Makassar: first step in Indonesia in good company
7th August 2017 : I roll for the first time in Indonesia. Surprisingly I am not in Bali but in a bigger but less known island of the archipelago called Sulawesi. After a forty minutes drive we arrive in the centre of Makassar. From the taxi’s window we discover with surprise the very lively, crowded and mixed-up streets of the biggest city of the island. Vehicules mill in all the streets, they overtake on the right, on the left, anyway there are no lanes! Scooters and cars cross intersections at high speed while there are no traffic lights most of the time. Only one man is standing in the middle of this rush to help by blowing into a whistle continuously… surrounded by incessant honks! Compare to that Kuala Lumpur seems almost quiet!
After we dropped our luggages at the hotel and we rested a bit, we went out for a walk. Quite at few time we were hailed by local people. No matter if you are a man or a woman they say “Hey mister!”. If we answer they ask us from which country we are from and where are going. Indeed there are not so many tourists in Makassar streets: most of travellers go directly to Tana Toraja and don’t take any time to visit the city. Some locals seem happy to see us, especially children. Of course it is also an opportunity to try to sell to us a ride in a taxi, in a bentor or others touristic activities. We politely refuse. After some time wandering in the streets the night came and the city revealed another face, lively and even more colorful: many food stall opened along roads and bentors are now floodlit with bright neons like funfair vehicules!
Being tall is not always simple.
After all those discoveries It is now time to go to bed and get a good night of sleep. Tomorrow we will meet Kerstin and Maureen from “Accessible Indonesia” , a travel agency specialised in organising travels for disabled people in Indonesia (Sulawesi, Java, Bali).
So the next day we meet Kerstin and Maureen in the early morning. Both of them are waiting for us with a great smile ready to show us around, in particularly Fort Rotterdam and Benteng Somba Opu.
Sommaire
Fort Rotterdam
Fort Rotterdam was built during the 16th ou 17th century, the exact date still being debated. Following the Makassar war, the Dutch took possession of it and turned it into a fort. As we can see it today, Fort Rotterdam gathers several colonial style buildings, ramparts and a courtyard.
View of the courtyard from the entrance.
The courtyard is paved with even and flat cobblestones so it is easy to roll around. However the most interesting seems to go on the ramparts but only one tiny part is wheelchair accessible, with another person helping by pushing going up the ramp and holding going down. To access the rest of the ramparts you will need to climb a steep, paved and damaged slope: impossible with a wheelchair. Regarding parking, the is no specific parking place but, according to the fort manager, it is possible to park inside the courtyard by explaining our situation and needs to the guards.
This is the only ramparts’ accessible part. Only a few metres.
Inside the fort there is also a museum about South Sulawesi History and culture. It is divided in two parts, one each side of the entrance. In it we can see period boats models, tools and materials to built them. There are also some portraits of historic important people. It is quite basic. Unfortunately there are only a very few explication and English, most of them are in Indonesian langage. Surely I would have find the visit more interesting if I had access to these information… and also to all the floors!
Indeed there are two floors on each museum parts but I only could visit the ground floor. For each of them, the only way to go on the second floors is by stairs. Anyway it is not even sure that every wheelchair user could access to the ground floor. I succeeded to do it by rolling on my back wheels with Franck, Maureen or Kerstin’s help. Indeed to enter the right part of the museum (when you’re facing the courtyard) you need to reach a pavement. To go on it there is a small ramp but it ends on a step!
The ramp and step to access the pavement.
Once you got in the sidewalk, to start to visit the museum you have to climb stairs, visit the second floor and go down by others stairs. Rather that doing that you can enter the museum by its exit after asking a staff member. But even using that way you will need to go through a small ledge… The other building entrance is not more wheelchair friendly. There is a gap of about twenty centimetres to pass over and, then, two steps.
The exit, which is also the wheelchair friendly entrance.
As you might have guess, I personally have not being convinced by Fort Rotterdam. However I do understand that the European architecture can be appreciated in contrast with the locals buildings. We did got lucky though as we were here on the same day as a movie shooting. Apparently it sets some centuries ago, and is about the Chinese community integration in Sulawesi. Like the time we witnessed a movie shooting while strolling in Australia, I really enjoyed watching the set being installed, actors being prepared and dressed in costumes and see the scene being played out.
Small refreshment before acting.
After the visit, Accessible Indonesia and I met with the fort manager to debrief the accessibility issues I faced, and discuss ideas on how to improve for the futur. I hope some of those ideas will become real and help others wheelchair users tourists to visit this landmark. Not easy but I know Kerstin will fight for this!
Debrief time!
Benteng Somba Opu
At the beginning Benteng Somba Opu was a project bore by academics. The idea was to build traditional houses, each representing one region of south Sulawesi, based upon old manuscrits instructions. Those houses were supposed to be inhabited by researchers and artists from all over the world. The goal here was to create an historic heritage park, displaying the History of south Sulawesi, therefore attracting tourists. Unfortunately, for different reasons, it never really took off, and still today not many tourists come to visit this park. Housekeepers who used to live in those houses are gone, leaving houses unmaintained. With the exception of the Dutch colonial style house, which hold a small museum.
Traditional house of the Luwu region.
So while I was not charmed by Fort Rotterdam, I greatly enjoyed this trip to Benteng Somba Opu. Rather than going directly to Tana Toraja, I would recommend to spend half a day visiting this site. It gave us a glimpse of what was to come, and we learned many things about Makassar History and south Sulawesi thanks to our incredible guide. Indeed, without a guide, it is almost impossible to understand the meaning of this place. Some panels are scattered throughout the park, but only in Indonesian. If you want, you can contact Kerstin of Accessible Indonesia. She will help you get in touch with the same guide and you will learn many trivia about the place. For example, we now know that in some regions, you should not build your roof with clay-based tiles. Clay is made out of soil, but only dead people should sleep under soil. In other parts of Sulawesi, roofs have layers, from one to five. The more layers, the better your social status.
This three layered roof belong to a upper class family.
While going around Benteng Somba Opu, you can spot ruins of a wall built to protect Makassar. It has been used to resist Dutch attacks, when they wanted to control the city for its strategic location in the spices trade. Thanks to this thick wall, Makassar stand against the Dutch for quite some time, as their canons were ineffective. In the end those settlers did found a way to breach in, by digging a hole by the wall, filled it with explosives, and blow the wall appart.
Today it is not so much about defence, but entertainment!
In addition of learning about History, this stroll was an opportunity to meet some friendly local people. Since there is almost no tourist, get in touch with people is quite easy, especially with children. They seemed quite happy to see us, and they went along beside us for the whole visit. We could not resist to get together and take some photos.
There is a new boys band in town!
As for the accessibility, the trails are mainly made of flat cobblestones. It is easy to go around in a wheelchair except few spots where the road is damaged. The visit went well. On the top of this Maureen and Kerstin were always watching for upcoming obstacles. For those of you who want (and can!), you are free to enter the houses but all of them have steps upfront.
And here is the inside.
Accessibility in Makassar
Finally I take the opportunity of this post to share with you my thoughts on accessibility in Makassar on a wider scale.
Going in a wheelchair through Makassar’s streets is not easy. It almost impossible to roll on sidewalks, as they have no curb-cuts or goods and vehicules are parked on them. However some sidewalks are getting improved. There is even tactile paving on it. Cross the street can be daunting at first: you will not always find a crosswalk, and when you do, it might not be accessible. On the top of this, when there are traffic lights, some vehicules do not stop. The best way is to find a local or a traffic control officer who will stop cars and scooters to make way for you.
As far as I know there is no accessible toilet in town, and I haven’t see any in restaurants. In Sulawesi, most of them are squat toilets, which looks like this!
Beginning of a renovated sidewalk.
Concerning accommodation, I stayed at the Pesonna Hotel. There is a ramp quite steep to access it, but with someone’s help to push you there is no problem. Going down is possible on your own. The double room I booked was wide enough to go around in a wheelchair. There is no shower seat and it was a bit narrow to go in but with no height difference I could enter with my wheelchair. To go out, I needed to back up, since I could not u-turn. The staff is very kind and the breakfast is fantastic.
Finally, here are some addresses to eat in Makassar:
- Waroeng Steak : 180 Jalan Cendrawasih. Small restaurant where we can eat meat for cheap. There is a small step at the entrance, so I don’t think an electric wheelchair could be used.
- “Pantai Losari” beach side: there are plenty of food stalls and hawkers. Mainly dishes revolving around banana. Perfect place to try “Pisang epe”: Chocolat covered fried bananas infused with palm sugar. Cheese optional. It is a local delicacy! Only the stalls on each side are wheelchair accessible, the rests are just too packed together to roll around.
- Kampoeng Popsa : 4 Jalan Ujung Pandang. This food court is facing Fort Rotterdam. It offers a great choice of Indonesian food. The harbour view, in addition to the light sea breeze makes this a nice place to eat. There is a tiny step at the entrance but you can easily roll around once inside.
- Mall Ratu Indah : 35 Jalan Lanto Daeng Pasewang. This is a completely wheelchair accessible mall. There you can find fast food chains and restaurants.
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If you want more information about travelling in Sulawesi you can read about our week in Tana Toraja and also about the funeral ceremony we attended.
Did you like this post? Feel free to check out my Patreon page to see how you can support the creation of new ones and be a part of iwheeltravel!
And of course, you can share, like and subscribe, to be aware of the lastest posts.
