A millionaire for a few days !

Among the many promises I made to myself this year, travelling the South East Asian countries is one that was the most important and difficult too. I do not like travelling alone and do not have much in the name of company to travel with. To make sure I at least take the first step, I decided on going to a country where I have friends. It indeed was a good decision.

I booked myself on a flight to Jakarta a month in advance and as the days were nearing instead of the excitement building I was getting unsure of whether I will be able to make the trip. Ten days before my scheduled trip, the city is in floods and all and sundry insisted that I cancel my trip since it would certainly not be the right time to travel into the country.

Like always, the impossibility of the situation led to desperation and I wanted to travel only then. My friend in Indonesia suggested that I cancel my trip since there was too much chaos but I was not giving up. From a trip of 4 days, I cut it down to 2 days and decided that I will go regardless of how bad the situation was.

Nothing new for me since I always have to go through loads of problems before I embark on anything and this was just a leisure trip to some place.

By the time Chinese New Year holidays arrived, the waters had receded and there was only a fear of the different diseases that maybe rampant at this time. I told myself I am an Indian and pretty much immune to diseases so that should the least of my worries.

Finally I boarded the flight to Jakarta and extremely unsure of the next two days. The expectations were a bare minimum especially because everyone seemed to be quite surprised that I was going to Jakarta of all the places and I could have instead gone to Bali. Obstinacy springs out of defence and so it was for me.

I landed and Sandip was at the airport to receive. The Expat in Indonesia had a royal treatment and it was rubbing on to me as well. As we entered the city Delhi and Mumbai began to erect in front of my eyes. The roads were better than Mumbai and of course wider. The most famous jams of Jakarta were not for me to experience hence I never experienced any of it to my delight.

Sandip lives in a plush Condo and on the 17th floor and walking into the living room I was shocked to see the view from those long and wide window. It was so beautiful. You could see the city’s skyline all lit up and revoltingly bright. Could not help reminiscing the days in Mumbai when we would go all the way to Marine drive to get a glimpse of the beauty of the concrete jungle in the night.

We were talking till late and decided to check out the volcano a few hours drive out of Jakarta. Morning was rushed since I woke up a bit late and then we were in the car with some great Hindi songs playing in the background. No sooner had we got out of the city limits, the highway reminded me of the Mumbai – Pune highway. There are good and bad memories that kept lingering and I kept myself from getting pensive. No point going across geography and still thinking about the losses. I was there to rejuvenate my spirits and I would do just that.

When we had set out that morning, it was bright and sunny and warm but as we were getting closer to the site of the crater it began to rain heavily. The visibility was rather low and both Sandip and I could not help worrying that in the rains it may be tough to even be able to see the volcano. The drive was beautiful and I began to get less worried about volcanoes. I loved the drive and the view and the hilly terrain and that was good enough for me.

As we reached the site of the crater, the rains began to slow down and after a while we could get off the car and see the live crater of the volcano. It was nothing close to what I had imagined but it was still an exhilarating feeling to see yet another marvel of nature. We stayed there for sometime and I was lured into buying a musical instrument made out of bamboo. It somehow appealed to me so much that I decided that it would be the souvenir I shall carry back with me. Bulky but who cares so long as I like it so much.

Our next destination was the hot spring but the beautiful spring looked much less appealing since there were men, women and kids of all shapes and sizes under it. Am sure it must be fun to wash away some of the dirt in that water but the sight is not something one would want to capture in a camera.

It must be about 16:00 hrs when we had seen all that we set out to and when to eat the first morsel of food. Famished is an understatement and I think the hunger really ensured I enjoy my meal. With lunch tucked away in the some corner of my belly (thanks to the over dose of beer during Jabir’s trip!) we were on our way back to Jakarta.

We decided to stop over at this place where one can buy apparel rather cheap. I wasn’t too excited when I realised it is like roaming the streets of Janpath, Delhi. I have become a mall shopper – go and pick just what you want and get out as quickly. But Sandip’s enthusiasm caught on to me and I must have bought some 5 pairs of shorts (different sizes to suit different occasions)

As we were getting into the car to head back, I noticed this man on the street with a Python on his neck and my fascination for snakes could not keep me from getting a closer look at that. This Python man gleefully offered me to hold the snake for sometime but I strangely got very scared and just touched the snake as often as I could in that short time. Sandip, the brave Samaritan, held the snake around him and posed for a photograph. And just when we were leaving another baby python man accompanied the python man. I requested them to stand close to I could capture bothh the pythons in my camera. It was exhilarating!

Now we were on our way back and discussing the advertising industry with so much passion anybody could mistake us for the most well read advertisers of the world. The day had been tiring and after having promised to cook some chicken for dinner I chickened out. So, had a lovely bong meal with begun bhaja the second night in a row. It was just amazing.

When I got up the next morning I realised Sandip had almost finished cooking the meal since there were some guests expected that day for lunch. I quickly got ready and cooked the chicken. The great thing about cooking for people here is that they love anything you cook and however it turns out.

I had great conversations with Sudesh and another friend of Sandip who had come and by the time the session was over it was time for me to leave. Went to Sudesh’s house on my way and then promised them to come back soon since they insisted I stay back. Actually, I wanted to stay back but then thought it would be better to go as scheduled and not make any last minute changes.

I boarded the flight and landed late at night in Singapore. It felt like coming back home for the first time and I realised I am beginning to settle into this country at last.

And to the curious, how I was a millionaire, the currency is so low that everything sells in thousands and lacs. And hundred Sing dollars got me about 5 Lac rupiah!