Luxury cruise.. Not!!!

by Martyn Sands (Greece)

Making a local connection Indonesia

I tried to rise gracefully to my feet but it was too late. The captain had seen the drunken Englishman and disappeared back into his stilted house, located in the tsunami prone port of Maumere. I had spent the whole day waiting for this meeting and the incredibly generous crews from the various trading vessels in the area had plied me with barbecued fish and rice wine.. I had no chance of impressing! My visa was due to finish in eleven days and I had just missed the national ferry. The next was due in ten days but, being notoriously unreliable, I had decided to find another way to leave from Flores, in order to reach Sulawesi and ultimately arrive into the Malaysian portion of Borneo. An ever constant traveler had warned me “It’s the South China Sea.. don’t be so crazy!” It kind of hit a note because the South Korean’s carefree attitude and 18” machete had always intimidated me but I had already made up my mind. By the third day I had finally received an offer from a small cargo ship to take me northwards to Sulawesi. I readily accepted, threw on my backpack and boarded. Within four hours we were drifting, without power, in notoriously unpredictable seas. The engine had decided to take an impromptu break and we were stranded. Luckily, we had a hollowed-out tree on board and one crew member began his daunting journey back to the shore in order to summon assistance. Twenty-four hours after leaving port we were safely towed back and, finding myself back at stage one, was beginning to reconsider my Indonesian escape. Before I had a chance to disembark, the captain of the rescue boat offered to take me on board. He was imminently departing and would be continuing on a similar journey to the previous boat. I sat back down. Despite being completely unable to communicate in Indonesian I had some fairly deep conversations with one of the deaf crew. His homemade sign language, in conjunction with my own, made us immediate friends. My passage had been offered free so I tried to assist in any way that I could. In return I was given dried fish and rice along with the thickest black coffee that you can imagine. The journey should have been less than 36hrs and the friendly, deaf mechanic even offered me his cockroach infested ‘cabin’ for the first night. But then the storm hit. This was the winter of 2000 and the last communication I had with anyone was five days previously, with my ex wife, to check if our dogs were OK. I understood that I was about to die and there was absolutely no one in the world, except for my South Korean companion, who had any idea in the world where I was. The storm finally cleared, being completely lost and after a ridiculous conversation with the captain about how accurate my lonely planet guide’s map was, he returned to the bow of the ship where he remained for the next sixteen hours! Finally, we spotted land. Another member of the crew guided us through the coral reef into an amazing horseshoe bay of nine islands.. I have never found this on google maps but would love to return one day! We replenished our dry fish supply and continued our journey towards Sulawesi. Our remaining passage was uneventful but it really was only the beginning of my adventures. Broken down cars, bus journeys through war zones and many incredible meetings with resilient but always happy Indonesians, finally lead me to Palu. From here I would take the morning ferry to Borneo and escape a fine or prison, I headed straight to the town’s hostel and booked a bed for the night. I NEEDED a shower and despite freezing cold water and no soap it was probably one of the best I’ve had in my life. I opened the door to return to my room and outside was a familiar South Korean face. “Thank goodness you’re OK" he said. The national ferry had arrived one hour earlier!