Job Discussion Forums

[adrian de la touche]

i dont know if this a factor,tanya, but friends of mine who are christians from ambon seem very reluctant to visit the bandas, for obvious reasons. i visited all the islands in the group recently and while evidence of the troubles is still visually clear on banda besar, the burnt out church in neira is being put back to its former glory,the ambonese refugees who inhabited the large colonial buildings on the front have vanished[gone home apparently] and there is a church and mosque and thriving mixed community in the village on ai. i realise underlying tensions are not usually displayed for the benefit of visitors,and if you aint involved you'd never pick up on it, but it did seem extremely pleasant and tranquil in comparison to 4 years ago; and the same goes for all the 'hot spots' in that area.
o0n a different tack, there is a dive centre in latu halat 20 mins south of ambon city; maluku divers, run by a very affable american chap by the name of john randolph; www.unexploredadventures.com.i know he organises all sorts of adventures in the area in there, boats treks etc....
and thgere is a resort on kri island near sorong with beach front access to the delights of raja empat;www.papua-diving.com.
where ever you end up i hope you have a top time

in response to another mail about the gilis, there is plenty of party life and good food on trawangan tho it could all be a bit in yer face if youre the shy retiring type. air is certainly more laid back as is meno, the only difference being that meno shuts up shop a bit earlier in the evening. i reckon meno tips it on the snorkeling front with a nice wall opposite trawangan. take reef shoes as retreatin tides will leave you with an awkward and prickly trek into shore on any of the three isles. however like i said before, the coral here is rubbish in comparison to whats on offer a little further east.