Expecting 11 hours in Taksi galap. Dark Taksi.? A share taxi.

6am start. 

Always have to fish out seatbelts  I can’t get them out.

Indonesians are normally so friendly and helpful. There is always the exception  to the rule . The driver ignores me when I ask for the seatbelt. Tried twice.

Eventually I realise, there is just no way I can get them  out. The seat covers have the slits too far forward and the stalks are too short.

We pick up two other passengers. A nurse going 2 hours for work. I got that much and no more.

A taxi is the difference of an 8hr or 11hr trip compared to the bus. Or so we thought.

Anyway it’s beautifully cool.

Muslim prayer beads swinging on the mirrors.

We drop off 2 people and pick up 1 lady with 3 or 4 big poly bags. Our backpacks are squished to the ceiling. We pick up a small child and one lady who get squished into the less than 1/2 seat remaining in the very back

We drive through  an exquisite smell. I ask what it is…roasting coconut. Making coconut oil.

We pass 4 oxen pulling a cart. Handsome white ones. More cattle  tethered to trees its  getting  more rural and now there are 3 wheel taxis

Every small village has Kotak Dana,  fundraising boxes for the church or mosque. Microphones blaring. People standing in the centre of the road with a cardboard box and a row of  plant pots in the road to slow the traffic.  When we saw this yesterday in Manado they said it was because it is Thanksgiving.

In our car Rubbish goes  out the window from both sides of the car and you feel sad. But when the little girl behind started to vomit and the plastic bag went out the window that upset me less.

The rubbish everywhere is absolutely the  worst thing about Indonesia.

You do see rubbish control..piles of plastic being burnt on the edge of the road.

The music…well it was fast. All Indo and Manado  except strangely for one John Denver song ; Country Roads which I thought was apt as we wound through mountains. It’s all rural.

Sarang burung walet. We pass big square buildings in fields. Maybe 3 stories high. With holes in the walls Sarang burung walet or Swallows Nest. The rest is a mystery is

The scenery was terrific. I’ve got my nose up to the gap in the window. It’s raining and the lady behind  with the vomiting child ,wants it up. I bought  a tiny bottle of camphor and lemon oil at the last stop and put some on the back of my hand to inhale .

The child behind keeps vomiting. Poor mite. She’d probably be better in my seat but then they will put the window up and I  will absolutely be carsick too.

Steve in the front is quiet..not unusual but then he also asked twice for toilet stops and he is having sweats..(I just thought he’d thrown water on himself to cool off .

Stopped at a 24/7restaurant. We must have got a special foreigners price..it cost as much as the mod waterfront  one in Manado but the food was good and the toilets were clean.

 At lunch a man  sitting with us and our driver asked where we were staying. Yes, he knew it and  he talked with the driver giving directions

 After 10 hours when we got to Gorontalo, we stopped at a petrol station. The lady beside me  talks to the lady behind; it’s biggest chat  they’ve had the whole trip. I can hear ; ha pay ..ha pay…. (h.p  short for hand phone) then I turn my head and the lady beside me was doing  a  stealth selfie. I may have spoilt it by turning and smiling. She may have wanted my profile. Our much admired beautiful long noses.

We’d dropped off the others and Steve was saying he’s gone way past our stop. He’s got his google maps on..it took quite some convincing to get the driver to turn around .

And then with Steve giving directions straight terus terus,  Kiri, Kanan  left right,we got closer to that spot on the map

Then we passed that spot. Oh my god there is nothing here. Now on a path between rubbish strewn plots of farm land and the occasional house . We turn around and go back closer to the main road.  There is a soccer match on..motorbikes, tuktuks, cars, people. According to the map we  are  very near.  I ask out the window if there is a penginapin near here.  Yes, yes, we turn it takes a bit of a fuss to get the driver to turn in the right place..he’s getting directions from a bunch of people outside the car.

And we finally pull up out side some bamboo cottages .  A couple of paddocks.   Oh my god this is in the middle of nowhere. We are in shock. Not what we thought we had booked. Doesn’t match the reviews.

Steve desperately needs to go to the toilet.. and then I hear “is that you Daveena? ” A lovely  surprise Dutch Esmee and Rick have pulled up in a car behind us

And  our taksi gelap driver is  surprised too, saying Keluarga. Keluarga / family the owner and he are related.

We went up the road, turns out it’s not the end of the earth we are only 1km from  shops. And there was an atm. got cash out

 The surprises continue, we are taken to our room upstairs. Bamboo and ply. Half the handrails are missing . That  could go pear shaped if we need a toilet in the night.  This is the roughest built room. Gaps in the floorboards 2, 3, 4 cm wide. Rough sawn 3mm ply wood door with bamboo one side , windows that don’t close and  gaps in the outside walls. When some one walks the floorboards  groan. I’m not surprised by the material but how badly it’s done.

And there is  aircon..seriously? with all those gaps? Oh, but  it sounds good on the website.

The toilet  and bathroom are in the yard. When I go the door doesn’t close properly theres big gap at the top. I pushed it a bit harder and there is still a significant wedge of light. But the bottoms stuck fast and I had to call out for someone in the yard to pull the door open.

Several families live here.

There is at least 4 preschool kids. I’m woken twice by a wailing child ..remember those gaps in the floor and thin ply walls apparently  they aren’t very good sound insulation. That baby felt like it was metres away…oh, it was..

Several people  independently  say it’s not what they expected and they thought it was closer  to the port. I’m surprised too and Rick was really disappointed. He has booked in for 4 days.

Any way we aren’t here  for long. There are some nice people here and it is good to hear travel stories. I am going to enjoy being in an agricultural space.

But the woman who runs it speaks pretty  good English.  She said she could do dinner. oh that sounded good. but I was shocked we were charged restaurant price for fried rice. And later we were all charged seperately the entire price of a car.

Ie 4 people charged full price for the same car.

But …she  can organise stuff. ie the cabin  on the ferry.  Steve hadn’t been able to book it online. Have to do it at the harbour. Mimina  rings the captain.  Given  Steve has had an upset tummy so we get a private cabin.  The price seems steep.  The price is several times the price of our city hotel room. 

The staff in the port all greet her as she swans in with gaggle of back packers.

OO she is making good money. And they are getting something too. I heard one say quietly..Mimina 50 (give me )

Before we got on board we went to a warung at the harbour to get takeaway fried rice. We were with Tim and Taco  they ask for nasi goreng,  no egg, no chicken . Oh so little Indonesian. Taco holds up 8 fingers I’m confused, the woman is confused… they say they want to order for their friends. I wouldn’t have guessed 2 people wanted 8 takeaways.

I had myself a part-time job for a while operating the stapler  to make the takeaway packets.  

When we got to Steve’s and my  serves I learnt closer and said  cheekily, lebih besar.- the lady grinned conspiratorially and put an extra scoop in Steve’s and mine

Past the gravesites  that are beside our bedroom past the tied up cows through the floating rubbish. And out to where a man was sitting and another man was riding a ploughish machine with paddle wheels..the chap we talked to was Mako we talked about the birds that move.