The hotel doorman knocked on my door at 0545 to wake me up even though I hadn’t organised a wake-up call. He knew my car had been organised for 0615 so did me a courtesy. Then he dragged me into the dining room for breakfast which wasn’t meant to be ready till 0700 but had been put out; perhaps it was Ramadhan and they expected some guests to eat around 0500.
Everything went smoothly to the airport and on the 1h40 flight to Makassar (except that there were bones in the fish for breakfast, first world complaint).
I took a taxi to the Tune Hotel in the city and paid IDR40K (NZD4) for an early check-in at 1100 (instead of the standard time of 1400) on top of the IDR250K rate for a room in this new hotel.
After lunch and a rest, I took a bemo (called pete pete here) and a motorcycle-rickshaw to a couple of sites which are leftover from the old Sultanate of Gowa. The motorcycle-rickshaws here are like the normally bicycle ones except that the bicycle behind the basket has been replaced by a motorcycle; it is opposite of the Indian ones where the passengers are at the back.
First up was Sultan Hasanuddin’s cemetery south of town. The cemetery complex had graves from different family members and Hasanuddin ruled in the 1600s and was overthrown by the Dutch who had the help of another royal who was installed as their puppet later.
From there I took another rickshaw to the Museum Balla Lompoa, located in an old wooden palace. I sat waiting for it to open. Finally the keyholder turned up and let me in. It was an impressive wooden building with wide wooden floorboards. There weren’t any thrones but he led me to a locked room which held a 1.8kg golden crown.
I took a rickshaw and pete pete to the centre of town for a short wander before taxiing back to the hotel. It wasn’t sunset yet, so being Ramadhan, I had dinner in the hotel restaurant all by myself.
The weather in Makassar is considerably sunnier and hotter than in Ambon where it was cloudy. Likewise compared with even lowland Papua close to the equator. Strange.
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- The royal tombs of Gowa.
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- The royal tombs of Gowa.
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- Impressive old buildings at Museum Balla Lompoa.
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- Indonesian chickens seem to be quite tall and skinny.
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- Inside the palace/museum.
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- The 1.8kg crown.
