ship travel - eastern Indonesia
Replies: 40 - Last Post: Oct 24, 2012 4:10 PM Last Post By: colinianmac
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Thanks again, guys. Well, I just got back from PNG today and will be heading to south Papua soon. I hope the Pelni ticket purchasing gets easier.Is Timika worth a stop, Don? Does that require a surat jalan?
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mac,when you refer to south papua,i presume you mean merauke?there are 2 pelni ships that sail from merauke up the coast and across to banda islands,timika is pretty drab,and unless you want to fly out probably not worth the stop....but you may want to check out asmat festival at agats from october 4-10th...then move on?a lot of tourists fly in for this art festival,bugger all accom avail in this week.how was the trip to vanimo?d
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QUESTION ABOUT HIRING A BOAT FROM SUMBAWA TO SATONDA AND MOYO:Hi---I'm interested in visiting Satonda Island to see the sleeping fruit bats and then watch them emerge at twilight. Also i'd like to hike about a bit on Satonda and see the "wishing trees". Additionally, i'd like to visit Moyo and if possible catch a view of the island's barking deer.
Is it possible to hire a boat from Sumbawa to Satonda and Moyo for this purpose in early November? (That's when i'll be in the region). Are there still fruit bats on Satonda?
Are there any phinisi/sailing ships in the Lombok area that sail to Satonda in early November, and are there any companies, boats, or skippers you can recommend?
Any help will be most appreciated!
with thanks,
Dave
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Re Asmat festival. Sounds interesting, but no accommodation would be a bummer.Then again, I expected accommodation to be a major problem at the Goroka Show in PNG (in terms of both availability and price hiking) but it turned out great. The first place I tried had rooms at normal price.
So Asmat might be worth a try....
Not sure about the validity of argument from analogy though LOL
Edited by: colinianmac
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mac,did wasur national park about 2007,you will need to get the park permit at their office on the left hand side as you head out past mopah airport,also will need to go to main polisi station near markets with surat jalan.at agats you will find some accom with a family home,its a very friendly little town,and the festival is well worth catching.if you land by pelni,the main town area is about 2 kms away.if you fly in to ewer airstrip,catch a speed boat to agats.don
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ah,good q about internet,certainly mobile phone reception is good,as there is a huge tower in centre of town,cannot remember seeing any internet cafes etc.....maybe?but it was the last thing i was looking for.best padang restaurant was rumah makan titin on jl bhajangkara....
bri bank handles atm machine for foreign cards....bank papua does not.
hotels....anggrek 275,000 per nite,hotel asedu 240,000 pn,
anggrek is much better,
make sure you have a torch to get around at nite!!!dont wanna slip off the walkways into the mud.
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Thanks again to both. I'll try to get a room at the Anggrek.I arrived in Merauke this morning. The people are kinda cool here, don't you think? I haven't had a single "Hello Meesterrrrrr" yet, which is fine with me, but kinda unusual, especially for a place where you'd think palefaces would be a real novelty. I had quite an unpleasant incident with a bemo/mikrolet/taksi (or whatever they're called) on arrival too, involving overcharging.
Re hotels - there seem to be several options not mentioned in LP. There's a Swiss Bell now. And a little further up (away from the airport on the same side of the road) is the Itese, which is where I'm staying. IDR350,000 per night which is a bit more than usual, but it's a terrific place - almost luxurious! I checked out both the Megaria and Asmat hotels (as mentioned in LP) but I think the Itese is much nicer.
Speaking of taksis - how on earth are we supposed to distinguish between a private taxi and the public minibus style taksi? If I say taxi, people always assume I want a private taxi (or a charter).
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wow,you have found a little luxury!!i stay at the nakora hotel,1 street behind main jalan,close to itese,yes the merauke ppl are very friendly,they are sort of devoid of the heavy politics of jayapura/wamena.it's a great place,the pelni office is near the main wharf,usually with a schedule stuck on the window.as its an overnite trip...maybe ask for "kelas satu"(class 1)will make the trip comfortable.with the taksi stuff,i usually use ojeks(motorbikes)as transport,and the rule is i agree on price before getting on,even to the point of writing it down in rp on notepad,so no ugly scenes!!you won;t have any taksi probs at agats......there are no cars!!!good luck at mkq.
don
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Thanks Don. I spent the day at Wasur. That was awesome. Didn't see any wallabies though. I don't think they're all that easy to see. Poaching continues (or so I'm told)....I had been hoping for 2 days/1 night but the prices that my guide quoted were far above the LP estimates. Haggling didn't help much, so I had to cut out a few items on the agenda. How did you find the prices?
Looks like I'll be flying to Agats, if I can book a ticket. I'd like to see the festival, but I'm a bit worried about getting stuck there due to over-demand for transport out. With all due respect to the Anggrek, I doubt comfort levels will match the Swiss-Bel LOL. And life without the Internet is almost unthinkable....
Dang! I've been spoiled.
