It’s our final day in Indonesia. Tomorrow morning we will leave for the long 23 hour journey to the Gold Coast via Kuala Lumpur. So we do what has become our favourite thing: walk. We’ve become accustomed to walking on roads clogged with scooters and cars. To saying “no thank you” to becak drivers who cannot believe anyone would actually want to walk here. And to playing Frogger when we want to cross the road.
We eat lumpia (Indonesian spring rolls) and mini terang bulan (fresh cooked crumpets) on the street from kaki lima.
We go to our fifth and final movie in Indonesia, finally succumbing to Mission Impossible, which is the only English-language movie we haven’t yet seen while here in Indonesia. Yes, we are a bit obsessed with the cinemas. I doubt many travelers have seen seven movies in a month in Thailand, five in a fortnight in Malaysia and now five in a month in Indonesia (it would have been more but there were not many English-language films showing here). It’s becoming something of a thing for us to watch movies on South-East Asia’s magical big screens with the superb picture quality, true surround sound and huge comfortable seats.
We stop at a very strange shop that sells all sorts of random items from kitchen cooking utensils to ropes. But what is most interesting is the array of rain coats on display. The mannequins are almost scary in their number, poses and attire. It’s like rain coats are a fashion accessory. But the display works. It draws us into the shop and Paul even buys a very funny outfit that is white with rainbow stripes.
But it is the sights and sounds of Indonesia’s busy city streets that have been the hero of this trip. Last time I saw lots of rice paddies and farming life. This time Paul and I have focused our adventures on the cities and their hectic streets. The contrast between modern and traditional, rich and poor has been stark. It’s noisy, dusty, dirty and (at times) confusing. But we both loved it so much we are planning our return.
Looking For 42 