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Despite an early night it's ten before I climb out of bed. I shower (pour water over myself) and dress. My plan for today is book a ticket out of here and find a book exchange.

The woman behind reception who gave me the details about the ferry to Pera Pera isn't working today and the girl that is doesn't speak a word of English. I remember the the Internet cafe guy last night spoke good English so I find him and he tells me to go three doors up to a ticket agent.

The ticket agent is for flights only, but I figure I'll look at prices. Looking at my map I realise that I really want to be in Makassa, Sulawesi instead of Pera Pera, Sulawesi (there's more ferry routes from there) so that's where I get prices from (IDR680,000 to fly tomorrow). That's cheap so I ask about a flight all the way to Labuanbajo, Flores - almost twice the cost. There's no flights to Bali.

I ask her for the cheapest Makassa flight tomorrow and she looks them up, scribbles them down and asks me to confirm. There's a layover in Balikpapan, Kalimantan. Almost all the flights layover in Balikpapan. I don't want to go there, but it's a lot closer to Java than it is to any of the other destinations I've asked about. A flight to Surabaya, Java tomorrow costs IDR500,000 (USD50). I don' know what the ferries will cost, but I know that it'll save me hours/days of time stuck on boats and it gets me a lot closer to where I want to be. Doesn't hurt that it puts me a couple of days from Netta if she wants to travel together again. I take the ticket.

Life is awesome.

NB: I wrote a post about my planned route around Indonesia last week and everyday since my route has changed, which is why I never posted it.

The ticket agent even gives me an address for a mall with a book store. The taxi there costs 3,000. I think a taxi to anywhere in town costs 3,000. As we go along the driver picks up and drops off other passangers and they all pay the same. I also realise how lazy Indonesian people are when it comes to walking.

The mall is three floors and maybe fifty shops, maybe less. Their collection of English books is tiny and they don't do book exchange. I meet a tourist information representative. I look for lunch and the only things I can find are a KFC, a pizza/burger bar and a bakery. I try the KFC (I haven't had western junk food since Saigon), but the Indonesians have taken the fast from fast food and I get bored waiting. The burger bar smells funny so I get a... pizza type pastry(?) and a doughnut(?) from the bakery.

The mall isn't that far from the hotel so I opt to walk back and save myself the twenty pence. Part of me wants to dislike this town: there's nothing here, the facilities are very basic and no-one speaks English, but I can't. Every school kid I pass says hello and wants to high-five me, people ask me to pose so they can take a photo of me as I walk past, with my camera around my neck people ask me to take photos of them. Everyone says hello and asks my name. They don't speak English and I don't speak Indonesian and it doesn't matter. I meet a bunch older

Kids

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The people here love having their photo taken

guys sat outside my room playing chess; I shake all their hands and take their picture just because I'm passing.

I snooze to the sound of Muslims being called to prayer and wake up when they're being called again. No idea how many time they've been called in between. I really like the sound. It's getting dark outside so I grab my camera and go for a wander, choosing a direction I haven't been.

coklat, komputer, nasional - I don't understand why they misspell things when they write them in English until Netta explains it to me. In Mayalsia and Indonesia (and probably the rest of SE Asia) each letter of the alphabet only has one sound, the same as in Finland. They have to choose between the English spelling or the English pronunciation.

Again I find more locals (children and adults) that just want to say hello and have their photo taken. A get dinner from a street vendor and desert from another. They cost the same, but I think the dessert will last me a few days.

Back to my room, update blog, watch a film and stand on the terrace to watch the lightening and the rain.

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