Pare Pare, Sulawesi, Indonesia

From Bali we traveled through the Java Sea an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian Islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its northwest links it to the South China Sea. It is part of the western Pacific Ocean. The Battle of the Java Sea from February to March 1942, was one of the costliest naval battles of WWII. The naval forces of the Netherlands, Britain, Australia, and the United States were nearly destroyed trying to defend Java from Japanese attack. As the site of successful exploration for petroleum and natural gas, the Java Sea has become the basis of Indonesia’s export program.

Our day at sea brought us to Pare Pare a city in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. We have been greeted at these ports by very enthusiastic singers and dancers happy to see tourism come to them. I took video rather than snapshots and I cannot share video on this site. Sulawesi is the fourth largest island of the 17,000 Indonesian islands. There are 20 million people on Sulawesi. It is made up of six provinces, one of which is South Sulawesi. Pare Pare is a port town, it is one of the major population centers of the Bugis people. It has a population of approximately 140,000 residents. The largest ethnic group in Pare Pare is Bugis people. They are renowned as skilled sailor travelers and used to navigate across Malaysia, Singapore, Asia, and even Africa. 

The city was subsequently visited by Malay people who came to trade into the region of Suppa. Pare Pare was the area of some of the worst massacres carried out by Dutch troops under the command of Capt. Westerling during the independence war (1946-47 in this area). There are many monuments remembering the war.

Our tour today took us to Nepo Village. This village is home to fisherman and ship builders. They were very excited to see two large tour buses pull into their village. It had never been visited before by cruise travelers. They were taking pictures of us while we took pictures of them. We saw how fish were dried (it is a two week process), a ship in the process of being built (who knows how long that takes) and while we walked through the village Joe turned into the Pied Piper. The small children were attracted to his smile and silly behavior. I got a really cute video but also captured some pictures showing his antics. These little boys started with high fives and knuckles to get our attention. After which, Joe started playing with them and they followed his every move. You can see from the pictures that whatever he did…they copied and wanted more. At one point during the tour, they lost track of him and I overheard one small boy say to another, “where the man with hat?” We viewed their way of life, saw the local clinic, and walked by their homes as each family ran to the front of the house to see us. A parade of hot and sweaty travelers that seemed as foreign to them as they were to us. Most families live in tin structures that hold the heat, although some occasional homes were made of cement. The peaks of each home are shaped with a symbol of whether they are well to do (royalty) or commoners. I’ll describe the difference in the pictures below. Everyone was very friendly and had a smile or a wave. 

Our second stop in Batu Batu, was to a large home that had at one time been lived in by royalty and is now a museum. It was supported by 130 poles and we were treated to a local performance of traditional dance. Today was the first day of Ramadan- 87% of the population here is Muslim. Rice farming is also a mainstay for these people. It is about all they have to eat. Our tour guide mentioned that breakfast, lunch and dinner are all rice. Occasionally, families are able to eat fish but it is not an everyday occurrence. Each family eats about 30 pounds of rice per month per person! And still, remain thin. We did see a few chickens in the village but they are primarily used for eggs rather than meat. The temperatures are still unbearably hot and humidity is high. We are now just 4 degrees from the equator and will cross it south to north tomorrow. Ahead, are three days at sea as we pass through the Makassar Strait, and into the Sulu Sea on our way to Manila, Philippines. 

We have come to look forward to these sea days as a way to catch our breath (literally…due to extreme heat/humidity) and get in some workouts in the gym, compete on our trivia team and enjoy the guest speakers that visit the ship. The education component has been a real treat. If and when we miss a speaker (live) they offer the video on our suite tv to enjoy at another time. This is also a time for pampering in the spa. I’ve enjoyed two wonderful massages, so far, and have a pedicure scheduled as my feet took a beating on our snorkeling adventure off Komoto Island. 

Fun fact: I think we lost Barbie and Ken in Bali. I haven’t spotted them since and I’ll miss looking at their outfits on the daily. The last one we saw was orange sherbet…they looked like those “push-ups” we used to eat as kids. Ken was orange right down to his shoes. Mel Brooks (robe guy) has become quite friendly as he is just one cabin away from us and has entertained us to no end. He still prefers his robe to all other clothing. As expected, he again showed up to the block party in our hallway (scheduled to greet newcomers in Bali) in his robe. Another neighbor offered to take him clothes shopping in the ship’s clothing shop. 🙂 He couldn’t be any nicer and his sighting still leave us laughing each time we meet. He has been on the ship for 56 days and did his first loads of laundry yesterday…all day. As an aside, his robe could use a good cleaning but I’m certain he was wearing it to do his laundry. It is now sporting coffee stains, a bit of blood in one area and the hem is looking quite dingy. 

I’ll check back in once we have a few sea days under our belt. The internet has been very spotty here in Indonesia so I’m thinking we may have more of that as we travel toward Manila.