Through Touristic eyes: Chapter 1: Jakarta & the islands of Ambon & Seram

where to start? at the start!

Jakarta - capital of Indonesia

as there are no direct flights to Ambon from Australia

... a visit to the capital was required

 the history of Indonesia is so colourful & intriguing

from before the time of Christ

the peoples have held the crucial link 

to trade throughout the known world

they have had influences in their religion,

 their politics, 

their architecture, 

their language,

their education etc

from all corners of our globe

they are a proud people who have

great differences in culture from region to region

when the great European explorers were out to rule the world in

the 15th & 16th centuries

(long after the Chinese spread their wings!)

there was a battle of sorts to rule the oceans of trade & to win the riches

of the spice islands

so the spaniards, the portuguese & the dutch all came

enter my intrigue on the history & 

spread of the blue & white ceramic ware of ancient china & japan

europeans often think of dutch ceramics being the blue & white original

not so

well .... the design ideas & ceramic processes are deeply

imbedded in the dutch occupancy of indonesia

the chinese had traded with the spice islands

for what seems like all of time

& then the europeans came & traded more than just the spices

with great authority the VOC:

the United East India Company

operated by the Dutch government ran the monopoly

over the spice trade routes, acting as both 

merchant trader & military presence

(aka: Pirates of the Caribbean movies!!)

the ports of indonesia are still vibrant trading places today

they gathered power over the people 

& created for themselves a legacy that exists today

of what they left behind was a infrastructure designed to suit their needs

& not those of the peoples .... 

if you trace a path northward from about where Darwin is

continue north over the Timor Sea

fly your way slightly west of East Timor

cross the Banda Sea (in which we have now swum!)

you'll find if you look carefully

an island about the size of our Victorian, Phillip Island named: 

Ambon

amazingly yes there is an airport!

& then north of there is the much larger, mountainous, remote

 and far less populated island of:

Seram

so when the japanese arrived in 1942

Jakarta was named: having been known previously as Batavia by the Dutch

all europeans were arrested as were all signs of dutch rule eliminated

at first the japanese were thought of as liberators!

there were 1131 australians sent to defend the island of Ambon

more died than survived

but those who survived in prison only did because the local 

Ambonese people helped them by smuggling in food & water

the servicemen on return home formed an organization

called 'Gull Force'

& they & their descendants are still very active today

giving back to the people of Ambon

Gull Force has helped Lawamena in many projects

 below is a photo of Gabi & Oscar

weaving their way between the graves of the fallen aussie soldiers & their comrades

the site of the Australian Commonwealth War Memorial in Ambon

is where the australians were held captive

there are a number of very large trees that had me spell bound at their beauty

they would be well over 100+ years & there our soldiers lie

under the trees that would have kept them from the heat of the sun so long ago

i like this photo of our kids

Gabi is the daughter of good friends of ours, Aretha & Jessy

founders of Lawamena & organizers of the mission tour

they are australians now but their roots are deeply embedded in Ambon

so to see these two preschoolers, thick as thieves racing about

engrossed in their own games ... not caring for the colour of their own skins

sums it all up for me!

 we are blessed because there were soldiers in our histories

that stood up to save our freedom

another part of Ambon's more recent history is that there was a 

huge government trans-migration programme

to move lots more muslim people from densely populated areas

into the strong christian growth areas

ambon was one of these 

... the dutch had such a strong christian influence that remains strong today

... so there are mosques & churches that stand side by side

 the gateway to ambon

so so so hot!!

 traditional weaving

traditional 'crazy bamboo' dance

 traditional children's shell orchestra

i had a go & these shells are REALLY hard to make a sound from

let alone play a tune!

 Oscar playing more music

bells or drums ... kind of both!

 beautiful faces

these boys followed us down a track from a village

i turned around to take their photo & they ran

ran like the wind .... giggling!

they followed us intrigued!!

finally the posed for me

 we went to the island of Seram

to visit the village of Rumakai where Jessy's family is originally from

15 years ago when Jessy & Aretha eloped

Aretha was not formally welcomed into the family

so we went as her adopted family & she was very warmly welcomed!

below is one of the famous 3 Rumakai water falls

we walked in ... & swam

it was sticky & hot & the water was such a relief

was a little slice of magic on earth

 not sure these waters have been witness to so much pale skin?

on both Seram & Ambon we had some time to relax

in the stunning aqua green waters of the Banda Sea

another slice a heaven on earth

i'll let these photos speak for themselves

 Willie you make the best fried eggs ....

 how to get there ...

fly to Jakarta

then another flight to Ambon

travel by boat to Seram

go by car over the 69 bridges

across 2 mountains

watch out for mini land slides

gigantic potholes & puddles the size of small lakes!

past the village at the end of the road

where the villagers carry all your bags

& carry your child on their shoulders

across the rickety holey wooden bridge over murky waters

past the little church with a view

to the jetty with no last step

onto the long boats ....

across the bay

under the misty mountains

by the limestone cliffs

to huts over the coral waters

where you can watch the fishy colours swim by

*** but beware of stone fish ***

& feast on fresh lobster

eat by candle light

(because the generators only run a few hours each day)

& just be

we are honored to have seen & smelled & tasted & heard & sung & swum & been

 amen

 we enJOYed the journey