Introduction
Our only destination on Seram was Sawai Bay, on the north central coast, and we were only able to stay there for three days. A few weeks would have been nice – as there are a lot of things to see and do in the area (both water and jungle-related), and it’s another one of those quiet lazy places ideal for doing nothing at all if that’s what you feel like.
Our decision to visit Sawai was based on a few postings on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree.
Getting There and Away
Between Ambon and Saka:
The guidebooks and the "For the Birds" website (see above) provide instructions for
getting to the tiny harbour village of Saka from Ambon in stages, and also indicate you can buy and end-to-end ticket between Ambon city and Saka. There are two or three companies that provide this end-to-end service. We picked "Saleman", and I would say their buses looked more reliable and comfortable than the other bus companies. "Saleman" is another name for "Saka".
In Ambon,
we bought our tickets from the "Bintang Anugrah (Lintas Seram)" bus co. office, which can be found on the south side of Jl. AY Patty a block or two west of Jl. AM Sangaji. It’s more or less opposite the old green (Al Fatah) mosque (i.e. west of the newer mosque). In Indonesian (or Parisian) fashion, Jl. Patty might actually be called – Jl. Sultan Babullah on this side of Sangaji).
If you want
the best seats (view and comfort), the ones at the front right beside the driver are the best. The ones directly behind the driver (right hand side) would be next best. It would be advisable to
book several days in advance, otherwise you may get stuck near the back like we were. On the way back we booked three days in advance, and had to settle for the second row on the left side. These turned out to be the worst seats on the bus in terms of restricted leg room.
The
Saleman bus goes every day of the week, leaving at 6:00 AM (or earlier) from in front of the ticket office, but from there it goes to the bus depot area near the Pasar Mardika to pick up more passengers and their possessions, potentially including entire living room furniture suites. On the way out of town it may stop to pick up more and more passengers with piles of boxes and sacks. Expect a crowded ride and you won’t be disappointed.
We
booked our return trip at the bus co. office in Saka
immediately upon arriving. The departure time on the tickets said 6:00 AM, and this was confirmed by girl who sold them to us. However we were later informed that the correct time was 8:00 AM, and this turned out to be the case.
Tickets in both directions
cost Rp 30,000, and this included a basic but tasty lunch doled out at a little restaurant stop near Liang (on Seram, not to be confused with the Liang on Ambon).
The trip itself is
a bit of an adventure, heading out of Ambon City, through the isthmus at Paso and east to Tulehu. The road then bends north and follows the coast to Hunimua. The dock for the ferry to Kairatu is actually between Hunimua and Liang. It’s not a bad ferry – you can buy snacks and refreshments, watch violent videos, and stare at the island scenery as it passes by.
Arriving at Kairatu, the bus heads east, basically following the south coast of Seram past Liang, then turns north off the main road about 40 km before Masohi, crossing the mountainous spine of Seram and arriving on the north coast (actually the western shore of Sawai Bay) at Saka. None of the maps I have accurately show this road, but it’s there. The map on page 937 of the Lonely Planet guide is the most accurate, but shows road north leaving the main road far to close to Masohi.
The whole trip only took about
7 hours (we arrived in Saka at 1:40 PM). The road was in better condition than we expected, probably because the weather had been relatively dry. Some of the postings I had read on the Thorn Tree described several hours of struggling through mud – often requiring the passengers to get off and help push or pull, knee-deep in the mire. The ticket office in Ambon had predicted a 3:00 or 3:30 PM arrival.
Along the south coast, there were
several bridges being worked on. We would either stop and wait for the workmen to readjust the planks on the bridge before they waved us across, or, at the especially decripit bridges we would turn off the road and detour through the creek or river beds, which fortunately were either dry or at least very shallow.
The
north south road was very rough in places – and if you like the excitement of edging slowly along a road which has been half washed away down the cliff, you won’t be disappointed. A heavy rain would definitely make things interesting.
Between Saka and Sawai: Our final destination wasn’t Saka, but the
fishing village of Sawai. There will no doubt be longboat drivers quite willing to take you there. We asked about a public boat (most of the people on the bus were getting on public boats), but there were none to Sawai that day. Some days there might be, but they would be quite slow.
The
price quoted for a longboat charter to Sawai was
40,000. We weren’t able to bargain this down any further (we didn’t have much in the way of bargaining power, not having any other options). Talking to other travelers later we discovered everybody was in the same boat (no pun intended). The boat trip could take between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on the size of the boat motor, the number of passengers (and amount of luggage), and whether or not the ocean is calm. Based on the September/98 information in the "For the Birds" website, we
expected to pay 25,000. There might be a bit of gouging going on, but I do believe that the expense of maintaining imported boat motors has skyrocketed due to the weak rupiah.
Pak Ali told me he recently paid 500,000 for a minor part / repair for which he had to make the long trip to Wahai.Pak Ali has three boats, and charges the same 40,000 to charter one back to Saka.
The trip itself is spectacular, passing limestone cliffs, towering green jungled mountains, and tiny fishing villages on its way to the village of Sawai, set in a narrower bay formed by a peninsula jutting northwards from the south coast of the larger Sawai Bay (Teluk Sawai).
Another possible option for
getting from Ambon to Sawai is a
weekly boat that leaves Ambon town and goes around Seram. It probably takes several days to do so. The only information I can provide on this is that when we were in Sawai, it arrived around 6:00 AM Monday morning. The (not unpleasant) Moslem dangdut music it was blaring out was the loudest noise we heard during our stay.
Accomodation and Meals:
2 upscale places
There are
three homestays or guesthouses in Sawai. Two are rather upscale (I was told more than 100,000 per person per day, but I can’t confirm this), and the third is Pak Ali’s "Pondok Wisata Lisar Bahari" where we stayed.
- The
first "upscale" place is a collection of bungalows a few hundred metres west of the village. It would be a good place for those obsessed with privacy, since the only access is by water. To me this is a drawback since you would have to paddle a canoe to get to the village, whereas the other two homestays are right in the village.
- The
other upscale place is on the east side of the village.
Lisar guesthouseThe
Lisar is on the west edge of the village, built right out over the water. There are fifteen double units, and it costs 40,000 per person including three meals per day, as well as afternoon tea and snacks. The dinners are huge, and can be surprisingly sophisticated and delicious. Of course you can expect fish to be the basic form of protein, but it’s prepared in a variety of ways, as are the soups and vegetables. Box lunches will be provided for excursions. There are no restaurants in the vicinity.
We had not made a reservation before arriving, and in fact there were only seven other guests there when we arrived (and there were no guests at either of the two upscale places). When we left, the village was completely devoid of foreign travelers of any description.
Pak Ali mentioned that he sometimes got tour groups of up to 20 people (usually German or Dutch). Most of these came during the "high season" – i.e. July through September, but he was expecting one in January/99. So, it might be advisable to make a reservation. You cannot do this directly, but there are a couple of Ambon-based travel agents that could help if contacted well in advance.
1) The first is Reza Tuasikal, listed in the "How to Get There" section of the "For the Birds" website (see above). Apparently he can book for either the Lisar Guesthouse, or the upscale one west of Sawai. I wouldn’t be surprised if he also could book for the upscale one on the east side of town too. The specifics are:
- Reza Tuasikal
- Jalan Mangga Dua 106
- Ambon, Maluku, INDONESIATel./Fax +62 911 352316
-
reza.tuasikal@mailcity.com2) The second is shown on Pak Ali’s own business card:
- "Mr. Kembi"
- Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin Gg. Aman RT 005/06 Kel. Hative Kecil / Tantui
- Tel (0911) 352996 Ambon 97128
Pak Ali (Mohammed Ali Letahiit, or "Alex") and his friendly family take good care of their guests, however you should consider staying away if you can’t survive on boiled water (sometimes tasting smoky or fishy), and a lack of cold drinks. It wouldn’t be a good place for those who don’t like bugs either.
I personally would not want to be there at the same time as one of the big tour groups – it couldn’t help but compromise the quiet atmosphere, besides there might be more demand than supply for transportation or guides for some of the excursions.
Banks, phones, doctors, pharmacies, hospitals
...you must be kidding? The nearest phone is in Wahai about 60 km east along the coast. I would strongly recommend carrying your own do-it-yourself medical kit. If you’re sick or injured, it’s a long uncomfortable trip to the nearest healthcare or medicine. If you know what you’re doing with antibiotics, these would be recommended as well. We met a German girl staying at the Lisar Guesthouse who had been sick since shortly after arriving a week before. She finally got up the strength to make the bus trip back to Ambon and visit a doctor. Three days after leaving Sawai my friend became quite sick. Fortunately we were in Manado at the time and able to go to a doctor, who said it was probably something he ate in Sawai. Since I ate the same things as he did and did not get sick, my conclusion is that either I have a stronger resistance (built up from 20 years of third world travel), or maybe I was helped by the Doxycycline I take as an anti-malarial (ever since I had a nasty reaction to Larium).
Electricity:
Three places in the town have generators, including the Lisar Guest House. Fortunately it’s located far enough away from the main part of the guest house that you don’t here it. The lights come on around 6:00 or 6:30 PM (or later if they have trouble starting the generator), and are switched off at 11:00 PM when you should be in bed.
Go on to Seram: what to do
