[East/Central Indonesia] Day 08 / 3rd June 2006 - And there were Two, on the Road...

I remember we tucked into bed at around 2230hrs on the 2nd of June...

What happened turned out to be one helluva night...

Despite sweeping off the soil grains from the bed, we still felt that the soil weren't completely removed - never mind, we thought we could live with it. Subsequently, we opened up the mosquito net, hoping that it would provide us with some form of protection.

In the end, I think we did ourselves in.

One hour later, and I realised that we had been shut in - either the net didnt work, or there were already mosquitoes around us when we set up the net. Naga managed a few winks, but the way he slept, I was feeling very worried. His breaths were short, deep and quick; not that they were disturbing my sleep, but they seemed like coming from someone asthmatic. I wanted to wake him up and tell him, but I didn't, for fear that he might not be able to fall back into sleep. Besides that, he would also roll left and right, and scratched himself; I was also scratching myself constantly, all-over. I had no choice but to resort to my Axe Brand Medicated Oil and Mopiko - after all, my latest incarnation, according to Naga and MD, was the Ointment Man, the man constantly applying stuff onto himself heh. But on this night, whatever amount of stuff I applied on my body only relieved my discomfort for that little while, never able to settle me down in a condition where I could drift into dreamland...

Naga's breathing pattern finally settled into a somewhat more regular, shallower pattern, but my level of discomfort still remained the same. I could tell that Naga was suffering too, even in his sleep. Every moment when I felt I was closing to shutting down, I felt a mosquito or two resting on my legs, and instinctively, I would reach out and start hitting the spot and then scratching. This was repeated countless, endless times throughout the night that I got so frustrated. Furthermore, the constant buzzing of the mosquitoes heard as they zoomed past my ears just upped my frustration levels a few more notches. The biggest regret - not bringing any repellent or mosquito coil.

For awhile, I so wanted to try something, but fear that it would a big taboo. I was lying and waiting, checking to see if everyone outside had gone to sleep. Realised that I had to go outside the room and check if everyone had turned in; the lights had been on for quite awhile and one couldn't tell is everyone outside ahd gone to sleep or not. One check - good, everyone's sleeping. Even then, I waited for awhile more, just to be sure.

Then I lighted a fag. Gotta generate some smoke to fog out the mozzies.

It worked.

But not permanently.

Back to scratching and rolling around on the bed.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The mind began to wander off, in an attempt to be distracted from the then-conditions…S

omehow, the mind conjured up images of home, of the people back home…

My bed + my twin pillows. Ingterneck/MSN/Email. Family. Friends.

It must have been that phonecall. Plus aided from the then-conditions.

It was one of those nights where one couldn’t wait for day to break.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Naga woke up to visit the toilet once, then went back to sleep.

Then, it was my turn. Why must it be now?

I turned around to check; Naga had went back to sleep. Felt like slapping myself, because I didn’t know where the toilet was, and it would be a potential disaster waiting to happen, groping and moving around.

I held back.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I had resisted the urge to switch the phone on to check the time.

There’s this hypothesis of mine, or rather weird workings of my own mind – if I hope for time to pass, I better not know what time it is, else time would just crawl on slowly.

By then, it didn’t really matter to me. I just wanted to know how long I had been in that state of mental torture.

Pressed and held ON for a few secs.

Punched in password.

Waited.

It was 0430hrs.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I did eventually fall asleep. The next time I woke up, the skies were beginning to brighten up, and I checked the wall clock outside the room – 0615hrs.

I slept for less than 2 hours, hardly the best preparation for us on the day where we would be embarking on our road trip.

And I’m pretty sure, that I have not lay on bed and yet not been able to fall asleep for this long – 6 solid hours of consciousness and itchiness.


The room where we spent a very bad night…

MD was up, and Naga, whom I guessed finally went into the REM phase, needed some “persuasion” to be woken up. The first conversation topic of the day, naturally, was on the (lack of) sleep the night before. Once again, MD was there to chide us on our level of preparedness; however, he was also ever-prepared, and ever-ready to help us. Out came a bottle of insect repellent, the roll-on type, which he vouched for its effectiveness. He was so kind to pass it to us for the remainder of our trip. Thinking back, it could be a bad move for him, considering he’s still in IJ as I’m typing this log out…

Breakfast was simple – sugar-coated crackers and some sweet cocoa beverage. MD had some breakfast outside when he went out with Edo for a walk, but he finished his drink and some crackers as though it was his first meal of the day.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Naga and I had been intrigued by the pet vavi which was tied to the backyard ever since we arrived. While waiting for everyone to get ready for a visit to the town centre, we sat outside and analysed the black pig…It had a pretty long nose, and most of the time we caught sight of it, its head was bowed down, mouth in contact with the ground, eating away – it seemed to eat anything and everything, even its own “by-products.” Later on in the day, we would be throwing tuber and banana skins towards the vavi, only for it to finish them up efficiently. We were asked by our hosts to guess how old the vavi is; we guessed about close to a year old or so, for it did looked pretty big, about as long as my feet, and its tummy was almost touching the ground. Our hosts replied that it was actually a few months / less than half a year old, and we were quite astonished at how a pig can grow so big so fast. Naga then went near it, and it was apparently quite shy, for it tried to keep a distance from Naga while making the snorting noises.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Once everyone was ready, we headed off to town, as usual on ojeks. My driver nearly led me to somewhere else! MD had to come back and lead my driver to our intended destination.

For a start, MD went to look for a cobbler to mend his sandals – the straps had came off whilst the volcano expedition, and he wanted to get them fixed as he promised to give them to Pagi as a gift. That didn’t take long as we watched the skilful hands of the cobbler and his apprentice at work, cutting slits on the sides of the sandals, slotting the straps back in and putting some neat stitchwork to secure the straps. All that for S$2 thereabouts.

Next, we went to this provision shop. I noticed something that MD had remarked previously; that most owners of these shops were Indo-Chinese. We bought some iodine solution for my wound – the locals call it “bendictin” – as well as some lozenges for Naga, who was starting to develop some cough symptoms.

We moved on and went to this shop that develops photos. Naga was looking to transfer his photos from his camera to CD-R. He had forgotten to bring his memory card and thus had to rely on the internal memory of the camera. It was almost full after the one week on Palu’e. Unfortunately, we had little luck, and it seemed like he had to be very selective in photo-taking for the rest of the trip…

More shopping, and we managed to find our adaptor – finally, we can charge our MP3 players and handphones! After that, we headed to the harbour, to bid goodbye to some of the folks who were going back to Palu’e. We saw this big cruise ship that was parked in the harbour…

Last bit of shopping involved MD and Naga trying to buy some more clothes; MD had given his clothes away, and Naga needed a set of clothings or two more, just in case. No luck though, as there weren’t really any suitable clothing stores around. We stopped for a drink at this makan place though; I didn’t stop myself from gulping down two cups of cold mandarin orange drinks. After that, it was back to Sentrum.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MD and Pelé got themselves ready to leave for the airport. There was still enough time for them to check in their luggage first and then come back for the rest of their stuff. Most of us went along and accompanied them to the airport. On the way, Naga’s cap fell off and luckily, Si’a managed to stop and retrieve it for him.

It was kinda weird; after all, it was only one week ago that we had met up with MD at Harbourfront for this adventure. During the past week, the two of us had certainly learnt even more things from the man. Plus the countless times that he came to our rescue. One part of me felt guilty for imposing on him, one part of me felt grateful for his help and all. Things that we definitely do when we get back include finding a replacement bottle of insect repellent for him, and organising a last get-together before he leaves SG for a long time. And I need to get him handkies!


THE MAN – one of the reasons I won’t forget my 4 years in NUS


Pelé and Si’a – both very nice people who treated us with the utmost warmth and hospitality for the past few days.


Goodbye, for a long time…

As they walked through the fates, the realisation finally set in. I had to rely a lot on Naga from now on, in terms of communication. First thing we did was to get back to Sentrum for our stuff. Once back there, Edo was kind enough to go out to the bus terminal to check out the departure timings for us. Naga and I had planned to head for Ende after analysing the maps that MD had drawn for us the night before. Our plan was to reach Ende before nightfall, and maybe go and visit Kelimutu the day after. Kelimutu is this volcano with three craters, each with the water in the crater showing different colours – sounds pretty scenic. Turned out that the bus would be leaving at 1300hrs, bus fare would be Rp40,000 per head, and it would drop by Sentrum, meaning we still had about one hour to hang around. The duration of the trip was not very consistent though; Edo said we would reach in 2 hours, but other sources told us it was gonna be a 4-5 hour trip.

Meanwhile, Si’a had brought out lunch for us – more crackers and some green bean-pumpkin congee, as well as some coffee that Naga had brought from home. Even though we weren’t very hungry, we finished what we had been offered, for we figured it would be quite some time before we were going to eat anything.

Before long, it was time to bid farewell. The bus had been horning for us from the main road. We waved our goodbyes, and with a heavy heart, set off towards a journey unknown…

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The road trip did not kick off to a good start.

The bad thing about not taking the bus from the terminal was that we could not choose where we wanted to sit – we were left with the only two seats available. Actually they were more like half-seats – Naga ended up with half of his butt hanging in the air, while I was just a little bit luckier, but no less lucky, for though my bum has enough space, my shoulders hadn’t. For half the journey, I could not rest myself on the back of the seat, and had to resort sitting upright, with my bag on my lap.

It didn’t help that the journey was laden with countless curves and slopes. Ok, slopes weren’t too bad, but when the bus had to turn every now and then to negotiate the curves, it soon became unbearable. My medicated oil came in handy, though I had almost used up one bottle the night before combating my itch, I still had some spare reserves. What aggravated the agony was the loud throbbing music that rocked my ear drums to no end – the decibel level was past the level of tolerance, and one of the speakers just so happened to be right above my right ear. The European man beside me used paper to stuff his ears; with my mobility severely limited by the passengers on my left and right, I had no choice but to rest my right ear on my bag to shut out the music.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It soon transpired that the trip was going to take much more than 2-3 hours.

There were a few stops that the bus made, but we failed to see any place that resembled any place that we could put up for the night. We persisted to wait till we would get out of the mountains and villages to somewhere that we could get accommodation and food.

It turned out that Ende is more than just a town; it’s a regency, probably comparable in terms of a GRC here, not in size, but in scale. Fortunately, some of the passengers had got off the bus, and we were able to settle in more comfortable positions for the rest of the trip.

We were still travelling at around 1700hrs; by then, my hunch was that we had passed the stop where Kelimutu would have been. According to the map, the place where we would be stopping is a sea-side town; however, we were still high up in the mountainous area. Hungry, weary and abit sick, I was wondering if we had missed out stop yet…

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Finally, we came to a place that seemed to indicate that it’s a bus terminal.

Even before we pulled into the terminal, the ojek drivers were trying to pester us to take their bikes; running alongside the bus outside the windows, grabbing the windows and sometimes our arms.

When we got off, we were swarmed by these ojek drivers. I felt completely lost, as only Naga could understand what they were saying. In the end, we managed to get two drivers to drive us to a budget motel; the catch was that we had to pay 10 times more for the ojek than we had done in Maumere. It was obviously an attempt to rip us off, and it was successful, for we were too worn out to argue. Furthermore, the terminal seemed to be “conveniently” located in a particular remote part of the town; with night increasingly getting closer, we faced the prospect of getting stranded on foreign land on our very first day.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If the ojek drivers were ripping us off, at least they were pretty friendly and helpful.

We learnt that Kelimutu is actually a two-hour ride (approximately) from this town where we would be spending the night. It became obvious that we would not be able to make it up there after all; the transport would probably eat up our finances, and we would have to spend an additional night in the town, which seemed to be exactly what MD had described – quiet, not a lot of places to look around.

We got driven to this Hotel Safari, where we checked the rooms before checking in. We arranged for the ojeks to pick us up tomorrow morning at 1000hrs to the next terminal, and proceeded to our room. We didn’t stay long; our plan was to check out the town and have dinner before it became too late. We wondered into a shop resembling a pharmacy and gotten ourselves some more lozenges. Then we stopped by this roadside restaurant that had a menu similar to the restaurant at the Maumere harbour. We had Nasi Goreng; Naga’s order came with fried chicken while mine had a few sticks of satay. We also ordered an extra plate of kangkong, plus our standard tea/coffee. Though the food wasn’t as fresh as the one we had at Maumere, it was nonetheless good enough, especially after the long day…

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We headed back to the hotel, then washed clothes and showered.

Naga was kind enough to offer the bigger bed to me heh. After our shower, I took out my Neeon, plugged in the earphones and began doing abit of book-keeping for this travel log. The last thing that I did was to edit the photos that I had taken for the past week, since there was some time to kill.

Naga was still was on his book when I dozed off…

To be continued…

[East/Central Indonesia] Day 07 / 2nd June 2006 - Goodbye, Palu'e...

We had to wake up early to prepare for our departure; I got up at six.

In a way, a part of me was quite relieved that my stay on Palu'e would be ending soon - all the climbing and slopes made me realise how much I missed the ease of travelling around back home. The terrain, plus the lack of automobiles of any sort meant that you can only and have to rely on "Bus No. 11" to get around. I swear that the vigorous activities were ten times more strenuous than any dismounted exercise I have ever done during active NSF days, including my very first FTX with Four-Zero XXX, where, after a whole night of bashing and walking, I came to the top of the hill and just puked. If the SA-of-F ever gets shut out of Rockhampton, they can seriously consider this little island as a training outpost. On second thoughts, maybe not - the island will be overflooding with remains of combat rations faster than lava and ash covering the island during an eruption. Also, the diet on the island, though a refreshing change from junk food and MSG, would probably not last me in the long run - I guess my appetite is just too spoilt by the variety of food back home.

On the other hand, I will also miss the Nitung village. The warm reception from the people, who are almost always friendly and with a smile. The kids who are so interested in us, yet shun away the moment we get close. The cooling environment, even in the middle of the day. Dusta and the dogs. The outdoor lavatory that surprisingly has no sandflies. The endless supply of coconuts. The sight of Pagi doing things that no one else half his age could even dream of doing (As proof of his prowess and agility, just yesterday, Pagi had been climbing up tress that were about 20 metres or more in height - he then proceeded on to "trim" the trees of excess branches and all; we estimated that he was at it for a full 6-7 hours. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, can stop the Man. And I'm still indebted to him for pulling me up that treacherous upslope during the volcano expedition.).

Remember what I had said about the strength of the womenfolk that were on display when we first climbed up from the shore to the village? Throughout the stay, the scene just got repeated over and over again, albeit with different loads on their heads. Soil, bricks (sometimes weighing 40-50kgs), local produce, etc. Plus the daily household chores. Plus producing those sarongs in three weeks. Now, add one more feature - women only get to eat leftovers from the meals. The practice during mealtimes is for the food to be served on the table, and then all the men will gather to eat first, while the women will remain in the background; I must confess that I have hardly, if ever, seen, with my both eyes, any Palu'e woman eating a proper meal throughout my stay (of course, Nanga doesn't count, but even then, kids seldom get to eat first as well). This means of course, that the women stand a higher chance of being undernourished, if what they get to eat is lesser than what their bodies require. This sort of practice probably originated from olden times, and I can probably understand (but not agree with) such logic behind such practices - that men were probably busy with fishing and hunting and fighting and building, thus leading to such patriarchial practices. However, the practice seems less logical in present days; furthermore, with the need to protect against other hostile invaders gone, it seemed that men have pretty much more free time on hand. Of course, I am just an outsider who just happened to stay over on the island for a couple of days - my words weigh little. I probably can't get over the fact that women are doing alot, and yet can't eat together during mealtimes.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Where was I? Oh yes, we woke up early...

After washing up, we packed our remaining stuff and brought our bags out. Breakfast was already laid out on the table. We consumed our breakfast without much fuss; after that, we did our own stuff and waited till Pelé was ready...

It was close to eight when we were about to leave. We came out of the house, and found our bags missing! The women had done it again! Our bags had reached our intended destination before us...

We bidded goodbye to those who had gathered around the house, and then proceeded to walk through the village. Our last chance to rack up a ruckus, I thought. And there was one, though not as big as the one who created on our first day in the village.

We had to stop by the mini-provision shop - I needed some plasters. My wound, which I had thought was healing perfectly fine, had managed to open up during the course of my sleep. Gotten two plasters, but was left red-faced when I realised that my wallet was in my bag. I promised Pelé to pass him some money when we reach shore.

We pressed on and bidded more goodbyes; Naga passed our remaining carton to one of the men to be shared amongst the rest of the men - our parting gesture. We took the same route that we had taken the previous day for our swim; but before that, MD stopped to tie up and secure my plaster with his handkie - now I owe him one handkie, in addition to other endless favours that he had done for us for this trip.

We made our way down; I couldn't spring down the downslopes as I had the day before. Every step taken reminded me of the many more that would be following. It didn't take long for my shirt to be drenched in sweat. Nonetheless, after a few trips and falls, we managed to reach shore without any major glitches. There was already a party of people whom had descended via the other route. Ran to my bag and fished out some cash to pay for my plasters. Said the very last goodbyes to those who had gathered to send us off, and boarded the boat with the rest who were going to head for Maumere...


Leaving on a Motor Boat...

It wasn't that long when the first ever Singaporean landed on Palu'e shore with his butt; now this Singaporean couldn't help but savour the last few moments on this island, asking himself if he will ever get the chance to come back again, to scale the cliffs and the volcano, to wonder amongst the corals and the fishes, to banter with the womenfolk, to befriend Dusta and the dogs, to (perhaps) get a piece of that famous sarong for Mum, to get to learn how to climb a coconut tree...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The boat slowly pulled out and headed East at around 0830 hrs; we were to travel eastwards and then southwards round the island before travelling east for Maumere (on our way here, we had travelled westwards and then northwards round the island)...

But it appeared that we weren't really headed straight for Maumere - not yet anyway.

We made two stops to pick up more passengers (including a black vavi, which one of the poor helpers had to row out from the boat to the shore in the tiny and spare rescue boat); by then all of us had moved up to the top deck of the boat.

And then we were finally on our way.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Si'a and some of the others followed us to Maumere - some were coming along to visit some friends, some just to tag along, Pelé gotta go back Batam for work, and Edo just wanna leave home to avoid being nagged at in home by his dad; he was planning to leave for Surabaya on the coming Monday via a four-day ferry trip. Naga and I were half-deliberating on whether to follow him on the trip, but then decided against spending 4 days out at sea...

As morning progressed into noon, the heat became scorching. I had been sleeping during the first hour or so, but found myself hardly able to continue to do so. I woke up and turned to staring at the surroundings to pass time; of course, there were opportunities to take some nice photos as well.


One last shot at Palu'e...



First Signs of Flores

MD occupied himself with a copy of last Sunday's papers, while Naga carried on sleeping before awaking and continuing with his "classic" book, the book that I still couldn't remember the name of. I took the opportunity of the strong sunlight to tan my arms and legs keke...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hours passed...

... and yet we didn't appear to be nearing Maumere one bit...

Something worse cropped up after noon - the boat ran out of fuel.

Two helpers had to row out to shore in the same spare tiny boat to buy more fuel, while the boat and the rest of us were left to drift in the seas - we ended up spinning round and round, and that got me into a headache, which meant that I would have to lie down...

The episode did provide a chance for MD and us to chat though; somehow we managed to diverge to the workings of English prefixes, with particular focus on the prefix "be" - what is "be" doing in the various English words? And then we tried to think of archaic words that has "be" prefix; MD came up with a few that we really had not herad of, but we did ocme up with one - bejewelled - that caught him as well. Hmmm, now, how did we come up with "bejewelled"?

When Naga returned to his "classic", I was suddenly reminded that I still had my last few pages of Foucault's Pendulum that I had not finished. Fished it out from my bag and finished it in, like half an hour. By then, the boat had started to move again, after the fuel had arrived. Now the whole boat reeked of the smell from the fuel...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We finally touched Maumere shore at around half past three. As soon as it appeared that we would be staying at the harbour for quite some time, the three of us made a beeline for the restaurant!

And I made another of those mistakes once again. I wanted to try something new, so I went for something in the menu with this lexical item "Lele" in the name. When the dish finally came...

... it was some sort of fish. A catfish...

Is this some kind of joke??? After avoiding fish for the past few days, I had to order fish!

By then, the rest of those following us on the boat had came into the restaurant as well. I was faced with a dilemma; I was quite sure that at least some of them might be offended by the fish sitting in front of me, thinking: "This rascal ordered fish the first thing he left Palu'e??? Was our fish back in the village that terrible???"

In the end, I have to try to eat the fish discreetly, taking care not to outwardly display any sign of positive expressions so that no one would be under the impression the catfish tasted way better than any other that I had tasted. It was pretty weird, my first time eating catfish and all. The best thing during the meal for me was ironically the mandarin drink, which MD had been drinking - it was sweet, ice-cold and simply best especially on a hot sunny Friday afternoon.

We ended up having a pretty sweet meal, with Naga ordering an addition serving of Ayam Goreng; as he later commented, "From today onwards, we gotta say 'goodbye' to green sh*t and 'hi' again to brown sh*t..."

As a sign of reciprocration, Naga and I shared the meal, which came up to less than RP200k for about 8 or 9 of us. We left the restaurant and left the harbour soon after, in a convoy of ojeks, towards Sentrum; this is a place where we were supposed to spend the night before departing for our separate locations. Off the main road, we were led to a village-like settlement, with small houses and mini-gardens. Our hostess was quick in receiving us, and we were led to put our bags down.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It appeared that we were not done with travelling yet.

As evening approached, we were told to pack some stuff, for we were going to visit Pelé's "sister" who lives in another part of Maumere.

*The kinship system of the Palu'e people is quite interesting and different from ours. MD spent some time trying to find out how it actually works, and I doubt we have yet apprehend fully the mechanisms behind the system. For a start, everyone who comes from the village has two/three names; one which I have forgotten is for what, but one is definitely the baptised name, and the other is a name which one inherits from another ancestor - a good way of important who your ancestors are, according to MD (and I absolutely agree), but at the same time, confuses things. Then, it seems that someone's brother/sister need not be related directly by blood - apparently, if B is A's wife, then C, B is also the sister of C, who is A's husband. And it gets more complicated, which, at this point in time, I cannot have an example here because I'm still quite lost in the tree of things. But, yah, I have my reasons for putting "sister" in inverted commas...

This time, we took a sort of mini-bus, which is actually those type of vans that are meant to carry passengers at the back instead of goods. Which is kind of ok, except that these vans are often overloaded and overcrowded, they often have loud-blasting 90s' techno music from the blaring speakers, and that they are co-manned by teenagers who just hung out from the side door of the vans while the vans are moving. Luckily the trip didn't take very long, even though we stopped by a market to shop for rice and vegetables (presumbly for dinner).

We arrived at this neighbourhood where most people had settled after the last great eruption of the volcano on the Palu'e island. We had our shower in the bathroom; though there was candlelight, it couldn't beat the shower I had the previous day, under the moonlight and stars and all...

We had a simple dinner with some instant noodles, and as the other Palu'e men were chatting and catching up outside the proch, the three of us indulged in our own "candle-side chat" in the living room - apparently, our coming coincided with an unexpected power cut for the evening. A wide range of topics ensued, from eruptions (Krakatoa, St. Helens') to Indonesian politics (how Parabolas brought down the Suharto regime, how the Government used to divert international aid intended for those who had been affected by natural disasters to the capital and its insistence for cash instead of material aid, how Indonesians were subjected to propagandic broadcasts of ministers meeting up and discussing policies and other stuff of seemingly national interests.) to the issue of standard languages (ok I can't really remember how we got there, but it seems that the idea of a standard language spells something Facist or Marxist - this, I cannot verify haha...).

We were supposed to head for the town centre which, according to Edo, was supposed to be bustling with night activity and all. We left the house at around 8 or 9, and instead headed back for Sentrum. Which was ok with us as well, for tomorrow seemed to be a rather busy and hectic day for Naga and me; tomorrow would be the start of a real adventure...

We got back to Sentrum in a similar van, minus the techno music and the sidekicks. I finally got to call back home! I had borrowed Naga's phone and made the call. Mum picked up the phone and there was an inner sense of relief and delight as I spoke to her for the first time since the morning I had left for the trip. She asked of my trip and whether I was affected by the earthquake; I told her to inform my sis about the bag and whether I would need to replace it. On hindsight, I had probably been too anxious about letting my sis know about the bag that I forgot about other things, like how had things been going on at home, how had others in the family been doing lately. Before long, both of us felt compelled to end the call, for fear of the astronomical costs of international calls. It felt comforting, but at the same time, I was left with a sense of homesickness, that familiar feeling of being around with your own family, and an environment that you are at ease with, familiar at the back of your hand...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Since it was getting late, we went to bed soon; MD got a room, while Naga and I shared a bed in another. I felt bad as I realised that there weren't any rooms left around, and the rest had to spread mattresses on the floor and hush around in the common area...

We swept off the grains of sand and soil on our mattress, and opened up the mosquito net, and soon tried to sleep...

But sleep would become very elusive throughout the night...

To be continued...

[East/Central Indonesia] Day 06 / 1st June 2006 - Swim, then Injury

I didn't realise we had slept for so long...

Before I continue, I shall introduce one special member of the family - Dusta. Dusta is this dog which is slightly bigger than the rest of the dogs in the household. What makes him stand out is that he is just like a friendly giant, big in size but gentle in manner - he would just go about without any hassle or barking. He could be lying down on top of the water tank, enjoying the warm of the afternoon sun, or he could be just policing the outside of the house, ensuring that the other dogs do not break out into fights. On the other hand, there were a couple of small dogs that were constantly standing off against one another during meal times, and they had to be (literally) kicked out of the dining area...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok, the reason why I introduced Dusta at this point of my log is because...

I had been "complimented" on my snoring - everyone else in the household heard some low growl-like noises and had thought that Dusta had wandered into our ( Naga and me) room earlier on in the morning. It turned out that it was my snoring! I almost wanted to jump up in protest of my innocence - how could snores be likened to growls of a dog??? Were my snores really THAT BAD??? Anyhow, it left me face-reddened, and MD would continue to tease me throughout the day by "promising" the real Dusta beside me on bed the next morning! That aside, MD did recount an experience where he had been awakened by his family dog, when the whole family wasn't around; still, the growl-like snores had already left a deep impression on everyone. GRRRRRR...

We also woke up to a scare - MD had been bitten by a scorpion that had came out of hiding from one of the holes in the brick wall during his sleep. For awhile, there was some concern and talks of a scorpion hunt were on the cards. Eventually, everything settled down, except for some pain and discomfort, MD was otherwise well and healthy.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After we had our breakfast, MD suggested bringing us to the outdoor chapel that he had came across several days ago. We went ahead and came to this place where it looked like an amphitheatre without the tiers of seats. The rostrum/podium was elaborately built from rocks and stones and all, and corals were actually brought up to decorate the place:


Small statue of Virgin Mary (or Gua Maria, I think, in Indonesian); the green thing above is a large piece of coral


The rostrum/podium, where the priest would be standing...


A closer look at the rostrum/podium


A panaromic shot

Before we left, we came across this cluster of bamboo trees, and MD was trying to climb up the trees using the trunks as support, like this:


Never fails to amaze us with his dexterity and agility!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We took a route that Naga and I had not came across before, and we were soon in Nil - this extreme end of the Nitung village. We stopped by a few households, and saw how the Palu'e sarongs were painstakingly made; instead of merely sewing on the designs onto the cloth, the designs had to be laid out on this huge board, and then the threads/strings had to be aligned so that the designs were already visible even before any sewing or knitting had started. The result is not a piece of work where the designs are added to the cloth; instead the cloth is the design itself. Normally, a piece of sarong would take 3 weeks to make, and MD was singing praises of how good a quality these handmade sarongs were (Pelé had given him one, and so had someone else whom I can't remember the name of). We also saw some houses that were entirely made of wood and ratten and bamboo - the other houses we had seen beforehand mostly had zinc roofs and walls made from bricks. The womenfolk were happy to receive us with the warmest of hospitality, but the dogs did not seem to welcome the three strangers.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We went back just in time for some lunch. I had not been my usual self in the morning, possibly because I was still recovering from the sickness that plagued me yesterday. I found myself talking alot less during the morning walk and visits. However, news of swimming and hot springs in the afternoon brought some life back into me. I was eager to check out if there are indeed friendly sharks in the waters as told to us by the village folks. At the same time, I realised that we have to negotiate the way up to the village from the shore again; I still haven't gotten over the difficulty we had encountered the first time we tried climbing up. Lunchtime provided a window of opportunity to sort out the assorted feelings within myself...

And then, there were two lunches! *FAINTS*

First time, we were served food that were more or less similar from what we had for breakfast. We were told to eat first because Pelé was not yet ready for the swim; when we had finished eating, he was still nowhere to be seen. So, after eating, there wasn't much to do except to chat! And then, we found out that today would be our last day on the island; we would be heading back to mainland tomorrow morning. It came as a surprise to Naga and myself, for we had thought that we would be staying on the island till at least Saturday. It turned out that MD had to reach SG on Sunday for some meeting the next day, while Pelé had to go back to work in Batam as well. To me, it was quite a pity; just when I thought I was getting to know about the island and its people, I had to pack up and leave. At the same time, though MD repeatedly encouraged us to stay on and told us that there wasn't any need to follow them back to mainland, we decided not to - for me, I guess it would be extremely embarrassing to hang around and yet unable to carry out a decent conversation with anyone in the village. What turmoil!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

When Pelé did arrive, MD could sense some reluctance in pursuing the activities planned for the day. Firstly, a second lunch was served - this time, there was instant noodles, pork (but not in soya sauce; just boiled I think), rice, fish and other stuff (Speaking of fish, I hardly had any fish since the first day on the island...). After the 2nd lunch, we waited again...

... while Pelé was busy bringing out some weapons that he intended to bring down to the beach - a bow and some arrows. These weapons aren't the normal ones used in those kind of competition; rather, the arrows are quite long, and the bow is almost the height of an average human. We took turns getting our hands on the bow and tried tightening and loosening the string. Sali and Edo, on the other hand, were busy sharpening and de-rusting the arow heads. Exactly how the weapons were going to be used during our swim, we had no idea, but we were let in on some history of the weapons - the last time they were used was during the last major conflict with the neighbouring village almost some twenty years ago. There had been some fatalities, though it wasn't clear if this particular set of weapons had seen bloodshed during that conflict.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We finally got to set off during mid-noon. By then, it was apparent that we would have time only for the swim, and that we wouldn't be able to do the hot springs this time round. Which wasn't a bad thing, for we were told that getting to the hot springs would require a fair bit of climbing as well. This time, we went down to the shore via this part of the village called Chu'a - the route is this winding path without any steps, but at the same time, most of it consists of rocky terrain that threatens to destroy our footwear again! Luckily we went through it unscathed, and it only took us about half an hour to reach shore. Even then, we were still too slow - a family whom had bidded us goodbye at the village had already settled down on shore for some time when we just arrived.

The weather was just perfect for a dip. The kids were already enjoying their time in the water for some time:



MD was, as usual, game for a chat with the local folks; and, as usual, he's always a guaranteed crowd-puller :D



We brought out the swimming masks and googles that MD had bought at Maumere and began adjusting them for our use. MD and Naga would use the masks, while I would use the googles, since I couldn't fit my face plus my specs into the googles that came with the masks. After everything was fine and adjusted, we went into the water...

... and discovered that the depth of the waters increased steeply after about 10 metres away from shore. We also realised that the sea water was super-duper salty, so much so that I could feel my throat dry up when I had accidentally tasted some of the water. Nonetheless, we kept swimming further and further out...

We could see the beautiful corals on the seabed, though I didn't dive down and hence didn't get as good a view as the others. We also caught sight of schools of fish swimming amongst the corals. MD soon ventured off farther than we had imagined, and we lost sight of him for awhile.

It got to a point where the saltwater became abit too much for me to bear, and I slowly made my way back to shore...

... I finally felt my feet touch the ground, the rocks; while traversing the rocks, I felt my toe hit something, something sharp...

... I continued; as I got closer to shore, I tried to spot where the others were...

... And was about to go look for them, when I lifted my foot to check...

... Only to see fresh blood slowly leaking from an open wound on my toe...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I made my way onto shore; once I left the waters, I took note of how the bleeding went on - the blood flowed much more freely than in water, and before long, my big toe was already covered with fresh blood.

Edo came over to check what was wrong; when he saw the injury, he motioned for me to follow him. He plucked some leaves and proceeded on to administer some traditional plant remedy that I thought only existed in Chinese period kungfu dramas, involving the chewing of the leaves and then applying the chewed leaves on the wound to stop the bleeding. The first round of treatment was not as effective; by now, another lady had come by and offered more help in the form of chewed papaya leaves. This time, it seemed to work better - the wound was temporarily bandaged up, with the leaves still there. Meanwhile, everyone else came over to check on the extent of the wound, and MD jokingly asked me if I had intentionally self-inflicted the injury in order to over-shadow his scropion bite last night.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Our swim ended soon, but not before Pelé was done posing with his bow and arrows along the beach - how narcissistic! HAHA!

Given the rate at which the sun was setting, we decided to decline the folks' invitation of staying for some food cooked over the fire and head back to the village with a few others as fast as possible. This time, it turned out to be easier; although we were still left panting, although we rested at the same places as the first time, and although we took a longer route this time for the last leg of the climb, we rested for much shorter perioids of time, and we managed to reach our place just before last light.

It was quite amazing that my wound wasn't much affected during the climb; in fact the climb might have helped keep the wound closed. I managed to wash up the wound with the help of Md and Naga, and after a while's rest, we proceeded to wash up. Today's bath had been exceptional because our hosts specially prepared hot water for us and our sore muscles. There was an additional candle in the shower room as well, for it had already turned dark. The atmosphere was simply heavenly - with warm water plus candlelight, and a shower under the stars (the shower room was outside the house and had no roof), I took my time savouring every minute - no one knows when I will be coming back again...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shower was followed by dinner, then followed by satellite TV - finally, everyone would be able to catch a wider variety of programmes on TV instead of just karaoke and movie VCDs. After spending the evening watching various local channels, what left a huge impression of us was the ability of the producers of different shows to get the same faces to act in the same type of roles, especially for the baddies. In one evening, I spotted at least one actor appearing in three different shows, but portraying the same type of villian role. At first, it was quite hillarious, but then after awhile, it got monotonous, with the similar types of storylines no matter which channel you switched to. Howver, it seemed that the locals enjoyed the shows pretty well, judging by their gasps and exclamations whenever a twist occured in the shows.

MD rounded off the evening by showing everyone the video that he had taken during the volcano climb, and we agreed with him that it did look like some National Geographic showcase. After the photos and videos, we went back to do some packing for tomorrow - the boat would be leaving at around 8am.

And so, our last night in Palu'e ended on quite a high...

To be continued...