From Melaka to Dumai by boat
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
1
64
157
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Bukittinggi,
Indonesia
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Buket - Footbridge
. The guesthouse got some fresh paint and had a nice little rooftop; but no other guests where at the place. Well, my night didn't go by too smoothely as I found myself sharing the bed with some mystery bugs. This was the first time in my travels that I got inundated by bugs; I was appalled especially as I woke up a couple of times at night feeling something running all over me. Next day, I took the ferry to Dumai which one hour delay. On the ferry, I met a guy with whom I talked about Indonesia and things to do or not to do. He told me that this is a bad time to visit Indonesia, I should come back in 2 weeks. Fat chance of me going back to Malaysia to come back in 2 weeks. I didn't quit understand what was the reason for not staying here at the moment. I think it had something to do with the Danish cartoons. After getting into Dumai, I realized how lucky I was to have met the chap on the ferry. He helped me dealing with the hordes of people rushing towards me. I realized that this was the total culture shock, having to deal with all these people starring at me and trying to negotiate some deals and this all in Indonesian. This is also the first time that I was unable to communicate with the people. Central/South America was a piece of cake compared to Indonesia. There, at least, I could talk to the people. Well, getting out of the ferry station to the bus station outside of the city was an adventure in itself
Buket - Footbridge2
. My taxi was a motorbike, my backpack propped up in front, me in the back and the smoking driver cruising the streets and showing of with me. I sure was the only foreigner in this town. The bus ride to Pekanbaru was a ride that beamed me straight back into Central America, the dejavu was overwhelming; same crazy driving style, same bad roads, same poverty and trash along the road and same tropical landscape. It dawned on me that I had not seen poverty striken neighboorhoods in a while. New Zealand, Australia and Singapore certainly spoilt my "first world" living standards. Pekanbaru is an important oil city, the US had found oil there before WWII and has refineries all over the place. However, nothing of the oil money seems to have benefited the people who are living there. In the bus, I met Dewi, a girl from Duri travelling to Pbaru. My second angel that day; she was my guide and translator in the land of unknown. Arriving at the brandspanking new bus station miles and miles outside of town, I found myself the talk of the town once again as hundreds of people were starring at me, congregating around me and offering me their overprized taxi service or any other service. As my Indonesian is almost non-existing, save for some basics, and their english is constrained to "helo miss", I felt rather helpless in this mass of people. So, I decided here and than that my next financial investment will go into a dictionary. Thanks to Dewi, we made our way into town. First thing I bought was a SIM card so I could call the guesthouse which we then eventually found. I stayed at Poppies place, which is run by a friendly and english speaking owner with whom I contemplated about the state of affair of Indonesia which looks rather bleak. To thank Dewi for her help, I invited her out for dinner as I wanted to have my first taste of Indonesian food
Buket - Playing domino
. The dinky place we went to had an interesting array of food from spicy chicken to curry chicken, fried fish and some green vegetables. However, the first thing I saw was a rat crossing the restaurant. Well, we did stay for dinner not thinking about the rat.Getting back to the out-of-town bus station the next morning was a whole different story too. When in need of help, I turn to the police, so I asked the police men at the corner of the road for a bus to the terminal. He stopped the first minibus and asked the driver if he goes to the bus terminal. He said yes, yes looking not very convinced that this is the route he is actully going. So, I got a little tour of the town, moving further away from the bus station. Eventually, I was the only passanger and he wanted to have 20000 rupiah($1=8700 rupiah)to take me to the bus station and this after we had been driving around for a half an hour. I told him no, that I paid about 1600 rupiah the day before. He finally found me a little bus, away from the bus station, that was leaving for Bukittinggi. I gave him 3000 rupih and he was happy. I got to this town in the late afternoon and tried to find the guesthouse. It was useless and after calling the guesthouse and asking for directions, I jumped in the little minibus and they stopped right in front of the guesthouse. I am staying at Merdeka Homestay where I have a double-room with bathroom (squat toilett and shower)for 30000 rupiah
Buket - Typical Minangkabau architecture
. The homestay is a lovely old house and the guy who runs it speaks english and is very friendly. I also met Erik here who is a guide who knows how to make money. And since he seems to be the only guide in this town, he seems to make GOOD money. I signed up for a 3 day jungle trip including transportation, accomodation and food and all the cultural information I want from him. The tour is about $90 which is expensive for me but I am so ready to get out in the green and away from the people. In the evening, I started to explore the town but got rained on. I went to the Apache cafe, which is managed by a handful of young chaps who invited me to hang out with them. Here, I had my first Sumatra Cafe and I played cards with them and just talked the evening away. Two of the chaps, Don and Joco speak english very well, so I felt in heaven to finally get a chance to talk to someone. I started to write down 3 pages of useful indonesian phrases and practiced them with the guys. The next day, I went to the chaotic market where I realized that my camera's batteries were low and I wasn't able to take any pics. I wandered through town, getting lost along the way ending up in a small kampung which was dotted with rice paddies, vegetable fields, fish ponds and lots of traditional style Minangkabau houses. The children could not believe their luck to see a foreigner roaming their streets. I had the entire school population running after me. I met a young woman who could speak some english and we chatted a bit about her family and her village. The kids, shy and daring at the same time, just smiled their big smiles at me and wished they would be able to talk to me. I wished the same as I would have liked to talk to some old ladies. Tonight, I would like to see a cultural performance of Minangkabau dances. Besides the trash everywhere, there is also lots of smoking going on which makes me think that Indonesia, after China, might be the number one or two country in tobacco consumption. 
