Kicking back on the south coast
Trip Start
May 11, 2010
1
27
Trip End
Aug 01, 2010
Pangandaran, Indonesia
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Conveniently, there was a local bus ready to depart - I didn't first think I would be able to fit in as even standing room seemed to be sold out, but somehow the helpful driver squeezed my bag in somewhere, then cleared a couple of bags and boxes at the front and showed me to a VIP seat between him and a little old lady, who very soon after fell asleep on my lap. Talk about little ladies, I walked past an absolutely tiny elderly woman in Yogyakarta the other day and she was literally half my height - the top of her head was where my navel is!! I felt like the incredible Hulk walking past her. Quite amusing.
About an hour and a half of driving through the bumpy country roads we reached the beachside town of Pangandaran. As in most other buses i've been in so far, the driver chain-smoked all the way, lighting a new cigarette from the previous one. I don't think i've ever seen so many people smoke so much - quite frequently you even see kids who can't be much more than 12 years old puffing away.
Pangandaran is a nice little beach town, with a good surf especially for beginners - unfortunately I'll need to wait until my ear gets better before getting in the water. Thinking of doing a trekking tour tomorrow and on Monday hopefully renting a surf board, finally.
Met a couple of German guys on the way here and ended up having the most amazing dinner with them last night - for just over $5USD each (which is quite expensive in local standards), we shared a huge tuna and red snapper literally fresh from the sea, with unlimited rice and complimentary tea. Delicious.
Had a random encounter this morning whilst having breakfast - a local guy in a table next to mine asked where I'm from, and seemed overjoyed upon hearing that I am from "Pinland" (as in the Philippines, many locals pronounce F as P as they don't have F in their native language) - it turned out he had lived in Sweden for a few years and was eager to practice his Swedish. First time for me in absolutely years so I was very rusty, but somehow managed to have a fairly long, random conversation with topics ranging from meatballs to orangutangs. He also told me about a beautiful Robinson Crusoe style island group of Karimunjawa north of Java, so now toying with the idea of going there next.. but running out of time, so not sure I'll get to go there on this trip. If not, it'll be a good excuse to come back to Indonesia one day I guess :)
