Indonesia: Life In The Islands

In Theory, It Was A Good Idea...

I'm in Bandung, West Java, right now visiting Ann and Elena, two other ETAs. I could have flown here, but getting to Surabaya, taking a plane to Jakarta, and then taking a train to Bandung seemed like a big hassle when I could just sit on a bus for ten hours. Also, a train from Bandung to Jakarta derailed last week and fell into a gorge. So I went to the bus station yesterday, bought a ticket, and settled in for the ride. Let's look at the stats here:

# of unexpected detours to Surabaya: 1
# of hours the detour added to the trip: 5
# of hours we sat in the Surabaya bus station: 2
# of men who tried to take Layne's iPod from me: 2
# of men who tried to sit on my lap and listen to Layne's iPod with me: 1
# of times I told him to get off: I lost count after ten
# of times I screamed at him to get the f**k away from me: 1
# of dads who came to the rescue: 2
# of hours my male seatmate used my chest as a pillow: 15
# of hours after eating at a truck stop that I became violently ill: 5
# of hours left in the trip at that point: 8
# of donuts I ate and then threw up in the bus bathroom: 2
# of hours I slept on the bus: 2
# of stops we made to pick up passengers at their houses: at least twenty
# of times I asked my seatmate to stop poking me and asking me questions: 5
# of times I changed my seat: trick question! the bus was full
# of hours left when Layne's iPod ran out of batteries: 7
# of times I cursed Pahala Kencana bus line: oh, so many
relief at reaching Ann's house: boundless
actual number of hours in the "10 hour" trip: 19.5

Well, at least I'm not afraid to fly anymore. And I can check "get violently ill in the tiny bathroom of an Indonesian bus while bouncing around mountain roads at 3 am" off my list of things to do here. What a relief!

After all my whining though, Bandung is actually really cool--good food, tons of shopping, and cooler than Malang. Ann and I are going to Jakarta for the weekend so I can continue my quest for a new iPod. Should be epic.

posted by Caitlin @ 6:30 PM