SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER

Makassar is at the opposite end of Sulawesi to Manado. It sits on the southern tip of this strangely shaped island and is the capital of Sulawse with a population of over 1.3 million peoples. And it is the fifth largest city in Indonesia. Makassa is in complete contrast to Manado. It’s population is largely Muslim and as there were churches in Manado, there are mosques here. It is also a major sea port for Sulawesi and has amazing history. On first impressions Makassar, is obviously bigger and, in some ways, much more sophisticated. It has developed its waterfront into popular public spaces.

I arrived here around 2.30 with Lion Air and after checking into my hotel I hit the streets to check the surrounds. It’s just a short walk to the water front. Initially it’s reasonably quite but Saturday night is approaching and this is a popular time for locals to get out and have some fun. Activity increases as a fun park sets up. Families come out and under a magnificent sunset, things start to happen. Markets set up and there is entertainment of all descriptions happening over the water front. The atmosphere is very family orientated and friendly. Tourists are rare so I attract attention, especially from students practising their English and interestingly, young girls who thrive on having their photo taken with a visitor. Its all good fun and I don’t mind the attention. A popular element of the fun park is remote-controlled cars. These cars are big enough for a young child to sit in and the parents (or an adult) walk on behind with the controls.  Or there are cars that they can control themselves. It’s hilarious. This must be where they develop their crazy driving skills for survival on Makassan streets.

The most impressive thing I saw was a peddle powered kids ride. A pedal cart had been adapted to have four car-shaped seats on its front. The cigarette-smoking operator sat at the back and his pedalling made these car-shaped seats gently buck up and down. It was popular and he was busy.

While having a quite beer at the hotel I met a young Australian. Adam is an archaeologist managing a dig near Maros, a town just outside of Makassar. Its a highly responsible job and they making some amazing discoveries there. They have finally been successful in dating some cave paintings in the limestone projections in this region and have found them to be much older than originally thought. And this could have implications for the history of Aboriginal art in Australia. You will hear about it in the media in early October. Adam has great experience of life in Indonesia and can speak the language quite well. He has to, to negotiate with local staff and administrators. He gave me some helpful advice, including who not to fly with when travelling around Indonesia. “Lion Air has a terrible track record for accidents and crashes. Don’t fly with them”. Well…that will explain why the air hostesses say a little prayer during take off and landing! I’ve flown with them twice now. They are cheap!