Sampai ketemu Lagi!

( On the road passing another impressive mosque)

( Local kids sneaking a peak at the rare white man )

( The humble abode of Seki )

The last few days have been cruisy then hectic, spontanious and memorable.
We were not only blessed with a perfect mix of swell and wind - the only remaining surfers seemed to disappear leaving the waves eerily empty. Many yews n yelps, reef cuts, tubes and exhausted sighs of satisfaction later - we were on our way back to Bandar Lampung.

We were so lucky because we got to visit the humble little villages where Okta and Pak Rama lived.
( Local people came from around the village to observe us...)

Every time we were warmly welcomed into their homes and offered coffee, cigarettes and fried tofu, rice and all sorts of delicious sides. It seemed like most of the people had never seen Westerners before and we always attracted a lot of attention.
One really interesting visit was to Pak Ramas older brothers village. His family made a living from performing comedy, music, drama and shadow puppetry at parties and ceremonies. He showed us this 300 year old mask that had been passed through the generations - and performed a traditional dance! All the kids in the village seemed to be trying to sneak a peak of us as we sat in the old house. I felt really humbled by the experience and it left me with a really warm feeling of the Indonesian people I had encountered in Sumatra...

The experience that followed however was far from fun...

( The people of Paradise )

After 4 delays in Lampung we arrived in Jakarta and missed our flight to Bali and spent hours at the deserted airport trying to get another flight. We eventually found one 3 days away on Saturday! With no where to go we jumped in a jeep with a cheery lad from Padang and proceeded to head south to Bogor. By 4am we were squatting in a warung drinking coffee and wine with a bunch of confused locals watching the Barcelona Manchester game. After we couldnt keep our eyes open and longer, we wearily scoped a hotel and crashed deeply until the muggy Javanese heat woke me up in a pool of sweat at 10:30.
Seki - the cheery Sumatran who drove us to Bogor - inivted us to his cosy little abode where we ate delicious Kalap fruit and drank coffee and talked with the women about Western lifestyles and mentalities compared to that of the villagers of Indonesia. It was a great session and I really felt I connected with people who I had absolutely nothing in common with. Seki's home was about 7m by 4ms in total - hes proudest possessions were his badminton set, his foreign currency note collection and pictures of his family scattered through the archipelago - yet he was the happiest man around!

( hati - hati )

I could easily look on these last couple days as a huge annoyance - being stuck in a noisy polluted city when I should be relaxing on a Balinese beach - though I would change anything that has happened. These are the spontaneous events that make a trip an adventure...