Views coming into Bitung were stunners – mountains shrouded
with tiny bits of whispy cloud, the skyline was really irregular with tall palm
trees and then shrubby bushes, all lush rainy season greens.
This was a maiden port for the Arcadia, and I suspect for P
and O but can’t be 100% sure. I say this
because as “boon” (I think this is the word, but again not 100% sure) with our
white skin we are a novelty. We were stopped and photographed quite a few
times, sometimes given babies and children to hold for the photos. Very funny!
Usually we are there with our cameras taking photos of what we see as
interesting, never suspecting that we might look like that too. Anyway, there were hundreds of people waiting
at the port, a welcome party, local dance and music.
As I mentioned yesterday we hadn’t booked a tour with the
ship, and had decided to have a wander instead.
We made our way out of the port and then many local tour operators
descended, and the tours they offered sounded so interesting and such good
value. So instead of the wander round town we went to an animal sanctuary, a
Chinese temple, a local secondary school, the Tuna statue, and a traditional
local market Nothing wrong with P and O’s official tours by the way, but they
are always premium price so it’s not possible to do one at every port ( they
say because they are all tried and tested, safe, guaranteed, and the ship will
wait if they are delayed). Anyway, six
of us did that trip for $60 (US) so we reckon bout £6-7 per head. We had two young women tourism students
accompany us, and it was their school we visited. The school treated us like a royal delegation
and told us all about the school, the subjects the students study, then gave us
a tour of a school and we were invited into a classroom. Hilarious, again we had lots of photos taken
by the school: “remember the day 2000 foreigners arrived on a huge ship”
Anyway, it was a great tour, it was 29C, the old mini bus
had low ceilings, no A/C, ill fitting doors, and was a one off! We loved
it. The animals we saw in the sanctuary
had been rescued after injuries – birds like sea eagles, massive bats, pythons,
crocs, orangutans, Bitung bears (a marsupial) and a cassawory. Most had limbs missing. Their accommodation looked really basic, but
then again so did the people’s accommodation.
All of the stops turned out to be high spots of the
cruise. The sail away was like a
festival! Like a town came to the port to say good bye.
Now one sea day, then Borneo!
We have a some photos to share when we get hi speed wifi
again, but something tells me it won’t be Kota Kinabalu tomorrow, so maybe
Manila, but meanwhile I will keep the blogs coming.
