6/16

Hey everyone, I'm in Citos right now, (Cilandak Town Square) in the Mr. Bean coffee shop. I spent at least an hour pulling my hair out trying to configure my wireless connection, but finally got it to work, so I was able to Skype home. I got a few cool pictures of Depok and Sukamantri to show...


Yum! From Bread Talk, a bakery...



The view from the tent in Sukamantri...


3rd waterfall. You can see Fajar's head behind the rock.


Monkey's Tail, edible plant.


Well that's it for now! Hope you enjoy reading, I'm gonna go, talk to ya later!

6/3

6/3

Ok so Sunday morning a little before 6, we're in Sukamantri on Mount Salak, and I get some excellent pictures of the sun rising behind Gunung Gede. I take in the view, it's awesome. We have a few smokes, and Fajar goes to get breakfast. He comes back with gorengan, "fried stuff". It's hot, dripping in grease, and delicious. Sort of like a mess of battered onions and potatoes, fried in oil. Also had coffee and instant breakfast, sorta like a sweet porridge drink. Fajar goes back to sleep for a while, and I walk around and take pictures of monkeys and the campsite. Around 9 o'clock he gets up, we dismantle the tent, and he leads the way to the waterfall. He tells me that it takes 3 days to reach the top of Salak, and that hikers get lost and die every year, because the paths close behind you and you get disoriented.

There are 3 waterfalls, they get bigger the further into the jungle you go. I was told to watch out for lintah, leeches. So we passed the first 2, and kept trekking into the jungle, following the water upstream. We got to the 3rd waterfall, and it was beautiful. The water was extremely cold, but refreshing. Fajar got a couple of the lintah on him, about 1 cm long. On the way back, Fajar pointed out some of the local edible plants. Most interesting was the Monkey's Tail, a plant that looks like... well, a curled-up monkey's tail! He showed me how to brush off the hairs, and then eat the plant, explaining that it's better cooked, but still ok raw. The only way to describe the taste is like a really slimy cucumber. It wasn't bad, kinda crunchy, but was just oozing a clear, thick, choking goo. Probably better in a soup or something...

We got back to the campsite, took showers, and Fajar found another leech. "It sucking my butt!"

Had some nasi goreng at the little campground store, and a bunch of bikers rode into the camp. No, no, mountain bikers, from the Depok cycling club. Most of the guys were at least 50, and I couldn't imagine how anyone could ride 30 clicks uphill in this heat. So after lunch, it was about 1, and we started back down. It really began to heat up, but at least it was downhill. We passed a field where people were manually cutting grass and loading it into a pickup, as feed for cattle. Walked past cow pastures, poultry farms, and banana plantations. Fajar said he beleives that house we passed was owned by former President Suharto. We grabbed an angkot, switched onto another, and headed for the station.

Once we were just outside the station,Fajar pointed out the live snakes for sale, like cobras and pythons. He has a few anacondas at his house, as well as crocodiles, that he will skin when they get big enough. I saw a place that sold DVD's and they were cheap enough, about $0.55 each. I got Hot Fuzz, 28 Weeks Later (shite handicam copy), The Number 23 (same deal), and 300 (excellent DVD rip). So we hung out at the station for a while, let the first train go because it was too crowded, and got on the next one. More vendors today, selling kulit (fried skin, like pork rinds, but beef), fruit, drinks, and sundry goods. I saw a lot more beggars this time, like a bunch of people with portable amps singing to awful music for money. Got off the train, grabbed an ojek, and thanked Fajar for a great time in Sukamantri. It is worth mentioning that I did get a little bit of a sunburn for the first time since I got here. Looks like the pollution in Depok has a rating of SPF 30! Ha ha, well, that's about it for my weekend. Catch ya later!

6/2

6/2

I'm gonna try and do my best to remember everything that happened in the last 2 days, I broke it up by date, because I tend to get a little long-winded.

Saturday I hung out at the house till 4pm, when Fajar picked me up to go camping. "We go by train"... He picked me up on his motorcycle, we jetted to his house, and picked up his gear, then walked to the station. "Watch out for criminals" was his warning. This was not a particularly nice train station, crowded with vendors, normal people, and beggars. I put beggars in their own category because, well... I'll tell you later. The fare to Bogor is Rp. 1,500 for economy class, This is economy class in Indonesia. People crowd into the trains, some ride outside on top. "Boss, careful of your wallet, and put your backpack on your front. Beware of hypnotist. And let me know if anyone is watching us."

Slightly alarmed, I pressed him on the hypnotists. He said that people may try to talk to you, and distract you while reaching into your pocket and stealing your wallet. Thankfully, nothing bad happened on this trip. Vendors walked up and down the train, selling everything from stickers and cigarettes to fried tofu, oranges, and cold drinks. It started pouring on the train, and since it was economy class, the doors and some of the windows couldn't close. So we arrived in Bogor, ran to the station, and walked through and caught an angkot. We had to change angkots to get to our destination. It was prime rush hour, so we weren't moving at all. It's hot, and we're breathing exhaust fumes, it was terrible. We got as far as we could, and Fajar asks me, "Ok boss, we take ojek halfway, or walk?" We took the ojeks. It was slightly treacherous, washed out roads, we bottomed out a few times. Indonesians don't say oops or whoa, they say "Aduh!" So we got up halfway, took out our flashlights, and started walking. It was a full moon, so it wasn't too dark, but the cloud cover kinda hid the moon. After a little while, he stopped and lit his lantern. I remember it being very hot and humid, and you could see the steam rising off yourself. Fajar told me that you have to ask the forest for permission to take a whizz in the woods, or else be cursed. So I did... It was a long hike uphill, at least 2 clicks (km), and we were both sweating when we reached Sukamantri.

Formerly a WWII Japanese fortress, Sukamantri is now a campground. The exact location is 06 deg 40.533' S, 106 deg 45.093' E, according to my gps, about 33 km due south of my place in Depok. We set up camp, made some Indomie, Fajar played his guitar, it was cool. The next day is better...