First I must say that the weather is
not to be underestimated. Here, and in Naera it is hot and humid.
I perspire at the drop of a hat so you can imagine. The good news is
that both these places are volcanic and apparently that means mozzies
are not a problem so it has been good not to have that to worry abut.
I am told mozzies come later!
Having said that, Ternate (and Naira)
have been wonderful experiences. There are few tourists. We have
had such a warm welcome. The big ships cannot get here, and there
appears to be so little tourist infrastructure. We were brought back
to the ship for lunch. The transport for our tour was a mix of buses
and cars. The majority of the buses were police buses – hired for
the day. The air-conditioning starts at 80kph so long as the windows
are down. The local people came down to the wharf to check us out
and wave and to have photos taken with us! Now we know how locals
feel when we want to take photos of them. Departure was also lots of
locals waving us off with music, singing, waving etc. This must be
what celebrities feel like!
We saw the sultan's palace. He died
last year and they are organising the next one. Not direct
inheritance as in many royal families (he didn't have a son
apparently) but they have to find a suitable relative. Not a bad
idea actually – some protection against unsuitable heirs!
They provided a morning tea with no end
of cakes, some similar to the Malay cakes in Singapore. I ate
everyone of them, so if I have diarrhoea, we won't know which one to
blame. Maybe it was a change from french cuisine!
Eclipse tomorrow.
Hopeful piccies below - a fort and farewell from Ternate.
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