And another trip to Indionesia Begins

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted anything, partly due to not having much to say and in large part due to "technical" issues which I will soon elaborate. But now I have pictures and comment! In fact too much for one post so I have broken it down into 3 segments: my return trip here to Sorowako, life in and around Sorowako, and my latest true adventure!

To those of you who were not aware, I departed Thompson in the late afternoon of October 16 and will remain here in Sorowako until November 15 when I begin the long journey back to Canada.

As has become the norm I ended up spending an afternoon and night in Denpasar, the capital of the island of Bali. This island, as reported previously, is unique in that the primary religion here is a form of Hinduism and is characterised by numerous sculptures depicting Hindu related gods and mythological events. Many times in the past I have been driven by some pretty fantastic looking large scale sculptures and this time I made it a point to photograph two of the most prominent. Unfortunately I cannot tell you anything about the story behind them but still find them impressive! In addition Awang, who is now my regular driver when ever I am here, took me to a Hindu temple called Pura Desa Lan Pusen which of course is decorated with typical Balinese Hindu motifs. He had also tried to take me to a park with more Bali architecture, but it was closed. This was the first of many negative aspects so far this trip!

As usual I continue to be impressed by the artistry that is typical of Bali and the contrast with the general lack of craftsmanship in the building trades here and elsewhere that I have seen in Indonesia.

Upon leaving Bali once again I flew to Ujung Pandang, or as it is usually called, Makassar. There I stayed in the brand new terminal building until my flight to Sorowako. Unlike previous times they were using a 18 seat Beechcraft 1900 rather than the larger turboprops used previously (Dash-7 and then an ATR). As a result they had to make two flight and as it turned out I was on the second one. I finally made it to Sorowako late in the afternoon where I was met by Tim Lloyd, one of the members of the group I belong with who too was in town on work related business. As there was no room at the dormitory I was put up at a local hotel; the Luciana. Unfortunately my suitcase was not on the plane even though it had made it as far as Makassar with me.

Well, that led to an interesting development! As a result I only had the clothes on my back (shorts, shirt and sandals)! Usually I keep a complete change of clothes with me but used them once I arrived in Denpassar and made the mistake of assuming I was now safe from any baggage issues. So the next day I tried to show up at the office looking like a tourist but was rejected by security, primarily because I had no safety footwear! As a result I had to return to the hotel until such time as my suitcase arrived, a few hours later having made the journey by car!

Obviously, once my suitcase arrived, I could get down to work - the reason I am here in the first place. So I spent the next 12 days working away diligently. After 4 days at the hotel they arranged for me to move into a vacant house as there still was no room at the Dormitory. It is a large place which is currently occupied by just myself. While there are network connections none worked and it took a few days for the IT department to figure out why and finally making it possible for me to connect to the outside world!

I only had a short break of a few hours the morning of my first Sunday here whereby I went for a walk with one of my New Zealand friends, Andrew Osborn. He wanted to scout out some potential routes for an upcoming Hash Hound Harriers run/walk. We did our stroll along jungle trails. For the uninitiated "The Hash", as they call it, involves a couple of "Hares" blazing a trail along which the "Hounds" soon after follow and is an opportunity for an organised run or walk, as one prefers, exploring new routes in and around Sorowako. Having walked this muddy and slippery trail in the jungle, along much of which a previous run had been traveled on I vowed I would NOT take part. Especially since it is every Monday afternoon, which of late is when it typically is raining! This picture is of a jungle stream we forded on this trip.

On the return journey we passed by a local Bali Hindu temple which I had been unaware even existed! And to think I had walked by this location a few times in the past and not realised t was there. Again, very impressive statues and other motifs!

Obviously this trip has not started off as well as previous ones! Check the next post to see how this adventure is continuing to unfold!