It’s August 2020 already. 4 months to go before the end of the year, and if we think that 2020 could get any better as its end is approaching… we were wrong. Totally. Just the first week of August, the world was shocked by the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, causing at least 180 deaths, 6,000 injuries, US$10–15 billion in property damage, and 300,000 people have been rendered homeless. 2020 won’t be scarier without mentioning the ongoing series of protests and civil unrest in the US triggered by the death of George Floyd at the hands of white police officer. Many of us are wondering if this year can get any worse, following the COVID-19 cases that keep rising in Indonesia, makes it one of the worst-hits in Southeast Asia. Could this year be the year of hopelessness? The year where so many bad things have happened. Is that what we want to remember it for?
It was a warm, silent night on my little hometown, when something so peculiar suddenly crossed my mind. How if I have the power to turn all this around? How if I’m given a chance to do something really fun and it will stick with me forever, so all I can think about 2020 is not entirely frightening. “What would it be? Should I travel? To where?”
I did some research related to when and where would be the best time and place to travel during pandemic. First of all, am I allowed to travel in the nearest future? If yes, what are the things that I need to prepare. Second of all, of course it should be in Indonesia and it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle if I depart from my hometown and shouldn’t be that costly. Also, if the place is somewhere outside of the province (North Sulawesi), the COVID-19 case should be as lower as possible. So, definitely not South Sulawesi. I was thinking of either Bunaken and surrounding islands, or anywhere exciting in Central Sulawesi (Central Sulawesi is amongst the provinces with the least confirmed COVID-19 cases).
The next day I called some trip planners to potential destinations and did more research. This time, more thoroughly, I was stunned by how much Central Sulawesi has to offer. It‘s in fact the largest province in Sulawesi. As somebody from Sulawesi, I was embarassed for the fact that I’ve never been there, while I’ve been to 90% of the provinces in Sumatera and none of the provinces in Java that I’ve never found myself visiting. “Okay, should I go to Palu and Donggala? Luwuk? Banggai? or Togean Islands?” Oh, just so you know how big Central Sulawesi is, and sadly how poor the public infrastucture in the cities outside Java, going from one interesting place to another may cost you a lot of money and time. So, there’s no way you can go to Luwuk or Banggai and to Togean in one go, unless you’re quite flexible with time and money is not a problem for you. After, more specific research, I finally then decided to go to Togean. Because I was traveling alone, consecutively gathering informations about the place I was about to visit was very important.
To reach Togean Islands, first, I had to take a 6 hour car ride from my hometown to Gorontalo, and stayed 1 night in the city. Not only because I wanted to meet my high school friends after a while, but also because the only ferry to Togean will depart at 7 in the morning, meanwhile the travel car from my hometown to Gorontalo is only departing 1 time a day, at 11 in the morning. After, 12 hour ferry ride from Gorontalo, I finally arrived in Wakai, the main gate to Togean Islands, at about 6 in the morning and was greeted by grey skies and comparably low temperatures. Quite unusual for this time of the year and not what I really expected but I was too tired to complain about it. What I did expect though was a memorable getaway, in the province I’ve never been to before.
Togean Islands consist of 56 islands and many offshore islets, situated in the Gulf of Tomini, the largest gulf in Indonesia. My resort was in Kadidiri Island. It took me around 20-30 mins boat ride from Wakai to reach it. As we sailed away from Wakai, the phone signal was gone, completely. I’ve been to the westernmost part of the country, and to some remote places in Nusa Tenggara and Maluku, but I could still manage to get phone signal somehow at those places. I was full aware about how deserted Togean Islands are, but getting no phone signal at all at touristy places in 2020 was just so hard to grasp. Later, I found out the locals insisted to have no BTS tower from any provider, but in Wakai, to let the island life in Togean as pure and natural as possible.
To be honest, my first impression about Togean and its landscape was not as mind blowing as some of the other remote places I’ve been to in this country. And it felt just so far and so isolated that you felt like a little caged in. Maybe, because it also felt so quiet as I was literally the only tourist on the island. My plan was to stay 3 days on the island, and the package came with snorkeling at a few spots, promised me swimming with hundreds of different species of fish and coral reefs, including swimming in the jellyfish lake. Little did I know, apart from the deserted island and the secluded beach, the marine ecosystem of Togean is one of the best in the country.
Another must-do while in Togean Islands is visiting Papan Island where the Bajo people live. The Bajo are so called nomadic seafaring people who were used to live on hand-built boats and travel along the coasts of Indonesia and the Philippines. Some still do so but the people in Papan Island had settled down a while ago. Papan Island literally translates to “the island of wooden planks” is actually a small village consists of a cluster of traditional stilt houses built on water. Similar to Kampong Ayer in Brunei Darussalam, only the houses in Papan Island were built on the sea. As we walked around the village, we encountered a group of children, playing around on the yard, some were playing and swimming in the sea. It was obvious that it has been quite a while since the last time any tourist have paid a visit to the village. We were not greeted joyfully by the locals, as I bet they wouldn’t expect any tourist to come yet. Also, many wooden planks were detached from the construction that connects one house to another.
When it was finally time to go back to Gorontalo, we stopped by the whale shark sightseeing spot in Desa Botubarani, Kabupaten Bone Bolango. Luckily, there were 4 whale sharks, all female, swimming in the ocean. My mind was completely blown by the time I saw them approaching our boat. Although the water was not very clear, I followed my guide to get off the boat and swim. My high school back then was actually in the same district with this spectacular tourist spot, and I still can’t believe it took me a decade to notice and finally swim with this amazing gigantic creature. I guess, better late than never.
Traveling during pandemic was crazy. Not only because I had to be extra careful to not get exposed to the virus, but also I got to witness myself how the pandemic has left the tourism industries badly affected. I was the first guest to my tour guide after 3 months, and I was the only guest staying at the resort. The resorts next to ours were empty. Meanwhile, in pre-COVID times, these resorts would usually be full-booked and a lot of tourists, most of them were foreigners would just sleep on couches and hammocks. My guide and the owner of the boat that we used for island hopping while in Togean had to find alternatives, like farming and selling clothes to make a living during these difficult times.
One night, the guide told me about a horrific story of a old man from Germany when the COVID-19 just started to wreak havoc in Indonesia. He was battling depression and eventually killed himself because he couldn’t fly back to Germany as most of the airports were closed. My guide was one of the locals that handled his burial in Gorontalo. I browsed for details on the internet related to this unfortunate event, and the news was there. My heart was shattered into pieces.
I know, this is definitely not the best time to travel. But, I would say if you’re healthy and are sure that you can take a good care of yourself while traveling (wear your mask, wash your hands anytime you can, practice social distancing, etc), just do. Travel! Work from there. We’ll never know how long this pandemic will last, and how long those who solely rely on tourism to make their ends meet can survive.
One day when everything is back to normal. Never take things for granted again. Celebrate every little thing while you’re traveling. Be kind to every single person you meet on a journey. Remember to count all your blessings. So, where are we going next? Lombok?
Central Sulawesi, checked.
Sampai kita ke mana-mana lagi!
Cipta, di mana? 