BUSH FIRES

The blame for the fires was being apportioned in typical Indonesian fashion: the loggers blamed the farmers for their slash-and-burn farming techniques, and the farmers blamed the loggers for chopping down the trees and leaving dry, tinder-like areas behind, but whatever the real story, there was one thing that is clear: Indonesia is destroying its countryside by degrees, and fires like this are simply a symptom of a country that doesn't even know how to spell 'conservation'. The Borneo jungle is fast becoming a myth, and by all accounts, in ten years' time it won't even exist, especially if fires like this continue to occur. This to me personally, is tragic, and a great ecological loss to what Mother Nature has offered.

However, I digress. Sulawesi, being east south east of Borneo, was potentially at risk of being smothered in smoke, but due to fortunate winds, it managed to stay clear and fresh for the time I was there. This was lucky: the thought of putting up with an environmental smoke hazard on top of the usual Indonesian kretek habit was fairly daunting, to say the least. Ujung Pandang, in reality, turned out to be a pretty cool place.

Maybe it was because I had gained a traveling companion - L. and I decided to team up for a few days, as our plans coincided fairly well - but I actually thrived on the 'Hello Misses' in Ujung Pandang. And they came thick and fast: every two seconds there was someone calling out as we wandered the streets, first in search of a bank to exchange money and then in search of the Pelni office to work out times for boats out of Sulawesi. But nothing prepared me for the Evening Meal experience.