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Written by Ron B
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Sunday, 23 March 2008 |
 Flame Thrower at Gapura Hotel | Images from SulawesiWe went to South Sulawesi for a week, and arrived in Makassar (formerly Ujung Pandang) which is the capital on the west coast. On our last night we took a small group to a restaurant that is over the water on a pier at the Gapura Hotel. Part of the entertainment was provided by a group of fire dancers, and here we see one of them throwing a huge flame from his mouth. | | Our next stop was the city on Bone on the east coast. Bajoe is the local port a few kilometres from the town centre. It is busy with lots of boats tied up, lots of trucks on the pier as well as stalls to sell fish. Here you see long boats with plenty of loading/unloading activity, and further back is the large ferry that crosses to South East Sulawesi every night. |  Boats, People and the Ferry |  Mosque at Ujung Lero | Pare Pare is the second biggest city in South Sulawesi. It is the thrid city we visited and is back on the west coast but further north than Makassar. From our hotel on the water, we could see across the water to a settlement with a mosque a few Km away. We drove there to take a look - and this is the mosque. Read on to see lots more photos from these 3 cities. |
More Images from Makassar |  Shopping in Makassar |  Shopping in Makassar | We head for a mall, there are seveal to choose from. Buying shoes is high on the agenda of the nieces with help from Hendra's sisters. The we head for the fun fair section, where the dodgems have the big tyres that are so trendy out on the roads.
|  Our Table at Gapura Hotel |  Fire Dancers at Gapura Hotel |  Dian with the Fire Dancers | The flame-thrower was shown at the beginning, here we have our table at the restaurant/bar, the fire dancers, and lastly, Dian with the dancers. Note that they are applying the flame under his left arm. | More Image from Bone
|  Buying Fish on the Pier at Bajoe |  Boat Leaning Over at Low Tide |  Repairs to the Leaning Boat | Here we are buying fish on the pier - they seem cheaper than Bali prices. For boat repairs they bring them in on the high tide and let them lean as the tide goes out. The ropes control which way they lean. Then workers standing in the water for hours do the repairs. |  BBQing the fish |  A Sister, an Aunt, and Nieces | Soon after we get back to the house with the fish we have bought, it is being barbecued. One of the main reasons for travelling to Bone was to visit an old aunt, pictured here, who no longer travels. |  Google Earth View of Bone, Bajoe and Pallette Villa |  Pier at Pellette Villas |  The Pool at Pallette Villas |  Family Group with Pallette Reception behind | In this group, the Google Earth map shows Bone (partly clouded) at bottom left, the Bajoe port at bottom right, and Pallette Villa 6 Km to the north. This is an impressive hotel complex in a great location with modium prices - around Rp400,000 or US$43 per night. The pictures show the pier, the pool and a family group in front of reception.
| More Images from Pare Pare | | |  Hote Jusida Pare Pare |  Car, driver and some of out party |  House on the water an Ujung Lero |  v | Photo 1 is a Google Earth view of Pare Pare city, and the peninsular that protects the harbour. The village of Lero is at the tip of this peninsular. In Pare Pare we stayed in a low cost hotel that was right on the waters edge (Photo 2). When we checked in we had no idea that loud karaoke music would be blasting from a promenade area just outside for most of the evening. But amazingly, I think most of our party actually did sleep well. Photo 3 is from Ujung Lero showing our car and driver and some group members on the street near the mosque. The village is quite densely built up and as can be seen the streets are well made - but narrow, of course. The houses that face onto the water treat the waters edge as a working back yard for boats, animals etc (Photo 4). This is in contrast to the terraces, sun-lounges and umbrellas that we may think of for beach locations. There were goats (Photo 5) and hens.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 23 March 2008 )
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