Bye Bye Freddy

The time has come for Freddy and I to part ways. Tomorrow morning we'll have a morning surf session, then walk along the long dirt road to the main road.....I'll wait on one side of the road and he'll wait on the other. He's heading back to KL and flying back to Vancouver, I'm heading North, not sure yet where I'm going.....crazy because I'm going to need to figure it out soon. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Cherating, such a cool place.....my body needs a rest from all the surfing (mainly crashing) though.

Cherating

On Friday morning we took a bus from KL(after an amazing buffet breakfast, everything from eggs to french toast to corn flakes to coconut rice with curry chicken....the man was amazed at how much food we could eat) to Kuantan on the east coast. Then took a public bus for a few hours to a little town called Cherating. We had no idea what to expect when we arrived, but we couldn't be more pleased!!

Surfing is not big in Malaysia, and there are only a few spots you can surf and for only a few months a year during the monsoon season which we are right in the middle of. We found a room with two beds for only 25 RM (Malaysian Ringgit) night, works out to be about $7.50.....for both of us!! Mind you it's pretty basic and kind of gross, but I've gotten used to it and it honestly doesn't seem that bad. Rented surf boards at the only surf shop in Malaysia and have had an awesome time. I think this place is a vacation area for Malay people, but it's pretty dead right now because of all the rain, I think it's perfect!

Malaysia

On Wednesday night Freddy and I took a bus from Ponianak to Kuching, Malaysia. We arrived at the Malaysian border at 5am and had to walk through the border. Indo departure said I stayed a day too long (31days), but I had a police report (long story, in Sintang the popo showed up at the house we were staying at and wanted to see our passports....Freddy didn't have his on him so they weren't going to let us leave on the bus in the morning, but luckily Freddy called a friend in Ponianak who took his passport to the cops there, then they called the Sintang police. Then we got in trouble for not registering with the police, apparently we were supposed to register with the police in every city we stayed in Indo....and to register costs a fee everytime...love that gov't) saying my departure date was Dec 6. Indo departure said it doesn't matter about that document, that it was wrong, and that I had to pay 200,000 Rp. I told them that even if that document was wrong that technically I had until 2pm that day to reach 30days....did no good. I told them that 200,000Rp was way too much for 1 day overdue, so they told me that if I wanted them to help me that was the price, otherwise I'd have to wait for who knows how long in a different room and might have the same result.....they knew my bus would leave me and I had no other choice. So, I tried to bargain! haha, offered 50,000Rp, they said no, 200,000Rp was the price. So I offered 100,000Rp and they could take it or leave it, they took it :) Crazy corrupt Indo gov't.

Crossed the border and immediately you could tell you were in a different country. The roads were better, buildings starting emerging, more jungle forest...just nicer. I'd compare it to crossing the border from San Diego to Tijuana, but maybe not quite as drastic. Malaysia is sweet, the food is amazing! We almost missed our plane to Kuala Lumpur as we didn't know the time went ahead an hour, even though we didn't travel east or west...just north, crazy.

KL is a cool city, feels like a combo of Singapore and Hong Kong. Today we just checked out a bit of the city, walked around, went to a movie (Golden Compass, actually really good), ate lots of food. Tomorrow we're off to Kuantan, then north about an hour looking for surf during the monsoon season here. It's rained most of the time here in KL, probably more rain to come.

two towers in KL

food in KL


Indo Pics:

best way to shower during the rain season in Indo

Soccer at the YWAM base in Pontianak

random pic taken from bus between Sintang and Pontianak

Family we stayed with in Sintang - the grandma makes these mats out of drinking straws!! Amazing.

Restaurant on a boat in Sintang

Sintang

Freddy and I took a night bus on Thursday to Sintang, about 10hrs. Freddy knows a family out there and has stayed with them before, super nice people. The dad is a general in the army, mom is a teacher, daughter goes to high school. The parents didn't speak a word of English, so I communicated the best I could...Freddy speaks pretty good Indonesian.

First day we went to the house of the dad's extended family where they were preparing for a wedding in a few days. We went on an expedition to cut down some bamboo trees (for cooking vegetables or something?) and to see Mt. Klum (not sure on the spelling). 5 of us sat in the back of the truck, but the road got so bumpy it was easier on the body just to stand and hold on to a railing. Mt. Klum looks exactly like the Chief in Squamish, kind of cool. On the way back it started POURING rain (rain season here)....we couldn't have been any wetter in the back of the truck. We had a blast though! Stood up holding and screaming from time to time....the rain actually hurt. People would see us from the side of the road and as usual would yell "hey mister!!" and wave frantically. As usual we'd wave back...and I'd yell "hey mister, kodak, kodak!!" hahaha, love it. Man, that was fun. When we got back to the house we were sopping wet.



Now, from what I've seen in Indonesia the women are very reserved, dress very moderately etc. At this house there seemed to be more women than men, and they were all in the back cooking, telling jokes, being loud, Grandmas, Aunties, Moms, etc. When we got back to the house we didn't have our shirts on (keep them dry) and the ladies starting hooting and hollaring, it was hilarious! The family gave us dry clothes, coffee, and hot food. I've noticed Indonesian people to be very inviting and welcoming, very generous. I gashed my finger (surprise surprise) pretty good on some bamboo and it wouldn't stop bleeding. I've never seen this before but they covered it in coffee grounds and wrapped it up. It actually worked, hasn't got infected and is starting to heal up.



Next day Ungoon (the daughter) wanted Freddy and I to see her school, I had no idea what I was in for. We got there and the whole class was waiting for us, they started cheering and wanted us to sit in two desks at the front facing the class. We introduced ourselves (most of them understood a bit of English) and told them where we were from and what we were doing in Indonesia. They had a ton of energy and asked a bunch of questions, we asked questions too. The whole thing took about an hour, actually was a lot of fun.



After that Ungoon's aunt and uncle took us out (by Indo standards I think they were rich) for lunch to a boat that was a restaurant - awesome food. Then we went swimming in a pool for a few hours, then off to a bakery for some goodies! They pretty much spoiled us. The family we stayed with was unbelievably nice, only one thing I found weird: I would graciously say thank you in Indonesian language, and the mom would correct me - "terimah kasih MAMA" (thank you mama)...kind of weird.

We took a day bus back to Pontianak so we could see the country side of Borneo Indo, really beautiful. We couldn't get a big bus so we settled for a little bus. Everyone smokes on the bus, including the driver who holds the wheel with his knee while lighting his cigarette. The worst part about it was there was no bathroom on the bus....and I have a bladder the size of a little girl....AND I drank hot chocolate, coffee, and water before getting on the bus. I had to ask the driver to stop, had to pee right beside the bus. 45 minutes later I had to ask him to stop again, ahahaha, everyone on the bus was laughing at me :)

Freddy and I bought a bus ticket to Kuching Malaysia (11hrs), then we're flying to Kuala Lumpur. To fly right from Pontianak is expensive, especially because on top of the airport departure tax there is a special astronomical tax specifically for foreigners.

I've had an awesome time in Indonesia. I'm glad I got to experience such genuine culture in Borneo Indo, experiences most tourists don't get. I've found Indonesian people to be unbelievably hospitable and welcoming.