Cianjur Trek

July 17

4:47pm Jakarta time 

Oy. I don't know what it is but I am just so tired in Indonesia! I've taken a nap everyday we've been here. I totally could now as well but we have to get up around 3 or 4am to catch a train from Cianjur to Yogyakarta so if I can not sleep now and save it for tonight, that would be the best idea I think. 

The two ladies here cook all day. Since we got back from our hike at 3pm all I have heard is clanks and clatters and sizzling from the kitchen. It must be really difficult to cook all day long when you are fasting. They all participate in Ramadan. I am not positive, but I think regardless of us being here or not they would still have to cook during the day to make food for the evening when they can break the fast. Henrie said they eat between 3 and 4:30am and then fast all day until 6pm. No drinking or eating. He said he did a practice Ramadan when he was 5 years old (fasted half a day, ate at noon, and fasted until 6pm when the rest of the family would break the fast) but did a full Ramadan when he was 6 years old. 

I slept really well last night and even though I took a nap I wasn't even awake too late. I think I went to sleep around 10:30pm. I didn't wake up in the middle of the night. People did say that around 2am all the way through 6am they heard chatting and praying coming from the mosque. I didn't hear it in the morning but I did hear it faintly when going to bed last night. They have a call to prayer 5 times a day. 

In the morning I guess I slept later than everyone else because there was no more eggs left at breakfast. I got 2 pieces of toast and a small triangle of an omelet with green onion in it I think. I actually put peanut butter on my toast too since that was all that was offered. Good protein I guess. Maybe I'll actually start eating it at home now?

At 9am, we loaded into the mini buses again. They are red. And not very cool at all. It's pretty hot in there unless the windows are open and we are moving. One of the drivers also constantly takes photos of us. And I guess he loves Rowie because he is always pointing his phone camera toward her and yesterday he set his background as a photo of her. It's actually kind of disturbing. It has surprised all of us how often Indonesians want to take photos of us. Even in Jakarta where you would think they would see a lot of white people. I still find it very annoying. But then, I think about it and I take photos of them as well so I can't complain. I don't take photos of them because they are different an I haven't seen them before though. But I do take photos of them because their lives are very different and I want to document that so I guess it is rather similar.

We got dropped off on the side of the road and Henrie led us down a path. His sister was with us as well. Henrie is 22 and works for a tour company in Cianjur. He already got his university degree. His sister is younger and is entering university in the fall. She wants to go for food development or something along those lines. It sounds like she will be making food in a factory though, not being a chef. 

The hike actually wasn't too difficult. I was debating whether or not to wear hiking shoes or just my tennis shoes and I decided to go with my tennis shoes. It was actually a good choice for once! There were a few slippery parts going up or down rock paths but all in all, it was just a small incline up small rock paths. Nothing like Nepal or Koh Pangnan.

We started off walking along a cement ledge that had water on one side and rice fields on the other. The scenery was very beautiful. It's so green here. And quiet which is a very nice change from being in Jakarta. You can hear birds and roosters and other animals. We saw a few very large spiders that looked very much like the one on Matt's chair in Laos. Henrie said they are definitely poisonous. 

We encountered a few children on their way to school as well. These 2 girls were so cute. They walked with us for a while. One of them had a Barbie backpack. They pointed at my camera and wanted me to take a photo of them. Immediately you have to show them the photo. They love it. It's very cute. 

Along the hike we also saw pineapple growing. I had never seen that before so that was really cool. It's actually huge. He said it takes about a month or two for it to grow to full size. The pineapple grows from the dirt and you can see the top green part of it as well as a lot of long green leaves coming from it. We also saw cloves (they actually put this in their cigarettes in Indonesia so it smells very nice compared to a normal cigg) and lemongrass, as well as a bunch of strange fruits and other spices. We smelled nutmeg leaves. 

There were some very beautiful views. We also passed a number of people riding their motorbikes. It seems like a rather unsafe way of transport. even Henrie said that he thought it was unsafe and he would never drive his motorbike here. When we got to the house, we took our shoes off (at one point chickens were actually standing in them) and went inside. We sat in a circle on the floor on mats. Some people drank and ate fresh coconut with some brown sugar sprinkled over the coconut meat. We were able to see what a traditional kitchen looks like as well. It is very very simple. There was a fire with wood over it that then supported a large pot as well as what looked like a simple stone oven. That was about it. They also showed us how the brown sugar was sold. It's in a pretty large cylindrical block wrapped in leaves that comes in a 3 kilo package. They then have to open that and shred it.

They brought out so many dishes for us for lunch. They just kept coming and coming. There were little bowls with noodles, a red vegetable that looked similar to a bean, beans, rice, and the potato cake things. It was a really filling meal and it was also very good. 

Afterward, Jillienne was saying she wa a little concerned about getting sick from the food. I told her that from what I have learned over the past few months that we would be fine. My rule of thumb is essentially if a tour group is brought to the area or offered food and this occurs on a regular basis, the food is safe.

 We had a while to rest after we ate. Many of us used the squat toilet. This one had a porcelain hole but it was just dirt around it. I don't think I mentioned it earlier, but I have now mastered these toilets without needing to take my entire leg out of one of my pant legs. It's so much faster and easier. If you squat down far enough you can pull your pants out and you won't even pee on them. Brilliance. I can't believe I only realized that in the past 2 or 3 weeks! At one point Hene was inside and jumped thinking there was a bug which scared Guya who was also right there. And David was laying on the porch part of the house and jumped up so fast and freaked everyone out. Marie asked him what happened and what it was. He didn't know. When someone asked him were it was he said, "it was grabbing at my nuts." We all lost it at that point. We still have no idea what it was. 

We had a short hike, about 40 minutes downhill, back to where the mini buses would pick us up. We went back a different way than we came. There were lots of children on the path and they were very excited to see us. Waving and yelling "hello!" Henrie said the first time he saw a Westerner that he couldn't even talk. He just stood there waving. It's so strange to think about. Even though there are tour groups every 2 weeks, they still find it exciting because they don't see it very often. I'm not really sure if there is anything similar for us that I could compare it to. Maybe seeing a baby. I feel like we are always taking photos of babies no matter how many times we've seen them.

It was nice because the hike reminded me sort of like the hike in Nepal. We walked through remote villages so we could see the people and them working and their way of life. For the rice fields, we saw 2 men with a water buffalo at one point. The water buffalo was pulling a man in a wooden seat around the field which was mud and water. I guess it had just been harvested. It takes about 3 months for it to grow and you know it is ready when it looks like yellow wheat at the top of the plant. This is where the rice is. It was interesting to see the ploughing process because I didn't even know that existed. Henrie also said the people who live out here don't really need money. They grow all their own food and eat that. The other day Panji said most of the rice grown in Indonesia is not exported but eaten here. Henrie also said that they have goats and animals as a back up that they can sell if they are desperate. Like a "bank". 

On the way back we stopped at a mini mart again. I didn't get anything. When we got back I spent a little while talking to everyone but then I decided to try to catch up on the blog. So I've been laying in the room alone blogging for the past hour. I still have so many hours of blogging to do. Blehh.

At this point, were just waiting for dinner to be served.

7:48pm Jakarta time 

Dinner was very good. We had glass noodles, fried mushrooms, fish (which was literally just cut up fish in long slices with all the bones and fins and everything still on it), some bean sprout salad, sweet and sour chicken, and some cucumber and rice... Of course. For dessert she brought out a plate of something wrapped in green banana leaves. When we unwrapped the leaf, there was a green sticky ball inside. When you bit into it it had coconut and brown sugar in it. It was so good. Here is kind of how to make it: 

1. Sticky rice, coconut cream and pandang leaf extract (mix together like bread)

2. In a pot, heat raw coconut, brown palm sugar and coconut cream- pinch of salt- heat with water until water is gone

3. Spread paste thick on hand, add spoon of mix

4. Make a ball and wrap in a banana leaf

5. Steam 15-20 minutes

6. Let cool

The rest of the evening we just hung out. Showered. Hendri is a really amazing guitar player. When I get home I really want to figure out a way to spend more time on guitar. I've wanted to learn how to play it for so many years. I started classes and then haven't really played it since sophomore year of college. So, another goal for home. Elephants and guitar. When you play well and have a number of songs you can play, it's so great how close you can bring people. No one hates hearing someone play guitar. 

I've become really close with Jillienne, Marion, and Katie. I know it will be really difficult and most likely a teary goodbye. Jillenne lives in Chicago though so hopefully I'll at least be able to see her every once in a while. She offered to pick me up and let me stay with her when I get into the Chicago airport on the 13th. Hopefully mom and dad either didn't book the hotel or we can get a refund. It'll be really cool to see her after Australia.

One thing I've been meaning to talk about for some time now is how inspiring the people I've met on this trip have been. It's such an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many people who have been all over the world and are so passionate about traveling. Swapping stories and getting advice is so great. It's been a great experience. 

A third thing I want to make sure I do when I get home is to start a savings account specifically for traveling. I have absolutely LOVED constantly traveling. And with g it is so easy to go see the places you want to without having to spend a million hours planning everything. But I would like to start taking a certain percentage of each of my paychecks and saving it specifically for traveling.

We have to leave at 4am tomorrow to catch our train to Yogyakarta so I need to sleep now.