15 Apr 2023
Welcome to the Jakarta airport, where they decorate their fire extinguishers!
I remember seeing a scuba diver previously, but I couldn’t find him this time.
Security here has changed since my last visit- most things have gone digital now (fortunately there’s free WiFi).
Everything I read online said I needed to download a health tracking app (SatuSehat) where I could input my vaccination details to generate a QR code, which I would need to enter pretty much any building in Indonesia, but when I got to the airport, no one checked it and during my stay, I was never asked to show it. Maybe rules have relaxed? or maybe, since I really didn’t explore much outside between the airport and my boat, I just never ran into anywhere that used it? Not sure what to think about that one, but I had it ready, just in case.
Coming from the US, I was able to apply for a Visa on Arrival, which I had tried to do online but I wasn’t sure what to put for an address since I’d be staying on a boat that was moving, so I had to go to the application area and get one in person. There’s a $35 fee and they are EXTREMELY picky about bill condition- they rejected two of my three $20 bills (one had writing on it, the other had… a bent corner? I’m not really sure, it looked fine to me).
After that, I was off to passport control, where I was basically just waved through, then over to baggage claim (my bag made it!). Once I had my bag, I showed the QR I got when filling out the electronic customs form to the agent and I was free. More steps that I remembered, but really not too bad.
International flights arrive at Terminal 3; my next flight would be leaving from Terminal 2, but I had many hours to kill so I headed over to Imperial Kitchen for my favorite Indonesia dish, mie goreng:
Translation: fried noodles. This version has some sort of meat- it’s called buntut, which translates to ‘ox tail’, but I’m not really sure if it’s actually ox tail… regardless, this mystery meat is pretty tasty.
Unfortunately, eating dinner didn’t kill as much time as I had hoped- my next flight out wasn’t until just after midnight, and I couldn’t check my bag back in until 4 hours before flight, so I schlepped my bags around the airport aimlessly for what seemed like forever until it was finally late enough to start check in for my next flight.
This was the waiting area at my gate !
How beautiful is that!?
I checked in on my bag a few times, but each time I checked, it moved a bit further away from me…
Certainly a little disconcerting until we started boarding and were led down to the tarmac and onto a bus to meet our plane:
As I was getting off the bus, I spotted Dan and Helge from my first trip! They were supposed to be on an earlier flight, but their bags got stuck in Taipei so they switched their flights and waited for their bags to catch up with them. Always nice to see familiar faces!
16 Apr 2023
I was hoping to catch a nap on the plane, as it was a 7 hour overnight flight but I couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep 🙁 I did, however, get to watch this beautiful sunrise:
I’m not sure if this is unique to Indonesia, or if domestic flights in other countries also work this way, but even though we went through security in Jakarta and our connecting flight was on the same ticket, we had to go back through security when we landed in Ambon. Unfortunately, our layover was only 40 minutes and we got in a few minutes late.
So, following the signs for “Transit”, I flew through security and was directed back onto the tarmac, alone, with just a ‘your plane’s over there’ vague motion… That also seems to be a recurring theme of Indonesian airports- walk across the tarmac to meet your plane/de-plane.
I found a ground worker who directed me to my plane, where I was surprised to find it mostly empty. I purposely didn’t stop to take a picture of my plane because I didn’t want to hold up the flight; as it turned out, the rest of the group took longer to get through security- I beat the next person by almost 5 minutes. We definitely left late, but that seems to be the norm as well.
Farewell, Ambon:
Welcome to Saumlaki!
Here, we were met by some of the Amira crew (more familiar faces! and and they recognized me!), loaded onto a fleet of minivan taxis and driven to the harbor. In Indonesia, they drive on the left but use whatever lane is free. Cars go much faster than motorbikes (I never saw a posted speed limit) and just honk when they want to go around. If someone turns out in front of you and wants to hang in your lane, just lay on the horn and, if you’re really annoyed, slow down to stare passive aggressively while passing… definitely glad I wasn’t driving!
Here she is- the Amira!!!
And the crew on the dive deck, waiting to greet us!
(no diving in the harbor- there are crocodiles here!)
I took this picture later in the trip, but this is the dive deck:
Heading into the boat, we have the camera area and the hallway to the rooms:
My room is on the left, right before that big column in the middle of the hall:
our bathroom:
At the end of the hallway is this emergency exit:
It comes out through one of the tables on deck 🙂
This board is updated daily with the schedule for the day:
As about half our group was from Germany/German-speaking, we often had two briefings- one in English and one in German (Nora, our director, speaks both fluently). All the German-speakers also spoke English, but it’s nice to hear information in your native tongue.
Lunch is always buffet-style:
and is usually an assortment of meat and veggie dishes. Sometimes things are little spicier than I’m used to but everything is always delicious and I never went hungry.
Unfortunately, dinner is usually quite late, and I hadn’t gotten much sleep since leaving Korea (over 24 hours ago) so I crashed after the dive briefing and slept through dinner.
I vaguely remember someone knocking on my door, telling me it was dinnertime, then asking if I wanted them to save some food for me, but I fell right back to sleep and didn’t hear my roommate come in. Finally, a solid night’s sleep!