As my journey across Indonesia progresses it is becoming more and more apparent that any form of transport that left and arrived on time would unnerve the masses, the result is tardiness and delays a plenty! With little I can do, I just have to sit back and take it in my stride!

Following my cultural overload I found myself waiting for my bus from Rantepao to Poso - a mere 90 minutes late! All aboard, I felt I'd lucked out with ample seats and legroom, the next stop dashed any hopes I had of comfort. On got a grumpy pair of Spaniards and a host of Indonesians hauling sacks of rice and cockerels - guess where all the crap ended up...at my feet! Contorted in ways which would have seen me flying through the preliminary rounds of 'Britain's Got Talent'. If this wasn't enough, one of the drivers decided I clearly had too much room and despite there being room throughout the bus insisted on planting himself on my feet - he then had the nerve to ask me to move my feet! Now in an ungodly position, seething and set to lash out, I took solace that twelve hours of this supposed twelve hour journey had passed - I'd made it through this far. Calmed by this thought, the delight beside me decided to start hacking, no worries - just turn up my music, not content with just hacking she then began snorting out of her nose sending a shower of snot rockets down my arm. I heaved just a little! Fourteen hours of hell finally ended in Poso. I'm not writing just to whinge, just think about my plight before you knock the public transport in your respective city's - I'm counting the days until I have TfL (Transport for London) back in my life!

One thirty in the morning I rolled into Poso and made the strangest decision I've everett whilst travelling - to get in a private car with 4 unknown Indonesians! They were headed to Ampana - my next stop and I had no intention of staying in Poso near any of the monsters I'd been trapped on that bus with! About half an hour into the drive, potentially fatigue induced delirium I had convinced myself they were taking me to a hidden camp where they would either auction off my organs or demand a ransom. It was a fun 5 hours! Tearing through the coastal road connecting the two towns as the sun came up was fairly exciting despite my waning fears.

The bus from hell!

Early Morning in Ampana

Bleary eyed, I stepped out of the car in Ampana, a sleepy port, shortly after sunrise. I hobbled toward the harbour where I was ushered into the harbour-mistresses office by an excitable mute! After a great deal of interpretive dance he shot off on his motorbike - after nearly 3 hours waiting/ sleeping on a bench I gave up, checked into a hotel and the day was a write off!





The following day I acquired a ferry ticket, grabbed some boat food and soon found myself melting on the deck headed for the Togian's largest town of Wakai. After four hours of blistering sunshine and a spattering of rain, I found myself in Wakai which looked no more than a shanty town! I boarded a boat destined for my final stop - Kadidiri. I hopped off the boat, traipsed up the jetty, through a little forest and was confronted by a beautiful stretch of beach adorned with small bungalows over looking the sea as it lapped gently against the shore. I was in heaven! I checked into the Black Marlin Dive Centre and made myself at home in my very own bungalow. Showered and refreshed, I grabbed a beer and marvelled at the sunset from the hammock on my balcony - bliss.

My Beach Bungalow complete with Hammock

The sun went down, I got chatting to Marco, Julie, Audrey and Karine. Dinner came, freshly caught fish of the day and an introduction to Gégé and Pascal. That evening I booked a 'Scuba Refuel' to brush up only diving skills. The rest of the night was passed chatting until some of the locals busted out a guitar and had a good old sing-song! With electricity from 6pm-11pm I grabbed an early night do as not to get caught in the dark!




The following day was spent recuperating from the ordeal of actually getting to the island and so I passed the day trying my hardest not to burst into flames in the oppressive sun!

My Bungalow View

The next day was time for my 'Duba Refuel' with German Tina, with breakfast done, we ran through some basic theory, setup my equipment and made my first dive in over a year in the "House Reef". Once there, we ran through some skills and began our drift dive. The dive was fairly substandard, the marine life wasn't particularly spectacular and the coral seemed fairly damaged! It felt great to be back in the water though. The highlight was definitely the cuttlefish we saw. Roughly the size of a rugby ball, it was like something out of Alien - constantly changing colour to match it's surroundings and altering it's shape to mimic the corals below. It flashed an array of colours and darted off out of sight. Truly amazing! After sixty-two minutes, we surfaced and head back to shore. The rest of the day was spent snorkelling and sunbathing.

Talk about isolated!

Day four in the Togian's saw me up at 5:30 to join the guys on a boat trip to Malenge. After around an hour, we found ourself at a jetty on the island where we met out guide. His mission was to guide us through the jungle, hopefully spot some monkeys and tarsiers and then return us to our boat. Unfortunately, I had worn flip-flops (thongs) for this mini adventure and so frequently found myself wallowing in mud unable to move! The jungle proved to be a little less exotic than first thought and we simply trudged through to the other side of the island when the heavens opened and we took shelter in the porch of an abandoned house in an isolated bay. Slightly downtrodden, we sent our guide back to get our Captain to come and fetch us!

Bajo Children

Back on the boat in the driving rain, we made our way to a Bajo or Sea Gypsy settlement - whilst normally nomadic, pressure from the Indonesian government has meant many families are being forced to settle. They'd compromised with houses partially in land but mainly overhanging the sea. Most of the time here was spent avoiding the torrential rain, much to the amusement of the local children. Once the rain abated, we head for an isolated beach for a spot of snorkelling where I spotted a shoal of squid. Next stop was the Wall off Taipi Island which was home to a lot of "Crown of Thorns" Starfish or 'Rats of the Sea' as Marco called them! The marine life is definitely overhyped in the Togian's but it's nice to experience somewhere new.

Bajo Village

My final day in paradise had a pleasant start, I grabbed some breakfast and then my bill (not so pleasant!). I tried to catch some sun until the rain came! Suddenly remembering I needed to take my anti-malarials, I made the mistake of taking them on an empty stomach and so after a delicious Barracuda lunch, I spent the next hour in bed trying not to vomit! Thankfully, a dive at 2:30 drew me from my lair and a group of us dived "The Gap" - another mediocre dive!

Returning from the dive, I was greeted with the news that our ferry in the morning to Gorontalo wouldn't be running as planned - Indonesia strikes again! Oh well!

As evening fell, Abo, one of the dive masters had organised a party as so many people were leaving the following day. She brought out her "Arak Punch", arak is a palm wine/paint stripper! Everyone got fairly merry, we danced to Indonesian pop and Abo instigated an array of dangerous drinking games! Abo seemed intent on making a fool out of me! As the party wound down, everyone swapped contact details and skunk off to bed, more than a little merry, I made my way back to my room by candlelight and proceeded to pass out! A good night was had.