Tentena and Ampana

The bus towards Tentena turns out to be a comfortable affair. With good air conditioning and only four other passengers, we embark on the 13-hour bus ride. The hours fly by as there is so much to see outside. We cross two mountain passes over 1000m high, go back to sea level in between, and end up covering just under 330 km. Traveling here is just a bit slower than the ICE train in Germany.

Arriving in Tentena, we hop on two motorbike taxis that take us to Hotel Victory. Exhausted from staring out the window, we fall into a restful sleep.

In the morning, we are surprised with pancakes for breakfast (no rice =)) and we borrow a scooter from the hotel to explore the area around nearby Lake Poso.

Our first stop takes us to beautiful waterfalls, where the water trickles over smooth rocks. In the middle of the rainforest, it rushes, glitters, and shines.

We refresh ourselves with a cool swim in these higher elevated water spots. Since this place is also visited by many local tourists, it's photo and selfie session time for us, especially for Leonie.

After the waterfalls, we visit a Balinese village where Balinese immigrants have settled down.

A small tofu factory opens its doors for us and lets us watch the production process.

In the afternoon, we go to a public beach by Lake Poso, with the sun shining brightly. When we enter the beach area, 300 Indonesian eyes are staring at us, but after some time, they get used to the European intruders.

At the beach bar, we have Bakso (a soup with meatballs, noodles, and fried onions) and Nasi Goreng for lunch.

In the evening, we enjoy fresh fish from the lake grilled on the BBQ, and the geckos keep us company.

To continue our journey to Ampana, we share a car with a driver with Antoine, a French traveler with the same route. We think this will be more comfortable and faster than being crammed on a bus.

Initially, it seems like a good idea, but then our driver joins the many motorcycles and cars along the road and signals us with crossed fingers, indicating a 'problem'. And so, we spend the next hour and a half on an Indonesian country road until the police checkpoint in front takes a lunch break. Either our car was stolen or the driver probably doesn't have a license. In any case, he is so excited about passing the checkpoint that he turns up the Indotechno music in the car and matches his driving style to the beat. 250 risky overtaking maneuvers and one run-over dog later, we are just happy to have arrived safely in Ampana.

The Nebula Cottages, located under coconut palms, have prepared a room for us for the night. Before that, we go to the afternoon market to stock up on fruits for the upcoming boat trip to the Togian Islands.

At the market, we enjoy fried dough balls dipped in peanut chili sauce.

This cat's food order was less successful.

Our tuk-tuk driver on the way back is so thrilled with us that he takes us to his coconut farm and lets us harvest our own coconuts.

For dinner, we treat ourselves to satay skewers, freshly grilled on coconut charcoal, with delicious peanut sauce.

After a short but heavy rainfall, we make our way back home, and along the way, we stumble upon an open hair salon. The hairdresser doesn't hesitate long, and 3 minutes later and 1.30€ shorter, Leonie's hair is 10 cm shorter.

The next morning welcomes us with bright sunshine, and our public boat 'Alliya' for the crossing is already waiting.

Antoine takes a beautiful picture of us on the upper deck, and the journey to the Togian Islands, the untouched natural paradise without Wi-Fi and mobile reception, begins...