Indonesia 2000, Part 7

Hopefully I will finish South East Asia before leaving Australia (30 August) though it looks kinda
unlikely at the moment...

Anyway, here's the next day of Indonesia...


FRIDAY 30 JUNE

Woke up, at 10:05am, just in time to miss the free breakfast. Went to do Jum’a at the ITB masjid.
I prayed outside but it was great to see the mosque overfilling with students.  (Got very tempted
to buy G’n’R’s Use Your Illusions II but resisted, alhamdulillah.) Met up with some of the
students after the prayer but it was soon time to say goodbye unfortunately. Said goodbye to most
and went to lunch with North Sumatera and East Java II. Again there were plenty of vegetarian
dishes. I guess you just have to know where to go. 

I felt very at home in Jakarta and Bandung but it was time to move on.  Called a friend’s
brother-in-law (wife’s sister’s husband) who lives in a village near Cirebon. I was hoping that I
wouldn’t be able to make contact so that I could spend another day in Bandung. At first the number
didn’t work as I was using the STD code for Cirebon while the village, Manislor, had a separate
code. I was hopeful but had to try again. I said I’d be in Manis in the evening. 

The angkot journey from the guesthouse to the bus depot for Cirebon took more than an hour ( I
think). Having thought that Bandung was relatively small, it made me realize how big it really is.
But as big cities go, I liked it. It felt quite laid back and friendly. I wouldn’t mind living
there.

And so it was time to say goodbye. Said goodbye, asking the Jakarta friends to join me in
Yogyakarta in a few days time. They said they would but I was only half hopeful. Boarded the bus
at about 6:30pm.

Met another student of Bandung on the bus, who asked the non-English speaking conductor to tell me
where to get off to catch a bus to Manislor.  Was dropped off at the requested place in Cirebon at
about 9:30pm. Hung around with some policemen before catching a bus Manislor, arriving there half
an hour later. 

Asked a motorcycle taxi driver about the whereabouts of the house but he took me to another house.
The friendly people there, who in the few minutes I was there offered me some much appreciated
food, called Dede Rifai to get the exact location.

Dede was there to greet me at the doorstep. It was now past 11pm and I hadn’t slept much in the
last few night so sleep followed some light refreshments.