backpackers guide to the galaxy

well. day 3.
we are still alive.
1 train
4 taxis
7 buses
and 3 angkotas later...
we are in a town named anyer, camping on the beach.

adventures really never seem to end.
and i am constantly in awe of the helpfulness of indonesian people.

adam, david, and i took the train to jakarta first where we met up with nasreen and spent the night and a good part of the next day. we visited the oldest and biggest church in jakarta - a gorgeous catholic church - which happens to be right across the street from the oldest and biggest mosque in jakarta. we also visited a national monument called monas, which looks like the washington monument with a fake torch on top.

from there, we took a variety of buses to our current location. people on the bus were very helpful in telling us where we needed to get off and what mode of transportation we needed to take next and how much it should cost (in case anyone tried cheating us because we are white). one kind man even gave us a free ride in his car! we have also eaten 3 free meals at this point.

we were a bit frustrated when we arrived at the beach at anyer yesterday. we pitched our tents, and were approached by a man claiming that we had to pay him 40.000 (about $4) per tent to sleep there. i argued with him, saying that this was a public beach and we shouldn't have to pay anything. but he insisted that because we were too close to his establishment (a small hotel just off the beach) we had to pay for the right to sleep there. we finally talked him down to $2 a tent and paid, mostly because the spot we found was ideal - there were people around to make us feel safe, but not so close as to be intrusive, we were in a high-ish spot away from high tide, and it was a flat part of the beach as well. he then became very kind, told us his name, and said that if we have any trouble at all during the night, we should just call his name and he'll come running. mmhmm. sure.

we also met a super helpful guy named feri. he brought us firewood and offered to help us out with whatever we need. he and some friends showed up later on that night when we built our campfire, and they just sat around and talked with us. well, nasreen did most of the talking, given that she's the only one of us mostly fluent in indonesian... our "neighbors" - the only other people camping on the beach - came over with a guitar and sang us some indonesian songs. it was a really good time of hanging out and having conversation with indonesians. until it started to rain. and our tents aren't waterproof. one guy there offered to let us come stay in his house. no thanks. our neighbors said we could stay the night in their tent. too small. but feri, ever the gentleman, said "wait right here, i'll be back." so we waited. luckily, it wasn't raining hard. when he came back, he told us to follow him with our gear. he had secured a sheltered place for us to stay. a friend of his up the beach owns a little warung/restaurant/place to lounge - little bamboo open-fronted huts on stilts with a tarp for a roof! so we pitched our tents there, and our new "landlord" made sure that nobody bothered us all night. sleeping on bamboo isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but we were dry and we were safe.



we woke up this morning to rain more or less pouring, but even through the clouds and rain and haze, we could see the faint outline of anak krakatau (the child of krakatau) on the horizon! the people here are basically waiting for it to erupt. and when it does, there will be a tsunami here. it's been getting more and more active lately.
our "landlord" and his wife gave us free breakfast this morning (fried bananas!), and they let us use their toilet too. and by toilet, what i actually mean is "shack with a door that doesn't close and a cement floor that you do your business on, then use a bucket of water to wash it out when you're done". some of the same guys from last night came over this morning and helped us move our stuff back to our original camping spot after it stopped raining, and they offered to give us a ride to the warnet (internet cafe) in town, but they only had 2 bikes, and there's 4 of us. so we took the angkota (minibus).

another interesting part of our trip that is noteworthy is the fact that now well into the third day of this trip, i have spent only rp 336.100 (just a little over $30). and what makes this even more amazing is that the ticket for the 6 hour train ride from semarang to jakarta cost 19 of those dollars, and our meal in semarang cost $5. so since actually leaving central java 2 days ago, i have spent 6 dollars total on food, lodging, transportation, and public toilets.

i haven't showered for 3 days now. i am covered in sand. there is a puddle in our tent. i have worn the same pair of pants every day. it is about a million degrees out. but i wouldn't trade this for the world.

i woke up this morning to the sound of rain hitting the tarp over my tent and waves crashing on the shore and indonesian men drinking coffee and singing in the warung next to me.