At the end of a hot bone-shaking four-hour drive east of Makassar lies this sleepy seaside town of stilted bright blue and green houses and a strip of shoreline almost worthy of the title “tropical beach paradise”. Counter to conventional wisdom, because of one reason or the other, this is a rarity in Indonesia.
Bira is one of those places you intend to visit for a few days but stay a week. From the cluster of inexpensive and comfortable guesthouses it's only a few kilometers to the wonderful beach of Paloppalakaya with its blinding powdery white sand and crystal clear aquamarine water.
Besides its woven textiles, the above average diving and snorkelling are Bira’s big attraction. Virtually all accommodations rent out snorkels and fins. For a distance of 150 meters offshore, the water is safe for swimming; turtles, manta rays and reef sharks are occasionally seen.
There are no shortage of things to do, starting with climbing the nearby hill to get your bearings and a clear shot of land's end. Also dolphin-spotting, fishing and beach combing the artistically sculpted sand dunes.
Visitors can easily arrange a boat trip out to tiny offshore Lihukan (there’s a nice hotel on the island), walk up to the modest Bissape Waterfall, or visit to the traditional village of Kajang where inhabitants are wont to wear black clothing.
Bira is also noteworthy as the embarkation point for the shortest (five hours) sea voyage to Pulau Salayar to the south which the Rough Guide to Indonesia claims “has great esoteric appeal”.
But the chief interest of Bira is its perahu-building activities. About 15 kilometers west are the large and very active shipyards of Tanah Beru. Because of its strategic location on the southernmost point of Sulawesi right on the doorstep of eastern Indonesia, this is an epicentre of Indonesia’s boat building, a craft in which the Bugis excel.
A guided tour in a motorized perahu along the coast, from where you can make shore stops and visit an array of construction sites under thatched roofs, costs only Rp 40,000-50,000. In an age of industrial technology, this is a study in the evolution of a maritime tradition that stretches back more than 1000 years.
Perahu-Building
The Bugis and Makassarese are the most skilled boatbuilders and sailors in Indonesia. They eschew the compass and sextant, and claim they can smell coral reefs or an imminent tsunami. Onboard there is little distinction between captain and crew. Bunks below are useless; native sailors sleep and eat and pray on deck in all weather.
Perahu are usually forward-tilting and square-bowed, with great oar-like rudders and sails ballooning from very high masts. In really strong winds perahu must drop their gigantic sails or capsize. Some perahu can sail as fast as 30 kilometers an hour.
A fully loaded ocean-going two-master with seven sails can cruise from Ujung Pandang to Jakarta in only five days. Bugis perahu were used extensively in the war for independence in the late 1940’s, and not a few are still employed as a part of the Indonesian naval force.
Some designs (palari), with their giant rectangular sails, still reflect Portuguese influences. There are numerous other types: pinisi weigh 50-200 tons and have two masts; the lambo is 25-50 tons with one mast; the sande is a fast and agile perahu of only two to three tons.
Perahu have uses ranging from seagoing cargo boats to dive boats with cabins, from small fishing boats to light coasters. Racing perahu have one or two outriggers; these fast one-half-meter-wide boats can turn in just a few seconds, their outriggers clear out of the water. Under sail they have the grace and nimbleness of a bird.
Shipyards are most often found on a low stretch of riverbank or on a palm-shaded beach so boats can be launched as the river swells during the monsoon flood or when the tide comes in.
Expert perahu builders don't use plans, but build from knowledge and experience from their guts. Alongside electric planers and chainsaws, shipwrights work with such indispensable age-old tools as iron scrapers, steel adzes, metal augers, giant wooden mallets and wooden planes.
One is able to witness a great variety of perahu being built at Tanah Beru, just a half an hours drive from Bira, where a whole community of shipwrights, sailors and carpenters are involved in all stages of construction year round.
Hundreds of these highly seaworthy vessels are produced each year, adding to an already existing fleet of perhaps 30,000, constituting by far the largest existing flotilla of traditional wooden sailing ships in the world.
E-mail : pakbill2003@yahoo.com
Copyright@2003 PakBill
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