One Year Away

Penny

We try to get away from very touristy places
because they are often overcrowded, overpriced and
not all that interesting.  When we arrived in Bali, we were bracing for the worst!  We expected to see thousands of westerners in Speedos baking their already red sunburnt bodies in the sun while locals tried to sell anything and everything.

But after the Bali bombings and it being late January/early February, very few tourists are here.  Instead of packed beaches, restaurants and streets, it sometimes feels like the place is deserted.  It is common to see completely empty restaurants and bars even after 7pm.  The number of hawkers on the beach is
also noticeably low.  Those who still try to sell their goods (surf lessons, massage, manicure, picture frames, belts, sarongs,…) have a look of desperation in their eyes.  Goods that they could sell during the busy season for 150,000 rupiah, they are now more than willing to sell for 50,000 rupiah.  They almost beg you to purchase their goods often talking about the need to pay for a loved one’s hospital bill or for school tuition.

So, we got what we asked for… no tourists.  Unfortunately, the lack of visitors also decreases the vibrancy of the place and gives it an air of despair.  Bali is famous
for its nightlife so we wanted to go out on Saturday night.  After only one drink, the lack of ‘party-goers’ and ambiance made us want to go to sleep.  But we stuck around since we’d heard that things get going at around midnight.  It was after 1 AM and the most popular places on the island were still empty.  We decided to head back to our hotel.  Be careful what you wish for!

Joseph

To a casual observer it appears that the Kei islanders are religiously devout people.  In the main town of Langgur there are several large churches and mosques; including a massive new church under construction that would be among the largest buildings on the island.  There are churches and mosques in even the smallest fishing villages. 

Kei islanders traditionally worshiped their ancestors and  believed in a very active spirit world that influenced their day to day lives.  Succeeding waves of Muslim, Catholic and Protestant missionaries have converted virtually all of the islanders to one of their three religions.  However, the people of Kei have not entirely let go of their spirit beliefs and this has led to a curious mix of customs.  Apparently the priests and mullahs, most of whom are from Kei islands, tolerate the dual beliefs of their flock.

There is a giant old tree next to the Savanna Cottages that the islanders believe has some mystical powers.  In times gone by the chiefs of warring villages would stand beneath the tree and reach a peace agreement.  An agreement made under the tree could not be broken.  It was used again as recently as 2000 when local Protestants and Muslims agreed to stop fighting and signed the agreement under the tree.

Our host Gerson was raised in Holland and was naturally skeptical about the spirit beliefs of the islanders; that is until a group of six medium from Jakarta stayed at his cottages.  Without knowing the legends about the tree the mediums asked him, “Can’t you see them?”  Gerson looked about and not seeing anyone answered, “Who?”  The mediums pointed to the tree and said, “The people standing beneath the tree.”  The mediums went on to tell him not to worry because the spirits under the tree were “good people”.  Now, Gerson believes in the spirits like do most Kei islanders.

Gerson doesn’t lock the doors to his home.  He believes that the presence of the tree on one side and a cemetery on the other protect him from theft; and so far he has been right.  Theft is not a big problem on the island but he adds, “The local people would be too scared to try to steal anything with the spirits of their forefathers watching.”

Although Kei is modernizing quickly traditional beliefs are still strong in the majority of people on the island, and this can lead to some funny situations.  A couple of years ago a few palm leaves were used to completely stop traffic on the only bridge connecting the two main Kei islands. Someone had erected a magical sasi; a construct of young palm leaves that islanders believe cannot be crossed without terrible consequences.  No one crossed the bridge for several months!

To make a sasi, village elders conduct a ceremony invoking spirits and make offerings of gold to them. They have traditionally been used to protect crops, property and to mark disputed  borders with neighboring villages.  In the case of the bridge sasi the islanders suspected it was a boat owner who put up the sasi to cash in on the huge increase in demand to shuttle people the short distance between the islands.  The bridge remained unused until the government paid to have a special sasi removal ceremony performed.

The Kei Islanders also have odd traditions when it comes to  getting married.  Throughout Southeast Asia we have spoken to numerous young men who have complained about not being able to afford to get married.  The "bride-price"  is the amount of money, buffalo, cows, goats or whatever that must be paid to the family of the girl he wants to marry.  The high bride price and additional cost of the wedding causes great frustration to the men (and I suppose the women too) who want to get married and can’t afford the expense. 

But the Kei Island men have an even weightier problem.  Part of the bride-price they must pay to their bride’s family is a real Dutch cannon.  Yes, a cannon.   A mini-cannon  used by Dutch colonists is the usual form of payment.  It cannot be a replica cannon, it must be an original.  How this tradition came about is not clear.  The kepala desa, or village chief, of where we stayed had a cannon outside his home that he had received from his son in law.   This cannon was a regular sized cannon, I guess being a kepala desa has its advantages. 

Penny and Joe

Where to go next was the question on our minds.  With so many different islands offering completely different experiences, it is tough to choose.  We again relied on our Lonely Planet guide book to help pick our next destination.  The Moluccas or Spice Islands are described as some of the most beautiful islands in the world with interesting history and culture to boot.  We booked a flight and were off to Kota Ambon, the capital of the region. From there we planned our next few days.  Kota Ambon is unimpressive but is the gateway to the 1000 other islands of the Moluccas. 

Our first choice was to go to the Banda Islands, famous for being the only source for nutmeg and
mace until the 19th century.  They now produce little spice but do offer world-class snorkeling and interesting bits of their colonial past.  Unfortunately, we had missed the only weekly flight by a day and the ferry is even more infrequent.  We went with option two; a visit to the Kei Islands which offer visitors white sand beaches and glimpses of a local culture full of superstitious beliefs and ancestor worship.

We are staying at Savana Cottages, located in the small fishing village of Ohoidertawun which is home to about 30 families.  The village has only one badly paved road and no shops or restaurants. 

The beach at Ohoidertawun is very shallow and at low tide the water recedes 300 meters exposing loads of hermit crabs and snails.  It becomes a feasting ground for long-beaked seagulls.  At high tide, the water depth is only a couple of feet and the local children come out for an afternoon swim.

Savana Cottages is a beach front property with four cottage style rooms.  They have share bathrooms with cold water mandi (a tiled water basin with a scoop for bathing; showers are available only in high end hotels in Indonesia).  The rooms are comfortable and breezy and a mosquito net keeps (most) of the blood suckers away. A covered porch with rattan chairs and table are where we have spent a lot of time over the last couple of days watching the turquoise water.  There is also a two table common area where meals are served on request and cold drinks are available.  This is handy since there are no other eating options in the area. 

It’s been rainy for parts of the last couple of days so we’ve spent a lot of time talking with the friendly
and helpful owner, Gerson.  A Dutch Moluccan, he gave up his Dutch citizenship to live in Indonesia on the island of his father.  After serious religious conflict between the Protestants, Catholics and Muslims engulfed this area in 1999 and 2000 tourism has almost completely ended in the Moluccas and his hotel has been receiving only four or five guests per year.  The violence ended over six years ago and the islands are once again very safe, but the tourists have not yet returned.  He basically shut the place down for four years and is now in the process of rebuilding in the hope that customers will come back.

On a walk along the beach  we met a group of villagers who looked surprised to see us.  They invited us to sit with them and talk.  Since they spoke no English we used our best Indonesian (a very easy language which we’ve been picking up quicker than any other).  After the usual niceties they invited us to a party they were having later that night in the town hall, located, as almost everything is in this village, right on the beach.  We accepted and returned later that night with Gerson to join in the festivities. 

When we were spotted by the ladies who had invited us, we were dragged into the open-air town hall to dance.  Our entrance caused the whole party to break out in giggles.  The music was mainly English language oldies but the dancing was very different from back home.  In the town hall, the men sat on one side while the women sat on the other.  When the music came on they all got up and formed two lines, dancing with the person who they were sitting opposite to.  The dance consisted of a three step shuffle that even Joe could manage.  There was no physical or even eye contact between the men and the women.  At the end of the song the music stopped and people rushed back to their seats without a backwards glance.

The villagers were very happy to dance with us and we seemed to provide the people watching with much entertainment.  After three dances though we made our getaway.  It was fun dancing with them but we had become the center of attention and preferred to let them continue their party without our interference.  And party they did; till well past 4 AM we could hear the music coming from down the beach.

Joseph

I guess traveling overland in slow buses gave me a bit too much time to think.  But recently I’ve been wondering why people in one region seem friendlier than those of another.  We’ve met friendly people in every country we’ve visited on this trip but there are definitely some places where people are more open, inviting, hospitable and willing to help strangers.  More than that these “friendly” people seem genuinely happy to meet visitors and communicate in whatever way they can, even if that’s just a smile or handshake.

Take the Indonesians we’ve met in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo; they are probably the friendliest people we’ve met on our trip so far.  From the moment we leave our hotel room we are made to feel like honoured guests wherever we go.  There’s hardly a person we walk by on the street who doesn’t make eye contact and smile while saying, “Hello Mister” to me or “Hello Misses” to Penny.  You’d think we were celebrities the way that people go out of their way to greet us and talk to us, occasionally strangers come up to shake our hand.  Coming from a city where people passing each other do their best to avoid eye contact this can be disconcerting.  Here, even people whizzing by on motorcycles yell out a, “Hello Mister” when they see us.

The friendliness of people we meet is often just their natural curiosity at seeing a rare Orang Asing (foreigner) in their town.  But many times it is a genuine desire to be helpful and make sure that we have a good stay in their part of the world.

Yesterday we went for lunch at a local restaurant where we ordered some nasi goreng (fried rice) and mie kuwah (noodle soup).  As we sat down to wait a woman who was eating with her husband and young son leaned over and greeted us.  We had a short conversation limited by the few Indonesian words we know and her beginner English; Where are you from? Canada.  How long are you in Indonesia?  Almost 4 weeks.  Are you on business or vacation?  Honeymoon and we show our fake rings.  Then we asked her a few questions about the food and we each returned to our meals.  As the family left they all waved at us and walked around down the street.  Then the waiter excitedly pointed after them and smiled broadly; they had paid for our meal!

We were in the town of Bangarmasin on the east coast of Kalimantan where there are no bars or nightlife to speak of.  So in the evening, Penny and I saw a video rental store and went in to see if we could get a movie to play on our laptop.  The clerk was nothing like the bored clerks you see at Blockbuster.  She looked happy to see us and did her best to communicate with us in a mixture of Indonesian and English.  Having rented a movie once before in Indonesia we knew it was possible for foreigners to do if we provided a large cash deposit.  But in a typical example of local hospitality she insisted that we would rent the movies on her personal membership card and would take no deposit.  The only thing she knew about us was that we were Canadian and were staying at a nearby hotel.

The towns of east Kalimantan are nothing to write home about, but the friendly people who live in them are.  All the friendly faces and kind acts can make even dull places like this enjoyable.  So I haven’t figured out what makes people in one region friendlier than others but if you want to see for yourself or just want to see what it must feel like to be a celebrity then Kalimantan is a great place to visit. 

Penny and Joe

Have a look at our new photo album – Indonesia (with extra photos of animals for my goddaughter Christina and friends!).  No photos in the post today – Borneo Internet is slooowwwww.

For most, the name Borneo conjures images of remote jungles, wild
beasts and indigenous people with bones through their noses.  We set
off to the southern part of the island, the Indonesian state of
Kalimantan to see for ourselves.  We got to Kumai, a small port town,
to plan for a 3 day trip into the Tanjung Puting National Park.  The
national park was made famous by Dr. Birute Galdikas, a Canadian
who arrived in Borneo in 1971.  She started Camp Leaky and  named it
after her mentor and the famed primatologist.  The camp, located in the
heart of the national park, was and still is a research facility for
the study of wild orangutans and a sanctuary for ex-captive ones.  Even
in 1971, keeping an orangutan as a pet was illegal but the law was
rarely enforced due to the lack of resources to care for the rescued
animals.  Dr. Galdikas gave Indonesia the resources and has rescued
hundreds of animals over the years.  Unfortunately, these ex-captives
seem to never fully return to the wild and will always require the
occasional feeding by humans.

The best way to visit the park is by ‘klotok’ which is a boat that can
serve as transportation, accommodation and restaurant while traveling
to the camps and looking at wildlife.  We hired a boat and an English
speaking guide for the trip.  Our boat The Spirit of the Forest
was clean and comfortable.  The captain, Jeni was the joker while his
assistant was quiet but with a permanent smile fixed on his face.  Our
guide, Rudy, was very knowledgeable about the primates and had a true
love for them. 

We spent a good part of the next three days sitting on the deck of the
boat watching the riverbanks and treetops as we chugged along slowly.
In the early morning and late afternoon the trees came alive with
groups of large nosed proboscis monkeys, noisy macaques, and tropical
birds.  The proboscis monkeys (or “Dutch Monkey” in the local dialect
on account of their big noses!) are found only on Borneo and were often
seen sitting in the treetops or acrobatically jumping across the river.

During the day we spent a lot of time at the Orangutan Foundation camps
and viewed three orangutan feedings at two different camps. At the
feedings the camp rangers placed large quantities of cucumbers and
buckets of milk out for the orangutans on a raised platform far out in
the jungle.  They made loud whooping calls and we waited.  Within
minutes the trees in the distance started swaying and shaking, as if a
giant were walking through the jungle.  As they got closer we could see
dark shapes swinging effortlessly from tree to tree, often bending the
whole tree top to reach the next one.

Then suddenly the rust coloured “Men of the Jungle” were in the trees
directly above us and quickly descending using their hands and very
long flexible feet to grip vines or tree trunks.  They paid no heed to
the humans watching them and went straight for the buckets of milk,
which is their favorite food.  Some dunked their whole head in the
bucket and drank with loud slurping sounds.  Others picked up the
buckets and poured the contents into their mouths dripping the milk all
over themselves in the process.  Orangutans are by nature solitary but
they have a clearly defined hierarchy nonetheless.  It was obvious at
the feeding platform which were the dominant ones by who got the most
milk. 

On our second day we asked to visit an illegal mining area which was
known to be in operation up the river.  The miners there are known to
the police and park authorities who claim to be powerless to remove
them.  Our guide Rudy knew some of the miners and agreed to take us
there.  There are dozens of small scale mining operations all trying to
pull gold and silicon from the white sand of the riverbank.  They use
mercury as part of the gold process and the devastating effects that
the activities had on the environment were immediately obvious by the
colour of the water in the river downstream of the mining.  It’s hard
to condemn people who are so poor and have few opportunities to make a
living but their activities and those of the illegal loggers are
seriously damaging one of only a few places in the world where
orangutans continue to live.

The park is large, beautiful and full of easily visible wildlife,
unlike other national parks we’ve been to in Asia.  Surprisingly, it
was also a very relaxing three days as we went up and down small rivers
in the jungle sitting on deck with a good book and a camera at the
ready.

For more info on the foundation and park go to http://www.orangutan.org
Our guide Rudy was helpful and spoke English well.  His email is forestguide07@yahoo.com

Penny

Mom, don’t have a heart attack.  We did not get married and forget to invite you to the wedding!

But in the eyes of some conservative Muslim people in Indonesia, it has been simpler for us to claim to be married.  Often, the first and sometimes only question that I am asked (mainly by men) is whether I am married.  I usually stick out my hand to show them my gold "wedding band" and say "Yes.  He is my husband" as I point to Joe.  Sometimes, the second question is "On your honeymoon?" and my answer always is "Yes! A very long honeymoon".

It was by reading Blogs by other women travelers that I had the idea to purchase wedding bands for Joe and me.  We usually use our engagement date as our "wedding date" and use my brother’s wedding as a reference when asked about ceremony and reception details.  Indonesia is the first country where we have felt the need to wear them but I think that they will also come in handy in other countries we plan to visit.