Untold Miles - Chapter 1

Untold Miles - Chapter 1 – Welcome to Sulawesi! 🌴

I first heard about Sulawesi in April, even though my vacation was already planned for June.

To be honest, Sulawesi wasn't even on my original list. I had shortlisted a few other destinations, but one by one they got ruled out—some were over budget, some had ridiculously long flight connections, and of course... visas decided to join the party too.

I knew one thing for sure—I wanted to visit somewhere different. Somewhere that wasn't flooded with tourists. A place where I could experience something new instead of standing in another long queue for a photo.

Being from India, I did what every traveler does—I opened Google Maps and started randomly moving the cursor across the globe. That's when my eyes landed on this huge island in Indonesia called Sulawesi.

My first thought?

"Hmm... Indonesia? I've already been to Bali. Is this going to be the same?"

That question stayed in my head for a while.

So, research mode: ON.

I checked the weather in June, watched YouTube videos, read blogs, zoomed in and out on Google Maps (multiple times!), and slowly realized this island was nothing like I had imagined.

The weather looked perfect.

The landscapes looked stunning.

The places were exactly the kind of offbeat destinations both my wife and I love.

There was just one tiny detail...

She had absolutely no idea where we were going! 😄

I wanted this trip to be a surprise, so I quietly continued all my research without telling her. I managed to keep the secret... well... only to a certain extent. (You'll know why later.)

Since I didn't have months to plan, I gave myself a deadline.

Enough research.

Enough confusion.

Destination locked.

Sulawesi it is!

And honestly, I was pretty sure that among my family and friends, hardly anyone had even heard of this place. That somehow made choosing it even more exciting.

The Great Flight Hunt ✈️

Now came my favorite part...

Finding the cheapest and smartest flight combination.

One-way tickets.

Round trips.

Entering Indonesia through one city.

Leaving from another.

Connecting flights.

Different airlines.

Different countries.

I literally tried every possible combination I could think of.

Finally, I ended up with one of the weirdest routes I've ever booked:

Bangalore → Coimbatore → Singapore → Manado

Most people would probably avoid extra layovers.

Not us.

We actually love long layovers. Airports are part of the holiday for us!

And this route ended up saving nearly ₹5,000, so that was an easy decision.

For the return journey, I booked:

Makassar → Kuala Lumpur → Bangalore

Funny thing is...

While planning, I thought I was saving both time and money.

Reality had other plans.

I ended up spending an extra day in Malaysia... and pretty much spent the money I thought I'd saved!

Lesson learned:

The harder you try to save every single rupee, the easier it is to spend it somewhere you never planned. 😂

Still... I had complete faith in my master plan.

Planning the Itinerary

Flights?

Done.

Now came the difficult part...

Planning 16 days across an island I'd never been to.

Every evening after work, I found myself buried in travel blogs, YouTube videos, Facebook posts and maps.

And then I found the Facebook group.

Honestly, it became my Sulawesi Bible.

People constantly shared recent travel updates, hidden places, ferry timings, local experiences, tour contacts and suggested itineraries.

I spent hours just reading old posts.

If you're planning Sulawesi someday...

Join that group first.

You'll thank me later.

After weeks of reading, I decided on three major regions:

• North Sulawesi – Manado

• Central Sulawesi – Luwuk & Togean Islands

• South Sulawesi – Makassar

There was one island I absolutely wanted to visit. It looked incredible, but reaching it seemed complicated. I knew I'd probably need a local guide to make it happen.

(Little did I know that island would become one of the highlights of the trip!)

Finding a Local Guide

Through the Facebook group, I connected with a local guide on WhatsApp.

She was incredibly helpful.

I simply told her how many days I had, and she came back with an amazing itinerary.

Unfortunately, my budget had other ideas.

So I asked her to help only with the Central Sulawesi portion of the trip, while I planned the rest myself.

Normally, we love renting scooters and exploring places on our own, so I balanced guided days with independent travel.

Thankfully, Booking.com made hotel and homestay bookings super easy.

Some bookings stayed on hold because I kept changing my itinerary every other day.

In fact...

I booked my last hotel just two days before flying!

My final plan looked like this:

• Manado – 3 nights

• Ampana – 2 nights

• Togean Islands – 3 nights

• Luwuk – 5 nights

• Makassar – 1 night

• Kuala Lumpur – 1 night

Everything was finally falling into place.

Breaking the News

As the departure date got closer, I gave my wife one important instruction:

"Travel light."

Then I casually dropped another hint.

"We're going to Indonesia."

Her reaction wasn't exactly...

"Wow!"

It was more like...

"Wait... Indonesia? Again?" 🤨

Fair enough.

We had already been to Bali years ago, and both of us prefer exploring new countries.

So I slowly started selling Sulawesi to her.

Lush green landscapes.

Less crowded places.

Nature.

Adventure.

Hidden gems.

Everything she likes.

But...

I still never told her the name Sulawesi.

She spent days guessing.

"Java?"

"Sumatra?"

"Jakarta?"

I just smiled and enjoyed the guessing game.

Finally... Departure Day!

The day had finally arrived.

Our route:

Bangalore → Coimbatore → Singapore → Manado

Bags packed.

Mandatory apartment photo taken.

And then...

With a little help from AI, I edited one of our travel pictures by adding the Sulawesi map in the background and posted it in our family WhatsApp groups.

Most of our relatives had never even heard of Sulawesi.

That's when my wife finally discovered the destination name too.

There was no dramatic reaction.

No huge surprise.

Mostly because she'd never heard of the place before!

At this point, there was only one option...

Go... and hope all my months of research actually paid off.

Thankfully, I was still very confident.

Changi Airport... Again ❤️

As I mentioned earlier...

We absolutely love long layovers.

Ironically, our flight to Singapore got delayed by an hour and reduced our Changi Airport time.

Not exactly what we wanted!

Changi is still our favorite airport in the world.

Every single time we visit, we make it a point to stop by the Butterfly Garden.

My wife loves watching butterflies among all the blooming flowers.

I secretly enjoy experimenting with portrait photography there because... well... the butterflies don't complain about posing. 😄

There was another reason I was excited.

Years ago, I bought my action camera from Changi Airport.

This time...

My wife surprised me with something even better.

A drone.

I'd been talking about buying one for ages.

Initially, I said,

"No... we'll buy it later."

But deep inside...

I already knew the answer.

A few minutes later...

I was officially a drone owner.

With barely enough time left before boarding, we rushed to the gate carrying one extra piece of happiness.

Landing in Sulawesi

After a comfortable flight and a quick nap, the captain announced our descent into Manado.

Finally.

We had made it.

As soon as we landed, I noticed how small and peaceful the airport looked.

We walked from the aircraft to the terminal, completed the health declaration, cleared immigration within minutes, and headed toward customs.

Since we were carrying only two backpacks for a 16-day trip, the customs officer looked a little surprised.

He asked about our itinerary and then smiled.

"Only two bags?"

We nodded.

"That's all we need."

He laughed and replied,

"Even backpackers usually carry more than this!"

We all smiled...

Walked out of the airport...

And just like that...

Welcome to Sulawesi! 🌴

The adventure had officially begun.