Day 91, Year 3: Another Wonderful Inland Tour
Date: Hari Jumat (Friday), Bulan Agustus 8, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Perpetual Sunshine with No Clouds; Winds in the Anchorage
Location: Kalabahi, Alor Island, Nusa Tengarra Province, Indonesia

Today we visited the local museum here in Kalabahi. We saw ikat weaving in progress and some beautiful examples of the weaving from different geographic areas. We learned that there is ikat weaving and sonkat weaving. The ikat weaving process is amazing. The design of the final product are died into the thread. The designs are tied off with plastic string to keep the dyes from penetrating. It takes more than a week to prepare the threads, and then the weaving commences. The actual weaving takes only two or three days. The sonkat weaving is more like weaving with which we are familiar. There is no preparation of the threads. Different colors of thread are woven in and out to create the pattern. Both processes produce beautiful cloth. The weaving was in one museum building and the moko drums were in another. The value of these drums in this country is amazing. Sonny, one of our guides and truly “modern” in every sense, is getting married in November. His bride price is one moko drum and two cows. In Alor, a bride price is still paid for every marriage and moko drums are almost always involved. These bronze drums are traced back to what is now known as Vietnam . They reached this island through trade and have remained here ever since. They are not found on other Indonesian islands. In the past, the people here thought they were a gift from the gods. Today they are just an accepted part of the economy with a very high value. The drums are about two feet tall and have the shape of an hour glass.

After the museum we headed to the north coast to the village of Takpala. This is a traditional village and we were greeted by traditional dancers. The men were dressed as warriors and the women all wore then hair down loose and danced with abandon. The women wore brass rings around their ankles that made a lovely jingling sound as they danced. The view of the Flores Sea from the village was phenomenal and the people were most gracious. After Takpala, we went to the village of Mali to have lunch and watch a group of elementary school children perform. This venue was on the ocean were the surf was constantly rolling in towards shore, and it was truly a spectacular beach. The elementary children performed for us in traditional dress and it was just great. We ate lunch and watched the dancing and the sea. And before we knew it we were off to the low mountain forest to plant a sandalwood tree in remembrance of our visit here. It was another spectacular day.

When we reached the harbor, the harbor master was there doing the final steps to check us in to this island. Mark did check in and out with the harbor master while I visited with other cruisers. Just before sundown we headed back to Windbird. We plan to do nothing tomorrow as we need a day of rest before moving on. The rally pace is fast and we need a little break before the next “expo.”

080808 Day 91 Alor, Indonesia–Kalabahi’s Museum Daerah

080808 Day 91 Alor, Indonesia–Takpala, Mali Beach, Memorial Forest Buiko