Dangers and Annoyances

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We finally pulled into the Probolingo bus station at 10pm. We'd been told we'd arrive at 6. It had been a long and grueling day, battling heat, exhaustion, bus fumes, hunger and those intense, inquisitive stares. The bus had stopped off frequently along the roadside for the men to relieve themselves. The women had to wait for 8 hours, and even then the bus nearly left without us. But the biggest relief of all was to be there, wherever it was that we were.

We had the name of a cheap hotel and the 'bemo' driver wanted to charge us 20,000 Rp to get there. The local price was 2,000 Rp. We finally managed to find a ride for 5,0000 Rp each and were taken to the wrong hotel.

Inside they seemed to have made up in appearances for what they lacked in customer service. I approached the counter.
"How much for a double room?" I inquired.
The woman stared at me over the rim of her glasses and pointed to a room list. The cleanliness of the hotel was reflected in the price.
"Do you have anything cheaper?"
She shook her head no. Just then I noticed another list, a weekend list that was nearly half the price. It was my turn to point.
"What about this one?"
"No, only for weekend." She replied.
"Yeah, it is the weekend - can we see this room?"
There was a momentary pause.
"This price start tomorrow," she stated.
Tomorrow!! In just a few hours it would be tomorrow. Why did she have to be so difficult?
"So, you have a weekend price that only applies when you see fit."
She started at me blankly.
"This is ridiculous," I complained. "Can you give us the weekend price today?"
"No, only start tomorrow," she insisted. Strange how the sign seemed to have been there for a very long time.
"Forget it then," I muttered and walked towards the door.

The street seemed to be deserted. No sign of a shop or bemo, let alone another hotel. Poor Josh was being dragged along on another one of my "it's not the money, its the principle of the thing" rampages. There were several men loitering outside.
"Are there any other hotels close by?" we asked.
The rickshaw driver piped up.
"Oh no, very faaaar." He emphasized his point by drawing out each syllable.
"How far?"
The driver looked off into the distance.
"Maybe 3, maybe 4 kilo,"
Josh and I groaned. The last thing we felt like doing was walking for ages, especially with the burden of our backpacks.
"I give you good price." The driver was pointing to his bicycle rickshaw. Admittedly, it was a better option than facing the woman inside again.
"How much?"
"For you only 6,000."
We were so tired.
"Okay, let's go."

The rickshaw ride lasted about a minute. We could have walked there in 3. He tried to bargain upwards. I let Josh deal with it, these people were really starting to get to me.

The next hotel was dirty. We thought that it might at least be cheap.
"Can we see the room?"
I had to act it out as noone seemed to speak any English. On our way down the corridor a rat ran past. The door to the room was opened to reveal a family of cockroaches who were already staying. The toilet had no seat and there was no shower. I was not in the mood to compromise on such basic standards. Back at reception we asked for the price. The woman pointed to her list, it read 60,000 Rp. which was double what we'd been paying so far. For the standard of the room it seemed ludicrous.
"Are you crazy!? Your room has cockroaches," I used my hand to mimic the insect and ran it along the counter. The woman stared at me. "The room is dirty and there is no shower!"
"Okay, shower." The woman pointed to her list again, the price read 175,000 Rp.
I looked at Josh.
"I give up," I said, walking towards the door.

Outside, the same rickshaw driver sat waiting.
"Okay rickshaw?"
I glared at him.
We walked to the main road and looked down the street. I looked at Josh.
"Should we just walk until we find something?"
"I guess we'll have to."
It was close to 11pm. The streets that had seemed so desolate before began showing signs of life. As we trudged along, figures rose from the shadows, eyes looked up from the ground. Street cats darted across our path, a streetlight flickered. Was somebody following us? Further ahead we could see a mob approaching. There was the rumble of chatter, people pushing and hassling each other, eerie laughter resonating across the still air. I clutched my bag tighter and quickened my pace. Before long they were upon us, a gang of about 15 teenage boys. I could only make out each silhouette. They jeered at us waving their arms and yelling obscenities. I was terrified, sensing our helplessness if they decided to move in any closer. We were almost running now. There was nothing in the distance that offered any hope, nothing that could provide protection from the Probolingo night.

The boys now in the distance, the men began to appear. Smoking, staring, playing chess under the meager streetlight. The boys had made me cringe but the men fired me with an intense fury. It didn't matter that Josh was there too, they voiced their sleazy comments regardless, their sexual desires laid bare. It didn't matter how fast I ran - my bag and their words were weighing me down. I was trapped in my gender and cursed by my fair skin. I cursed them too but was only met with coarse, ugly laughter. Close to tears, it was only anger that kept me going now.

We arrived at the next hotel completely exhausted. Josh did all the talking. More men littered the common area. I was desperate for this room to be okay. For 40,000 Rp they offered a twin room with dirty sheets, no toilet seat and no shower. There were no visible creatures inside the room. We said we'd stay if they changed the sheets. It seemed a reasonable compromise.

Finally we were able to esacape the world outside. We each sat sullenly on the edge of our beds. I was starving -we hadn't had a proper meal since breakfast. Josh produced the very last of our food, a few cookies in a packet which read "Good Time". I bit into one.
"This is the only good time I've had all day!"
Josh laughed. "Yeah, me too."
We sat in silence for awhile.
"I absolutely despise men y'know."
He was sympathetic. "Yeah, I know that.
"I hate this place, I really hate it."
"We haven't had much luck on this trip at all."
More silence. I laid down and stared at the ceiling. Then Josh piped up again.
"Do you think we should change our tickets? Go back to Thailand sooner?"
I mulled this over. It had never occurred to me to do that, to just give up on a place. But then I also hadn't had such an onslaught of hassles. It was like I couldn't breathe in this place. There was a 'skin tax' applied to absolutely everything, and although I'd experienced much worse, the men were still hard to bear. I didn't want to feel so angry all the time, like I was being violated and used. I was suspicious of everyone. It was turning me into that ugly tourist I hated so much.
"No, I can't just leave like this. It will get better once we get to the Gili's and are away from all this shit."
"Yeah, I hope so."


Five days later we sat on the beach on Gili Trawangan. It was arguably the most beautiful island I'd ever been to. Absolute paradise. Something I'd never have known if I'd given up on it all. I decided to do some blogging so headed to an internet cafe. There was some trouble with my memory card but I still managed to get the photos and complete my blog from Yogya. By the time I left the cafe and reinserted the card into my camera however, there was a glitch and none of my 500 Indonesian pictures were accessible.

Since then I have taken the card in to be restored. Some photos have survived while others can never be salvaged. Only a few from Bromo and Probolingo remain. It was as though some inexplicable force was trying to erase the memory of those negative experiences. As if to say 'don't hold on to that, Indonesia deserves a much better review.' But that would be to deny we ever went.

I don't think travel is all roses and rainbows and I don't think its supposed to be. There are some days that are really tough. There are times when I sit there and think, 'what the hell am I doing here and why do I actually have to put up with all of this?!' But I think that is a question that is echoed worldwide. Crossing any racial barrier is hard, its a whole new way of thinking and doing and there are no magic answers. Indonesia for me has ranged from one side of the spectrum to the other, creating a real love-hate experience overall. I have witnessed the cruel and the kind side of a country that I will still recommended to the next person. After all, I believe travel is an individual experience and this is only my story.

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Photos

At the rim of the crater
This photo is deceptive as its actually a really long way down. Apparently erupts on a regular basis which thankfully, I discovered afterwards!!

The 'good luck flower man'
This guy was selling flowers to be thrown down into the volcano, apparently brings good luck. We didn't buy any. I wonder if that had any bearing on our Probolingo experience...

Horses
The locals get around on dirt bikes and horses. We opted for the bike - with the sand several inches deep it was a pretty scary ride!

Layers of rock and ash
We were absolutely covered in ash by the end of the day

The Bromo Moonscape
This place was so amazing. Reminded me of the documentary 'the long way round' when they travel through the deserts of Mongolia - so desolate

The bus from Probolingo to Bromo
They don't turn anyone down on this bus and we were crammed in like sardines. At one point, there were 24 people in the 12 seater van - they were hanging out the door and on the roof too!

Good Time?
Not really

Yes, its as bad as it looks
Where we ended up in Probolingo

Comments

[Chris]

Good on 'ya
All in all, you're having a great time huh? I certainly don't miss those toilets. Still, it was all worth it, so good on 'ya. Keep having a wonderful time and take care, Chris.