This morning I planned to go. My visa expires in 11 days. I should have enough time to get to Dumai and catch the ferry but we never know what could happen. The rain season is now coming and I won’t cycle under the rain unless I am really late. Firstly we took some more picture with the family, then I had some breakfast, then more pictures, then I was invited by one neighbour. I had a drink plus some snacks at his place. This is hard to leave a nice place like here. Everyone is so kind. Rahmat offered me to stay one more night and maybe visit around. I was hesitating until I found a deal. You guys stop smoking for the day if I stay with you. That way I am doing something good for you as you do something good to me :-) Deal?
Let’s come back too early this morning. Putra with who I’ve been visiting the city at night time is going to work very soon so before that happend, photo!
Second one in case :-)
Rahmat’s family neighbour who loves my hat. I will call him Jay for the story because I do not remember his name! Rah, this is annoying!
Another Rahmat’s sister. Actually I’m confused.. How many brothers and sisters does he have? If she was 10 years older and if she loved cycling I would ask her to come with me. Unfortunately those conditions are not possible haha.
Second one :-)
The mom who has so much nice kids :-)
Family and neighbours, the very pleasant community.
Another one? ok :-)
Jay and his son (with the cowboy hat). Jay with Rahmat are the two persons that promise to stop smoking for the day.
Tiring all those pictures isn’t it? hahaa :-) Shortly after I came back from Jay’s home we spent some time in the local Warung. That cat that is onto the top of the food container looks to have a very hard life.
The day starts, Rahmat, Jay and myself moved few kilometres away to fish.
The river here is clear and the weather wonderful.
Actually we are not fishing yet. First we collect weeds from the bottom of the river and then we will fish later this afternoon.
We came back home maybe 40 minutes later and Jay invited me to visit his workplace this time. We used his motorcycle and drove 5 to 10 minutes to get there. I met one of his friend and co-worker plus his boss who was occupied and not really talkative. Jay explained that he his a truck driver and works nearly everyday. Quickly after that, we went next door and seated in a warung. Jay’s friends were here having a coffee and lots of cigarettes. We stayed here for a moment before we drove back home.
Then Rahmat offered me to visit Tiku, a place next to the sea which is apparently very nice. The problem is that he doesn’t have any more fuel to go there and show me around. He would really love to do it for me. I offered to fill his tank so we can enjoy the visit. The deal seems to be fair enough as Tiku is not very far away and Rahmat will have his tank full to get somewhere else as needed. The relation with money is always tricky. At several times yesterday, some of the people I met told me that they do not have enough money, their house is ugly, it is hard to find a good job, they don’t have a good education, they can not speak english. Myself, I am coming in their communities and have most of the things they wish they would have. But, what can I do for them? give them money straight away for free? I don’t think that’s the solution. And why should I give to one or two person only when nearly everyone has the same needs? During the different conversation we had, there is always an edge that concern money. I never really know if they are nice and expect me to give them money or if they simply enjoy this experience and want to exchange more. Rahmat explain that his family likes joking and I don’t have to worry about it. He also told me that they are very proud that I stopped to their place. I’m really happy too! Let’s go to Tiku.
Map.
Something like 40 minutes later, we arrived to the beach that Rahmat was talking about. Effectively, this is a nice spot!
I offered some nice fresh orange juice.
Photo! :-)
The north side of Tiku beach.
And its south side.
As always, it’s possible to get to these kind of island by boat. A guide is always around to propose his services.
When we arrived here, a group of students were walking along the beach. As soon as they came back and realised there was a white stranger seating on the beach, the teacher came to us and asked me to take some pictures with the students. As always, the girls was like so excited and happy, haha :-) Crazy people here. I explained to Rahmat that if HE would travel through europe or any other “modern” no one would notice him like Indonesian people do with strangers here. He was surprised and kind of disappointed.
Finally we had a walk to the beach even further in the water as the tide was very low at that time.
That was Tiku! Then we came back home and spent more time with the family. We missed the time when Jay went fishing. We tried to find where he was staying by driving around the district but we did not find him unfortunately.
Later in the evening, Jay came back and asked me what I wanted to eat. I don’t really bother. At the same time I don’t really understand how they work here. No one seems eat at the same time but only when they want to. I think, since I came here, I’ve never ate with someone except Putra. The rest of the time I got some food and people watch me eating. This is a bit disturbing. Anyway, we came back on Jay’s motorbike and left the place to get some Nasi goreng. I understood that we would get a take away and come back home but one more time I missed the point. We stopped in a Warung and order only one meal. Jay did not want to eat, something about the cigarette bothered him. I could not understand if it was because he could not smoke or when he smoke he can not eat. Yes, because Jay could not resist and had to smoke again today when Rahmat is still on track :-)
So I had my dinner and was not able to pay for it. Then we did some more photo with the staff of the warung and drove back home. On the way back, we had a flat tire. Fortunately, in Indonesia, motorcycle shops are everywhere so Jay stopped somewhere to adjust temporarily the pressure of the tire and we continued our trip back home. The funny part is when his motorbike stopped working like 100 metres away from his house. I standed up and started walking during Jay was trying to restart the engine. What is 100 metres by walk? nothing! Nah nah nah, in Indonesia, it seems to be a lot because I’ve walked 10 metres and had to come back. Jay could start the engine and did not want me to walk that tiny distance. That a different culture I guess :-)
We finally arrived and I spent the rest of the night with the family. One of Rahmat’s sister offered me to visit, tomorrow morning before I go, the school where she used to go. She explained that her teacher would be really happy to talk to me. Well, this sounds interesting :-) Am I going to leave one day? I wish I could stay longer but my visa reminds me above my shoulder: “You have only 11 days to go, then you will pay 20 US dollars for each extra day”. This is something I keep in mind :-) See ya!
May be we do social eating too much ? Then we talk about getting too fat.
Then people go to a gym, be on a special diet…. Sounds like all business.
Eating a small meal when they get hungry is good idea. Only rich people are fat in those country, Australia is opposite.
Je suis tout à fait d’accord avec Yoko. Manger de petits repas plus souvent est certainement plus équilibré pour éviter l’embonpoint plutôt que se gaver 3 fois par jour. Mais chacun sa culture !! L’essentiel dans la nourriture n’est peut-être pas le rythme mais plutôt ce qu’on y met dedans. Les français fiers de leur gastronomie n’y vont pas de main morte quand il s’agit de cuisiner “riche”, c’est sans doute pour ça (aussi) que les plats gastronomiques ne sont pas très copieux ! Lol.
En tout cas tes amis sont vraiment sympas et généreux. J’espère qu’il en de même entre eux. Je pense que la solidarité est plus présente dans les pays moins riches que les nôtres. Le partage est naturel quand nous voulons à tout prix garder le peu que nous avons. La peur de perdre n’existe pas si on n’a rien !