By: Mayawati NH (MyTrip Magazine)

After snorkeling near Ternate Island, Pantar Strait, on the first day of #XPDCALORFLOTIM trip, I saw a wooden boat docked at our Menami Ship. 'Cute Girl', the name of the boat. From the boat, women from Ternate Village, Ternate Island, sold their handmade Alor ikat woven fabrics.

Because this area is included in the tourist area, so many local residents sell from the boat, docked to passing ships. Expedition participants and fellow journalists who traveled on the first day of the expedition were tempted to buy these hand-woven fabrics with dyes from natural materials. Some large fabrics are valued at IDR 400 thousand, some small ones are IDR 50 thousand.

When we were already far away at the eastern end of Alor Island, our ship was also approached by a wooden fishing boat. It turned out that they were fishermen from Buaya Island who wanted to exchange diesel for their catch of fish. About six fish of the type sweetlip, naso, angel fish, barracuda were bartered with 36 liters of diesel.

The bartering was done using the local language which we didn't understand, so we just watched and took pictures. Derta (Reef Check Indonesia), one of the team members, had a doubt, "Can they speak Indonesian?". I replied with a confident "they can!" and we proved it. That's the great thing about our nation, from the west end to the east end, to any remote area, the majority of the population can speak Indonesian, except for people who are very old.

I even heard from the boat crew that there are so many regional languages on Alor Island, they communicate with people from other tribes in Indonesian. Yes, Bahasa Indonesia is their unifying language.

The fishermen from Buaya Island fish far to the east, then bring and sell their catch to Timor Leste. The fishermen say that the fish sold in Timor Leste is more expensive.

We also encountered the hospitality of our Alor hosts in Maritaing Village, where our boat docked on the second day of the trip. Like the law of nature at the dock, you know who you are, the villagers helped us dock the Menami to the harbor.

The next day when we were about to leave the village, we were 'released' by a group of children in elementary school uniforms who excitedly waved to us.

Unfortunately, in Maritaing Village, there were no local children playing by jumping into the water from the jetty. I had witnessed the action of children jumping into the water when the Menami Ship was still docked in Kalabahi, the capital of Alor Regency. It was very exciting to watch the children scramble to get on the small wooden boat that was docked and then jump into the water with various styles. There are also some who jump into the water from a fairly high pier. An attraction that has always been a source of entertainment for me.