Sunday November 30, 2008

I slept for ages last night. It’s the first time since I left Boomtown I have slept through to late morning and boy was it good. The air conditioner is working like a little champ and my room was like a walk in cold room at your local BWS when the domestic staff woke me by opening the door again at around 10.30am. I’m not even fazed by the cleaning ladies anymore. I waved and invited her to join me without even opening my eyes, patting the spot beside me on that giant bed prompted a sharp response in a language I don’t understand hahaha. She was out of my room in record time.

I couldn’t go back to sleep after her visit despite my die-hard efforts to do just that. Dragging myself out of bed some 30 minutes later I could feel my brain about to go into hangover mode and I intercepted any such move with a shower and several paracetamol. A leisurely breakfast was in order I thought, so I hit City Café and worked my way through a couple of excellent coffees accompanied by a delicious ham, cheese, tomato omelette (haha remember that chick at Toogoolawah Snakey and Bren; Ammm Cheeeeeese Tooomateerrrr… Monsta ya Ammm Cheeeeeese Tooomateerrrr toasted sanga’s are ready!!). Had a dope, long chat with Azzamate while I ate, until we got kicked off the mobile network again. Bloody Timor Telecom!! Can’t wait for Indonesia and it’s ‘advanced’ technology.

After breakfast I spent about a half hour at the Net Café, updating my blog and generally stuffing around before I returned to my room to do some washing and get a head start on my packing for tomorrow. We leave Dili finally in the morning and I’m so excited to be going. I can’t wait to hit Indonesia and not be getting so ripped off at every turn. You don’t even want to know how much money I have spent here in East Timor. It’s not a cheap destination. Nor is it an easy place to visit. It’s a mad shame because this could be a new Bali. The beaches are beautiful, there is spectacular countryside, the Timorese have a relaxed attitude that would suit many Australians and the culture is interesting. Shame about the underlying problems that plague the area, I personally think the jealousy of the ‘have nots’ is actually hampering their ability to get ahead and change their plight. Some of the stories that Antonio has told me about being Malay (foreign) here in Dili would make every hair on your body stand on end. It’s a predominantly young population in these parts and it is the young that are most disaffected by the events of the last twenty or so years. I can’t see attitudes changing in a hurry and the politicians here and other community leaders really have their work cut out for them.

It’s now around 5pm and as I type this entry I have my ipod blasting. God I miss my music. Even though it is with me everywhere I go I have not taken many opportunities to have a listen. I have a random play list going at the moment. It’s one I made up when I was still at home getting ready to go on tour so to speak. It is such a good list of songs I can’t believe how good a job I did haha. ‘Certified’ by the Funkoars, off Bonez album is cranked right now but I’ve been head nodding my way through favourites for the last hour or so. ‘Hold On’ by Phrase, ‘Fuck em up’ by Vents, ‘Yes it is’ off that latest Chasm joint, Muph and Pluto’s ‘Walkin tightropes’ are just a few of the tracks. Note to Monsta: Listen to ya bloody I-pod a bit more bloke!!

After talking to Azzamate this morning and discussing my plans to buy a boat in the US I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to make that dream a reality. Especially since Az pointed out that the start of the season we want to be sailing in is spring break hahaha. I think we are going to have to spend a little time doing ‘shake down’ test sails before we go. “Sure ladies come on back to my Yacht and we’ll have a nightcap,” easily has to be one of the best lines I think. “Why don’t you just stay the night and we’ll go for a sail in the morning?” Hahaha Settle down there Monsta! Toey Much!! While I’m on the subject of the ladies I think I have to say that I am sooo looking forward to being in a more touristy area! Yes Mum I know… I hate the touristy area’s… but they have their advantages. It’s about time this Monsta got some bloody lovin! There was some graffiti on the fence beside Antonio’s place that I noticed last night. It read ‘I just want to hold you baby’. I think I’m keen on bit more than a cuddle but I had to think to myself when I read it “Word Bruv.” There is another bit of graff between my hotel and ‘One More Bar’ that reads ‘Lovin is a drug. Take it orally and you WILL see me in the morning.’ Once again I have to think “Fuckin WORD Bruv!” On a side note as it has nothing to do with sex; I think my favourite piece of graffiti I have seen here so far reads “The Bible. A book you have to reed!” Hahahahaha it’s a bit like Tezanese (the language spoken by the beautiful Tez) so close and yet so totally fuckin wrong. I think of Terrie Anne Ellis every time I go past that wall.

Monday December 1, 2008

Whooohooo exciting.. we are in a new month and I am leaving East Timor to finally get moving again. Needless to say I could not sleep so well. I was probably up at around 5.30am pacing my room. By 6am I was packed and looking at a two and a half hour wait until my bus arrived. In the end I needed that time just to track down the Hotel manager so that I could pay my bill. I very nearly just walked out of there without paying they were taking so long. It’s so frustrating; this country has so much potential and yet falls way short of making good use of it. Eventually Tav and Meags arrived and we managed another coffee waiting for the bus. No surprises that it was late. It is the Timor Leste modus operandi.

Once we had our seat on the bus I started to settle down a bit. The road from Dili to the boarder is incredibly basic. I goat track really, that only has a sporadic sprinkling of bitumen along it’s length. The three-hour trip could be over in an hour maximum if the road wasn’t constantly broken up with gigantic potholes and even speed bumps on the freaking highway. This western part of Timor leste that I hadn’t previously explored to any great extent is dry and barren. There are heaps of people trying to eeck out a living but they are doing so in what appears to be an unfriendly, dry and infertile environment. We passed many a dried up rice paddy and minimalist timber house with thatch roof. I was glad to finally make the boarder as Tav and Meags kept saying that the Indonesian side gets a lot more lush and fertile looking. At the boarder we were required to unload and load back onto the bus about seven times at least. I still don’t really understand why. We just did as we were told and I was beginning to get my cranky on when Tav donned an army captain’s hat that was too small to fit his head. My camera was still on the bus damn it, because the huge belly laugh we shared with the boarder soldiers was worth a happy snap. Those lighter moments had proven irregular on this trip. God love Tav and his ADD nature. The change between the Timor side and the Indo side of that political demarcation called the boarder was immediately apparent. Even just in the nature of the boarder itself. Where as the Timor part was void of touts and yet rife with unsmiling officials, even the soldiers on the Indo side wore broad grins. The touts were polite though insistent and really only there because they served a purpose. Exchanging US dollars for Rupee at a decent rate on the black-market. I changed enough to get me going and kept a few US dollars as a reserve.

The rest of our trip was one long endurance test for our asses. The seats seemed to become like concrete after the boarder. Every one of us on that mini bus suffered the same dead bum syndrome. I tried to avoid thinking about it by retreating into my I-pod. Downplay finished and Talib Kwali started and I would shift from numb left check to rested right. By the time The Tea Party got bumped I had run out of sides of my bum that could endure the punishment. Thankfully we stopped at Surabaya for a meal break and to collect freight. I relished the chance to stand and give my buttocks a break. But before too long we were loaded back into the bus to continue our ‘torture of the tush’ ride. We seemed to be making so many stops on our way west and Tav let out an audible groan when we all recognised we were back on the same section of road we had travelled only an hour before. It was very confusing for us as there was only really one lady on the bus who spoke much English and when she started to doze we couldn’t find out what was going on. When we pulled up at the same bus terminal in Surabaya for a second time both Tav and I got more forceful with our questions. They were met with frustrating broken English that made no sense. Regardless of the communication issues we soon had those questions answered when they ordered us off the bus and changed a dodgy tire. OK… at least now we may get on with this journey.

After some more music; a mixture of Ray Charles and Spiderbait’s Greatest Hits (yes it’s an eclectic mix I know but try it out and tell me it’s not entertaining) I eventually tried to take my mind off my buttocks by watching Family Guy. Have I mentioned how numb our assess were? I can’t stress it enough and even though I’m running out of different word for bum I am sure it will get mentioned again. Once we finally got moving, on roads infinatly better than those we had so far travelled and yet still terrible, I began to notice that our new driver who joined us at Surabaya was very fond of hard braking. I wish I hadn’t because now every time he did brake like a demon I was fighting an overwhelming urge to punch him in the back of the head. I don’t know how many times I had just dozed off only to be woken by my head bashing forwards and back like I was at a Metallica gig.

Eventually after some twelve hours bumping and swaying over atrocious roads we made Kupang. It’s mayhem here. Innumerable mikrolets and scooters are joined by heavy pedestrian traffic to make navigating these streets a slow, painful process. We tried to find some Bin Tangs to ease our destroyed derrieres every time the bus stopped to make a parcel drop but we unfortunately failed miserably. Finally, just as I was about to top myself, we made our hotel Pontai Timor. It’s a nice looking joint and the rooms are massive. Even though we knew we were being ripped off they still cost around a third of the best-priced room in Dili at about $15US a night. We showered and ate an amazing meal at the restaurant downstairs. Cumi Cumi (squid or calamari) Goreng, some random veggie dish, Satay Ayum (Chicken), this excellent prawn dish I can’t remember the name of and rice. We roamed the streets after dinner picking up many ‘friends’ including an invite to a wedding on Tuesday from a bloke called Primus hahaha. I like Indonesia already but cannot wait to get to Larantuka and the more remote Flores Islands.

BTW I got a Sim here in Indo but credit is proving to be elusive. Call me and say hi if you get the urge. My number is 081353969307. I don’t know what the international call part is so you’re going to have to work that bit out yourselves. I’m told the ferry to Larantuka leaves tomorrow, weather permitting, and if it does I’m so on that rusty boat. I’ll let you know how I go aight! Poice and much Monstie love.

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