Our main task today was to wait for the big ferry to whisk us off to Makassar, Sulawesi.
There is not a huge amount to do in Luaban Bajo apart from visiting beautiful islands and diving on the pristine coral! However a rainy day soon put a stop to that ...
We spent our time mostly between the dive shop (our hotel) and the supermarket. We drank many delicious chocolate cereal drinks and researched a few ideas on the wifi.
We ate lunch in a local restaurant and entertained 2 young boys who were eating there with their dad. After lunch we took a walk to the fish market. As we approached we spotted 2 men loading a huge sail fish onto their scooter. The fish was precariously resting across the seat as it was so big and it had the most magnificent blue dorsal fin.
Next, we continued past a false mosque set up on a field. We are not exactly sure why but they played pretty loud music. Maybe a sound check for some event later in the evening?!
We collected our bags from our hotel and headed to the ferry waiting room. We had been told various different times but thought it wise to arrive early. Pretty much everyone had the same idea. There were no free seats and many people sat on the floor.
We waited and waited ...
Suddenly, lit up like a Christmas tree, we spotted the huge ferry pull into port. It looked great and had lots of liferafts on the top deck, probably for 1000 people. The local people don't form orderly queues, they all have to be the first on. Chaos ensued and as the passengers disembarked, new ones clambered on. We met one man who had had all of his money stolen from his pocket in the mad rush! We joined the mayhem and dragged our bags up the dodgy gang plank.
Successfully onboard, we made our way to what our tickets said were cabins 40 and 41 on deck 4. But ... all we found were rows of beds totally full with twice as many people as there should have been. Maybe on this boat there were 2000 people, 1000 too many. Very, very overcrowded! It was so busy and hot, we headed outside to join the masses on deck. Luckily, we found a small spot to sit at the stern. However, this boat was dirty! The floor disgusting and more like a rubbish dump than a boat deck! Thankfully we were able to sit on our boogie boards but... how do we sleep, as the ferry arrives tomorrow, 17 hours later? And, what if it rains again? There was a cinema room and a small area with a couple of Playstations on the boat. A kitchen and rather unsavory toilets too.
We slept, a little, while couped up in the corner. Many locals slept everywhere, including on top of coiled rope, sprawled out on the stairs and even in the liferafts! There was no floor space to be seen.
It was a long, long night ... but no rain and the sea was calm. Had it rained and the sea been rough, it would have been a different story. People being seasick on deck would have been unimaginable!
There is not a huge amount to do in Luaban Bajo apart from visiting beautiful islands and diving on the pristine coral! However a rainy day soon put a stop to that ...
We spent our time mostly between the dive shop (our hotel) and the supermarket. We drank many delicious chocolate cereal drinks and researched a few ideas on the wifi.
We ate lunch in a local restaurant and entertained 2 young boys who were eating there with their dad. After lunch we took a walk to the fish market. As we approached we spotted 2 men loading a huge sail fish onto their scooter. The fish was precariously resting across the seat as it was so big and it had the most magnificent blue dorsal fin.
Next, we continued past a false mosque set up on a field. We are not exactly sure why but they played pretty loud music. Maybe a sound check for some event later in the evening?!
We collected our bags from our hotel and headed to the ferry waiting room. We had been told various different times but thought it wise to arrive early. Pretty much everyone had the same idea. There were no free seats and many people sat on the floor.
We waited and waited ...
Suddenly, lit up like a Christmas tree, we spotted the huge ferry pull into port. It looked great and had lots of liferafts on the top deck, probably for 1000 people. The local people don't form orderly queues, they all have to be the first on. Chaos ensued and as the passengers disembarked, new ones clambered on. We met one man who had had all of his money stolen from his pocket in the mad rush! We joined the mayhem and dragged our bags up the dodgy gang plank.
Successfully onboard, we made our way to what our tickets said were cabins 40 and 41 on deck 4. But ... all we found were rows of beds totally full with twice as many people as there should have been. Maybe on this boat there were 2000 people, 1000 too many. Very, very overcrowded! It was so busy and hot, we headed outside to join the masses on deck. Luckily, we found a small spot to sit at the stern. However, this boat was dirty! The floor disgusting and more like a rubbish dump than a boat deck! Thankfully we were able to sit on our boogie boards but... how do we sleep, as the ferry arrives tomorrow, 17 hours later? And, what if it rains again? There was a cinema room and a small area with a couple of Playstations on the boat. A kitchen and rather unsavory toilets too.
We slept, a little, while couped up in the corner. Many locals slept everywhere, including on top of coiled rope, sprawled out on the stairs and even in the liferafts! There was no floor space to be seen.
It was a long, long night ... but no rain and the sea was calm. Had it rained and the sea been rough, it would have been a different story. People being seasick on deck would have been unimaginable!
