Charlie and I have made it to the cool, wet streets of Jogjakarta. We flew through Sumatra at such a pace. The last week of travelling has been constant and we are happy to have arrived..somewhere, and it's time to have a change of pace...We left Malaysia at Port Dickson (stopping to enjoy an Iranian barbeque on the beach). Took a 7 hour ferry into Indonesia..we jumped straight onto a mini bus for a 12 hour journey into the next day, began hitchiking early that morning. We travelled 30 hours non-stop the first leg...that wasn't even the longest stint.
Green fields, chopped forests and small villages of Sumatra flew by as
we hitched south towards Java. Many trucks and many smiling faces we passed. We learned a fair bit of Bahasa Indonesia from truckers and people along the way and soon enough we were writing songs..We travelled day and night, trucks in the day, buses at night. One night we stopped with a truck on Muko Muko beach.
A huge black storm was brewing over the ocean. In a gusty tarpaulin shack set up to serve strong coffee and hot noodles to weary truck drivers, living there were two of the sweetest little monkey boys I have ever met.
It was pure joy to play with those boys. Bliss. The storm burst and the lightning brought brilliant clarity to the dark sea for a second, sending the whole world into blackness. We slept on rough wooden tables in bliss with my arms wrapped around a thin brown child.We met a cool crew of musos in BENGKULU on the coast. The Fuzzy crew welcomed us into their home (and music studio) and we jammed the night away with coffee and songs..
Now in JOGJA, the graffiti city, where they say 60% of the population are artist we've hooked up with a bunch of artists and Indo musicians..country style house with ducks and goats..ah, it's nice..We're taking it slow and spending a bit of time getting to know Jogja. I'm looking forward to a few days on the farm. I'm hoping to gain a few weaving and bag making skills to sell crafts at markets.
Ah, nice city, nice boys..I'm in the middle of a butterfly lantern to hang for the exhibition. I have a warm coffee, a bamboo bed waiting for me..Man, I've never had it so good!
