The World of Mine

I had a three-hour flight, five-hour scenic road trip and two-hour speed boat ride before reaching the Kadidiri Resort Island in Togean (or Togian) Islands, Tomini Bay, which is partly located in Central Sulawesi province in Indonesia.

But, the total 10-hour trip did not include stopovers, which took almost a day in total. Shortly, I used my first day to get to the archipelago, second day to enjoy the beauty of the nature in the resort island, and third day to get back to Jakarta.

It was indeed a long, exhausting trip, but, well … it’s nothing but worth it.

Togean Islands are located in the middle of Tomini Bay, which consists of hundreds of small islands mostly untouched by human’s hands.

The isolated condition is the reason why the islands can preserve the beauty of their natures. White sand and turquoise seawater are among typical views of the islands, flirting anyone to dip their feet in the waters, or simply strolled leisurely, barefootedly on the soft drifting white sands.

What astonished me at utmost was the abundant coral reefs that ones can easily see by merely standing at shallow parts of the beaches, without even having to dive under the water. The very clear water enables eyes to penetrate through it. Just walk a few meters from the coastline, and there your legs are amid the highly-biodiverse coral reefs already. Groups of small fishes are often seen gathering around the reefs.

Some of the islands are conservation areas, which are home to a number of rare species of birds and monkeys (said the ranger).

Subhanallah (God the Most Holy)! That is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. Enchanting turquoise seawater and white sand, and small green islands here and there in the distance were the very view I would see every time I opened the door of my wooden bungalow.

The bungalow, located in the Kadidiri Resort Island, stood in a comfortable few meters from the coastline.

At day time, it was the warm soft breeze singing me a lullaby. At night, it was the sea waves, which moved softly and regularly, that did me so. They brought me an air of peaceful stillness and tranquility I've never found anywhere else.

Indeed, I don’t regret the two days I spent for round trip to and from the island.

Only one thing that is missing, and perhaps taints the image of the island particularly in the eyes of visitors that cannot get away from daily necessities of modern life, such as phone (and cell phone) connections, and, well, electricity.

Not only you can't watch TV nor have air conditioning in the bungalows, you will --from midnight to dawn (that is when they turn off the electricity)-- also have no light but that one radiated by the moon and the stars above. The island is supported by only a single generator, and it is barely sufficient to light out the entire island at night.

But, this will fit adventurous souls who do search for escapes from hectic modern life, I believe. And it is thus a very wonderful place to enjoy the beauty of starry night sky. The night sky looks indeed amazing there; it is so clear, with millions of stars shining so brightly. There's no such things as light pollution there.

For you who cannot stand thick darkness, I suggest that you bring your own flashlight. And for those who cannot entirely get disconnected from phone connection, you can buy Mentari SIM Card provided by local operator while you are still in the main island of Sulawesi; that is the only SIM Card functions at the island. You have to, however, walk to the edge of the jetty directly facing the oceans (see picture) to get phone signals .

Indeed, I’m glad I have this reporting job, which enables me to do such trips for free.

Travel Tips:
To reach Togean Archipelago, you can first fly to Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta International Airport), and then to Hasanuddin Airport in Makasar, South Sulawesi (there is also direct international flight from Singapore to Makassar, if I'm not wrong).

Then you have to take 30-minute flight to Luwuk Airport in Central Sulawesi before continuing with road trip to get to Tojo Una-Una regency harbor. This road trip can take four to six hours, depending on your vehicles’ speed; but I assure you it is not at all a boring one, for all the way along the trip you'll be accompanied by the stunning coastal and oceanic views of the main Sulawesi Island (it is also an adrenaline-riser trip, btw, with the road situated on a quite steep cliff -- the cliff walls on one side and the beaches just down there on the other side).

Last but not least, you have to take a two-hour speed boat ride from the Tojo Una-Una harbor to Kadidiri Resort Island; and this could be very costly if you do the trip with only a partner. There's no public boat regularly traveling to the resort island, as far as I know, thus you have to rent a boat, and if I'm not wrong they charge it about Rp 2 million (approximately US$200) for a round trip. Traveling in groups would surely save money in this case.

I’m not sure if there’s any other resort in Togean Islands other than the Kadidiri Resort Island. You can check the resort island at http://www.visitkadidiriparadise.com/ ... The price is very agreeable I think.

In general, Togean islands are indeed a promising tourist destination, but likely need improvement in facilities, as well as infrastructure and more choices of transportation modes to get to them.

Foods…? Need not to worry. If you have a conservative tongue, you may face problems with the traditional food served there, which mostly consists of seafood. But if your tongue is fairly “avant-garde”, you’ll very likely enjoy the food, like I did .

Hope you enjoy the trip! (If you plan to have one , of course).

I have one word to describe how I feel after visiting Bali earlier this week: RESENTFUL!

That was the first time in my life I visited Bali, despite the fact I had been living only some 900 kilometers from the “Island of Gods” for 25 years (which is my age).

I have heard people, not only Indonesians but also foreigners from distant countries, talking a lot about Bali over and over, but I had never had the chance of visiting the so-called exotic island myself.

I sort of saying to myself, ‘Hey! It (Bali) is located in Indonesia, my very own home country, but how come while millions, perhaps billions of people have visited the island, I have not?’

So, when finally my editor told me that I would be assigned to cover a ministerial meeting in Bali, I turned of course tremendously excited. A poor person like me can never afford such Balinese visit, well at least not while I’m still in my current economic condition. It is the invitation to cover stories on the meeting that gave me the chance.

It sounded okay on the first day as I stepped my foot on Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport. Even though I didn’t have so much leisure time as I had expected, I thought I still had the chance to have sightseeing around Bali’s famous beaches on the next three day of my staying in the island (I had a four-day visit, in total).

But, well, I was wrong; totally wrong. I got even busier and busier on the day two, three and four! So busy I was that even though in fact I stayed in a cottage located only some 200 meters from the beach, I could not walk along the shore even for some minutes, as I had earlier planned. I could only see the blue color of the sea in the morning from distance before leaving my room for Bali Convention Center, which is a located in another hotel in the Nusa Dua Beach area.

Can you imagine that? I stayed only a few meters from the beach but I could not take a closer look at it even for some minutesll!

The ministerial meeting was very strictly scheduled, that is why. And it was such difficult situation I couldn’t leave it (to do what I badly wished I could have done) when I had some leisure time.

The only thing I could enjoy was the view of the night sky, which was uncommonly starry and beautiful along the four days. But poorly, I could not enjoy it for more than a quarter of an hour either as I could only get back to my cottage after so late at night and had to go to bed immediately because I had to wake up early in the morning next day.

I also had a quite wonderful culinary tour, and still had the chance to buy some souvenirs for my family at home on the way back to Ngurah Rai Airport, before departing to Jakarta.

Well, Bali, you should welcome me a little better next time I visit you. I wish for nothing but some leisure walks along your shore in the morning, when crowds of nude people haven’t jammed the beaches, and at nights when I’ll be able to see millions of enchanting stars at your clear night sky. It must be so beautiful seeing them right above the sea, as there won’t be any boundaries like trees or tall buildings, right?

As a matter of fact, nowadays there is no way for stars’ lover to see a starry night sky in the light- and dust-polluted Jakarta.

So fond I have been of the stars that I wrote this poem when I was at high school some 10 years ago…

If I Could be a Star

I f I could be a star
I knew I would find my stories back

-- The End --