So, our trip started as an early morning departure from Jakarta. We took a nice, air-conditioned ride to the far west coast of Java, boarded a ferry to Sumatra and drove another 3 hours to the town of Bandar Lampung. I honestly don't know how long the trip took cause we splurged for an executive class bus with full legroom and fully reclining seats and I slept like a baby. This busride was completely contrasted by the busride we took upon arriving in Bandar Lampung.
Not wanting to waste any time crossing Sumatra, immediately after arriving in Bandar Lampung, we snagged another bus bound for the coastal town of Krui. Now, again looking at a map, these two locations don't seem terribly far apart. However, as a testament to the utter ruggedness of Sumatra, this ride ended up taking 9 hours! On top of the 7 hours we spent coming from Jakarta! 16 hours on a bus! Also, if the bus to Bandar Lampung was executive class, the bus we took to Krui was unquestionably proletariat class. Cramped as can be, packed with people, smoking, babies crying, people sleeping in the aisles... Definitely a tough grind for 9 hours straight. We were moving at a snails pace through winding rodes, slowing to a crawl every 50 meters or so to drive cautiously over some extreme potholes. By the end of it, I was ready to gouge my own eyes out.
We arrived in Krui at 4:30 in the morning and it was raining. The bus was nice enough to drop us off in front of a hotel. We checked in without any problem. This hotel sucked though as we would soon find out. Not terribly clean, lacking a shower and not to mention the fact that the water and electricity kept going out. I think the whole strip had power issues, but when the power died right in the middle of my scoop bath, I almost threw a fit.
Anyways, the first day I was incredibly grumpy and unmotivated. I briefly meandered around town and it quickly became apparent how completely in the middle of nowhere we were. The town itself seems to be built around a main road with nothing even close to a tourist information booth in sight. Almost every single person we passed shouted out "hey meestar!" like it was their duty. Guys even shouted it from motorbikes as they drove by. At one point, I swear to god, as I was sleeping, some dude poked his head in my room and said "hey meestar", but I may have dreamed that.
So day 1 here was pretty uneventful. Adam attended a Muslim funeral somehow. I just laid about and tended to a rash I had cultivated over the last week and a half (totally made the 9 hour busride awesome btw). Some dude offered to drive me to a doctor then ended up swindling me.
So yeah, crabby in Krui is a pretty accurate description of the experience up until this point. Things didn't start getting better until day2. We were originally planning to plough through Sumatra straight to Singapore, but them we found out we had 27 hours of bussing ahead of us, and that would only take us part way. It was at this point we decided "hell no" and opted to head back to Jakarta and catch a flight to Singapore. This was unfortunate, because it broke our "no planes" rule, but I figure it will save us time, money and sanity.
We decided to stay another night in Krui. First step: check out of shithole hotel. I arrived back to find a cat pissing on the couch. We packed our stuff up and Adam went off to find a new place while I settled the price. I haggled for a good 15 minutes with the dude and managed to get the price lowered due to the fact that we had basically no amenities while we were there. Meanwhile, Adam found this super stellar place about a kilometer south that was much cleaner and even cheaper! We threw our stuff down there and at that point, my experience took a complete 180 degree turn.
After checking in, we went to the beach (finally) and ran into a German couple that had been there for 4 weeks. Also, along the way we somehow met a guy named Albed and he agreed to take us surfing the next morning. That night, he fit both of us on his motorbike and drove us to a restaurant for dinner. Adam and I tried this Indonesian wine while he opted for a bright green vodka mixer. He claimed that the vodka mixer was weak and thus good for him because he doesn't drink. It had about 4.8% alcohol in it though and after half of the bottle, he was swaying heavily and had to walk home.
The next morning we woke bright and early to start our surfing lesson. Albed was late (hangover maybe?) but he whisked us to the beach with surfboards in tow. The waves were a manageable size (unlike the ones in Bali) so I had some confidence that I would do well. The Germans showed up soon after we did and we all went out together. Second surfing experience: FAR better than the first. I actually stood on the board and rode a wave several times. It was fantastic! Adam had some luck as well. Some luck surfing at least. It seems his sunblock didn't work too well that day and he got completely tandooried.
Right now Adam is off surfing some more while I'm updating this blog. The doctor told me to keep my burn wound dry and I ran out of supplies so I'm avoiding the water. We catch a shuttle bus back to Jakarta at 6, this time, all first class, so no more cramped nightmares and horrible semi-sleeps. Next stop, Singapore! Goodbye Indonesia! PICS!
The ferry from Java to Sumatra. Nice scenery, expensive snacks.
Adam helped these kids launch their boat out to sea.
The internet cafe where I made my previous post. Note the generator.
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