Palu is the provincial capital of central Sulawesi with a population of 330,000. Since I had a spare day before the eclipse, I decided to tour around the city.
The main attractions are outside of Palu, including Lore Lindu National Park, which features over 200 bird species, many of them unique to Indonesia. Unfortunately, I was unable to visit the park due to lack of time.
Source: Flickr
Palu has a bit of a microclimate, due to being in a valley surrounded by two mountain ranges. This meant that it’s relatively dry, making it perfect for eclipse watching.
There aren’t that many local attractions, and you can easily see the sights in a couple hours.
Palu’s population mostly consists of Muslims, although there is a significant Christian minority. This meant that there was always a mosque within earshot. The most prominent mosque in Palu is the Masjid Terapung or more commonly known as the floating mosque.
Non-Christians are allowed to visit and inside the mosque I met a few school children learning Arabic and studying the Koran. Although they didn’t speak much English, nothing transcends language barriers more than a game of high five.
Afterwards, I walked around the shoreline of Palu Bay and stumbled upon an unfinished monument, which was erected in honor of the solar eclipse.
Nearby, a fisherman was trawling for fish, with his kids enjoying the sunny day.
Afterwards I headed to the peace monument, located in the hills overlooking the city.
The views were stunning, although they had a peace gong with no actual mallet to strike it with.
As the sun set over the mountains, I walked onto the Teluk Palu bridge, which featured gorgeous views of Palu bay.
This clearly was the hangout spot for the local youth, and quite a few were taking selfies at a pedestrian area nearby.
I headed back to my hotel and called it a night as I had to wake up real early the next day for the eclipse.
