But apparently our admin person didn’t get the email (although its in my Sent Items) and so it wasn’t organised. So after going into the office on Saturday and just checking to see if it had been confirmed, and it wasn’t, I tried to reach her – and couldn’t until Sunday afternoon – and by then the UN flight was full, as was the Garuda Indonesia flight from Medan to BA. So they had to do a rushed ticket purchase of the only available flight – Simeulue to Medan – on Sunday. The plan was then to rock up at the Garuda counter (and if they were still full, then try other airlines) in Medan and try and get a ticket.
So that’s what I did. I arrived in Medan at 9am, and have been sitting around trying to get a ticket all day. It’s now 1:45pm. And I had to fork out over 1 million Rupiah to a tout who probably took a massive commission, but it’s the only way I seem to be able to organise a ticket. The normal price is only 500,000 Rp. And the final straw is that I don’t board the f#&$ing plane until 4:30pm!
I think I’m destined never to attend one of these WatSanTechnical Group meetings in BA, the reason I’m trying to get there. The last two meetings, which are a month apart, there were problems with planes not flying. This time we’ve got an incompetent admin assistant.
Anyway.
So we’ll see how much longer my computer battery lasts. I feel like just catching the next plane home. It’s so bloody frustrating.
Apart from all of THAT SHIT, I am actually enjoying being back. On the weekend, Paul (my boss) and I went for a mammoth 4.5 hour mountain bike ride around the island – and I can tell you, this place is NOT flat!!! So many steep hills, and with dirt roads laden with trucks, bulldozers, buffalo, cows, people and motorbikes, it makes for an interesting trek. I guess now I definitely know that I am not fit. I was walking up most of those damn hills! But it was great fun. About an hour before we got back (after getting a bit lost trying to do a round trip and instead turning around and going back the way we came!) it started raining, so it ended up being very muddy. I was covered from head to toe in the stuff, not to mention the bike I was riding! We got laughed at all the way home. I don’t think it is used to being taken off road – it was pretty clean before I got my hands on it, and the gears weren’t very good – they were really difficult to change when your hands are slippery (instead of the ones you ‘click’ up or down a gear, you turn a piece of rubber that is attached around your handlebars…blergh), which isn’t good when you’re trying to change gears quickly going up hills!
So after completely dying, I went home and slept! Early Sunday morning I went for a kayak on Sinabang Bay, which was great. It’s really beautiful, there are lots of little bays and islands to cruise around, and a few ships to check out in the harbour. Unfortunately there is a bunch of rubbish in the water, which is really sad, and I only saw one fish, so I’m not sure how clean the water is! But you can see where the tsunami came through. Usually there would be mangroves growing along the shoreline, and they are absent in most places. But it was a pleasant two hour trip, waving and yelling out to the local fishermen who are cruising around, following the coastline, checking out the little islands. It was really nice.
I also took a drive around the coast to Simeulue Resort, aka Willie's, which is accommodation for surfers about 20 mins away on a terrible pot-holed road. I was picking up a surfboard for a friend in BA. The woman that runs Willie's, Nina (his wife), is lovely. The resort is a beautiful wooden 2-storey place overlooking a nice bay, and is a relaxing place to hang out.
If I ever make it back to Sim (although it seems a hell of a lot easier to get there than to leave it!), I am going straight to Salang on Wednesday after I get back, as Japanese Red Cross is holding a Red Cross festival there all week, where they are handing over their housing and health centre projects. So they’ve invited a heap of JRC bigwigs, Head of Indonesian RC and other NGOs on the island. Should be fun.
Ahh I’ve had enough of typing. I’m getting out of this smoky café (although the mie goreng was great) and paying my $10 to sit out the rest of my waiting time in the rich people's lounge. Only 2.5 hours to go. Hoorah.
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