Maulid Nabi festival, Cikoang, Sulawesi…
A last post from Sulawesi. This time something completely different – the festival of Maulid Nabi at Cikoang, near Takalar in Sulawesi. Maulid Nabi, or Mawlid, is a festival held to celebrate the birth of the prophet Muhammad and in Indonesia, has evolved into a celebration of sharing and the exchange of gifts – in [...]
Paotere fish market, Makassar…
I’m in Phuket – not my favourite place in the world. I made the rash decision to stay in a cheap hotel in Patong and am hating it – the whole town and beach is a perfect example of tourist development gone deeply wrong. And I am missing Indonesia. I’m here on a visa run, [...]
Makassar – practical workshop, and moving on…
I left Makassar last night and am now sitting in Bali for a few days before heading out to Malaysia or Thailand to do a visa run. It does feel a little strange to be here, back in the land of tourism. One of the things that I enjoyed so much about Makassar was that [...]
Blind children in Makassar….
Just a quick post with a few shots from yesterday. I spent a fantastic day with an association for blind children in the centre of Makassar. The association runs their own residential school, but also does a lot of advocacy for blind children and those with visual impairment, and helps local schools and the university [...]
Takalar – a few minutes of luck…
Today was one of those days where a lot seemed to go wrong – but as is so often the case, it only needed one thing to go right to make the day a success. We’d arranged to meet up with a community group based in Takalar – about 1.5 hours away from Makassar – [...]
Tallo, Makassar…
Makassar is a functional port rather than a tourist destination. It is big, dirty and noisy, but has a certain charm about it – a real Indonesian city, rather than a beautified spot for visitors. Most tourists pass through on their way to Toraja or further north, perhaps spending a day looking at Fort Rotterdam, [...]
Makassar photography workshop…
I’ve spent the last week wading through sewage-flooded streets, dodging lunatic buses on my motorbike and electrocuting myself through badly wired sockets, and I couldn’t be happier. Im hot, covered in dust and sweat and regularly frustrated, but am surrounded by smiling Indonesians and have a bowl of bakso and a bintang waiting for me [...]
