Indonesia, Bridge, and an Idiot

I have to be the world’s biggest idiot.  I should have I D I O T tattooed on my forehead.  What was I thinking?  After spending a nice day yesterday sitting around the pool and not doing anything strenuous, just taking care of the knees, they got a pretty good rest.  And then…

 

So let me backtrack a moment to build up to why I am an I D I O T.

 

This is Indonesia, not exactly the hotbed of modern civilization.  Bali with all its exotic name conjures is still a third world island.  I spent Day 2 in Bali on the ship, while Michael was out doing the tour I did on Day 1.  Except his was a total disaster as the tour guide took them to a market that wasn’t even open.  That’s his story and he can tell it if he wants to.  I, on the other hand, puttered about in the morning and then had to get ready to go to work in the afternoon as the ship left at noon. 

 

I wound up playing bridge, and so did Michael.  However, we did not play together. When the game was over, I was entering the scores on the computer, and since we were late in doing so because both of us were playing, the other players were breathing down my neck waiting for the results.  I was entering the data as fast as I could, and then went to display the results.  We always announce the winners; first and first overall goes to……. Beverly!!!!!! and her partner.   Well, I just couldn’t contain myself and whooped.  We came in ahead of all the life masters and I earned 0.55 master points. 

 

The next day was our stop at Komodo Island, the land of the giant lizards know as Komodo Dragons.  Since we had gone there last year, we did not feel it merited a return visit. It is a once in a lifetime experience.  Here is the reference to last year’s post about it: http://worldquest2013.blogspot.com/2013/02/komodo-island-and-dragons.html

If you are not on an organized tour and don’t have a visa, you cannot go to shore.  That was just fine by me as this is a hot and humid place and I could think of no finer place to be than sitting out by the pool reading or bobbing around in the water.  And that is what I did.  I gave my knees a good rest because I had had an acupuncture treatment the day before and frankly, they felt pretty weird. 

 

I woke up the next morning to the sound of the anchor being dropped in Larantuka.  We were supposed to dock at the pier, but some moron forgot about tides and depth of water at the dock.  Not good to go aground.  So we had to anchor out. From the ship, it looked like an interesting place.  We went down to the tender area on deck 3, and as people were coming back, everyone said it was awful.  Just like a kid, you won’t take mom’s word that the stove is hot, you have to check it out for yourself.  I am slightly older now, and still there is that part of me that says you’ll be sorry if you don’t go, you just might miss something.  Yep, today I misplaced that part of my brain that contains the common sense.

 

Off we go to shore, and my first clue about how awful this place is was when the tender docked.  It was a WTF moment.  If I was smart, I would have just stayed on the tender and gone back to the ship, but NOoooo, I have to see whatever there is to see.  

   This is the first thing we saw when we got off the tender

The step getting out of the tender was steeper than I thought, and the first wave of uh oh hit.  My eyes were assaulted with the filth and poverty here.  It was HOT and HUMID, and it took about 2 minutes before I was drenched in sweat.  

    Primitive dock to land the tender

    Ferry boat

    Ferry boats

We found the “shuttle” that went to the market and climbed aboard.  A milk crate served as a step into a ramshackle bus with no A/C and very little ventilation.  This was another uh oh moment.  My knee was not happy with this decision.

 

   The bus looks pretty good from the outside in this picture, but believe me it was a piece of junk

The guide told us a little about the island and its people, such as you cannot own any property or business -- the state owns everything; you just rent.  Unlike the rest of Indonesia, about 95% of the population on this island (Flores) is Catholic; the rest is made up of Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist.  As we drove along the main street to the market, there was nothing but decrepit and dilapidated dwellings, businesses, and streets with lots of trash.  

    This is a picture of one building in the central part of town

We arrived at the market and the first thing that hit me was the smell of fish. Michael ventured into this place and saw the fish covered with flies.  There is no refrigeration or ice.  The chef, who loves to shop at the local markets, wouldn’t even touch this place.  This place stunk and was dirty.  Everything I saw and smelled assaulted my western standards.  You had to walk over dirt, rocks, and trash.  Buildings, and I use the term loosely, had miscellaneous pieces of tin, wood or tarps covering them.  

    The front of the market where the shuttle dropped us off

    Fresh fish for sale, not refrigerated or iced

    Another part of the market

The smart thing I did was get back on the shuttle so I could get back to the ship.  There was no way I was going to spend 30 minutes here.  I thought Michael was right behind me, but when he didn’t appear on the bus, I yelled out for him, but he was gone from sight.  In a flash, that fast, gone.  I had a decision to make:  do I try and find him or do I go back to the ship.  Of course, what did you think I was going to do?  I went back.  There was no way I was going to wander around looking for him.  

This place was not worth the time and effort to get here.  Why did we stop here?  We are 4 degrees below the equator here and the weather is miserable.  Unfortunately, the people have no understanding of cleanliness, and hot humid weather rots the trash.  I can image the size of the rats they have here.  Some folks told us they went to a beach as part of the tour they were on, and demanded to leave without stepping foot on the beach because the beach and water was littered with trash.

 

Michael returned to the ship about a half hour after I arrived.  Frankly, I was worried about his I safety and that he had no water because I was carrying it.  One can get easily dehydrated here. I will be happy to get out of this part of the world ASAP.

 

We spent the afternoon at the pool, reading and taking a nap.  We then showered and went to the Observation Lounge for tea time.  We had dinner with Lillian and Adrian. 

 

In order to avoid the I D I O T tattoo, I am going to use common sense from now on.  If enough people tell you something, I am going to listen and not subject myself to needless stress on my ailing knees.  I don’t need to prove anything to anybody, especially myself.