Road trip to Singapore - Day 2

Continued from day 1.

Reference - exchange rates:
one pound approx Rp15,000
one US$ approx Rp10,000

Woke before first light with the call to prayers from the local mosque, around about 04:30. Didn't really get much sleep, worried about raiders sneaking off with my bag and camera. I had the straps well wrapped around my arms, just incase. The food stalls had started setting up already, so I packed up and went down for breakfast and a cup of coffee.

Re-started the negotiations for a bus ticket to Pekanbaru around 07:00 but still the price was not coming close to my target price. An ojek rider offered to drive me to another loket (ticket office), 'more rip the tourist off' I thought, but he quoted me Rp5,000 for the ride, so I decided to chance it. The new loket was about ten minutes ride so I knew this lad was genuine and trying to help.

This time the negotiations went well, in fact very well and I got my target price of Rp250,000. There was no bus depot, just an office on the street, but the guy told me to wait, so I sat down clutching my ticket. The bus was not due until 09:30, so I inflated my trusty pillow, laid down and sawed some logs.

The ticket guy woke me and walked me 50m up the road to a junction and waited with me for 20 minutes until the bus came. In the mean time, I bought a bottle of water from a stall and the owner produced a stool for me to sit on while I waited, how cool was that. Not everyone is trying to rip you off, you just have to try and figure out which are the good guys, not easy the first time.

The bus arrived on time. I returned the stool with thanks, shook hands with my escort and boarded the bus, which was happily signed for Pekanbaru. The bus was fairly good quality and the A/C worked. All three drivers were experienced and provided as smooth a ride as you could expect from these torturous roads.

The bus was about ¾ full, so I had to sit next to a young woman, who I sensed was a bit uncomfortable about me, but nothing I could do about that, so I broke out the pillow and attempted to sleep.

Always difficult to get comfortable, legs get stiff, coccyx gets numb, shuffle for a new position every thirty minutes, get up for a stretch and try again. The woman just curled her tiny frame into a ball and slept soundly, no matter what shape she made. Kind of reminded me of Sid from ice age, sleeping on a boulder.

The bus would stop every three or four hours for a food break and a change of driver. Progress was sluggish on these windy roads so I had no feel for the distance covered. The 200Km of the first leg (Bandung to Merak) took five hours so I had figured about twenty hours for the Pekanbaru leg.

Sumatra is basically a mountain range covered in forest, but it is not going to stay that way for long, as the trees are ripped down for short term profits, mining operations and cash crops. The real shame is the loss of habitat for some really rare old world creatures, like the orang utan and the Sumatran tiger, not to mention all the unique bug life.

Life in Indonesia is hard and a scramble for survival, with no government support or benefits. No unemployment handouts or pensions here, you are on your own, relying on at least one or two of your offspring being capable of looking after you when you become too infirm to earn a crust. Preservation of wildlife habitat is very low priority and I can understand that. If fact, the capture of wild birds, butterflies, lemurs and all the rest, provide an income for many. There is a huge local industry based on the sale of caged birds in Bandung.

You can follow my progress on the blip map.

To be continued

Dave