I had a compelling reason to visit Sorong. For as long as I can remember, my parents attended the annual Sorong reunion for Royal Dutch Shell colleagues. When my father was in his late 20s, he worked in Sorong for a couple of years as a crew member on the landing ship, the Kais, which served as a supply ship for the Dutch oil industry. I wanted to visit Sorong while my father is still alive so I could entertain him in his care home with some new stories, hopefully keeping his memory active.

There are no direct flights between Surabaya and Sorong, with a total distance of 2,171 km—roughly the same distance between Amsterdam and Athens. We took a Lion Air flight via Makassar in South-Sulawesi. When flying domestically in Indonesia, about 90 percent of your options are with Lion Air or its subsidiaries. Currently, Lion Air operates 118 aircraft, mostly Boeing 737s. Notoriously, during the 2000s, Lion Air experienced many incidents, some of which were deadly and primarily caused by pilot error. However, in 2016, the airline was removed from the EU blacklist and is now considered safe. Ticket prices are quite affordable, especially given the distance.

Curiously, our plane was painted partially in Boeing's house colors and partially in Lion Air livery. The 737 looked a bit battered, but, jokingly, I considered it safer than the new 737 MAX. Remember Lion Air Flight 610?

Indonesia has many regional dishes, so during our stopover, I had to try sop saudara, a buffalo meat soup. Since we woke up at 3:30 AM to catch the early flight, it was the perfect breakfast. Another famous meat soup is konro, which is a bone soup. I tried konro in Sorong for breakfast a few days later.

In Sorong, we opted for a homestay, primarily because I wanted a local contact to help arrange transport to Klamono, a name my father had suddenly mentioned in his care home. The homestay was located in a lovely residential area that seemed safe, but the owner had installed corrugated iron plates against the mango tree to prevent thieves from climbing and stealing mangoes at night. A mosque and a church were nearby, and during prayer times, both places of worship used speakers to amplify their messages to the believers—the volume was so loud that conversations had to pause.

Krupuk drying in the sun. The girl is the owner's daughter, who showed us the way out of the neighborhood on our first day.

In the early 1960s my father was housed in simple barracks built by the Americans during the world war. It was a very different Sorong.

In Sorong, there is little visible presence of the Free Papua Organization (Indonesian: Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM), apart from some graffiti. "Papua Merdeka" literally means "Papua Independent." However, as recently as 2019, government buildings were destroyed in Sorong, resulting in over 31 deaths in the region.

Papua students are calling for a new referendum. When West Papua was transferred to Indonesia in 1963, following an agreement mediated by the United Nations, many Papuans felt it was done against their will. In 1969, Indonesia organized a referendum known as the "Act of Free Choice", which involved a council of around 1,000 selected representatives from various Papuan tribes. However, significant pressures and intimidation marred the process, leading many Papuans to feel betrayed.

To this day, a movement continues to fight for an independent West Papua. The Indonesian state is hitting back hard, using drones in the warfare against the West Papua National Liberation Army. One case, were the Kiwirok bombings in 2021. I have an excellent 700 page book on this topic: P.J. Drooglever, Een daad van vrije keuze. De Papoea´s van westelijk Nieuw-Guinea en de grenzen van het zelfbeschikkingsrecht (Den Haag 2005).

Tuna jaw

There wasn’t much time on the first day, so we had a deep purple fresh 100% dragon fruit juice and looked for a local restaurant serving fresh fish. A lot of tuna is landed in Sorong, and we came across a restaurant that wasn’t busy, but judging by the plate of the only customer eating there, we decided to go in. It turned out the man was eating a jaw of a tuna fish. We ordered the same, along with another grilled fish. The quality was simply perfect. The head of a fish has the best tasting meat.

A common grilled fish side dish is this spicy tomato sauce. It looks very similar to Malay air assam tamarind.

Ingredients;  3 small shallot (the dark Indian type, not the light Thai type). Peel it and dice it fine, 4 red rawit (birds eye chilli), cut 4 each, 2 red chilli sliced small, 1 semi ripe or green tomato - diced small, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of fish sauce, 1 ping pong sized tamarind pulp, diluted in 1 cup of water, seeds and pulp removed, juice of 2 jeruk limo. Simply mix all ingredients together.

Of course, Nenik was feeding stray cats with pieces of fish, which led to a cat accidentally scratching her foot. We spent the last hour searching for a shop that sells disinfectant. During our search, we walked past a colorful little restaurant. I’m known for my adventurous palate, but I draw the line at bats. Later, I learned that bats (Paniki in the local language) are consumed as “medicine” for asthma.

Our homestay featured a typical Indonesian bathroom setup. The shower wasn't working, so the water in the white bucket was used for both showering and flushing the toilet. It may be basic, but it functions perfectly.

Pasar Ikan Sorong

Early in the morning, we visited the fish market. Although there were no restaurants, the market was bustling with both fishermen and customers. That evening, we would enjoy grilled fish again, likely purchased at this market just 12 hours earlier.

Streetfood

This lady was baking a mixture of desiccated coconut and palm or coconut sugar in clay holders. We bought some of the baked "cookies," wrapped in banana leaves and still warm. They were simply awesome—sweet and complex.

In the afternoon, we explored Sorong. We got around using tiny Japanese minibuses called Angkot (short for "angkutan kota", city transport). Angkots operate on predetermined routes and are inexpensive, although the buses can be quite battered. A single journey costs about 30 euro cents. Alternatively, you can take a Grab taxi, but the Angkots were more fun.

I thought it would be a good idea to visit the Taman Wisata Mangrove just outside of Sorong, but the walking path into the mangrove was closed. The Grab driver then took us to Taman Wisata Alam Sorong, a nature park, which turned out to be a little underwhelming. While there were some nice orchids growing on the trees, it was unclear how to explore more of the forest. I attempted to walk deeper into the jungle, but Nenik exclaimed, “Don’t go there!”

“Why not?” I asked.

“There’s no path!” she replied.

“Yes, there is; it’s just overgrown,” I countered.

“But there might be snakes!” she warned.

Me: “…..”

Once upon a time, Taman Wisata Alam Sorong must have been proudly inaugurated by local administrators, but it has now fallen into disrepair. There was little to see, and the paths were not well maintained.

There is a strong Chinese presence in Sorong, but the Vihara Buddha Jayanti was only build in the 1980s. The temple was under renovation so we entered without paying the entrance fee.

Tembok Berlin

You wouldn’t expect to find a Berlin Wall in Sorong, yet this is the name of a historical site that has become a symbol of independence from the Dutch. It is an old wall dating back to the Dutch colonial era. Today, the area is filled with grill restaurants in the evenings.

The principle is simple: you select a grill place, pick a fish from the table, and look it in the eye. They will grill the fish for you and serve it with rice and the usual sauces. You’ll need to order the vegetables separately.

Separate order: stir-fried kangkung (water spinach) with garlic.

Papeda

Papeda is a well-known dish found in parts of Sulawesi, the Maluku Islands, and coastal Papua. While it can sometimes be found in restaurants, it's not always available due to the time-consuming preparation involved; you need to pound sago flour with water until a sticky glue-like paste forms. The owner of our homestay kindly prepared a complete papeda meal for us, featuring spicy fish stew and vegetables.

To eat papeda, spoon the kangkung tumis vegetable soup into a bowl, add some of the sago-glue on top, and then pour in the spicy fish stew to taste. The vegetable soup also contained tiny leaves from the edible moringa tree, Moringa oleifera. I had never eaten moringa before; the leaves are particularly nutritious, rich in vitamins A, C, and E.