I spent a very interesting weekend in early October travelling to a beach on the southeast coast of Java. Our expedition began with 4 people planning to go but two stayed out late on Friday night and weren't able to get up for the 4:30am departure time. So John and I left without them. We walked to the train station and took the Ekonomi train south past Malang. It cost about 45 cents for a ticket with no guaranteed seat and, in fact, neither of us got a seat for most of the journey. I was able to perch on a big bag of rice in the aisle for quite a while (surprisingly comfortable) but then gave up my perch to a woman with a small child.
After disembarking from the train in the small town of Kepanjen, we strolled around for a while and then strolled in the direction that we thought we needed to go, seeking a small bus (bemo). When we found one, the driver and his assistant quizzed us carefully to understand exactly what we wanted and dropped us off neatly at a perfect spot - a corner full of guys with motorcycles for hire, or ojeks. The bemo was also pretty cheap - again less than a dollar for each of our fares.
(Photos are: Train, Beautiful scenery on the way, Cool grasshopper trying to hitch a ride with us, John on his ojek and oxen by the road (shot from ojek-back), and Paula with her ojek driver.)
We negotiated with the ojek drivers and settled on about five dollars each for passage which is rather steep comparitively but it turned out that they earned their money. The road was steep and twisty, winding through hills and valleys. And it was under construction in spots so it was full of potholes and various obstacles. Wheee!
We arrived at the beach of Balekambang around 11 am. There are some simple rooms for rent right on the beach - for Rp 100,000, you get a cot and a simple bathroom (this is code for wow, I hope I don't have to do anything in here!). Since we wanted to spend our time on the beach, this seemed okay.
Out my front door was a fabulous view of the beach and an intriguing small HIndu temple on a little island, connected to another island by a bridge which continues to the mainland. Without much delay, we jumped right into the water - it was crystal clear and lovely. There's a pretty narrow strip of beach before the reef area and the surf pounds in fairly close. Since I'm not an experienced ocean swimmer, I played it pretty cautious and stayed near shore. John had found a mask and snorkel in our laundry room at home and brought it along. He shared it with me and we took turns admiring the colorful fish, sea urchins, intricate corals, and abundant various sea life.
After a while of frolicking in the sea and warming in the sand, we walked down to the adjoining beach which was completely empty. There is another island there with a bridge but this bridge has large sections missing so it's not usable. John swam out to the island and explored around while I was snorkelling. While he snorkelled, I walked back for my camera and a shirt to keep off a bit of the sun. This beach area was just lovely and I hadn't taken many photos yet as I was too busy enjoying myself.
And, here comes the bang in the Balekambang! ... on my walk back along the beach edge, I passed over some large, flat rocks in the sand. They seemed innocuous and I continued without care until I slipped spectacularly, with my feet rising up until I was almost horizontal. I banged my shoulder a bit on the rocks and flung my camera into the water on the rocks. Yikes! Some nice guys were sitting in the sand right nearby and came rushing over to help me to my feet. They even had a bit of English to inquire whether I was okay. I was a little shakey and definitely embarassed but basically unharmed. My camera, though, was kaput. Ruined. Sigh - so much for taking pictures of the beautiful beach! You won't find any further photos in this blog entry - just words.
When it turned dark, we got some dinner at the small stands that line the beach and headed to bed for an early night. I don't recall whether it was at dinner or our earlier lunch but as I was looking at my ice tea, there was a small black thing floating in it. I didn't think much about it but scooped it out and kept drinking. When I looked again, there was another. Then another. And another. Etc. I'm still not positive whether they were insects drowning themselves in the tea or residue frozen into the ice and melting out onto the surface on the tea but as I laughed at the futility of scooping out speck after speck, I made a statement that will follow me through the rest of my time here: If you're that worried about what the black things floating in your tea are, perhaps you don't belong in Indonesia. In fact, this has spun into several conversational lists of great hilarity and may appear again as a future blog entry of some form ... who knows? I guess I passed that test though since I finished the tea, black specks and all. And, by the way, I had no ill effects - my stomach was fine all weekend.
Our expectations of a peaceful night sleeping to the crashing of the surf were soon to be shattered though. Around 8pm, loud music started up. Very loud. With a booming bass line. Then karaoke with offkey singing. After some early nap time, I found myself unable to sleep through it. John saw the light in my window and we wandered down the beach to find a snack or drink. As we passed the party, I saw guys dancing and having a wonderful time. A stream of busloads and carloads of people passed us, all bound for an exciting party weekend at the beach. It turned out that they were Malang soccer fans who have beach parties about once a month. I was very glad that they were having so much fun, although a little annoyed that their fun needed to be at the expense of my sleep.
Anyway, while John and I futilely attempted to wait out the music, we ordered some drinks and snacks. I just wanted a cup of hot tea, which seemed simple. Since tea in Indonesia normally comes VERY sweet and I was a bit groggy and in no mood for a mouthful of sugar, I ordered it "plain" or "tawar" which is my normal preference. It came sweet. I gave that cup to John and tried again, ordering it "tidak gula" or without sugar. The man nodded and smiled, and my next cup was just as sweet. John drank that one also. I was a little grumpy but still trying - I asked for "teh panas tidak manis" or hot tea, not sweet. The poor shopkeeper was flummoxed by me - I kept grimacing and giving away his lovingly prepared offerings and he didn't know how to make me happy. I think he honestly had no idea how to make tea without sweetener in it. He went into the back for a while and then came out and apologized that he was out of tea. I could do nothing but laugh and go without tea.
John and I each managed to get a nap in the wee hours of the morning although it sounds like I was more successful at it than he. Things finally quieted down to a lower volume around 3 in the morning, he said.
The following morning, we frolicked some more. Walking further past the quiet beach area with the island (which did have a few people on it that day), we found another smaller beach. The surf came in nearer and the beach was just beautiful. While I was snorkelling, John explored further and found another even more unspoiled and wilder! I wouldn't go out into the water at that one as it was too rough. John did but eventually we were discovered by a park ranger who asked me to wave John in. He lectured him a little about the treacherous currents and monitored to make sure we didn't ignore his warnings. It was about time for us to leave anyway to catch our scheduled ojeks at noon so we reluctantly left this lovely spot.
Wow, even with the difficulties, this was such a great weekend!
Postscripts
Thanks, John, for sharing your photos from the trip! Between us, at least I could give a small flavor of the beauty there. Also, thanks for your efforts planning & shepherding me through the travel.
A later conversation with some Indonesians suggested that perhaps the poor shopkeeper who couldn't give me unsweetened tea had actually brewed up a large batch of tea which was already sweetened. Apparently that's common. It would be impossible for him to take out the sweetener, of course, if that were the case. Less amusing, though.
0 comments:
Post a Comment