Scribbles Abroad

We left Bali in search of somewhere less crowded and more relaxing.  We packed our bags and bought a ticket to Jakarta.  Our next destination would be Cimaja, a little town with a pebble beach and a small surfing community.  After landing in Jakarta we grabbed our bags and headed outside to arrange our transportation.  I guess something about us screamed tourist because instantly we were bombarded with drivers wanting our business.  It was a little overwhelming.  They were naming prices, all way too high, and they didn’t even know where Cimaja was.   A local guy noticed that we needed some help and recommend that we buy a bus ticket that would take us to Bogor (about half way there).  The ticket was a great deal at only 20,000 IDR about $2.50.  It would take about 3 hours to get to Bogor.  The bus ride was a great way to see the city.  Make shift houses and buildings were everywhere you could see and the kids played right along the grassy edge of the freeway.  There was a lot of traffic but we finally made it to Bogor at around 6pm.

As we were getting off the bus it began to rain.   We unloaded our stuff and made a break for the rest stop.  We decided to get a bite to eat while we planned our next move.  We needed to transfer to another bus that would take us to Pelabuhanratu which is just 8km west of Cimaja.  In order to catch the bus we would have to cross the street and walk about 200m.  While eating we could see flashes of lightning and the crashes of thunder were so loud they shook the windows.  The rain stopped for a moment so we grabbed our things and began making our way to the other bus station.

Our backpacks were strapped on and we were rolling our board-bags (thanks to Kahi’s brilliant skateboard idea) and everything was going great until it came time to cross the street.  There was one of those stairway pedestrian overpasses and boy was it a pain in the a** to carry our stuff up those wet slippery stairs.  Then the rain came.  Young boys with umbrellas were everywhere offering shelter from the rain for a small fee but we were already so soaked.

There were buses everywhere and it was difficult to find the one we needed to catch.  At first we accidentally got on the wrong bus and had to unload everything and get off.  After running around everywhere, Kahi found the right bus but we had to pay double for our boardbags.  The bus driver told Kahi and I to sit in the front of the bus (for a better view), Shaun sat in the back to keep and eye on our stuff.

Our bus driver drove like a mad man, but I guess that’s how everyone drives here.  It was pouring rain and he was passing people, weaving in and out of traffic on a two lane windy road.  There were many times where I seriously though we we’re going to get into a head on collision.  Then our driver found my motorbike helmet and decided to wear it, he drove with it on for about half and hour.  Anyway we finally made it to Pelabuhanratu four hours later.

It was quite late when we got off the bus and everything was closed.  There we’re a group of guys that surrounded us and wanted to take us to Cimaja on their motorbikes.  We had our backpacks and boardbags with us and it was still raining so that was not going to happen.  There weren’t any hotels open and for a moment we thought we’d have to wait until morning to catch a bus or arrange for a driver.
We were getting quite desperate, so Kahi went to see if he could find someone to help us.  He found a guy with a bus that would take us to Cimaja for 200,000IDR ($25 which is expensive for such a short drive but we were desperate).  We were so stoked to get out of that sketchy situation and gladly paid him.  He took us to The Green Room, luckily it had a bar and was open late.  It was the first time the guys at the losmen had ever seen a bus pull up to the green room and were shocked at how we were able to pull it off.

The Green Room is owned by Kerry a guy from California  and his local wife ChiChi.  The rooms were cheap at $3 a night and the food was great.  The bar was a great place to talk story, watch cable tv, or use the internet.  Kerry and ChiChi we’re so helpful and more than willing to help us out.  Kerry told us the best places to surf and also highlighted our map on where else we should check out.  ChiChi was a beautiful woman who cooked the best food that I’ve had so far on our trip.  She made the best sate (beef skewers) I’ve ever had.  They were so tender, her secret was to wrap the skewers in papaya leaves.

The Green Room was located right across the street from the surf break Cimaja.  Kerry said that we had come at the perfect time because it’s currently Ramadaan, so the locals aren’t suppose to surf.  The water was pretty dirty from all of the rain but it was a fun wave and there were only about 6 of us out.  The swell was a little too big for the spot though so it was closing out.

We were told that the street we were staying on was nicknamed “little baghdad” and that there we’re Alquaeda Training Camps right up in the mountains.  Knowing that September 11th was coming up we decided that we should get the hell out of there and move on to Ujung Gentang in search of Turtle Beach.