Here Today, There Tomorrow

It’s weekend and I have nowhere to go nor things to do so I end up in front of my laptop going through all my folders and “accidentally” hit this folder of photos of my first and last time trip with my High School best friends before I moved to Nias Island for work. The memories rush in and suddenly I realize how I miss my then life, my friends, my choir group and the craziness of the big city. Not that I have sad days, boring new (and old) friends  and my life is miserable in here. It’s just, you know, people keep coming to the past because it’s familiar :)

Well, back to the topic. Since I’m already exposed to this memories and I never had the chance to write about this nor  share it to my friends other than those whom I had this trip with, I decid to make a throwback post in my blog. This is gonna be photos heavy, because somethings are not as beautiful as what we have in our mind when being described.

As I have mentioned before, I had this trip as the first and last time with my -already 9 years of friendship-High School friends. Since college, they did a lot of getaways together like hiking, mountain climbing and island hopping. Some friends and I never had the chance to join them due to different schedule of holidays and different locations of campus (Medan, Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya). So when I finally had the chance to join them, I was super excited. Soooo..to Pahawang Island we went.

For those who still don’t know Pahawang Island, it’s a beautiful island in Sumatera, around 3 hours drive from Lampung and 2 hours by boat. This island is a perfect object for snorkeling since the underwater view is so amazing. In fact, there are some other islands nearby but Pahawang is the most well known from all islands in the territory because it’s usually where the backpackers and tourist would stay and from there, they would do island hopping to other islands.  

How did we get there?

We were still in our batik and work attire when we gathered at the meeting point, Slipi Jaya Mall, at 6.30 pm. There were 13 of us and we were all High School classmates. We joined an open trip with other groups but due to comfort and safety, we asked to be put in seperate group beforehand. We took bus from Pijay to Merak Harbour at 8.30 pm and arrived at Merak around midnight. Then we took ferry from Merak to Bakauheni Harbour. That was the first time for me and some of us to set foot in Sumatera other than North Sumatera. Were we there, yet? Nopeeee...It’s still a long way to go to reach our destination. Our rent cars were waiting for us at the harbour and then we drove around 3  hours to Ketapang, it’s a village where we would take our boat to Pahawang Island.

02.30 a.m at Merak Harbour

What was in it?

What I loved the most about snorkeling here was that finally I could see the famous little cutie fish from the Finding Nemo movie, it was the nemo itself. The underwater was so crystal clear, we could see them swimming in herds.  At some spots, we saw coral reefs from different size and colours.



I must admit that I was a little scared being too close to the big reefs, i always imagined that it was actually a sleeping sea monster and I might awake it by being too close. Who ever knows what could come out from a deep dark underwater, right? We also did island hopping and of course played around at the beach.

Last words

Travelling is good for your soul. Yes, It may empty out your wallet but it refills and refuels your soul. Find good place to travel to, but whom you travel with is even more essential. I love my trip to Pahawang Island for it’s beauty and the hospitality but what made it unforgettable was my bestfriends. Thanks for dragging me down to this place, guys.

Never ask the theme of this photo. That's just the way they are and ya..boys never grow up :)

Lots of love :)