Category Archives: indonesia

March 6 1991 – Palu, Sulawesi – Journal

September 5, 2024 – 2:25 pm

After a week’s diving on Bunaken I was lucky enough to catch the KM Karuna from Bitung, the port for Manado, at the top of Sulawesi. The liner cruised the jungled shore heading east to Borneo. The German-built ship is spacious and only one other Mistah is aboard. A Dutchman. Even after fourhundred years of […]

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THE MIRAGE OF TIME by Peter Nolan Smith

August 13, 2023 – 10:27 pm

The Gulf War had scared away the tourists from Bunaken Island and I had the coral cliffs all to my self. I was the only traveler at the dining room. After a week of desolate free diving with sea turtles I returned to Manado to catch a Pelni liner rounding the Northern Arm of Sulawesi. […]

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NOTHING LIKE IT AT ALL – FEBRUARY 28, 1991 – TERNATE – JOURNAL ENTRY

July 8, 2023 – 11:17 am

Nothing like it Standing at the stern of a ferry The wake fanning out a ‘Selamat Tingaal’ To Ternate and Tidore The Spice Islands. We are crossing the Moluku Sea Nothing like it As the evening mist rises from the gentle waves And electric light illuminate a shore village The twin volcanos rising from the […]

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Sony World Band Radio

June 10, 2023 – 2:53 pm

Before the Internet the Sony World 12-Band Radio was my only connection to the West from Biak, Irian Jaya to Tibet. Primarily the BBC. Big Ben’s bongs sounding the hour and then the soothing voice announcing, “This is the BBC. The time is 12pm Greenwich Mean Time.” Plus listening to the music of the world […]

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DEEP MUD FROM DANAU POSO By Peter Nolan Smith

May 10, 2023 – 2:07 am

Indonesians travel by ships, boats, and ferries between the many islands of the Far East archipelago. In 1991 I had been diving off Bunaken Island and after two weeks of drifting along the reefs I boarded midsize Pelni liner at Manado with a second-class ticket. I was headed around the top of Sulawesi to Palu […]

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