October 12, 2006
To Sumatra: On a Pelni ferry
We've been on the boat for 8 hours and still are in port.
Early this morning, we are packed, eat an oatmeal-museli-yogurt mixture one more time at the Ya-duh Cafe before loading our stuff into the car that will transport us to the pier. Patrick arranged this yesterday, again negotiating a price that included a vehicle that could hold our bikes. Gear is shuttled to the lobby. Patrick, the driver and a staff member load up the bikes and gear and we are off once again into the chaotic Jakarta traffic. We reach the port, the driver pays to enter (all negotiated in the fee), we continue on and again he stops at a booth and again he pays. Patrick says "I'm glad we paid for this--nowhere does it say this is Pelni, only a passenger terminal."
To unload, we do a controlled routine because there are always 3-4 people wanting to help. We do one bike at a time, Rachel's bike goes out and she gives Patrick her bags, he loads the bike then we do the same for his bike. That way, we can keep watch on all our stuff. We are pointed to the direction of the terminal, and we start rolling our bike toward the building.
Tickets are taken outside the door of the terminal, once through the door immediately there is security, always there seems a rush to do things quickly.... then wait. We park our bikes to the side, Rachel watches the gear as Patrick takes the bags through the security scanner, again doing the bikes one at a time.
Then.... chaos...getting onto the boat....and then we wait.
We were here by 1230 and at 1300 the doors were opened to begin loading. Most people were economy class, and they were anxious to get on board to get a good spot. Patrick goes on board to get our cabin and then begins the shuttling of our gear while Rachel watches the rest of the gear.
We explore the ship and walk-through economy class and feel lucky and fortunate that we can afford a cabin for the 43 hour sailing to Padang. There are two beds, a small table between a desk and private bathroom with hot water. Our bikes and gear fit in without too much interference. We are on the main deck level with the restaurant. On the other hand, economy class has the next three levels below. Open rooms with rows of beds with a metal rack above to store gear... and a community bathroom. We can't imagine what that will be like by the end of the trip.
And so, we wait...learning patience. First, we are told we sail at 4pm then 8pm waiting for "bunkering", whatever that means. At 8, a fuel barge is alongside and the fueling takes 1 1/2 hours, that must be the bunkering. We finally sail at 10pm. A tugboat pulls the stern away from the dock. We watch from the front until we are clear of the port, return to the cabin. Patrick takes a Dramamine, Rachel a Benadryl and we fall asleep with the rolling of the boat.
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