Soon after I started walking, I heard a motorbike approach from behind. So I moved to the left side (cuz they drive on the left here!) to let it pass. Of course, the bike slowed down and the driver talked to me:
"Want a lift?"
The "no thank you" rolled off my tongue before he even finished speaking.
"Ok" He said, and started his motor back up.
Hold up. Locals don't say "want a lift", it's usually "where you going? Ojek ojek?"
So I quickly said "Wait! Where are you going?"
Turns out Jason, a nice British bartender who now lives in Vancouver, had the same plan I had in mind - get as high as we can without hitting the sea of tourists who have gone up to the top viewpoint on jeeps.
So I hopped on and we went on our way, parked when the road stretch ended, and hiked up in the dark (which was so much fun, especially since everything was still fresh in my mind and I knew exactly what to expect)
The sunrise was something special. But oh so cold! Good thing I thought to bring a warm blankey, but still with that I was shivering the entire time along with the couple other rebellious souls who also refused tours and hiked up themselves.
After the sunrise I hiked down to get ready for the bus out of the village. My plan was to hike Mt.Ijen, and then come back for the Kasada (Hindu food throwing) festival Friday. Just my luck, when I went to check the bus times, guess which bus driver excitedly waved me over, yelling my name? Yup the one whose wife is my doppleganger apparently. So I quickly dodged him to go home and pack. But soon there was a knock on my door and guess who it was? The bus driver.
He talked to me for a while as I tried to pack up as fast as possible, asked to take a picture with me, and grabbed me to force a kiss on my cheek. At this point I had enough, so I shoved him and ran out the door to the bus. He came up behind me and asked me to sit in the front with him. I refused and crawled into the already full vanbus and squeezed in with some French lady. I think he got the point, and in the end he got some other driver for our bus. Ugh.
Anyway, because I'm only taking public transportation, I have to make two transfers. When we got to the first transfer bus station, I said goodbye to my fellow tourists, who warned me not to pay anyone before getting on the bus because there are scammers everywhere. So when some guy came up into the bus AFTER I got on, I did not hesitate to give him the 40,000 he asked for.
Such mistake. Very anger.
Turns out the bus operator (not the guy who asked me for money) didn't go around collecting money until after the bus left the station, and asked me to pay again - 19,000, less than half of what I paid. Now I'm not mad about losing $1.50, but at this point I was fed up with these despicable tourist scammers. Plus random guys keep coming up to sit next to me during the ride, when the freaking bus is half empty!!!!! When the first guy came, I didn't know if he wanted to talk to me or rob me, so I kept one hand on my backpack the other on my personal bag, not daring to sleep. He ended up doing nothing but smile at me, and when he finally left another dude came up. At least this guy asked "Hi miss can I sit next to you? "
"I'm sleeping." I didn't even try to be nice. I was so cranky at this point, with a whole day of travel ahead of me. This all used to be flattering, but now it's just purely uncomfortable.
Trend: I get really cranky after dealing with being forcefully kissed and with tourist scammers.
Anyway.... then things took an unexpected and nice turn - I had planned to travel all day to get to Sempol, the village below Mt.Ijen, by nightfall. But when I got to my second transfer, they told me the last bus to Sempol had left 30 minutes ago. Oops. In Indonesia they leave when they fill up.
So I went to the office for more information and alternatives. A guy came in and explained all my options along with bus timetables, and the (correct) fares in detail. I knew it was correct because his numbers match what I saw online. He recommended a very cheap close by hotel to stay at for the night, and even offered a ride when I said I would walk. Turns out, he's a tour guide, and instead of pushing his Ijen tour on me, he explained all the options and just suggested that I take his tour instead. I really appreciated that, but politely declined - no tours.
On the way to the hotel we passed by a bakso noodle shop, next to a line of fruit stands. I took a mental note - coming back later
The hotel was indeed cheap ($4), less than a third of I've been paying for, for a private room too! When I went into a local store, the nice locals started giving me advice about how to not fall for scams, and one guy even offered to take me to the station tomorrow morning and pretend that I'm a relative so I could get the local price!
I'm getting a really good impression of this city so far - not touristy at all, and with very generous and helpful people.
Because it was not touristy, as I walked through the markets to get my delicious bakso, the locals paid me no mind. It was such a refreshing change.
I love bakso. Definitely my Indonesian fave.
After dinner it's to the fruit stands as planned - I got a whole papaya and a kilo of oranges for under $1.50! Awesome. Tonight I feast on vitamins. No more pills! Hotel didn't have a knife so I borrowed a spoon from the nice receptionist - dug it open and ate it watermelon-digging style! Quite possibly the best papaya I've had.
Now I'm sitting in a local park after an evening stroll around the neighborhood, next to children rolling around on scooters, and couples sitting holding hands. It's like a day in the life of an Indonesian. It feels really great for a change.
No comments:
Post a Comment