sailed 4 - 7 Nov 99
web version, with
lots of pictures.
sailed 4 - 7 Nov 99 web version, with
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| Prior Trav-E-Log: The Good, the Ugly... | Pelni is the only major Indonesian Shipping Line |
(Note:) This describes travel in S.E.Asia between Oct 16, 1999 and Jan 22, 2000.
The four-day, three-night "cruise" to Dumai, Sumatra on the Pelni ship
Bukit Siguntang in kelas ekonomi was quite an education. Backpackers often
must travel "kelas ekonomi" because the tickets for upper classes of travel
sell out early. Arriving a few hours after passengers were allowed on board
meant that every available deck-class bunk was occupied. Searching deck
after deck, all I could see was a mass of humanity. My guess is that the
ship, designed for 2003 passengers was carrying at least 2500. The overflow
crowd was destined to seek refuge outside, so I made my way towards the
front of the ship along an outside rail, and claimed territory immediately
behind a massive bulkhead. My reasoning was that if it rained during the
next three days, the motion of the ship might shield me from most of the
elements. I quickly made friends with others looking for a place to sit,
inviting them to join me. After all, I wanted to meet and talk to new people,
and being surrounded with friends is the epitome of security, when there
is no place for one's belongings. It would be absurd to carry a backpack
while in line to pick up meals, or go to the toilet, but impossible to
use the shower. Late the first night, it seemed my reasoning was going
to pay off, as a light rain chased most of the squatters on the outside
decks to the hallways inside. We remained relatively dry -- for awhile.
Then,
about 3 in the morning, it really started pouring, and the water started
flooding the entire deck. By now, every available inch of floor space inside
the ship was occupied with bodies trying to catch up on sleep. I started
writing the draft of more Trav-E-Logs in the doorway of a narrow passageway
marked "CREW ONLY". So each time a crew member came up to the glass door,
I had to move out of the way. Eventually I started opening the door for
each crew member, some dressed in tee-shirts and Levi's, others in medical
scrubs, some with very impressive military type uniforms, emblazoned with
the steamship name, "Pelni". Finally, a gentleman in an orange jumpsuit
came by, and stopped when I opened the door for him. He ordered me to a
solid wood table in crew quarters, to continue my letter, saying one should
not write letters on the floor. The gorgeous air-conditioned and carpeted
meeting room had big comfortable chairs, maps and detailed drawings of
the ship hanging from the bulkheads, and large port holes for viewing.
Turning the overhead lights on, he sat down across the table and started 
chatting
with me. His name is Joseph Abraham, a Christian, and has been a sailor
for 30 years. He has toured Europe, but not yet the USA. I finally gather
enough courage to ask him his job on the ship. He laughs, and says "Captain".
On the second day of the cruise, the ship pulls into the port serving
Jakarta, and the ship's population decreases by 20% or so. My new friends
Hery Yanto from the Island of Madura, Arsyad from Sulawesi, and I, take
that opportunity to relocate to the lowest deck of the ship. Not because
it is noisy and "undesirable", but because it is not nearly as crowded.
We choose an area in the corner, rather than in the open, for the added
security. We also pay a small fee to use a vinyl coated, 3-inch thick mattress
for the bunk-like platform. I'm able to grab a few 
hours
of sleep on the second night of the trip. The crew in charge of the movie
theater allows me to play my fiddle there when not in use for showing films
or sleeping. On the third day, I find a snack shop to supplement the horrible
meals that are served prisoner style. A team of five researchers are going
to a three country Coral Rehabilitation Conference in Kijang, and I encourage
them to place the proceedings on the Internet. They say sure, - just fund
the project. I suggest Micro Soft's Bill Gates as a more likely philanthropist,
and suggest ways to get his attention. Over half of the passengers disembark
in the port of Kijang, and the crew tells us our claimed territory is being
closed - we must find another deck. No big deal, lots of places to chose
from now.
Four
days is enough time to place my unfortunate Surabaya experience behind
me. The ship pulls into Dumai about 12:30 in the afternoon, just after
the ferry leaves for Malaysia. I fight my way through the hordes of hawkers,
and find a laid-back becak driver for a ride into town to buy round-trip
passage on the Indomal Express to Melaka, and to do something about sleeping
tonight. My old travel guide tells me nothing about Dumai, an oil port,
with no attractions, and best avoided. After finding a 6 room hotel so
new it didn't have a sign, I spend the rest of the day just walking from
one end of town to the other, under the very hot sun. All foreigners are
fair game for yelling "Hello Mista", and "Where you going?" and "Where
you from?" and trying to sell something, or anything. The photo at right,
taken from the balcony at the end of my hallway, shows the main street
in front of the market area.
Even
though the hotel room is new, it still has mosquitoes. Down to the market
to buy fruit for the trip tomorrow, and a box of mosquito coils, as a netting
solution has not worked. Bumped into a couple from Melaka I had met while
strolling earlier, and enjoyed dinner with them. They complain about Indonesia
being so crude and backwards, but I don't really understand what they mean.
They speak Chinese, Malay, and English fluently. The hawkers can tell they
are not Indonesian, but I can not. I'm about to get another education.