Day 69-71 Bandar Lampung to Bandung to Pangandaran

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Day 69 Bandar Lampung to Bandung (Fri 10th Sept)

Left early in order to get the ferry from Sumatra across to Java Island. We arrived at the terminal by 0830 but had to wait for the next ferry (45 minutes) because the first one was already full. Its absolutely astounding how many motorbikes fit on these things! Since the ferry ride was to be a couple of hours, we went up to the top deck and commandeered some deck chairs to snooze in. The little bit of rain we got shortly after departure did nothing to quell the rather oppressive heat either.

In the end, Helen and I went down to the air conditioned rooms for the last half hour of the trip. They had a movie on, and though I’m not sure what it was, watching the subtitles was hilarious. The movie was in English and so were the subtitles (don’t ask because I have absolutely no idea what the logic behind that is) and they seemed to be a double translation. The word “damn” actually translated to “low on luck”. Who’d figure?

At 1145 we were off again, this time on the island of Java. You could see the difference immediately. Where Sumatra was wild and had a lot of jungle, Java was much more cultivated and seemed almost tame. Not a bad thing really and we are all looking forward to more than one night somewhere - I think we could all do with getting some washing done!!

We arrived at the hotel around 1700 and it wasn’t too bad a place actually. The foyer of course was really nice and modern, however the rooms had a bit more feel of decades past...but they were all clean and functional so nothing to complain about.

Helen, Norma and I had a really nice dinner in the hotel. The others went out into the town but not much was open still as it is a holiday weekend after the end of Ramadan.



Day 70 Bandung to Pangandaran (Sat 11th Sept)

0700 departure this morning. And right away we knew today would be a very long day. The traffic right from the start was horrendous. At some points we only barely moved at 20km/h. There was no end of the cars and buses and bikes on the road. Obviously a result of the holidays. At least I hope it's not always like that.

Around 1500 we arrived in the village where Anto’s family live for lunch. We met his parents and wife and son (who is an adorable 1 year old). They supplied us with a huge lunch, mainly dried stuff (like salty banana crisps and baked tapioca shapes, and nuts), plus some curry for the others. We also got to try the coconut drink you see everyone with around here (which is pretty much just a big green coconut with a hole cut into it and a straw stuck in). Personally I thought it was a little bitter so I opted for the one with sugar and condensed milk! Yum.

We arrived in Pangandaran after dark, so we couldn’t really see how big it was. The hotel was set up sort of like a motel and the rooms were quite nice with a veranda running along outside. After a rather late lunch, we weren’t interested in dinner so Helen and I took a walk in a random direction and had a look in a few market stalls. Certainly a lot of people around here.



Day 71 Pangandaran

After a bit of a sleep in today, the first thing everyone did was put in their washing - the prospect of fresh clean clothes too good to skip. We also took a look around from our balcony and noticed that the beach was in fact only about 30meters away. We couldn’t see it last night in the dark.

I took a walk around in the morning, going down to the beach. Unfortunately it was rather disappointing. It’s a coastal town so there were a lot of local tourists here for the holiday but it was filthy! The beach sand was dirty and gritty with litter everywhere. I have noticed that in a lot of the countries we have passed through, they generally use the side of the road or the local river as their rubbish tip. It’s a bit of a shock to our sensibilities considering you get fined for littering in a lot of western countries.

Needless to say I didn’t spend much time down the beach. Instead I went back to the hotel to thoroughly scrub my feet before going for a wander through some markets and not buying anything. Everyone ate dinner in town tonight, all at our own pace. Nice to have had a day when I didn’t have to get on a bus at all.

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Photos

On the Road
Amazing the number of bikes on the road - this is the queue for the ferry

On the Road 2
Much more cultivated on Java

Lunch
Lunch was provided by Anto's family