PALEMBANG IS SO EXCITING!!

NO IT'S NOT.  THAT IS A COMPLETE LIE.
Well, I'm back in Palembang.  I don't really know what to say other than I AM BORED OUT OF MY EVER LOVING MIND.  I know some of you are thinking, "Wow, Diane has a bad attitude.  She used to be so bubbly, fun and optimistic."  Well you know what?  Bubbly, fun Diane is gone.  Deal with it.  So far, the most exciting thing that happened was the power outage at school yesterday.  This happens very often and I was lucky enough to experience it the second day back at school.  No AC, no computers, pitch black recently "cleaned" (hosed down and dripping wet) bathrooms, etc. etc. so on and so forth.  

The latest 'fun' thing in my life since my return to the Cleveland of Indonesia (term coined by Chris) is making soy sauce and garlic omelets for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Okay, maybe just for breakfast and also for dinner sometimes.  Lunch for the past two days has been chicken sate since that is the only quick food option near school.  I'm going through severe vacation withdrawals.  I miss you all and am looking forward to our camping trip, Santa Cruz weekend, experimental cooking sessions, driving, high speed internet, hilarity and tea parties.  I have twenty two more days.  I should make the best of them with all that Palembang has to offer.  Which is about next to nothing.  GET ME OUTTA HERE. 

My room is a mess.  The only food I have left is one egg and a can of garbanzo beans.  I haven't showered in two days.  I need help.  However, I will say, Carlina's email and skyping with Guilin and the Kos did make my day.  Thanks guys!  I am sure in three weeks time I will be writing a post talking about how much I will miss Indonesia and how sad I am to be leaving.  Feel free to roll your eyes and sigh at my inconsistent, fickle, hyperbolic behavior. 

No. 16 : Denpasar -> Jakarta -> Palembang

DAY 16: The Sad Journey Home

I made it through a strange night of mosquito bites on my hands and eery, dark nightmares where I was walking alone through dilapidated wooden houses in silence.  In one of the houses were tables and people of all different backgrounds sitting and eating.  There was a sumo wrestler at the head of the table and servers bustling around to bring plates to them but there was no noise.  Everything was in a super pale sepia tone.  Scary.

I woke up with a slight headache and uploaded our pictures onto Ryan's iPad.  In a matter of fifteen hours I had managed to make a mess of all my things and so decided to repack again.  Ryan seemed to be feeling better and we headed down by the pool for breakfast.  I had an omelette, toast with butter, fresh fruit, orange juice, coffee and bacon.  The sky was cloudy and overcast and I got really excited about this enormous bird hovering in the air.  I tried to take a picture of it.  Turns out it was a kite.

Oh I meant to take pictures of these earlier but here are the two Vietnamese propaganda reprints I bought in Hanoi.  Aren't they incredible?

"Processing food.  Breeding the hoggery." (Amen to that!)

"Increase the herd of milk cows."

I couldn't help buying this at Indomart.  I mean what an amazing graphic.
 I just want to find this man and say, "I've been there.  I know the pain."

We got to the airport in about thirty or forty minutes.  I stopped by the messiest ATM I'd ever seen.  

When we got to the airport, we had the best smoothies of our lives, curled up in fetal position and bawled our eyes out because the most fun adventure was over.  We said our goodbyes and Ryan handed me something I could open later.  I hurried towards the domestic terminal which was a little walk away (nothing like the ten mile death march at KL), checked in and sat down by gate 16.  I opened the small but weighty gift Ryan had handed to me and was so touched when I saw what it was.  When we were at the antique store in Singaraja I was admiring this gorgeous piece that Made said was used for makeup or paint.  I just loved it but I put it back and we left.  Ryan, you are sneaky and very thoughtful.  I love it.  Thank you so much.

My flight to Jakarta left mostly on time and I said goodbye to Bali and vacation days as the plane took off down the most beautiful runway strip.  The grown man on my row was reading Archie comics the entire time.  It was so awesome.

I slept until we touched down.  I exited the plane and walked towards the terminal.  Everything looked different.  Really unfamiliar.  I have flown through that horrible place more times than I want to remember and I suddenly thought to myself, Wow. This is it. I have finally gotten on the wrong plane and landed who knows where. You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment.  I knew it was bound to happen at some point especially somewhere like Indonesia where you basically walk out on the tarmac and choose whatever plane you feel like getting on with no one to tell you otherwise.

The terminal was clean and bright with updated graphics and spotless floors.  I imagined all the places I might be but was also starting to get a little worried.  I found an official looking man and said, "WHERE AM I?"  He said, "Jakarta."  Apparently, this was their brand new terminal which I wasn't going to get to hang out in because I needed to take the shuttle bus to my old minimal security Terminal 1b stomping grounds, where the floors are landfills and everything is a disorganized mess.

The good news is, I found a reflexology place outside B1 and got a half hour foot massage.  Had the gates been accurately marked or the monitors properly updated in real time, I would have known that my flight was delayed and booked an hour massage. I found it ironic that every "suggestion box" I saw at the airport was empty.  I saw quite a few as I went to six different broken vending machines in search of a bottle of water. I finally exited the 'security' area, bought a beverage and returned.  As there are never enough seats, I joined everyone else on the floor.  We boarded about an hour and a half late.  Then we sat in the hot un-airconditioned plane for forty five minutes.  Jakarta Airport, you continue to succeed at failing.  You're an embarrassment to Indonesia!  Get your act together!

That was quite the outburst.  I'm sorry.  It's been a Monday back at work.  I fear I have caught the barking seal syndrome.  Sleep time.  

No. 15 : Anturan to Ubud to Kerobokan

DAY FIFTEEN: The Last Full Day

I woke up feeling tired and wanting to sleep for two more weeks but we had things to do and places to see and food to eat.  I laid in bed not wanting to get up but eventually forced myself to jump up, put a five minute song on and time myself to see if I could pack up all my stuff before the song ended.  I was pretty much successful.  It was banana pancakes for breakfast.  After breakfast I schooled Ryan in a game of Bananagrams and then it was time to leave.  I went into the bathroom, took off my rings I bought in Vietnam, washed my hands (those Bananagram tiles have somehow become really filthy), said goodbye to the lovely Gede Homestay staff and met our driver Made.

As we were driving and chatting with Made, we discovered that Megan (my friend and coworker in Palembang) had just had him as a driver the day before!  "What are the odds?!" I thought to myself in bewilderment.  Ryan, who appears to be weaker and weaker at every moment, dozed off while Made taught me more Indonesian words.  During the ride, I peered down to admire my Vietnamese jewelry when I realized my fingers were bare.  I had left my rings in Lovina, at least an hour and a half away.  Made, being ever kind and helpful, called Ketut at the homestay and they found the rings.  I paid to have one of them motorbike it down to Ubud which cost more than the rings themselves but it wasn't too much and it was worth it for the peace of mind.  In celebration and out of hunger we stopped to get a suckling pig lunch.  Delicious.

When we got to Ubud, we dropped Ryan off near some antique shops while I headed to Putri Bali Spa.  If you recall my first Bali trip blogpost, you'll note that I made mention of this place as the most amazing massage I had ever received.  If you don't remember that it could be because I forgot to mention it, but it happened.  They remembered me and Wayan was available.  I was not disappointed.  I recommend this spa to anyone going to Bali.  It is simply THE BEST.  Wayan is quite possibly the strongest and smallest woman who has ever given me a massage.  After a shower, I headed out and guess who was waiting in reception after a spa treatment?  MEGAN!  I could not believe it.  As fate would have it, we were destined to meet up in Bali.  We both reunited together with Made, took Megan back to her place and went to find Ryan.  

We picked up Ryan where we had dropped him off.  He looked frail.  He said he had a headache so we stopped, got him some medicine the drove off to Kerobokan.  The sunset was beautiful as we drove through the rice paddies.  The sky was filled with kites.  It was gorgeous.  I couldn't stop taking photos out of my window.  Here are some.

It took us awhile to find Dewani Villa Resort but man was it worth it.  Tucked away in a title village surrounded by rice fields, this is a true gem of a place.  Our room is incredible.  I could really get used to this.  Poor Ryan dropped his bags, laid down and immediately fell asleep.  He told me to wake him up in fifteen minutes.  I went out on the deck and uploaded my photos underneath a clear sky of stars, the sound of crickets and the occasional motorbike.  Ryan slept for close to an hour and then we ordered a massive amount of food from two different restaurants.  On the menu: fettucine carbonara, bread & butter, papaya salad with seafood, caesar salad, grilled swordfish with mashed potatoes and vegetables, calamari, potato soup and panna cotta.  We are pigs.  But we're on vacation so we're going all out.  I put a paper napkin bib on to protect my new top but I've already managed to drop tartar sauce and a carrot on it.  I just want to eat like an adult, is that so much to ask?  Tomorrow we go to the airport but I am going to take advantage of this paradise villa we are in and swim until the second the cab comes to pick us up.

No. 14 : Lakes, Oceans and Hotsprings

DAY FOURTEEN: All over North Bali

We have now seen a lake, a river, an ocean, a waterfall and a hot spring!  Wonderful!  The entire day was spent on the motorbikes riding through the winding mountain roads in search of opportunity in a new land.  We stumbled upon a massive temple, took some photos and continued on towards the lake.  Passing monkeys and steep cliffs and cold air, we finally came across Lake Buyan and stopped to photograph some monkeys and beautiful scenery.

As we were trying to buy some strawberries, we randomly came across a bunny farm.  It was so cute I couldn't help but stop to take pictures.  We filled up our gas tanks and headed back in towards the coast and stopped on a nice strip of beach next to a bunch of huge ornately designed boats.  We tried to take more underwater pictures but they didn't turn out as clear.  If you look closely at the picture of me doing the handstand, you'll see that my body is covered in sand from the fallen attempts it took to capture that picture.

 We spent the late afternoon looking for the hot springs and had nearly given up on them when we spotted the sign Air Panas (hot water).  We paid our fifty cent entrance fee and walked the path towards the hot spring.  I don't think I have mentioned this yet but Ryan appears to have developed some type of illness.  He is congested and continues to make the most strange coughing sound.  I feel like there is constantly a crying seal in my presence.  We hoped the healing powers of the mysterious hot springs would help to cure him.  

I don't know if they worked for him but I'm pretty sure I left the hot springs with a number of diseases I did not enter with.  I started to feel pretty gross about being in the lukewarm water with a bunch of strangers I can only assume were disease filled.  On top of that, it was this day that I realized I hadn't showered in five days.  In fact I hadn't showered since Malaysia.  A whole other country away.  I decided I should go rinse off.  A kind man let me take some of his shampoo and I left feeling clean and refreshed.  We managed to get to the beach right in time for sunset.  We had dinner at a little restaurant in Lovina and I inhaled a Greek salad and a club sandwich as though I hadn't eaten in months.

After dinner we each got a one hour massage.  I started falling asleep at the end and simply couldn't be bothered to get up so I stayed there and sleepily opened one eye and mumbled, "Satu lagi." (one more).  I slept through about 90 percent of the massage and woke up to the barking of a seal in the other massage area.  When we got back to the home stay I was covered in oil and didn't think I should go to sleep like that so, if you can believe it, I took ANOTHER shower.  I decided I would finally shave my legs, as my hair had grown to such lengths that I believe they were housing more than an acceptable amount of sea salt, sand, and possibly a myriad of other organisms.  Maybe even small fish.