We left Hoga Island, Wakatobi Marine National Park at 5:30 am on August 23 for a long day sail to our next Sail 2 Indonesia rally point at Pasar Wajo, South Buton regency about a 56 miles away. We had only about 10 knots of wind from behind which are great conditions to fly our spinnaker.
From Starry Horizons 
Dodge “buoy” 
Fishing boat 
Starry Horizons Drone footage of them and Slow Flight on our way to Pasar Wajo
We arrived just before dusk and with anchor beers finished it was time to get some food. We headed ashore with SV Mirniy Okean (Carlos and Linda) and picked them up so they didn’t have to drop their dinghy but when we arrived at their boat we saw hundreds of jellyfish as our headlamps grazed the water…..There were so many and they present as deep as the eye could see….but so beautiful!
We only stayed about 4 days in Pasar Wajo but it was action packed….. One of the activities was anther cooking class (we had one in Banda Islands) and I am always curious about the new type of local foods so learning how to cook with them is the easiest way to “kill the cat”!
Cassava root 
Ingredients 
The students-I could barely fit my butt into the little chairs (haha) 
Grated cassava steamed in coned bamboo 
The steamed cassava was similar to bread 
Fish soup 
More grated cassava but rolling into yummy dessert balls 
“Fresh” palm sugar….. 
Filling cassava balls with palm sugar 
Fried then rolled in grated coconut…. Yum! 
Graduation : ) LOL
Of course we had to check out the town and the local market….
Adorable 
Town 
Got Corn? 
No idea what these are 
Tuna…looking good 
Very devout people 
Public swimming pool …..and laundry area
And we rented a car for the day to go to the main city of Bau Bau across the island and go to the “super market”….. we were more excited to see the countryside and ….DOUGHNUTS?
Serious business Indonesian version of the movie “UP” 
No Way!!!! Yeah I bought lots! 
These kids were having too much fun in the mall…Trevor wanted to ride the motorcycle 
Prayer time in the mall 
Shopping…
If you know us… we love to eat out…I am not sure we even at on the boat once!
It’s a BYO? here…the juice box had vodka in it! 
Lunch with friends 
Street food: cost $1.50 
Our favorite place to eat here: They killed the fish to order….Trevor tried to pick the big one but ended up with this little guy..oh well…we will have to catch our own : )
The highlight of this rally stop was the annual Buton Festival which highlights and celebrates their culture and rituals. We had heard about this massive festival back in Cairns, Australia when we attended the Sail 2 Indonesia rally information session. This was the first time the rally stopped in Pasar Wajo and the people…well let’s just say they were excited to have all the yachties there and the annual festival was NOT disappointing….well except for the hour long speeches of each government officials before lunch…one guy had 5 pages! Other than that….this festival was the highlight and trust me when I say we had a blast!
Women coming out of 4 day seclusion 
Drone shot of the festival grounds 
Immunization ritual 
Selfie with the Governor 
We were honored guests 
One village weaves ALL the sorangs…it takes 3 days to make! 
So they asked if I wanted to try to weave…why not! They have a backrest which helps them tighten the weave and here they are trying to hit my big butt into it. The weaving is harder than you think and takes grace and finesse….things I don’t have!
Lunch was a new experience for us: There were hundreds of ladies all dressed up with makeup and all in the heat. In front of them was a tray with a basket over it. We were instructed to sit across from one of the women and will be served. Each woman cooked and served their food…it was an awesome experience to share food with them. We tried to converse as much as we could….. they were gracious, kind and warm…lots of laughs…probably things lost in translation (LOL)!
Rows of women with their lunch trays 
Under the basket was heaps of food! 
After lunch we were all hered into an airconditioned room to get a break from the heat and all the selfie requests from the locals. The Mayor presented all of us a handmade sarong for both men and women (the guys got hats too)…..
And then it was time for the kids!!!!
Treated like royalty…AGAIN!
I strangely made the news…see at the below link.
Rudi, our local contact, and his team worked so hard to make all of our stay as best as it could be….there were a some challenges but make no mistake that these individuals were committed to us. One gal told me she was a teacher and makes 30,000 rupiah a month (that is equivalent to $30 usd…but it was so important to her to be involved with our rally to help her practice her english and connect with us that she took an absence of leave without pay just to gain the experience….That would never happen in America! Feeling blessed : )
Rudi …. Ker Kashi… 
His team…meeting before they all escort us to the festival.
Our faces says it all!
Wow! Just… Wow! I watched that video and was mesmerized! Never seen anything like it, how do they create those amazing formations on a dirt field? With what must be thousands of individuals?