Detour

PORTSIDE Voyagers who get shore leave in Jakarta should make a few hours for Sunda Kelapa, the port of old Batavia and the nearby Museum Bahari, Indonesia's excellent maritime museum. Although the 800-year-old port has been eclipsed by the modern port at Tanjung Priok, high-riding Bugis boats from South Sulawesi province, one of the world's last seagoing schooner fleets, still call regularly.

Near the entrance to the old port is the Museum Bahari, housed in a 17th century godown. Its elegantly proportioned halls that once stored spices now display antique ships from all over the archipelago, such as a sleek kora kora war boat from the Maluku Islands, and finely detailed models of modern freighters. In the market around the museum, visiting sailors stock up on rope, rain gear and pirated VCDs.

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