I just got back from spending 10 days sailing around Indonesia. I know, my life is so hard. I thought this many times as I was lounging on a deck chair wrapped in a fresh towel after a dive with a cold bottle of water in my hand sailing across the most beautiful water I have ever seen. Try to picture it, if you will.
After a hellish week, I wasn't sure I wanted to go. And let me clear the air, this trip has been planned and paid for since April. I have been looking forward to this since I started diving lessons 15 months ago. Raja Ampat is an awesome dive area. But with Robert and everything going on in life, it took every ounce of will in my body to drag myself 24 hours to Sorong, Indonesia - AKA the middle of nowhere - to get on a boat and forget everything for a while.
Never looked back.
I love the water, I always have. I like floating in it, on it, being on a boat, sea spray in my face. I like skipping my feet in the wake of a boat. I like listening to it, seeing it, watching it. I like the feeling of being weightless and being underwater for an hour at a time is the best way I could think of to spend my time. Diving is like yoga, once I get underwater, I don't think about anything but what I see and breathing. I can't, it's just not possible.
We were flying out of HK in the early afternoon, so I woke up early to finish checking my packing and my kit and to run up to the theater to print my ferry ticket which I booked, but neglected to print. It had been a tough week. The journey wasn't easy. Much like Boracay, if you want to get to the good places, you have to be motivated.
Taxi from apartment to ferry terminal. Ferry from Taipa to HK. One plane from HK to Jakarta. Shuttle from International to Domestic. One plane from Jakarta to Makassar. Run to connection because plane was delayed. Pray your bags made it with you. One plane from Makassar to Sorong. 20 hours since you left home and you've arrived. Gone is the dark, dreary wintry weather Macau/HK were showering your way. Hello to BLUE skies, white puffy clouds, warm breezes, and the smell of the ocean. I couldn't make this stuff up, it really just writes itself!
Take no notice of the fact that the Sorong arrival area is - ahem - lacking in facilities. That's a clue that you might be in the right place. Who cares if the luggage conveyor belt appears to be moving at the speed of a gentleman peddling a bike out back to operate it? And if your luggage appears dead last, minutes behind everyone elses that is the least of your worries, because you made it, your gear made it, and guess what. One more taxi ride to go, then get on a speed boat. That liveaboard and a dream await!
No comments:
Post a Comment