Makassar's rusty wreck

'Remember Surabaya'

'Remember Surabaya', this sign in Makassar said. Also 'We're not afraid of terror', and 'Our grief for the heroes'.

A masterpiece in bus travel

The road from Makassar up to South Sulawesi's Toraja highlands region is a long and winding one, and when I last did the trip it was a ten hour uncomfortable ride in a cramped and battered old bus.

Well it's still a ten hour ride, but the buses have improved astonishingly. I took the 'Masterpiece' day service with Litha & Co buses. I didn't get to see their super-luxury night bus, but the day bus was more comfortable than any I've encountered anywhere. The seats were very soft and almost fully reclining. Shorter passengers than I were able to treat them as beds. There were actually very few passengers on the northbound trip. I couldn't quite believe my luck. This wasn't the Indonesia travel experience I was expecting!
The bus doesn't have a toilet (some do). But there are meal and toilet breaks every two or three hours.

For my return journey a few days later I used the same company. Their ticket office is on the main drag in town, but the bus runs from its depot some way away. I was delighted to find that the ticket clerk himself was happy to put me on the back of his motorcycle and give me a free ride to the bus when the time came.

Makassar street interviews

I love being interviewed by students. In Indonesia it's often English language students who need to practice their English. In Makassar the other week I had a couple of slightly different but very pleasant encounters.

The girls on the left were German language university students, hoping that I might be a German tourist. It tends to be Europeans who get to explore the more interesting bits of Indonesia, after all. Australians mostly only know Bali. Anyway, I happen to be half fluent in simple German, and was able to comply with their request, much to their delight. The girl on the left filmed the proceedings, and the one on the right interrogated me in German, about my travels, and my thoughts about Makassar and Indonesia. I was a bit surprised to discover that my German came more naturally to me than my Indonesian has been coming lately. I used to be a bit proud of my Indonesian, but not so much recently!

The couple on the right, who holed me up on the waterfront, were international relations students. The chap on the left did the interviewing, while his accomplice filmed. They were doing an assignment on tourism and how to promote Makassar as a tourist destination. His English was impressive, though we got a bit hung up on the word 'halal'. He wanted to know about my understanding of halal in relation to tourism. I realised eventually that he wasn't meaning it in the sense of religiously approved food preparation. He actually wanted to know whether tourist facilities were clean and appropriate for foreigners, and what should be changed to make the place more attractive to us.

I replied to the effect that Makassar had lots to offer and attract the western tourist. Mostly it just needed to advertise the fact. Most westerners knew nothing about Sulawesi. I also told him that the public transport system was all a bit of a mystery, and could benefit greatly by being simplified and rationalised along the lines of what I'd seen in Jakarta and Jogjakarta.

Makassar market mugshots

Plastic containers and suchlike.

A Ramadan-special dessert, I was told. I think it might be dodol (a rice flour based glutinous sweet, sweetened with coconut sugar).

A proud mum. And more plastic containers?

A dreaded chilli stall.

What's he selling? Tropical fruits I think. Maybe I've caught him by surprise.

Unhappy chooks.

Ladies' clothing. I liked the way the people blended into the scene with the mannequins.

Makassar

I spent a happy couple of days in South Sulawesi's capital, Makassar, on my recent Indonesian trip. It's come a long way since my last visit, 30 years ago, when I mostly remember muddy streets and becaks (cycle-rickshaws) as the main mode of transport.



For a visitor like me it's largely about the waterfront sights and food stalls. There are also a big theme park and an underground shopping centre.

There's also a 'floating mosque', and another, even more spectacular disneyesque mosque seems to be under construction.








One of the things it's difficult not to do is to get picked up by one of the tourist becak drivers, and taken for a ride, farewise, as well as to the schooner harbour and the fish market. The sights and photo opportunities make it well worth while though.








The Makassans are of course famed for their seafaring prowess, and were trading with the people of northern Australia hundreds of years ago.








Last time I was there, Makassar was officially Ujung Pandang. That never quite worked, and it was changed back to Makassar in 1999 by then President B.J. Habibie, who was born nearby. The two names are now used interchangeably, and Lonely Planet assures me there are no political connotations in which one you use.