{"id":12675,"date":"2018-05-04T11:48:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T10:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/?p=12675"},"modified":"2020-12-01T15:34:32","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T15:34:32","slug":"north-maluku-a-tale-of-two-volcanoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/north-maluku-a-tale-of-two-volcanoes\/","title":{"rendered":"North Maluku: A Tale of Two Volcanoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1606836846922{padding-top: 80% !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/www.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/MG_1153.jpg?id=18369) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/3″ offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-9 vc_col-lg-3 vc_hidden-md vc_col-sm-offset-4 vc_hidden-sm vc_col-xs-offset-3 vc_col-xs-6 vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1525429233676{padding-top: 24px !important;padding-right: 24px !important;padding-bottom: 24px !important;padding-left: 24px !important;background-color: rgba(0,48,83,0.7) !important;*background-color: rgb(0,48,83) !important;}”]<\/p>\n

North Maluku, Indonesia<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” parallax=”content-moving” css=”.vc_custom_1515677389520{background-color: #003053 !important;background-position: center;background-repeat: no-repeat;background-size: contain !important;}”][vc_column width=”5\/6″ offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-3 vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-md-offset-1 vc_col-md-10 vc_col-sm-offset-1 vc_col-xs-12″ css=”.vc_custom_1579607292988{padding-top: 10% !important;padding-bottom: 10% !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The twin volcanic island Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore in the North Maluku Islands, Indonesia, have been enemies for as long as anyone can remember. Despite their remote location, and their proximity to each other (less than 15 minutes by speedboat), their bitter rivalry has persisted through colonial occupation, spice crazes, Indonesian expansion and the passage of countless ships and people on their way east or west. To this day, the language spoken on each island is distinct and conversation between people of opposing sides is carried out in the general dialect of North Maluku, itself different from either of the island dialects.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s quirky places like this that bring a real joy to travelling in Indonesia.<\/a> Made up of over 17,000 islands, it\u2019s a constantly surprising and fascinating country \u2013 these two islands alone are an incredibly rich and rewarding place to visit.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” full_height=”yes” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-8 vc_col-xs-12″][vc_single_image image=”12676″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column css_animation=”none” css=”.vc_custom_1579607281983{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}” offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-lg-4 vc_col-xs-12″][vc_column_text]Ternate is the busier, more bustling city. It\u2019s a city of around 250,000 inhabitants, packed tightly around the lower reaches of the dramatic cone-shaped and active volcano, Gamalama.<\/p>\n

For a place seemingly so remote and off-the-beaten-track, there\u2019s a feeling that plenty goes on. The harbour is a hive of activity, with passengers and goods moving through or from here to all parts of the archipelago. The narrow roads are packed with traffic and purposeful looking people, and there is a sense of busy commerce.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an island with a well-developed sense of fun and enjoyment, though booze is frowned up and quite hard to locate. Colonised by the Dutch, the Sultanate was once fabulously wealthy, dominating the \u2018Spice Islands\u2019 of Maluku, largely on the proceeds of the clove trade. To this day, cloves are grown on the rich volcanic soil. They seem to have spent much of this wealth in fighting their neighbouring island, though interestingly neither side ever quite beat the other, suggesting a degree of underlying and unacknowledged interdependence.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1515676545726{background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column parallax=”content-moving” css=”.vc_custom_1515676642847{margin-top: -35px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”12681″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1525432701109{margin-bottom: -35px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1579607265363{background-color: #faeee7 !important;background-position: 0 0 !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;}”][vc_column width=”5\/6″ offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-3 vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-md-offset-1 vc_col-md-10 vc_col-sm-offset-1 vc_col-xs-12″ css=”.vc_custom_1515677437883{padding-top: 10% !important;padding-bottom: 10% !important;}”][vc_column_text]There are several features of life on the island which strike the casual visitor. For a start, they seem to be sport-mad, with countless joggers braving the oppressive equatorial heat and humidity. At a certain time in the evening, people come out and head to their nearest stretch of flat ground (there isn\u2019t much) and play volleyball or an intricate variant of football played with tiny goals, dancing feet and rapid passing. Woman are as keen as men and apparently several members of the Indonesia football team hail from these parts.<\/p>\n

\"Visit<\/a><\/span>