Belitong

We were going to spend a week in Belitong, a rare luxury these days and looked forward to some time to just hang out and enjoy some relaxation.
After our arrival we found that the locals were waiting for us and had a schedule which allowed no rest!!! The events were non stop and we were exhausted by the time we left.
After having written this I am exhausted again so perhaps anyone reading it should read in instalments so you won’t be overwhelmed!!
Each year two destinations are funded by the Indonesian Government to encourage the. development of tourism, this year Wakatobi and Belitong had been chosen. This allowed for a great finish of our Sail Indonesia rally
After our arrival we went to shore to find many “dingy boys” waiting to pull our dingy onto the beach.
We checked in to find a large number of government guides had been hired to accompany us wherever we went as in Wakatobi.
Diesel was 50 cents a gallon and water 50 cents for 5 gallons. We could have a car, driver and guide for the day for $10!!!
A number of beach front restaurants were serving delicious food, tasty calamari and prawn dishes for $5 and a large beer for $2—would we ever leave!!
Not only were we the prime attraction but a visit from the President of Indonesia was timed to coincide with the rally. As it was the first time he had come to the island the whole area was in a state of construction. They were building a huge cement arena and there were tents and structures going up 24 hours a day. They were holding an expo which was to be in a huge air conditioned tent and we watched in awe as all of this was happening at a rapid rate.
Banners promoting Sail Indonesia—Wakatobi, Belitong were everywhere with the Regent’s (head of local government) picture. They see this as their opportunity to showcase Belitong.
There was a main stage with continuous dancing and music.
There were a large number of ‘rally events” planned which they hoped we would participate in. The Indonesian people try so hard and go to so much trouble to please us that we feel obliged to attend no matter how tired we are.
The first event was to visit various schools. Our bus took us to a vocational high school where the children were being taught tourism, accounting and secretarial work.
We were welcomed by the principal and then were led around the school by students. As before we were “claimed” by a couple of students and we found our best claim to fame was to tell each class that we were from Canada where Justin Bieber was from. That led to squeals from the young girls who all knew of him and were able to sing his song---we did not admit that none of us really knew who he was!! We did try it on an accounting class of mostly boys but did not get the same reaction—oh well it was good with the girls!!
Our next stop was to the opening of the kite festival. Many colourful kites big and small were flown but the oddest thing was the row of old bicycles from Holland which were awaiting us. They were extremely uncomfortable—no gears, hard seats and no brakes—hmmm?? We biked around the area and were then joined by the local Regent to bike the 3km to our lunch stop. I could hardly reach the pedals of my bike so was happy to get there.
We were welcomed by dancers and were invited in to a large room where we were divided into groups of four and sat on the floor, traditional Indonesian style, and ate the delicious spicy food with our fingers.
I was relieved to find someone else would take the bikes back and we rode a bus to our next stop, an orphanage.
Along with other cruisers we had bought the toys and clothes we still had left and a donation of cash was quickly collected, all hopefully would add a little to the day to day lives of the children. They were a group of boys and girls, some of whom had disabilities but all seemed well loved by the Muslim caregivers. We had a lot of fun with them playing with the balloons we had bought and we were all touched by the experience.
Our last stop on our return was the local market where we picked up more fruit and vegs, whole-wheat bread and some of the basics from the supermarket—once again the supermarket was poorly stocked with anything that did not contain a lot of sugar—I had wanted to get some cereal but it is all sweetened with honey, cocoa and sugar—all in the same package!! We will make do with the oatmeal we have left.
The next day while walking on the beach I came across a bazaar ritual.
The locals who claim to be mostly Muslim also maintain their animist beliefs. As has been the case with almost all cultures we have visited—from the South Americans onwards—they have converted to whatever religions were brought to them but combine them with their previous beliefs.
A ceremony is performed once a year to keep the fishermen from harm during which no boats can be out at sea. All fishing boats had come in to shore and even a cruiser’s dive had been cancelled until it was safe to go to sea again.
They had built a model boat and one man acted out the part of the fisherman and somehow was in a hypnotic state. He was accompanied by drumming and a group of supporting fishermen and his wailing wife?????? He danced around for a long time and finally they exorcized the bad spirits and all celebrated as he came out of his trance and raised his hand in victory as he was hoisted up by the others. Now the boats could leave.
We visited the expo which was apparently there to sell and promote local products as well as some from Java but it seemed only the cruisers were doing much buying. I am not sure what the vendors had been led to believe.
I succumbed and bought a soft lambskin leather jacket which was gorgeous for $150—fortunately for me it fit perfectly and Ken was left feeling envious as they were only samples and none fit him---a very odd choice to bring to this monsoonal hot climate??
We also bought some batiks as gifts for our family.
We rented a car and guide to go to the ATM to replenish the spent funds and had an interesting visit to the museum. We were astonished at the number of wrecks over the centuries around these shores and were thankful for modern navigational aides!! Many wrecks had been salvaged with billions of dollars of gold taken out by treasure seekers. Large amounts of Chinese porcelain and pottery had been salvaged and they had an interesting collection on display.
We had wanted a banner for our boat and had been coveting the large numbers alongside the road wondering if one would be missed when Ken spotted a truck carrying a lot of them. We quickly had the car turned around and our guide requested some for us. They were happy to get rid of some and gave us a pile which we later passed around to friends after decorating Cop Out.
The next drama was who would be invited to “dine with the president”. After much negotiating we were informed that all rally participants would be invited. All attending the dinner must be dressed appropriately with women in Indonesian sarongs and men in Batik shirts with long pants. Most of the women at some stage had purchased Indonesian sarongs but the expo did a roaring trade in batik shirts.
The next day was Canadian Thanksgiving Day and we celebrated with lunch on Cop Out with smoked salmon and pumpkin pie.
That night was to be the banquet hosted by the Regent at which we had been invited to perform a “traditional performance” from our countries. As we tried to find common ground the division between French and Anglo Canadians became obvious.
The Quebec cruisers knew no songs that we knew and we knew none of theirs. After a typical heated “Canadian bilingual discussion” we all agreed to try and sing both Stomping Tom’s CA NA DA and then finish with Celine Dionne’s Titanic song. Indonesians love her and we felt a recognisable song would work. We practiced and finally felt that we were as good as we were going to be and everyone went back to their boats to take a rest before the “big moment”.
Dinner was had and then various cruiser groups got up to do their thing. The Australians were a hit doing an action song to a recorded “Wiggles” tune which they had the audience doing the actions alongside them.
We managed to pull ours together and were applauded as we waved our flags in the air. We dedicated our rendering of the Titanic love song as our love song to them which upon translation got a large cheer.
Afterwards the guides got onto the stage and sang a tortuous version in English of Auld Langsyne. We all joined them and it was a moving moment as we all sang together and emotions were running high. We have grown to love these warm generous people.
Next day was a visit from some of the children from the schools we had visited and we were lucky having four sixteen year olds all who spoke English well. They were ambitious with one wanting to be a doctor, two teachers and the last a policeman and I am sure they will all succeed. They were interested in the boat and how it all worked. We were able to show them where we had been and took their photos on the boat and I printed them each a copy. A lot of the other boats had very young children who were very shy and did not speak at all.
Before leaving for East Belitong the next day names of ten boats which could send a representative to “meet the president” at the special dinner hosted by him were drawn. Cop Out was the first pulled and I quickly suggested that Ken could do it as I knew it would be a great thrill for him.
We now drove the hour and a half across the island where the local Regent was going to host lunch for us.
Our first stop was at a beach where we were welcomed once again by dancers and then witnessed one more of the strange rituals.
A man was wrestling a folded fish trap which was covered in a white cloth. Apparently this contained a ghost which needed to be fought. After a long time of trying to wrestle this he was exhausted and was beaten which would mean the village would not have good luck. Apparently the men hardly ever win so perhaps should come up with an easier game. We were intrigued by the theatre and assume that you had to bend it to win not just sit on it which seemed the easier solution. As it made of rattan it would be impossible to bend. We were invited to send a participant to wrestle the ghost and I tried to encourage Ken but he was having a problem figuring the possibilities and no one else volunteered. They assured us the ghost would fight back if he tried---hmmm??
Lunch was next and then to yet one more trancelike performances. This time a number of men rode wooden horses around as someone chanted. They went into a trancelike state and then proceeded to throw themselves around, eat crushed glass and chilli peppers and were whipped by another man. It was all very odd and was a way to exorcise the spirits once again. They would get to a state of exhaustion and throw up and come back for more!! Finally that lot would collapse and a new lot would start.
We had to move on and had one more stop at yet another inadequate supermarket and then another 30 minutes to a beach for a drink from a coconut. As we wondered why we had bothered we saw a large number of people waiting at the beach to greet us and take photos of and with us. They were obviously waiting and even though we were tired we were happy that we had met them.
The last stop was a Buddhist temple which was atop a hill and very serene.
Now we faced our 1 ½ hour return drive and was dark by the time we were back.
We stopped for a beer before heading back to the boat only to find that the security for the president demanded that we all move our boats 2 miles to sea!! The rally organisers had been arguing for 2 days that this was impossible to no avail and it looked as though we would all have to leave for Singapore!!
It was very dramatic but finally someone up high must have realised that the star attraction “Sail Indonesia participants” featured on the banners all over town would not be there when the president arrived. Finally the decision was rescinded and everyone was happy. Decisions in these countries are often made with little forethought.
The following morning the day of the dinner we were told that now the only the Vice President would be coming. We were bussed to a large hotel for the dinner only to be told that now only a group of ministers would be there and we would all be seated together with no meeting of anyone by cruisers. We have learned not to stress and just accept what is put on for us in whatever form it takes place.
We were escorted to our tables and through translators we gathered that the Regent was saying that the participation of Sail Indonesia was a sign of the wonderful tourism opportunity for the island so the government should give more money. The response was that they had already given lots of money so much posturing was done by both sides with probably little change for the future. We had obviously been needed to showcase the success by the locals when they were given money. The local economy is based on mining tin and kaolin and growing white pepper. The local government is trying to diversify into tourism as the tin supplies diminish.
The Indonesian men and women were seated separately. I had a thrill when I asked to photograph the wives of the ministers and they invited me to sit with them and later to dance with them. Their clothing was very dressy and I was thankful that I had put on my fancy sarong and thai silk shirt. We have found the more educated women love to dance whereas the poorer ones are very intimidated and shy.
We were now getting hold of local newspapers where each day we were featured—I was photographed on my bicycle with the Regent and our Canadian singing group also starred.
The following day the Vice president would actually come and hundreds of fishing boats all decorated with flags had come in surrounding us. There was an air of festivity and excitement.
Sadly as the local people gathered he arrived and was seated away from anyone and although his speech was broadcast only the press and the few invited officials could even see him. Obviously “meeting the people” is not considered a photo op in this country.
A group of young people performed for him and then he and his entourage came down towards the cordoned off beach to plant a tree each.
The “sail by” by the local fishing boats went by unnoticed by him—I hope the fishermen thought he was watching!!
Ann from Cats Paw and I happened to be trapped on one side and actually had a better view than any of the locals or other cruisers.
Ken enjoyed talking to all of the security forces who were out in full force—lookouts up above and tanks down below.
The Vice President was now whisked away with no one other than his entourage and invited press being close enough to see him.
Our final function was a beach party put on by our guides and dingy boys who had cooked up dinner for us.
There were some singers and some of the more talented cruisers performed and it erupted into happy dancing with us and our new Indonesian friends.
It was a lovely end to our time here and it was with great sadness that we bid them farewell.
We had organised a dive trip for the next day. The boat picked us up and we dove a wreck at 18 metres. This was relatively recent so not a lot of coral had grown on it and no large fish nearby.
We then went to an island where each of us released a hawksbill turtle which had been dug up as an egg and hatched and kept until 3 months to be released raising the odds of survival. We went for a walk only to return to find our dive boat had disappeared and would be back shortly???
Several hours later it returned—we are now into the “Indonesian way” and went with the flow and now went to our second dive site. This was a reef which would have been quite pretty except the visibility was poor probably due to the intense rain storms we are getting as the monsoons get closer.
The following day we went to shore as they were dismantling the tents and in typical Indonesian style plastic and Styrofoam was blowing everywhere and the trees left from the “tree planting” by the government officials are destined to die
The weather is definitely deteriorating so we decided to leave along with 5 other boats for an overnight sail to the next anchorage.
We had checked out at Belitong but it was made clear to us that we could stop on the way to Singapore 320 miles away.
One more overnight sail took us to the equator—our 4th crossing—where we would all stop and have an “equator party”.
As we stopped on the equator in calm conditions we photographed Alex the 12 year old on Splash Down being towed on a rubber tube across the equator, I went in and swam it—the water is finally warm enough for me!!!
That night along with the 5 boats we had been sailing with had an equator beach party with lots of good food and warm feelings as we celebrated finishing our time in the Southern Hemisphere.
We would have one more night on the 95 mile passage to Singapore.
Sadly we are leaving this lovely nation having learned that despite a bloody history they have managed to create an extremely tolerant happy society successfully blending race and religion creating an example for all of us.
As we had discussed at our party our time here had well surpassed all expectations and we feel lucky to have had a wonderful three months in Indonesia.