10:10S 123:34E Kupang - Indonesia
Babe!
Paul & Trish Ducker
Sun 29 Sep 2013 15:07
We left Darwin after a few heavy nights ready to see a new part of the
world, Indonesia. [Paul] - To be truthful it was Kady that had the heavy
nights, I caught some sort of bug and Tish & I took it fairly easy.
Kupang was our first stop, and 3 days at sea, we arrived and waited for
quarantine to board the boat. In which they saw my pink hair and tattoos and
decided that instead of searching the boat for guns, drugs and that sort of
thing, all 4 officers would take photos of my, front and back, with their
arms around me!! It was much funnier for mum, dad and Nelius than it was for
me! We finally made it to land, to do more customs things, then hit the bar!
In the evening all the adults went to a restaurant for nice cheap food,
while the younger ones went to the market, and got totally ripped off!!
[Paul] - was an adventure, we asked the local rep where we could go for
some local food, so he organised 2 big black SUV’s. What a frenzy driving
through Kapang, scooters buzzing everywhere, reminded us of Vietnam. An hour
later and after the drivers got lost several times we arrived at the
restaurant – um more like an empty shell of a building with tables and
negligible English spoken! OK we were already committed, owner smiling sort
of says he’ll make us a special Indonesian buffet. Ordered drinks – no wine,
just have to share a few bottle of beer (after a 30 minute wait for the beer
to chill). Food came – AMAZING – whole fish with its sides filleted in
batter, beef dish, chicken dish, vegetables, rice – great taste nice and
spicy!! So after spending a fortune in Oz, possibly the most expensive place
on the rally, asked for the bill Wow, less than £8 each!! Unbelievable!
Turns out Kady got crap food in the market for £20! Haha.
The next night was Oyster party night, which turned out to be more Kupang
Government party night which the Oyster crew were invited to! After far too
many speeches and strange Government choirs, we all got up to do some line
dancing and drink far too much! When the party finished 10 of us (including
dad) ended up in the bar owners mini bus to take us to a club. The first
club was actually a brothel, which we weren’t allowed into as all the girls
were taken! So we went to some strange other place in a shopping centre.
Half of us decided to not bother and go home, but Mr taxi driver took us to
KFC first as he needed to get his wife and child dinner…. At 2am!! Turns out
he used to be a drug dealer and had to pay £10k to avoid going to prison
after being caught, following this he went straight (?) and now runs the
local beach front bar – apparently after ousting the previous owner!
The next day mum and dad went to the orphanage… [Paul] it was clear from
walking around that Kupang has a massive poverty issue, and as always it’s
the young kids that bear the brunt of it, just as in India, Africa and so
many other places around the world. So all the rally participants chipped in
to help a local non-government sponsored orphanage. Whilst the day before we
bought lots of basic goods (mainly rice, oil and some toys) a group of circa
15 of us decided to visit the orphanage to deliver the goods. As it happened
we still had loads of money left so got the mini bus to stop on the way to
buy mattresses (all the kids sleep on the floor in an empty room) and more
basic food and other provisions. Getting to the orphanage and seeing all the
kids help take all the goods of the mini-bus into the little communal room
was amazing and so heart-warming, both Tish & I were near to tears. We had a
good look around and to say basic doesn’t come close, empty bedrooms rooms,
basic fire pit for cooking and tough for washing – all of this paid for by
meagre public donations, yet the kids all very happy, clean, well dressed –
incredible. Get involved in handing toys out – I think this was probably the
first time the kids had had toys and almost ended up as a kids riot – but
then all playing in the grounds, for which I sat with a group of them and
joined in the games, and Roger showed them to juggle 3 balls, great stuff.
The woman who ran the place gave a speech and could hardly compose herself,
completely overwhelmed. Definitely the most humbling experiences of the
whole trip so far, and boy we’ve seen some rough places and poverty.
So in the local bar got to know a couple of the local girls and offered to
take them to Bali – I was joking, but now not sure as have facebooked me
asking why I didn’t pick them up the day we left, oops (photo of them
attached).
In summary after the hard grounding of being in Oz for a couple of months
it’s great to be away from the regimented mentality of civilisation and back
with people whose main focus is on ecking out a living with a genuine smile
and courtesy. Can’t wait for more Indonesia, brilliant!!!
Sorry for the slow updates, love and missing you all and relaxing as it may
sound it’s a right busy life!
xxxxxxxx
Photos:
a) Dolphin on the way to Kupang
b) Kupang Street
c) Local card playing - spot the loser
d) meeting the local girls
e) Dancing Indonesian style
f) Children at the orphanage
g) Orphanage communal room
h) Delivery to the Orphanage
i) Street sales
