Through The Eye of a Needle

Friday 31st July 2009
Day 34

OK, so overtaking on a blind corner is a given in this country. Whether you're a nifty minvan or a sluggish bus, overtaking is a given. Whether you're on a flat stretch of windy road or on a one-car wide hairpin bend on the edge of a mountain overtaking on a blind corner is a given : )

Today didn't start to well. Layla had a fever and felt really rough. Her stomach was in all kinds of mischief and we had a 16 hour bus journey ahead of us. However, she started perking up a little and decided to hit the road.

At the bus station she was cheered up no end by a group of schoolgirls keen to learn their English. Layla took them under her wing talking and drawing pictures with them during the hour wait for the bus.

The bus itself was basic but actually really comfortable decorated India-style in flowers draped across the windscreen. The seats reclined right back which I discovered to my surprise when the guy in front of me's head was suddenly pretty much on my lap. The Indonesian tunes were also blasting out as we set off up the windy mountainous roads on a 16 hour haul south to Western Sumatra with Bukittinggi our destination.

The first stage of the journey was stunning as the sun set down below the mountains with paddy fields as far as the eye could see. An amazing green in that light. The bus driver was doing a sterling job threading the beast of a vehicle through the eye of a needle passed oncoming traffic on a one-car wide road.

Interupted sleep and a couple of stop offs later and the driver's music was still relentless and the toilets on the second stop easily the worst I have encountered. Picture an open room with holes in the floor all occupied by chaps doing their business, some even smoking on the job. An open urinal for number twos. A Dutch guy who also witnessed the scene said "Have you ever sheen Trainshpotting!"

Also on the second stop Layla heard noises all around us in this one horse town (or one bullock town). Strange, eery noises that turned out to be the pre-dawn call to prayer which the Muslims of Indonesia amplify out through speakers every day. It was around 5am.