Sapeken is a tiny oval shaped island in the eastern Kangean Archipelago, north of Bali, east of Madura, in Indonesia.

The people of Kangean’s main island seem to be dominated by the Madurese, but with of Bugis (of “Boogey man” fame), Makasarese & Banjarese—all the seafaring peoples of east central Indonesia—mixed in, both in their family trees & in their language. 

Sapeken--remote old port at the eastern end of the Kangean archipelago, north of Bali, Indonesia. 

As magic hour was coming on, we took a stroll circumventing Sapeken--only 1 kilometer across--to see the people who live on this remote but crowded island.  

As we started walking we saw the inevitable Indonesian small-scale entrepreneurs setting up in the late afternoon to sell Sapeken treats. 

On my first visit to Indonesia I visited some of the most crazy-remote places in the world.  We trekked to areas where possibly one other outsider--either foreigner or even Indonesian from outside Papua--had ever been before.  I’ve long known what the word remote means.

From the main island of the Kangean Archipelago, we crossed over to the nearby isle of Mamburit—one of those last remaining places where they continue to build traditional wooden sailing craft the old way. 

I first heard of the remote Kangean Archipelago when reading an old book about the Dutch in the East Indies during the the last century.  I was struck by stories of a few brave souls who moved out to this hyper-remote little chain of islands that lies NNE from Bali, but is administratively counted as part of Madura, East Java—though laying far from Madura.