Makassar

Morning began with coffee with other travelers on a floor mat. Outside the streets are drowning in beating rain. You can hear the force of it beating on the rooftops and flooding through the somber streets. I had to work on the computer that morning to make arrangements and catch up on things all day. In the afternoon I strolled to Fort Rotterdam along the port waterfront. The grounds are a little oasis of beauty and old colonial architecture amidst the sprawling chaos of the waterfront.

Wandering around this old fort from whence the old colonial overlords governed I can't but muse on the history of the world. Deep thoughts I know. In this case the Dutch were here for the spice trade. At that time in the world (16 - 1700?) the spice trade was the most valuable trade in all of Europe, perhaps the world. Nutmeg, mace, cloves - simple things today - were once such value commodities they prompted European expansion around the world, empires of wealth, and countless sad stories of war and conflict for their control. The question I keep musing over though - Is commerce all that really motivates our species history?

Walking back to my guesthouse are a long line of coconut vendors eager to parang a coconut for a fresh drink. Of course, who would pass that up? They don?t seem to have too many foreigners here and wherever I go I get curious expectant looks, propositions to be in photos, and the royal treatment. They paranged me a good one and I sat in the shade of the street in a plastic chair enjoying my coconut with a straw. I got some great stop motion photos of the young vendor paranging for me. He was loving it.

That night I met my Austrian travel friend from the night before (forgot her name) and a handsome young couple from Germany. We went to the most famous fish warung in town, a place called Lai Lai. Walking into Lai Lai are big coolers full of fresh caught fish. You pick the one you want, or shrimp, crab, squid, whatever you want and they throw it on the big coal fired grills on the street out front. When ready, your fish is split in two and served with chili sambal, sauces, watercress, and fresh rice with bits of husk still in it. Washed down with a cool mango shake with great traveler conversation, it was a delightful night.

We shared a couple of becaks on the way back and wrapped up the evening with a bintang, Indonesia's trademark brew. Bintang means star.