Rajah Ampat

I recalled visiting Rajah Ampat, an Indonesian territory in Papua, as part of a delegation led by officials from the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Osaka and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after learning that it would be featured on tonight’s episode of “Sekai no Hate Made ItteQ.” Although it had potential as a tourist destination, transportation was extremely difficult, and it took longer to travel from Jakarta to Rajah Ampat than from Japan to Jakarta. Within Indonesia, we had to take a small plane and then travel three and a half hours by motorboat loaded with several drums of fuel to cross the equator. At the time, there was no airport. I wonder if there is one now? I remember being laughed at by people at the Japanese embassy in Jakarta when they said, “Even people in Jakarta don’t go to Rajah Ampat. You go there a lot (laughs).” I wonder if they have improved not only transportation but also accommodation facilities? By the way, I took malaria prophylaxis and was at risk of dengue fever infection 😅.