The King of the District: Part 1
Governor Hein’s people pick us up early. 9.30pm, not 10. It’s a big, slick, maroon people-carrier, a Toyota, I think, not quite as pristine as...
Tagged: kids
In Which We Dive an Undersea Volcano
Indonesia is not, let us say, short on dive sites. And, when you can snorkel with giant manta rays, turtles and jellyfish defanged by evolution...
A Country Wedding
In the dirt yard, by the communal sleeping platform her family have built outside their wooden home, Biasri, eighteen years old and five months gone,...
Tales from the Moluccas #3: Ibilihi’s Nutmeg
We pick up Ibilihi from his home on a narrow strand of yellow beach, backed by jungle sprouting out of coral cliffs, where he lives...
Machete Lessons for Beginners
It would be fair to say that watching one’s nine-year-old son improve his machete skills while 8-12 hours from *any* form of medical care, however...
Tales from the Moluccas #2: Happiness on the Riverbank
Lima has just discovered clothes. Three months ago, in fact. Compared to the itchy bark loincloths he used to wear, they’re remarkably comfortable. An excellent...
Expedition Outfitting in Pidgin Indonesian*
The scene? In and around various shopping establishments in Kota Ternate, the de facto capital of Indonesia’s Spice Islands, and home to more English language...
When Travel Becomes Time Travel
Tomorrow we embark for Pulau Halmahera, one of Indonesia’s Spice Islands, where we will travel back in time. Our aim? To experience the nomadic hunter-gatherer...
#theglamoroftravel
It was on the golden sands of Pulau Kadidiri, in the Togian Islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia, as a wave of what I would dearly like to...
A Fistful of Dollars
Our favoured local, back in Rantepao in the Tana Toraja, was the hangout of the local Guides Association, a Teamsteresque conglomerate of the most amiable...