Day 388: October 23, 2025 – Bitung, Indonesia

Bitung is a coastal city at the northern tip of Indonesia, our second stop in this country. They must not get many tourists here, because we were quite the attraction in this port. It started off with a lively port welcome, with the mayor in attendance.

Walking along the streets, every motorcycle/scooter that drove by (almost without exception, and there were thousands of them) either waved, broke into a warm smile, or yelled out a greeting. “Hello Missis! Welcome Bitung!”

Gaggles of schoolchildren followed me around, asking me to write my name in their school notebooks. Their sweet little faces will represent Indonesia in my Faces of the World gallery.

The group below was after more than just autographs — they were rubbing their fingers together, chanting “money, money”! I countered with: “No money — you give me YOUR money”! They looked puzzled for a moment, looked at each other, and then one of them pulled out a bill and offered it to me! Dang, I was not expecting them to call my bluff…

I was especially charmed by this young girl. She had introvert written all over her – she was staying away from the raucous crowd and was ever so polite asking for an autograph.