Wanukaka

 by Red

Day 5 – Wanukaka to Waingapu

Today is a rest day for me. Woke up at 8am, washed up and paid up. It was pretty decent, 300,000 Rp for the two of us for two days. Meaning I paid 75,000 Rp (SGD$10) per day for accommodation inclusive of all meals. To go there, take the bemo down to Wanukaka, ask to stop at Rumah Ibu Yark Weru, the one opposite the church, just after the split road to Waigalli. The bemo drivers should know. It’s a good location to base yourself for the Pasola activities in March in Wanukaka. 
We flagged a truck down (5000Rp!) and traveled back in style to Waikabubak. Can’t get any more local than that. Said farewell to Nacho from Barcelona, and I loaded up the next bemo to Waingapu (30,000 Rp, 4 hrs). It took much longer, though, we transferred to another Waingapu bound bemo (from Waitabula), went round town a few hundred times, picked up more goats and chicken, found someone’s lost hat or something etc. The bemo driver, his half-time replacement and the ticket guy were friendly enough though. Bemo was packed, I had my backpack on my lap half the trip. There was this family to my left with 4 kids. The second kid had features that, when she grows up, would probably make guys swoon when she smiles or frowns her way into their hearts. They spit a lot though, the entire family. :)
Other stuff: There’s a goat on the roof of the bemo, a few chickens under the seats.The transition in vegetation from lush green trees to dry grassy plants was quite obvious, highlight was when Waingapu and the sea appeared in the valley below. 
Waingapu has this weird layout where the the town area is split in two clumps. One is the port area, where Merpati and my dinner was. And another is the Hotel Sandlewood, Hotel Merlin, pasar, bus station area. Walking from one area to the other is around 1.5km, but bemos can be flagged. Compared to the laid back feel of Waikabubak, and the past two days staying in the middle of rice fields, Waingapu is very urban. I stayed in Hotel Sandlewood; it  is cheap, nice and quiet (100,000 Rp), with large rooms. 
It was quiet running around Waingapu by myself, unbothered by anyone. I think i’m sufficiently tanned to pass off as a local. There wasn’t much to do in town, and since I reached at 4pm, it’s probably too late to start exploring the surrounding region. Instead I took a walk down to the old harbour, and took some scenic harbour sunset shots. Talked to one of the hawkers there, he’s from Makassar. I tell him I want to go there as well as Maluku. Then he sets up his store, his workers and family arrive to help. I ordered ikan bakar from him (32,000 Rp total with drinks). The chilli sauce blend is a real perk-me-up, whatever they used to make it is really hot and lovely! This eating spot didn’t appear in LP; they set up shop after 6pm. 
Nothing much to do in Waingapu, tried to go to the Merpati agent at 5pm but they were closed. Took a stroll back to the hotel after dinner, along the way passed by the stretch of pushcarts set up in one neat line, complete with tables and stools. The menu looks good (sate, soto, gado gado, all food I haven’t seen so far in Sumba), but I was way too full. Instead, I bought more of those fried fritters, some peanuts, and a terang bulan from the various pushcarts along the 1.5km trip back. Now, almost every country I go to has their own variation of pushcart pancakes (think malaysia, laos, thailand), and for Waingapu it’s the Mr Bean version called terang bulan (which literally translates to “bright moon”), with lots of sugar, chocolate and condensed milk. Healthy and delicious ;)  
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Dropped by the pasar, it was already dark but the locals were still selling their produce, mostly vegetables. Each stall had a candle in front, the street had no street lamps, giving an entirely new meaning to the term “night market”. Haha. 
Most of tonight was spent trying to plan Flores. It’s a bit of a mess now, with the overland buses leaving early mornings which do not make efficient use of my time here. That and coupled with one lost day due to the holiday on 26th (Hindu Silence Day). I foresee wasting an entire day in Ende, which is not one of the highlights of my itenerary. I really need the Internet now, tomorrow morning I will go down to the Telkom building and see if I can get stuff done. Also, I’m thinking of getting a flight down from Maumere or Ende straight to Labuanbajo to save one day. That will cut down on at least 15 hours of overland bus riding, though I will miss Bajawa as a result.
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 by Red

Day 4 – Pasola in Wanukaka

Woke up early at 4am today, made our way down to the beach. Along the way, many many ojeks passed by us, wanted to flag one down but all were carrying passengers. It was good morning exercise and kept me warm. We reached Wanukaka beach where there’s a big crowd camped overnight. As the sun started to come up, people started going down to the water and began nyale hunting. I was more entranced by the postcard quality views i’m getting and preferred taking shots of the sunrise to hunting sea worms which I’ve never seen and probably won’t recognise even if I do see them.
 The package tourists started popping up as well, but compared to elsewhere, there were much less tourist types for such a big festival. Rather, we had the Sumbanese and lots of city people, some well dressed Jakarta types, those from Bali etc. Throughout the day I had many conversations the rest of the spectators. It’s a really grand event, and Rudy later mentioned the official count was 30,000 people. 
Someone mentioned that if the nyale doesn’t turn up, there won’t be Pasola. Another guy said he was here before and tried eating the nyale. Things got exciting though when someone finally found nyale and showed me a mineral water bottle with nyale inside. There was going to be Pasola after all! Later I found out that the rituals had taken place further up the beach, we missed it completely while engrossed in photo taking. 
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Next was the Pasola itself, this was held on a sandy patch by the beach Trains of horses and riders started arriving, village by village, each making a grand entrance riding across the sand. They split themselves on two sides, and the event started with both sides charging on horses at full speed till near the haflway mark where they threw their spears at the other side. The spears now are blunt, after the government banned the use of sharp pointed end. The entire significance of the Pasola can be read online or in good books, it is a ritual to draw blood and give it back to the earth, dying during Pasola used to be a real possibility. After the wooden bamboo spears have been thrown, they retreat to their half and prepared for the next throw. It is very exciting, with the crowd pushing forward to get a closer look, with exclamations of oohs and ahhs each time a spear narrowly misses. If a spear DOES hit however, there will be cheers from the crowd, the successful rider makes a high pitched victory cry and  raises his hands high in the way, waving his fingers. One time, the spear hits a horse’s flank, and the beast rose on his two hind legs, nearly throwing the rider over.
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 Everyone then proceeds to the main location, a grassy field about 2km away. The place was packed, West Sumba isn’t normally a place where you would find so many people in one location. There were people from all over Indo, tourists, police, a grandstand for VIPs. It was a very carnival atmosphere, with makeshift shops set up everywhere, selling Fruitamins, doughnuts, drinks. The homemade frozen ice lollies are fabulous in the hot weather. Another ritual took place with elders from both camps involved, facing each other, dressed in full colourful gear. The crier traded insults at each other in their own tongue, and each insult was met with the equivalent of jeers and catcalls from the opposing team. This carried on for a bit, and I think they showed negotiations breaking down, as both side abruptly stopped and the entire horse-riding, spear throwing began. This time, they were even more fierce. The Sumbanese riders  were swathed with red cloth strips over their faces, and their horses wore headgear which made them look menacing, plus danging small bells which ringed as the horses moved. They started going at is again, this time with more gusto and non-stop waves of riders. It was quite a side to see spears flying all over. I didn’t see this, but one guy got cut quite badly when a spear struck his forearm. Spectators pushed forward to get a better view, and this was met with police shouting at us. The Sumba men just in front of us, placed at the perimeter to pick up and replenish spears, actually said sorry then used the bamboo spears held horizontally to push everyone back. Didn’t work very well cos 5 seconds later, everyone’s pushing forward again, laughing it away. Haha. It started raining for a short bit, but this didn’t dampen spirits. People were there for a show, and they got one.

 I spent the rest of the afternoon napping. My neck is sunburnt, my feet are sore, but yeah, it was a good two days. Tomorrow morning, i’m going back to Waikabubak where i’ll catch a bemo to Waingapu. 
Useful piece of equipment: My sunblock lotion, without with I probably will a very uncomfortable next few days. 
For those wanting to see the Pasola, the activities leading up to Pasola in Wanukaka took place over a 3 day period (15th to 17th Mar’09 for me). On the first day, there is traditional boxing ritual that takes place at night (11pm-ish). On the second day, at 4pm, there is a training session for the Sumba men to practise with their horses in preparation for the event. At night, people start gathering at the beach and stay overnight there. On the third day, you can come in to the beach before dawn where they start auguring the nyale, the priests are on the extreme right side of the beach. Then the Pasola begins at around 8am, first by the beach and then the entire procession will move to the field at 9am. The locations for the activities are different, though within walking distance of each. You might want to rent an ojek for an entire day (around 75,000Rp for an ojek and same for a guide) to drive you around if you’re not the adventurous type.
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 by Red

Day 3 – Waikabubak to Wanukaka District

I woke up and found the Spanish guy Nacho having breakfast outside his room. He was there for Pasola and had been in Sumba for the last 20 days, staying in Tarimban, a quiet corner of East Sumba with beaches and no lights and electricity. We decided to walk down to the bus station in town, and ask for a bemo to Wanukaka (regular trips, 10,000 Rp, 1 hr). Over next two days I traveled with him. Anywhere we walked, and we walked a lot, since we had time and were not following the (minimal) tourist crowd he was getting “Hello Mister”. One guy told him: In Sumba, Sumba is not the attraction for you, but you are the attraction for Sumba. I agree completely. =) 
At the bus stop, we boarded our bemo almost immediately and reached Wanukoka area, along the way passing a scenic hilly area surrounded by the morning mist. We stopped just after Waigalli. There were no hotels, guesthouses anywhere in this area, but the bemo driver dropped us outside a home that they knew rented out rooms. The owner is a nice lady with a big extended family staying there. The house itself is interesting, its a Christian abode, but with many remaining marapu elements like a stone megalith tomb, pigs jaws hanging on the verandah, contrasting with the wall rug showing the Last Supper. There were no rooms, a french couple, Bernard et Kristine, were already there from the previous night taking up the only available room. The lady was kind enough to offer to put us up in her son’s room, insisting that since we were guests, we should use the room. Her son Rudy, works at the Nihiwatu resort, owned by an American, which is the best resort to stay in Sumba, though by Sumba standards, prices are really ex. (2,000,000 Rp). He also mentioned that they are building additional rooms in their own garden and by next year, we can rent them. The location is great, because it is within walking distance of all the Pasola activities. If you ride a bemo from Waikabubak, just ask them to stop you after the fork to Waigalli, the place is opposite the road to a church. 
We dumped our stuff and decided to check out the Wanakoka beach, some 4km down the road. It was a scenic walk, rice fields, bypassing several traditional houses along the way. The beach itself was empty, there were some locals just done with fishing on the perahu boats. Rested a bit, talked some more and headed back. After lunch, we went out again to catch the Pasola men train for their event.
We walked up 3 km to a small field with tall grass. This was where they practised with their horses and prepared for tomorrow. A sizeable crowd of locals from the surrounding villages were there to catch the show. This section and the events of the next day are best recounted by looking at the photos.
Came back for dinner, sat around and chatted with the French couple and Nacho. French couple are retired and have really been to a lot of places. Nacho had spent the last 2 months in Laos before going to Indonesia. Next he is going up to Makassar in Sulawesi. If only I had that much time and freedom to travel. This trip has been good so far though, so I shouldn’t complain.
 Useful item to have: My groundsheet for sleeping =)
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