Bau Bau, Butung

Bau Bau, is a city on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.  It once was the seat of the Buton Sultanate.

While en route to Bau Bau the ship’s crew had a pirate drill. The guests were not involved but it was interesting to see fire hoses deployed to repel boarders.

On arrival we were greeted by a traditional welcome dance . Two men danced around each other with large knives feigning attack.

There was also an entourage of young women greeting guests as they left the ship. While waiting for the passengers to disembark they did what young people all over the world do!

There was only one tour on offer and it did not appeal to us so we decided to just explore the area on foot.  This was a challenge because footpaths are in name only so one has to be careful with footing and often walk on the road – which is not for the faint hearted as the motor scooters whiz by.

The water in the harbour was surprisingly clear and we saw a lot of brightly coloured fish.

There were also larger fish in the harbour as there were several men in canoes fishing by the wharf.