This is perhaps the least like Christmas it's ever been for me. Being in a predominantly Muslim country doesn't leave room for much holiday spirit, at least not this holiday. And that I can understand. Aside from the occasional banner hanging in front of a hotel wishing Christmas greetings and a happy 2012 there ain't much out there. There certainly isn't any snow. Ah, but you do see the occasional Santa hat. That makes me feel at home. That was a joke. I know you were thinking Awww, I'm glad he felt at home.
Christmas has in fact, been a major pain in the ass this year. Quite literally. I left the island of Karimunjawa last night at 11pm to head back to the mainland. It was a 6 hour slow ferry ride with occasional flashes of lightening. It was actually relatively painless. More painful waiting for the ferry to depart than anything else. Fortunately, I was able to sleep in the reclining chair and my iPod kept me company, well at least drowned out the movie they were playing in the Eksekutif cabin.
Walking down the stairs of the ferry at 5am, still with sleep in my eyes, I was accosted by a pedicab driver. Gently accosted I must say. He didn't speak a single word - just made a pedaling motion with his hands and flashed how much it would cost with his fingers. I like this guy I thought as he didn't overwhelm me or annoy me immediately by jabbering away in a language I can barely understand. Keep it simple. I hopped in and away we went.
He took me straight to the bus terminal and straight to the nearly departing economy bus to Surabaya, my final destination. Amazing how the timing is nearly perfect every single time. I gave him a Christmas bonus, a whopping 50 cents, and felt like a dick for even having to consider whether the guy deserved it or not. He did, it was the least I could do for having this man take me to exactly the bus I needed without having to think. I like not thinking, it's just very difficult not to do.
This part of the journey was the most difficult. We departed at 5:15am and arrived in Surabaya around 1:30pm. There was no VIP bus option at 5:15 in the morning and the last thing I wanted to do was linger at a bus terminal on Christmas day waiting for a faster more comfortable bus. Instead, I was tucked onto this local bus, decent by local bus standards, but still difficult to bear for eight hours. Even a VIP bus would have lost its luster after that amount of time.
My knees hit the seat in front of me for most of the journey and my ever-changing neighbor's shoulders crammed against mine. It was too much, too much contact and too much heat in such close quarters. It was nice when I had a temporary reprieve from such conditions, when my neighbor left and nobody immediately took their place. Momentary joy I tell you.
I arrived in Surabaya and hadn't a clue where to go from the bus terminal. Oh, this again, I thought. I looked at the names and addresses of various budget hotels I had written down from the internet. Eventually I escaped the pedicab and taxi drivers and found my way to the city bus terminal and it was easy to find the correct bus just by saying the name of a street. I had to wait 15 minutes for my bus to depart, but that gave me time to unsuccessfully seek out something to eat. Oh well, I wasn't that hungry, just bored and looking for something to do.
The city bus was probably unnecessary, but it didn't take that much time and it was cheap. Next time after such a long journey I'll probably splurge for a taxi. But it was easy enough. I was alerted when we arrived near the street I requested and I got out and within a few minutes was in front of the Sparkling Backpacker Hotel. By no means was it sparkling nor was there any evidence of backpackers. I didn't see evidence of any guests, but apparently all the rooms with bathrooms were full. I wasn't really in the mood to share a bathroom considering my state of constipation so I went on my way, disappointed, but not annoyed, yet.
I lugged my shit to the next dive, with stains on the sheets and hairs on the floor. I just couldn't do it and besides, there was absolutely nothing to do in the surrounding area. At least it seemed that way. I walked to the next hotel. They were not exactly next to each other. This one was even nicer and I would have accepted had they had a double bed despite it being on the fourth floor. But the floor was dirty, it smelled like cigarettes and they only had two single beds in the room. Just not cutting it for twice the price I normally pay. Fuck!
So, I decided to just take the Backpacker place, it was only for one night I thought. And at least it seemed closer to a happening area if you could call it that. There were just two rooms available upon my initial inspection and upon my return, just the room with windows remained. I don't like big windows facing the street because I can't sleep. I thought they were fucking with me, who the hell was staying at this hotel?? I lost my shit, threw my bags on the floor and kicked them across the floor. Embarrassing, yes. Usually I'm able to restrain myself from such behavior.
I walked and I walked and I walked to the next place. The standard room was just that, very standard. I upgraded to the deluxe room for the extra space and well, for $17, the most expensive room I've had in Indonesia, it's acceptable. I'm not thrilled, but I needed a room more desperately than I've ever needed a room being that close to collapse and utter frustration. I checked in, immediately stripped off my sweaty clothes, downed a liter of water, took a cold shower (the only option available) and shaved off the day's annoyances. Oh and the stubble from my face.
It's now 7pm on Christmas and I'm doing better. Still have a slight headache from a week ago, which is strange and mildly annoying. Of course it is, after a week, it's fucking annoying. Anyway, I'm doing better than I was four hours ago. I'm in clean clothes, I've taken a walk and I'm now hiding in the dark in the hotel's small restaurant - my face illuminated in the darkness by my laptop's glow. It's still raining outside, but that can't dampen my spirits any more than they've already been today.
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