Righto, so, on friday I headed to the harbour to book my ticket to batam after hearing word that it is still operational. Turns out word was wrong. Thankfully I got couchsurfer responses for jambi and batam, also found out that there is a boat from Tungkal (harbour city near jambi) to Batam, but it runs every odd day (as in 3rd,5th,7th). My planned arrival date for Tungkal is the 15th, so it works nicely, the following 3 days are public holidays, visa expires on the 17th. I was cutting it very fine. Noone takes the ferry anymore as its cheap and quick to fly.
the frequently updated 'how to get to batam by boat' map
Before heading to Jambi I visited an old colonial house owned by the assistant to one of the indonesian ministers a few governments ago, a new couchsurfer is the owner’s niece, so this was a very rare opportunity – the house was better than the palembang museum, had damage from when the dutch attacked the building, upon their return to indonesia.
I was randomly invited to the palembang beauty pagent – which, before you ask, was not a whole bunch of anonymous girls in burkas (also, burkas are not actually a muslim clothing item, isnt mentioned in the koran; it is worn only by small sects originating from the middle east).
Facts learnt from people in palembang:
– Everyone tells me sumatra island is more dangerous than java island, I found out later that during the communist days of indonesia javanese people were relocated to all over indo in order to civilize the old tribes, quite often I am introduced to new cultures in sumatra that are actually java traditions. I think maybe this is why javanese people in sumatra think its more dangerous, because its not their original homeland.
In saying this; I was told that the local buses in palembang sometimes have 2 or 3 organized criminals that pickpocket and gently jab a subtle knife into your side and politely ask for your wallet if you happen to sit next to them.
– I met a russian who told me that north west china and kazakstan is actually pretty safe. although he also told me the small area of russia I plan on crossing through is rather unsafe, thinking it might be a good idea to go around it, the train system covers a larger network of areas than what I initially assumed. He gave me his details incase I need a letter from a local for the visa :D *score*
– Before climbing most mountains in indonesia, permission needs to be granted by the spirit of the mountain, an appointed official will do the asking :|
– Abortions are illegal in indonesia, as such dodgy backyard jobs are gaining in popularity, to resolve this problem the government decided to ban pornography. (?)
After a few days of relaxing, I hopped on a minivan to jambi, which I will blog about soon…ish
The 5000 Project 