Homestay- Cianjur

July 16

Happy Birthday, Jenn! Good luck with your Epcot Challenge! May the force be with you. 

About Jakarta... i forgot to say it was not very sunny, but I was still sweating a ton because of the humidity. 

Today, we left Jakarta around 8am and had a 2 hour bus ride to a tea plantation. As mentioned, I couldn't sleep because of my long ass nap. So, I was exhausted in the morning and slept the entire bus ride. When we walked out of the hotel there was this huge coach bus sitting there waiting for us. It was definitely not what I was expecting transportation wise. It was good though and fairly comfortable as well. 

When we arrived at the tea plantation, we stepped out of the bus and Panji took us around and told us a lot about the tea. The plantation was very different from the tea plantation we visited in the Cameron Highlands. It was still beautiful, but it didn't seem as impressive. It wasn't neve ending rolling hills and valleys of tea plants. It was beautiful in its own way though. There was a nice little dirt and stone path for us to walk around and there were trees planted around the short tea plants as well. They didn't have this in the highlands, but here Panji said it was to provide shade for the workers as well as for the birds who eat the bugs on the tea plants. They don't use pesticides on the plants so the birds are important. Here is what Panji told us about tea:

1. The plantation first started in about 1910 and some of the trees are still from that time. Most of the trees were planted between 1964 and the present.

2. They grow both Indian and Chinese tea here. Indian tea is darker and Chinese tea is lighter. One of them better protects against diseases, but I can't remember which one. 

3. There are 7 grades of tea but they only export up through grade 3 or 4 of the 7.

4. The younger, smaller leaves are the better quality tea leaves.

5. Green, black, and white tea are all produced from the same plant. It's just a different size leaf.

6. Tea can only grow above 800 meters.

7. The workers work from 6am-2pm. Then the tea goes in for processing and it is ready the next morning. The workers and their families do not live on the plantation. They live close to the plantation and walk in every day for work. There is also a school for the kids. There were a lot of kids wandering around the plantation. Panji also said kids in Indonesia only go to school for half a day.

Normally, you can buy the tea and drink it. However, since its Ramadan, they were not selling the tea to drink. So I didn't try it or buy any.

After that, we had about a 45 minute drive to the homestay in Cianjur. Panji said the homestay was a house that someone used to live in. The man is now retired and is older and in Indonesian culture, when this happens you go live with your children. So they come and take care of the house and cook for homestay groups still. I wasn't totally sure what to expect. I thought it sounded more similar to the homestay I did in Vietnam, which was nice to think about since we will be here for 2 nights. 

When we got to the house, it was a pleasant surprise! The house is huge and it is very clean and nice. The only thing is there are no windows so Mosquitos are all over. Marion and Jillienne have been freaking out about getting malaria or dengue fever. They aren't taking malaria pills. Panji said dengue is more of a concern than malaria though which sucks since dengue can't be treated.

When we arrived, lunch was prepared for us by the family. It was a soup with rice crackers (colorful) and a potato ball as well as something that was similar to an egg roll but with vegetables in it. It was really tasty. I'm not sure what it is called. 

We then loaded up into these tiny minibuses... Sorta like tsong Taos but more enclosed. We drove about an hour to get to a spot where we then walked about 500 meters to a floating village. 

On the walk we got to see a bunch of different plants. We saw peanuts growing. Henrie, our local guide in Cianjur, uprooted the plant. It was pretty cool to see. I had no idea that was how peanuts even grew! We also saw papaya growing on a tree. So many of them grow on one tree! And all together in the same area. 

When we got to the floating village we had to wait on the shore for a boat to come get us to take us out around the village. The shore was not really sandy but it was pretty much all mud. 8 people got in the first boat and went out to the middle of the village for the free "Dr. Fish" experience. We had to wait for another boat and we were going to be taken around the village. A long, flat bamboo raft came toward us and we completely thought we were getting on that. There were a bunch of locals on it and they all had tall rubber boots on and the bamboo raft was coated with a layer of water. There was one man pulling the entire raft by pulling a rope that was running across the river. Luckily, we did not go in this. Another boat came to pick us up. 

The village was an actual floating village. Not like in Bangkok where the houses were just on the waterfront. People lived and worked on the river. There were a lot of separated tank areas where they kept different fish. The houses were very simple. 

After we drove around the village for a bit, we went for the "Dr. Fish" experience as well. I decided to pass on this because of how much I absolutely hated the fish at the waterfalls in Laos. But, because I didn't choose to do that, I was able to look around the house. There was a small room at the front that had a TV on a dresser. On either side of this room there was a very small room for a mattress. One was the owners room, the other was a guest room but there was no mattress in that one. Then, there was a small kitchen area, an area to wash dishes (which was essentially just an open part of the house in the water), and a bathroom. The bathroom was squat toilet style except there was no hole. It was directly into the water. The 2 platforms for your feet were in the water as well. There was also a little porch area. The owner was out there making cookies for her family members for a very important day in Hinduism. She let us (Rob, Joanne, and I) try one. It was a ball in a little piece of wax paper. It was brown and sticky but thick. Kind of like molasses. It had brown sugar in it as well. We also got to see and taste a cacao plant seed. The inside of the seed is actually a bright purple color. And the outside is a slimy white substance.

We then headed back to shore and back to the house. Dinner was ready for us around 6:30pm. It was really good. There was rice, a chicken curry, and a few other things I cannot remember now. For dessert we had green melon and it was delectable. Sooo good. I think my body craves fruits and veggies now since it is so difficult to get them. I have heard other people say this as well, so at least I know I'm not alone. 

We stopped at a mini mart on our way back to the house so we could buy water and snacks. We cleaned them out of big bottles of water. I didn't actually even get one but it was okay because I still had an extra at the house. 

While we were waiting for dinner, I hung out with Jillienne and Katie in their room of the house. I was blogging and Jillienne was reading. I don't know what Katie was doing, but all 3 of us passed out. Rowie said it was pretty funny because their room is right by the bathroom with the western toilet so everyone saw us passed out on their way to pee. We probably slept for a good hour or so.

After dinner, we all stayed up chatting. Henrie (actually its Hendri but i am too lazy to go through and correct all of them now) plays the guitar and sings and Panji plays the ucelleli. I sat with them for a while singing. It was a good night. I didn't shower because we are hiking tomorrow and I figured it wouldn't be worth showering to put on more bug spray and then hike tomorrow. 

The room is pretty nice. It's not too hot like in Laos. We have what seem to e nice new mattresses and there is even a fan in the room. There is a western toilet and a squat toilet available in the house. 

We leave for our hike at 9am tomorrow. We have an hour drive out and then we walk for about an hour and a half, eat lunch, walk 30 minutes, and take another hour bus ride. It is supposed to be a moderate hike. Well see what that actually means...