At this point in time, I had jumped on to the ship with no time to spare!
Nice scenery looking back at Tuk -Tuk
Seafront view of traditional houses at Tuk Tuk
combination of mountain and sea!
Message wrote on the side of the mountain in Samosir (With trees!)
I think this is my cue to stop taking photos (I have taken 7,000 of them at this point!!)
Nasrun on the boat from Tuk Tuk to Parapat
Parapat
The boat from Tuk Tuk to Parapat took an hour.During the journey, I started talking to an aussie guy about random stuff (E.G: Jim Stynes , The state of the economy in perth [Apparently Western Australia is the place to be if you want to indulge in a spot of mining.], how poofters (his words not mine, have influenced the Aussie economy to such a state that they are now respected.))
Nasrun had booked a private car to take everyone back to Pasir Pangaraian but the car was not ready so I had another hour to kill when I landed in Parapat so I had a quick walk around the town....I tried some more Indonesian: I went to a shop and tried to buy a notebook ....Berapa an (how much)? the woman replied 'Tiga belas ribu' (At least, I think that was what she said! Thats 13,000) I was not used to hearing responses so I did not have a clue what she said until a couple of seconds later!! Trying to speak a language can be tricky!!
I grabbed some tea in this local shop (Parapat)
Downtown Parapat (Every place seems to have a traffic jam!)
There are plenty of attractions to Parapat you know!
and we are on our way to Riau!
Leaving the Christian churches behind ....heading into Mosque territory
The car journey was 11 hours , plenty of time to see people working in the fields
Sumatra really has fertile fields!
We stopped at one point for a toilet break . We were able to feed the monkeys at the rest room (you know that whole toilet + feeding the monkeys combo? no, me neither but the monkeys were happy!)
Look, I just want to go to the toilet!
They REALLY like rice here!
This pic . looks like it could have taken place in Cork!
After about 4 hours , we stopped at a traditional muslim restaurant.Over here, they bring out all the food on small plates and you take what you want (You start off with some rice on your plate.) When you are finished , the remaining food is taken from the table and brought out for the next customer.
Can you recognise most of the dishes here?
The guys had the heart to let me use a spoon and fork as (contrary to popular opinion) I am not great at eating food while using my hands. It is second nature to Nasrun and all the guys. (Normally, you use the water in the grey tray to wash your hands and then you can work away at the food sans spoon and fork with no mess!.)
After the meal, I went back to the car.As I was standing by the car, a man of maybe 65 came up to me (about 2 foot from me) and just stared at me for about 20 seconds. That's one moment I will not forget for a long time!
I ate the egg cake, chicken , a potato cake and some rice. num num!!!
After lunch, it was field spotting time again!
During our journey to Pasir Pangaraian, we passed a football match.There seemed to be a good sized crowd at it but once I started taking photos, the focus of attention shifted from the game!
local football match
Follow that river!
We reached Pasir Pangaraian around 11.15 that evening and I was introduced to Rantung (Nasruns son) and Salmie (Nasruns wife). The Euro championship final was on that night (at 2a.m local time) so I was able to grab a couple of hours sleep before the big game (the only game in the tournament that I saw live!) Rantung and I woke up around 1.15 and went downtown on a motorbike to the showing of the game (The game was screened on a huge screen in the centre of town.) I can't remember the last time that I saw a football game where everybody that was watching the game were stone cold sober! In case you were wondering, nearly everybody over here wanted Spain to win and they duly did (with lots to spare.) Rantung drove home soon afterwards to end a long day!
Muslim people start praying at 5 a.m every morning. This means that the mosque usually blares out parts of the koran around 4.50 EVERY MORNING! This is some experience , especially when there are 2 mosques which are situated in close proximity to each other. The noise can be fairly deafening (This has been happening for many,many,many years so it is second nature to everyone here!) So, when I get up around 7a.m for breakfast, I feel like I am a really lazy so and so!
Salmie had breakfast prepared when I went down the stairs..
Breakfast (rice, Tofu,vegetables and an Omeltte)
I think there was some chilli mixed in with the vegetables (Chilli is VERY popular here). I think Salmie and Nasrun noticed my aversion to chilli at an early stage so they started rationing out the chilli to me so my body could get used to it! (Thanks for that!) In fact, as the week progressed , the meals became more western such that I was able to eat as much as possible (again, thanks!)
After the breakfast, Rantung showed me around the local market and the Newest Mosque in Pasir Pangaraian.
How can you fit so much stuff into one small area!!
(Meticulous organisation!)
Sorry, I had to show fuel prices within Indonesia at some point in time!
The mosque (Masjid) that you will see when entering Pasir Pangaraian
Rantung outside the mosque
A huge drum greeted us outside our entrance to the mosque (Arabic writing was inscribed on the side of the drum)
There are lots of taps within the mosque. Usually , people will wash their hands and feet before entering the main hall of the Masjid
Men will kneel on the floor and pray in this room
The stage, you can see various times in various places throughout the world on the left hand side of this picture
Closeup of a Chandelier in the main hall
Monument outside the Masjid
We had to get back to the house as Nasrun told us that I had to sign in with the police to inform them that I was staying with them (Normally, In Indonesia, if you stay at a hostel, the hostel takes responsibility of your location and wellbeing.If you stay at a house, then you have to go to the police and tell them this.) So ,after lunch ,Nasrun drove me to the Police station where I had to fill out a form stating when I had arrived in the country and when I was leaving.The main police officer did not speak much english although one of the other guys was happy to translate from english to Baha Indonesian for me. He told me mostt people called him
Ardiansyah but I could call him Mr Smith!
Mugshot of me with crime rates in the region over the past couple of years in the background
Mr Smith
Ardiansyah was saying that it was a good idea for me to come down to the station as people sometimes go missing in this area...eep!!!
He was saying that the minimum height to get into the police within Indonesia is 1 metre 65 cm....I think that's a lot shorter than Ireland.The police over here look a lot shorter than back home (but hen again, so does everybody else!).
I didn't feel nervous though as everybody made me feel welcome. I had the usual photoshoot with a couple of the police and the secretary before we headed back home on Nasruns bike (Coincidentally, I think I am getting used to riding pillion on a motorbike now. The hands should be around the waist of the driver , NOT around the shoulders!!!)
Random picture of a swan showing off his neck
Later that evening, I went for a quick walk around the town to see what it was like. After hearing 'hello misterrrrrrrrrrrr' about 50 times and getting an invitation to stay with one of the street sellers, I decided to head back to the house....But not before , I thought I saw my surname written on a sign!!!
Just missing a 'h'!
I Noticed Nasrun was swinging some sort of squash raquet shaped thing which seemed to produce bursts of electricity. This implement was a mosquito killing machine!!!
Just hold down the button on the side , start swiping away ad watch the sparks fly!!
I had a quick spot of dinner before bedtime...
Omelette mixed in with various vegetables (with the exception of cucumber as that is an evil vegetable for me!!!!) and some sweet tea
Rantung mentioned going down to the river and going for a swim the next morning. I though this might be a good idea so I slept on that idea..... The next day, we headed down to the river but there was a lot of rain during the night so that idea was kiboshed for safety reason. I did get to see some fisherman fishing due to the high level of the river though..
Grab those fish!
Nasruns students visited the river quite a bit so they were able to practise their english with me when I visited the beach (another name for the river.)
high tides = multiple fishermen
I forgot to say....In muslim tradition, it is quite common for a newly married couple to live with the parents of the bride. I saw this a few times during my stay in Pasir Pangaraian (This used to occur in rural areas back home but I am not sure if it happens that much anymore.)
After coming back from the river, it was time for some coconut flavoured bread...num!!!
This sweet is very addictive!! (and coconuts are found EVERYWHERE around here!)
Salmie cooked some fish for lunch. This took me an age to eat, not because the fish tasted bad (It didn't) but because there were a lot of bones to be picked at and I have a bit of a phobia about bones!
mmmmm , lovely fish!!!!
followed by a spot of water melon....
Nasrun doing the honours
At one point, we decided to visit the waterfall , locally known as 'Aek Martua'. In case you are wondering where this waterfall can be found, don't worry!!! It's located at Tangun,Pasir Pangaraian, Riau but you will need a local person to help you find the place. Rantungs uncle lead the way to the waterfall.Along the way, we passed over a class bridge...
Try crossing this bridge as a pillion passenger on the back of a motorbike!
View from the bridge itself...We are entering real jungle territory here!
After the bridge, there was another 25 minutes on the bike before the 50 minute walk.I should keep fit!
Be careful here!
Take it slow here!
At the waterfall with Rantungs uncle
Standing behind the waterfall , behind the water!
Pic. of the waterfall hitting the REALLY slippy ground
wider view of the first waterfall
View of the bigger waterfall
Look at those colours!
wow
I can see an escape route!
small waterfall droplets everywhere!
At the waterfall with Rantung , Rantungs uncle and all the lads
While we were at the waterfall, a group of college students from Pecanbaru came over and asked for a photo. I could not really understand this as PecanBaru is the regional capital and I thought that they would see a foreign person there but I guess this was not the case. Anyway, I don't mind if people want to take photos but I am still perplexed!!!
Later in the evening, I paid a visit to the internet cafe.This was a HUGE mistake! After 20 seonds, you could hear people whispering that someone who looked a bit different had entered the place! Then,. after about 15 minutes, a crowd of kids gathered around me when I was trying to write some facebook mails. All I was doing was typing but the kids seemed transfixed on me!! So, I opened up all my facebook pics and showed them all. This lasted about 10 minutes , they didn't move so I went ot plan B. I went to your facebook account (claire) and showed them a lot of your facebook pics!!! Your firends eyes look a bit ...ahem...drunk... in quite a lot of the photos you know!!! Anyway, the local kids enjoyed those photos , right up until the point where the owner of the cafe brought her 11 month old kid to me such that she could take a shot with the Bulé (the tourist- or the literal translation-- the washed out' looking person.') I dordn't mind this although the baby clearly did when her mother handed her over to me, she bawled uncontrolably!
I thought I'd better make a quick exit!
When i got back to the house, Salmie had made some kind of corn sweets that really tasted lovel, I should have taken the recipe off her but I am a lazy person!
Corn based snack (I think it's called Martabak)...mmmmmm
The following day (Thursday) Nasrun asked me if I wanted to take part in the (once) weekly exercise session that civil servants take part in.As I have had hardly any exercise in quite a long time, I agreed ,so at 8a.m we headed off the the grounds of the civil service.Some sort of dance music was blaring as Nasrun introduced me to the dance instructor.
Then we took our places and we were ready for action!!!! well, I say we were ready for action but I had already thrown out my tracksuit bottoms and shorts were not an option here so I had to go through all my stretches in jeans....talk about sweating buckets !!!
Limbering up for some exercises!
Stretching the muscles in the morning sun
This is what I like to call 'the foxtrot'
and now for the pirouette
After the workout, Nasrun had to fill up his bike with some petrol...I am not sure if I have posted a pic of the queues for petrol but fear not.Here is a pic!
The motorbike queues for the petrol are always long
Nasrun broght me to a location where a guy was extracting the latex from the rubber tree (The latex (The white liquid seen flowing in the following pic. can be used in the production of condoms)) where the rubber can be used for multiple things...
Siphening off the latex
Tool used to make an incision into the tree such that the latex pours out and the remains can be used
Notice the outside of the bark has been shorn off
I got an escort off the premises where the trees were located.
The exit is this way......march in rows of 2!
Nasrun brought me into his office where I got the chance to talk to some of his work colleagues.They seemed a friendly bunch although they could not get over the fact that I am 36 and not married so they kept asking what was wrong with me.(This is a really common question in Indonesia.Maybe I should think of an answer!) Anyway, one of the guys decided to treat me to noodle soup.This was really tasty ..
Noodle soup with some prawn crackers
After about an hour of general chit chat ,it was time to visit a local wedding.Nasrun thought that it might be a good idea for me to take off my shorts and put on some trousers before attending the ceremony. Good idea! So, I grabbed a shirt and my jeans and we were on our way. We put some money in an envelop for the bride and groom (just like a christain wedding) and gave the envelope to some guys as we entered the party zone. At this point, I was able to grab some grub and I have to say that the wedding grub wasn't half bad!!
Good choice of food here!
I thought that it might be a nice idea to get a pic with the bride and groom but I didnt really expect to be in the photo myself! There was a sort of stage where the grooms parents sat on one side and teh brides parents sat on the other side with the bride and groom in the middle.We all took it in turns to shake hands with the families and then we took a photo.
smile for the camera now! (photo taken by the official wedding photographer!)
I didnot stay for long afterwards.On my way out a couple of woman in their 60's started asking me if I would allow them to have their photo taken with me .I did not mind as kids were asking for my photo at the same time...I think I was taking something away from the brides special day so it was better to go as soon as possible!
After this event, Nasrun took me to a village where they had trained a monkey to climb a coconut tree and throw down the coconuts.Sounds mad but in reality, it was pretty cool!
'They pay me peanuts , you know!!'
The moment where the coconut falls from the tree (with help from the monkey)
extracting the coconut milk from the coconut
what coconut milk looks like
I decided to have a quick walk through the village and pretty soon I realised that half the village was following me as if i had 3 heads...
ah....hello everyone!!
We decided to head home as we had seen quite a bit during the day! On the way home , we passed another football game. I had thoughts of joining in but then I thought, i'd better not or I might have a cardiac arrest! So,Aldo drove on....right until he realised that the back tyre was a little flat! I guess this was due to my weight (I think I am around 97kg at this stage.) Sorry about the tyre Aldo!
Possibly the new Beckham???
When we got back to the house, dinner was prepared . Rantung decided to wear a traditional Batik top from the Kalemantan area.
Traditional Batik top worn by (a startled looking) Rantung at the dinner table
Nasrun was telling me that this day was a holy day as there are 15 days left before Ramadan starts (Today is July 6th) so they were going to his in laws to celebrate by praying for a while (One guy reading the Koran and everybody responding.) I decided that I would like to go and Nasrun allowed me to sit with all the other lads at the front room of his in laws. I have an avi here which shows the scene in action! see the youtube clip: http://youtu.be/AjWV0WyKR38
After the prayers concluded, we all had some food...Nasrun made sure to tell me not to touch the chilli as it might have a detrimental effect on my stomach (which was definately the case as i found out later on in the week after leaving Nasruns!! (note to self: train your body to eat chillis!!!))
some snacks after a hard pray
I retired to bed after this as it had been quite a long day!!
The next morning, Rantung and his friends brought me to a Salak (Snake fruit) farm where I was able to try out some salak in person. On our way to the Salak farm the police stopped us as they were doing a check on everyone for a license! I was told to go back and get the form stating what I was doing in this part of the world so Aldo drove me back to get the form. After I handed the form over to the police, they were satisfied. I asked them if they wanted their photo taken with me but they were in no mood for joviality and told us to move on!!!
I don't ever recall seeing this fruit back home but it tastes really nice (onec you get the outer skin off!)
Salak
The salak tree was REALLY thorny ( I nearly walked into the tree a few times during our visit, It could have been quite sore)
Photo with the farmer and his wife (who stopped smiling for the camera but started again afterwards!)
On our way back from the farm, I noticed a football field that was being 'cultivated' in a different way to the norm.
Footballl field being protected by some cattle!
rice fields in the background - inquisitive cattle in the foreground!
We decided to visit one of Rantungs friends for dinner .Before reaching the house, I took a quick snapshot of the small country lanes that we were using.
so much flowers and fauna!
We were a bit thirsty so one of Rantungs friends (Aldo) decided to get a few coconuts and cut them up so we could try some more coconut juice. He borrowed a knife and then set about making an incision in the coconut.
Be careful with that knife Aldo!
Actually, Aldo knicked part of his finger when cutting the coconut so it started bleeding quite a bit. But , since we were in the countryside and Aldo knew that there is a leaf you can use which cauterises the blood (the methadine leaf). Once he rubbed his finger with this leaf, the blood stopped straight away!!!
That's not a knife......THIS IS A KNIFE!!!
You cut the coconut until you see a small hole , then you can make an incision and drink the milk as well as peel off the inside part of the coconut to eat
As this was a friday, the lads had to attend the Masjid at 12P.M so I stayed around the house and the man of the house brought me a kick ass mango!
That was one HUGE mango!
When the lads cam back from the Mosque, It was lunch time (This was Raju's house) so we all gathered in the main room where we had the traditional lunch.
Sharing food with the lads! (mmmm rice curry)
I like the way you can have multiple portions here and nobody bats an eyelid!
After lunch, it was time to head home to try out some of the salak. I am not sure if I showed pic of what Salak looks like without the skin so here it is.
There are seeds in the centre of the fruit
Later that evening, we had a quick meal before bed (It seems like all I am doing is eating...I do other stuff but eating is good you know!!!)
Salmie, Salmon, Risé, Nasrun and Rantung enjoying an evening meal
Nazrun and Rantung went another house to pray in the run up to Ramadan. I was going to go but then then students wanted to have a chat and that was fine by me. I cam very close to wearing a sarong! I am not sure if the world is ready to see me show off my legs just yet!!
Chatting with DeDe, Rane and Rene (Ara took the photo)
I have to give a special thanks to Salmie for cooking lots of nice stuff during the week that I stayed. I noticed that the chillis became less fequent as the week progressed and that was REALLY appreciated!!
Anyway, it was time to move on to the next destination so at 7.30 the next morning Rantung and Nasrun accompanied me to the bus stop where I was going to get the public bus to Bukittingi. Nasrun asked the bus driver how much it would cost and he told him 45,000. Normally, you do not pay for a few minutes so when the time came to pay, the guy collecting the money asked for 50,000. I am getting used to that at this stage!
Onward bound!!!!! I feel as if I should write a special thanks to the Zakaria family. Thanks guys!! I always wanted to see how a family functions in another country (I have seen in close hand in Ireland (my own family) and in Canada (when I stayed with another family back in the summer of 1996)) It was nice to see that the family dynamic in 3 countries is more or less the same!!! [Over here, you would never call your elders by their first name , you might call your elder brother - Abang or your elder sister Kaka but never by their first name]
Traditional picture of the Zakaria family (Nasrun and Salmie with their kids Rantung, Risé and Rimel)
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