Indonesia

Indonesia

I took a day trip over to Indonesia while I was visiting Singapore during the summer of 1996. They have passenger ferries that leave Singapore for the surrounding Indonesian islands. I took a two hour trip to the island of Tanjung Pinang. It was the scariest and most uncomfortable day of my life. Let me set the mood with a picture of what I saw when I got off the boat.

As you can see, this is not a place for tourists - especially a glowing white tourist like myself. After I got off the boat, I changed about US$50, which equaled approximately 100,000 Indonesian Rupiahs. I felt like the richest man on the island. As soon as I started walking into town, the leering and jeering began and quite a few people were pointing and laughing at me walking through their streets. I just kept walking as fast as possible, trying to find a quiet place to sit and try to feel more comfortable.

After a while, I met a Singapore businessman, who was on the island looking for antique watches. He really understood how uncomfortable I was, so he showed me around the island and kept others from preying on me.

While I was waiting for the boat to return, I was reading my guidebook just trying to stay out of trouble. One of the locals sat down next to me and started talking. I started to get scared. I didn't know what he wanted and I've heard horror stories about people losing their money, passport, etc. After a while, though, I found out that he just wanted to practice his English. He was extremely curious about life in America and he told me a little bit about life in Indonesia. It was quite a good learning experience for me.

So, I really didn't enjoy my trip to Indonesia, but at the same time, I wouldn't trade the experience or the time I spent there for anything. Sure, I could have spent another day in Singapore, but I don't think I would have ever learned as much.

jcarter20@yahoo.com