Makassar’s port

Paotere Port

Despite sleeping late last night, I woke around 0630.  Today I leave the big country with 17,000 islands in the evening.  With my flight to Kuala Lumpur at 1730, my plan was to do some minor sightseeing before returning to eat and rest till checkout. 

I wanted to revisit Makassar’s Paotere Port as there wasn’t much else that was of interest.  It’s a place to see big pinisis (traditional Makassar and Bugis schooners).  I took a Grab car there and back.  It seemed quieter there than previously, perhaps being Sunday morning.  I remember seeing the loading and unloading by labourers walking up and down narrow planks with goods on their shoulders. 

The outing was short-lived and I was back in my room in about an hour.  I took a light lunch around 1000 and checked-out just before midday.

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Flying to Kuching

I thought the Grab car price to the airport was around IDR130K but it turned out to be only IDR88K.  With loyalty points used as a discount, it only came to IDR48K for the 50 min ride; the driver chose to not use the toll road.

The airport-operated kiosks at Makassar airport were different from the airline-operated ones in Malaysia; it didn’t give me a boarding pass as it was “too early”.  I was at the airport at 1300 for at 1730 flight.  I wasn’t sure a mobile boarding pass was accepted here, but fortunately it was.

That meant I was able to go airside to use one of the two lounges for over three hours.  While seating was comfy, it was stifling like the whole airport. 

At around 1700 I went through immigration and security again, this time with LAG restrictions.  The flight was about 40 mins late, getting me to Kuala Lumpur around 2130.  My connection to Kuching at 2315 was still very safe which meant that I could go to the landside lounge for supper before boarding.

I have a five nights stay in Kuching, with Kim arriving from Singapore after the Grand Prix, about 12 hours after me.  Despite my arrival after 0100, I didn’t have any trouble getting a Grab car for the ride to the apartment.