Thursday 21st May 2015
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| Tahuna from 2XS |
Yesterday was all
GO. We had such a great opportunity to
see a whole lot of this very beautiful island of Sangihe, in a rented Toyota
with wonderful David as our driver and guide.
It all made me realise how little we see, really, from the sea. We only see the coastline, and villages right
on the edge. An inland road trip is just
the thing!
We were mightily
impressed with the town of Tahuna. It is
all so pretty, with nice little houses, and trees along every street. Gardens flourish – why wouldn’t they, in this
very moist climate?
The footpaths are
all very pretty too, in various delightful mosaic patterns. They go up and down a bit, but there are no
great cracks and sudden holes in the ground, as there are in most Indonesian
footpaths.
Not everything is
so very quaint…for example, this shop wasn’t open yet but I was very curious to
know what sort of clothes and wares they might sell here…
I hadn’t realized
that Sangihe is one of the Spice Islands.
So lovely, to see nutmegs, cloves, crocus, drying alongside the
road. Or rather – ON the road. The bitumen surface makes a nice flat hot
drying surface – cars and bikes and bullock carts just veer gently around the
spread.
Our first
destination was a waterfall. David had
asked me if we were up for a trek. Well
of COURSE we are, I said, a bit indignantly.
“It’s not very far,” he said. “A
bit slopey but very easy, really.”
Ummm…well it was quite far. And
the track combined two of my least favourite aspects – steepness and
slipperiness. Within a few minutes my
trusty German walking sandals had turned into slimey unstable surfaces,
incapable of gripping anything at all. I
didn’t mind going up but…down was terrifying.
The track was very narrow with a steep drop off to the side. David suggested taking my shoes off. I was a bit hesitant but he was right – my
feet were not as slimey as my sandals!
The jungle was
absolutely beautiful.
Not much wildlife
to be seen, just this one handsome lizard, and a few large centipedes. I was actually amazed at how benign it
was. (The jungle, not the lizard!!) I walked a very long way with bare
feet, a bit tentatively at first. If I
had been walking this way in Tasmania I would have been pricked, cut and bitten
by many painful things. But everywhere
the surface was soft between my feet – soft, rounded rocks, large soft leaves,
a bit of mulch, a bit of mud.
We had gone quite
along way and were probably not far from the waterfall when David said we had to
turn back – there was a big fallen tree on the path, it was very steep, we
couldn’t get across. I sobbed a bit – it
was steep and slippery and HOT. The good
thing was – it was very beautiful, and shady.
We got back to the
beginning of the path (Helter Skelter) and set off up the creek instead. This was very nice indeed, if very strenuous,
with a lot of climbing, splashing, wading, and crossing over log bridges. Eventually we went into a deep, narrow gorge
and – glory! A fabulous waterfall!
We were already so wet that we just walked right in and swam around, very happy.
We were already so wet that we just walked right in and swam around, very happy.
When we got out it
started to rain. Heavily! There was a shelter cabin so we sat there for
a while but it didn’t seem ever to be letting up. I had my umbrella with me (as you do…) so
David loaded himself up with my bag and Pete’s backpack and protected the whole
lot (camera…phone...other phone…) with the umbrella while Pete and I skipped back down the stream empty
handed. We were wetter than wet when we
got back to the car. But we were also
rather hot so it was quite nice to have cool clammy garments to cool us down a
bit. I was a bit exhausted after our
Indiana Jones Jungle Adventure so I lolled about in the back seat and looked at
the beautiful scenery.
We were by then
mildly ravenous so David set about finding us a restaurant, next to a black sand beach.
We were the only customers and we were received with open arms and enormous smiles.
We were the only customers and we were received with open arms and enormous smiles.
I was invited to
admire the cladding on the outside of the building – bamboo batik, how pretty
is that??
The restaurant
owner was very proud of his work and showed me a lovely bench he had made, of
this bamboo batik – I think it is only found in the Sangihe islands (but am not
completely sure…very pretty it is anyway.)
Most of the public
transport on the island is by bemo.
These bemos are lethal weapons – they all play VERY VERY loud disco
music and are painful to the ear even when they are just passing by. Being in them is…torture! But a cheap and efficient way to get around.
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| Bemos LOOK demure! |
We hadn’t seen
motor tricycles in Indonesia before. But
here they are quite common. A variation
on the theme…They have the single wheel at the back and the two wheels at the
front. Such an unwieldy and dangerous
design – WHAT were they thinking??
David said there
are many accidents, when the driver has to brake suddenly. The passengers shoot out the front, and are
then speedily crushed by the vehicle.
Great! They are also difficult to
steer, like trying to push a twin pram from a bike.
After lunch we
went to a lovely beach, with white sand.
Most of the beaches on the other side of the island are black, from the
lava flow. There is a very big volcano,
tall and imposing, in the north. David
said it takes 5-6 hours to walk up there, although he can run up in three
hours. He looked at us, but neither of
us showed the least impression of being capable of either running or walking up
there…fabulous though it would be. If
walking down the narrow track to the waterfall made me sob, what would I be
like coming back down the volcano track??
(Actually, I lie…Most of the way down I accomplished by sliding down on
my bottom…)
David went for a
swim but we had been wet enough that day so we wandered along and exclaimed t the
huge bird tacks in the sand. WHAT sort
of bird did this?? Our new beach friends,
Maya and Rido, joined us, full of giggles.
We pointed at the tracks and asked them what sort of bird it was.
The looked at us blankly
and said, “Ayam.” Ah yes…we followed
their gaze to see…a very large rooster with huge great feet…
Maya and Rido live
on the beach in this little shop/hut with their family. This is a beautiful, idyllic place but…there is
no water. Someone has to trek into the nearby
village every day to get enough to keep them all hydrated.
On the way back,
David asked if we wanted to go to the lookout – not very far at all. Well…it looked like a fabulous view.
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| Looking towards the volcano |
And it was. But the steep narrow track up to the lookout
made me grip the door handle with white knuckles…Thank God David was so competent
and so calm!
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| Teluk Tahuna |
We enjoyed his company
very much and had a fabulous day.
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| 2XS from way above |
But today…I am, as
Pete would say, BUGGERED!! We are going to
go to the market and buy tomatoes and tomorrow we will leave at 6am, for an
overnighter, on our way to Halmahera Island.
I think I will sleep every minute I am not on watch…
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