Indonesia from Merauke

I went on board a pickup truck belonging to an Indonesian trader, which was full of tilapia fish from PNG.

AGUSTINUS WIBOWO

Indonesian soldiers guard the international market on the Indonesian side.

After four days of staying in a border forest camp full of anopheles mosquitoes and with food supplies running low, I managed to get onboard a boat to the nearest Indonesian village. Coincidentally, that day was a market day, a time when Papua New Guinea (PNG) fishermen flock to the "international market" on the Indonesian side.

I jumped off the motorboat, which was moored at the edge of the swamp, setting foot in the middle of the open market. Watching the soldiers, the hustle and bustle of Asian-looking merchants and hearing conversations in Indonesian, I felt again the relaxed friendliness I had longed for.