After about a month back
in Togeans we left to Jakarta to check out some dive gear as we want
to start exploring new dive spots around Bomba as soon as possible. I
got into contact with a few companies and ended up doing business
with Divemasters, who supplies f.ex. Aqua Lung. Good choice, the
staff was extremely helpful and we got a good deal for a bunch of
stuff. Also a compressor is now on the way to Sulawesi.
Otherwise now I know I
don't have to visit Jakarta any time soon, there's not really
anything to do except to breathe pollution and hoping you don't get
stuck anywhere in the traffic. Not a nice big city, but when are big
cities in Asia actually nice?
We flew back with some
extra luggage to Palu, where I wanted to extend my visa. Easier
thought than done. Last time my good friend and sponsor could do it
alone, I just had to sign a few papers and leave him my passport. Now
there are new regulations, they want to take your fingerprints and a
photo. Well ok, no problem, so let's take them and I'll get on my way
and my friend picks up the passport when everything is ready. Just
one obstacle: the boss has to give his signature before they can take
my photo. Excuse me? Just take the photo, save it and add it later?
Nope, cannot do that.
So I sat in the office for
a few days waiting that the boss mercifully comes down back to earth
and signs one f'***n paper. Oh yes and they also still kept the old
system, so I also had to provide two normal passport photos. But this
time with red background. Surprises, surprises, let's make the life
of tourist as difficult as possible and make them feel we don't want
to have them here. It would be so much easier to stay in Malaysia,
Thailand, or basically any other Asian country. Or maybe next time I
just should add some rupias between the passport but then again
corruption is really not something I want to support.
I got the passport back
after hearing “sabar, Pia, sabar” for a few days. We almost run
to the afternoon bus and were on our way to Ampana and back to
Togean. Or not quite yet... The ride from Palu to Ampana usually
takes around 10 hours. And sometimes, like this time, 17 hours...
Nope, the road was fine and we had to wait only around 1 hour at one
bridge. The drives decided to stop at a coffee shop (or a hooker
joint) for a few hours chat and then take another “customer” to
the car. And then to have a nap for 5 hours. Take a guess who missed
the ferry back to the islands. Yes, I was happy and also let the
driver to feel that. Mitra touna, next time I'll choose some other
company.
I think I took one photo
in Jakarta and none in Palu, so I'll just add a few photos of Sami
here, he's more interesting than cities anyways.
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| Racing :) |
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