I woke early again. After breakfast, I headed to the Police Station to drop off the photos for my travel permit. The lady said the permit was more or less done and was just pending the photos and I could come collect it in an hour.
I hopped on a ojek (motorcycle taxi) to Gua Jepang (Japanese Cave) about 10 minutes out of town. A bit of history lesson first: In 1944, the Battle of Biak was fought during which the Americans (and Australians) ousted the Japanese. Thousands of Japanese took refuge in Gua Jepang. The Americans bombarded the cave and that created a hole in the roof through which they dropped flammables, killing about 3000 Japanese soldiers.
Steps led down into the cave where it was dark. As I walked further in, I could see the opening created from the attack. Back at the top, I found the opening and looked down. There were a few holes big enough to swallow adults, tucked between bushes and large trees. Fortunately they were fenced off.
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- Buah pinang and buah sireh. Both for chewing; turns the mouth red. Here they use the sireh fruit instead of the leaf and resort to the leaf when the fruit is unavailable.
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- Buah pinang and buah sireh. Both for chewing; turns the mouth red. Here they use the sireh fruit instead of the leaf and resort to the leaf when the fruit is unavailable.
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- Gua Jepang with the opening from the top.
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- One has to be careful not to fall through the holes.
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- Looking into the opening from above.
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- Leftovers from the war.
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- Leftovers from the war.
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- Can’t believe there were flights from here to Los Angeles once.
Back in town, I waited at the police station for over an hour for the right person to return so my permit could be issued. With that in hand, I went across the road to make copies to give away where required.
With the oppressive heat and humidity, I thought I’d do “half-days” and rested in the room for most of the afternoon with only a short walk to go feed myself mid-afternoon and explore the market.I spent my time in the air-con texting a few more hotels for later on in the trip.
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- Vegetables bundled with chilli.
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- Biak’s market.
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- Pancakes on the roadside at night.
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- Pancakes on the roadside at night.
