DAY 13 - THE FINAL LAP BACK TO MAKASSAR

17th Jan 2009

This is the view of the chalet by the swimming pool. An olympic size pool at your doorstep would be inviting, but not at the early hours of dawn when the water would be cold.

Makassar was a mere 50kms away. Again, we were in no hurry to end the journey. And today's ride would really be the end of the journey, for tomorrow we would fly home.

From the chalet, we walked to the National Park, paid the entrance fee and headed towards the waterfall. Earlier on, we were attracted by these blue trolleys parked besides a run-down tennis court. One wonders of what use would trolleys be here - no Carrefour, no Giant no Tesco here!

On weekends, scores of families would visit this park for a picnic. When families go for picnics there would be all kinds of equipment, cooking utensils, mats, pillows perhaps to carry. These trolleys for rental provided the transport they would need to carry the wares into the park. Pretty enterprising option.

I met this young ever-smiling boy yesterday evening at the chalet. He was asking us about our trip and I found him to be pleasant and well-mannered. This morning, he was among the elderly workers sweeping the leaves in the park compound, making a quick buck. He was the only youngster. He recognized us and waved. Later, when we cycled out from the park heading for Makassar, we met him again, perhaps on his way home after work.Gave him some cash and he was beaming with unexpected joy.

The strong rumbling sound of water pointed us towards the waterfall. We could not get near at all. The water was raging and had spilled along the walkway leading to the waterfall. We could just take pictures from a distance.

800 metres from the park was a cave, Gua Mimpi. The park attendant advised us against visiting during this period. It was wet and slippery and could pose some danger. So, the visit to Gua Mimpi remained a dream and the waterfall eluded us.

With little else to do, we left the park, a bit disappointed and headed for breakfast.

At 0930, we were still sitting out the rain. We've decided to go wet, meaning we would wear back yesterday's cycling attire. The clothes did not dry overnight. To borrow Lionel Ritchie's song, it rained "all night long".

We left Bantimurung National Park headed for Maros and onwards to Makassar. It was an uneventful ride. We stopped at Hotel Afiat near the airport. Hotel Afiat was our first night stop upon arrival in Makassar. We started our 14-day ride from this hotel and had left our cycling bags here. It made no sense to lug an additional 2kg on our bikes. So, we picked up our cycling bags and continued on to Makassar.

We stayed at a hotel within the China Town area, quite close to Losari beach and arrived just about noon. The 14-day cycling tour journey ended on this day. Tomorrow evening we would fly home.