Week 9 -- A Little Fun in the Sun and A Little Work

This past weekend I went to Palabuhanratu, a popular surfing spot on the south coast of Java. I've been wanting to go there for a while but I figured I better know how to say the name of the town before I go there. Whenever I would talk about my plans with friends in the office I would say something like "Pa(hmmmnunbubbhala)ratu." It was pretty pathetic, but I got it eventually.

It was a three hour ride on an "ekonomi" bus, which means no A/C and they cram in as many people as possible. It's not uncommon for passengers to hang out the door. The driver has an assistant that is responsible for collecting fares and passengers. Anywhere between the beginning of the trip and the destination the driver would only slow down and his assistant would jump out and run around yelling the destination to get passengers, then he would shove them on the bus and jump in as the bus took off again. Along the ride there would be hawkers jumping on too. They would push their way onto the bus and try to sell stuff and then jump off again before going to far. Besides the conditions on the bus there was a lot of great scenery to see if you had a window seat.

Once in Palabuhanratu I went to a backpacker's hostel reccomended by Melanie, it was called the Green Room and was popular with surfers. The best surf spot around was only a minute walk away from the hotel. The bar/restaurant was pretty empty most of the time except for a few older Aussie surfers that seemed to live in Palabuhanratu. All the younger guys were out surfing. It was a familiar scene that a young Aussie would be checking in or eating and the old Aussie would be telling him all about the local waves. It was easy to tell that these older guys had been there a while because they would walk into the bar and demand that the surfing video on TV be turned off so they could watch rugby. The next day it was Wimbeldon.