In Reply to: Pelni Ships in Indonesia posted by Pak_Tony on Tuesday, 23. December 2008 at 13:02 Bali Time:
travelling between Pantoloan and Tarakan, then on to Tawau. These were only 36 hour trips so it was not too bad.
First class can be as expensive as a plane fare between the same locations, however at that stage it was difficult to fly between Sulawesi and Sabah.
On various trips I purchased a cattle class (deck) ticket and mixed with the locals during the day. In the evenings I would approach the Purser and pay cash for a first class cabin. I found this was cheaper than paying the full fare.
You will meet some interesting people on board. I have sat with watch sellers, massage oil salesmen, prostitutes and crocodile penis salesmen.
On one trip to Toli-Toli we played cards with armed police while sitting on boxes of cash being transferred between banks.
There is no alcohol sold on the boats so take a few bottles of Arak or similar and share it with the fellow travellers.