here's something you don't see every day, a Christmas tree made of coral. It seems to be a permanent fixture in a Protestant minister's living room.

Here's the Rally "fleet" anchored at Amahusu, Ambon Island. Ambon can be summed up by 3 Rs: Rainy, Rolly and Rubbishy. It rained almost continuously. The bay had a huge swell that made boats at anchor roll from scupper to scupper and sleep impossible. While trash is a problem in many parts of Indonesia, here it reaches epic proportions. The people here were wonderful, but in general the only good aspect of the place is the presence of ATM machines and stores.

Our itinerary was supposed to take us to the fabled clove island of Ternate thence around the huge island of Sulawesi. Unfortunately, this would involve motoring vast distances, which just didn't seem worthwhile, even at the cheap cost of diesel here, about US $0.50/liter ($2/gallon). The entire Eastern Rally therefore sailed southwest from Ambon towards Flores.

On the way we stopped at the Island of Bone Rate, famous in Indonesia for its boat-building. As you can see, huge boats are built here, right on the beach.

Boats built here use pegs as fasteners and there are no formal plans, just peoples' skills. One might imagine ancient Greeks working the same way.

As we can see, the place is very clean and prosperous. The admiral became a Pied Piper of sorts, as we were one of the very few outside visitors they ever see. It was a quaint lovely village.

Here a latter-day Tom Sawyer whitewashes his fence, using coconut fibers as a brush. People here take a lot of pride in their dwellings, however humble they might appear.

This page is a work in progress, i.e. it has a small subset of the pictures we intended to share with our faithful readers. The above material was prepared while we were in Bali and had good Internet service. We will add more new material after we get the overhauled site finished. Meanwhile, join us as we continue our journey to Central Indonesia.

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