Bali R&R: the final blog

Saturday and it was time for 7 of us to catch our flight to Bali. I was the last to pack and left it quite late, after breakfast in fact. I was beginning to think even for me that was a tad tardy particularly when my room key wouldn’t work (again). However, as things were folded and in piles it took less time than I thought.

The next set of goodbyes were with Aban and Ibad and Anim and our translators. The arch was formed by them, and some hotel staff, and with that we were in the minibus to the airport, more lumps in throats and wet eyes, even Natasa!

Checking in we found it wasn’t us but our cases that had piled on a few pounds in Indonesia. And that didn’t come cheap, as particularly Karen found to her cost. Anyway, we just put it down to experience and thought of the next few days in Bali.

The next goodbye was particularly hard as we had to leave Christian on his own before we passed through security as his flight was a lot later than ours and he couldn’t check in yet. Tissues at the ready.

Then it was time for our flight and the thought of a few days R&R. Actually, in reality the schedule kept up the busy pace of the previous month.

After collecting our luggage and stepping outside the terminal, the humidity seemed to be a notch higher than in Solo. Anette eventually found her husband and daughter (the three A’s as I referred to them) and Karen and Tracy had already left on their booked transport to their hotel. The rest of us found a taxi stand and I was surprised it was only 150,000 Rupias to go to our hotel in Seminyak.

The journey took around 45 minutes as progress around Kuta and Seminyak was very slow. The rule of the road here appears to be to nudge in front of vehicles and that gives you right of way. Crossroads, unless they have traffic lights, are free for alls. We checked in and luckily one of the hotel conditions is no Durian in the rooms! We then went across the road for something to eat.

We then had just about enough time to walk to the beach, have a paddle and watch the sunset, which was a good one. The sea was pleasantly warm and we walked for a while and then came back along the street parallel.

We finished the evening off with some Bintang’s at the bar on the fourth floor.

Sunday I was off diving with Tracy. This required a 7:15am pick up and transfer to the dive shop in Sanur to complete the paperwork and get kitted out. We went to Tulamben which was a two and a half hour drive away. The three A’s also came as Andreas dives. The scenery was spectacular and we passed the (almost) active volcano, complete with exclusion zone signs.

It was the first walk in from the beach (stones not sand) I had done. The USS Liberty lies very close to the shore and coral has certainly taken to it. I struggled to equalise on my first dive and at the end came up and found I was coughing up a bit of blood. Not a great sign but my nose wasn’t bleeding so it was probably a blood vessel somewhere. Anyway it didn’t bother me. We had lunch and then went back for our second dive. There was a vast variety and colour of fish. Another first was what Ferry, our dive leader, said was a kiss from a fish. I had felt a sharp, well it was like a finger, being poked quickly in my right ear. Not just once but twice!

I arrived back at the hotel at around 6:15pm and What’sApp started pinging regarding dinner arrangements. We agreed that the three A’s and Karen and Tracy would rendezvous at our hotel at around 8pm and we would go from there. The others had taken a driver for the day and wouldn’t be back until around 8:30pm. We found a restaurant a few minutes walk from the hotel and gave the details to the others. In the end they arrived just as we had ordered.

The food was tasty, I had Beef Rendang, and even although we were slightly outside happy hour for cocktails we managed to blag this for us. The frozen margaritas were very good. It was then goodbye to Anette, and her husband and daughter, as they were leaving for Ubud the next day. Tracy was delighted there was a tiki bar next door but when we went upstairs she decided it wasn’t a real tiki bar so we left and went down to the beach and found a bar for a final drink.

Monday was also diving and I had persuaded Donnacha, Natasa and Betka to come and do beginner dives. Donnacha was actually certified, although he hadn’t dived for many years. Natasa had done a beginner’s dive before. Betka had only been swimming for 2 years but was very competent and gave the impression it was many more. It was a similar time pickup but only an hour from Sanur to Padang Bay.

We parked, gave in our lunch orders and then went out on, well I’m not sure how you would describe them; traditional boats with stabilisers!

Backward roll into the water and then we were off. The first dive was a challenge as we found ourselves swimming against a strong current. Thankfully Ferry realised and turned back. We then had our rest period and back for our second dive. The highlight here was definitely finding and filming an octopus. In addition, conditions were fine and the dive lasted 45 minutes. A very pleasant Mie lunch followed and we then got the bus back to Sanur and then our hotels.

In the evening we Uber’d it across to Karen and Tracy’s hotel, together with a stash of Bintang. We ate at the hotel as there was nowhere close by and finished off the evening with our stash, still at the table; we did ask permission! It was then goodbye to Karen who was going to be the first of the Tuesday departures.

Tuesday morning was again difficult as it was goodbye to Natasa and Betka who were leaving for a night in Ubud. Although it was actually Donnacha and I who were leaving for home.

Donnacha and I eventually managed to man up and collect the scooters that were free if you stayed three nights or more. We rode up to the temples at Tanah Lot without getting too lost. It was busy and the temples are stunning. We couldn’t stay too long as Donnacha was next to leave. Having said that my sense of direction back was excellent and it only took us about half an hour. That gave us time for a last Nasi Goreng in the place opposite the hotel. My final goodbye was then Donnacha as he left for the airport in the Uber I had booked him.

I took the scooter down to the beach and finally had an hour of doing absolutely nothing; I sat on the hotel towel on the beach and eventually mustered up the energy to go for a swim. Thankfully the hotel managed to find me a spare room where I was able to have a shower and get changed. My Uber then arrived almost immediately I had hit the request button and it was off to the airport for the three flights back; Jakarta, Doha and finally Manchester.

I had been in Indonesia nearly 5 weeks. It’s hard to summarise and put the experience into words. Definitely a once in a lifetime. I had met 12 wonderful colleagues who had all become good friends; the group worked probably better than anyone could have imagined. The warmth shown to us by everyone we had come across in Indonesia, including those who had very little, was inspiring. Paradoxically, almost everyone appears to have a smartphone. My senses had been fully immersed and tested to the max; the everyday sights, sounds, tastes and smells were not what I was used to obviously but became the norm. Among this there is much I liked and little I didn’t. However, I will never develop a taste for Durian! We visited some amazing places. We tackled societal issues and perhaps some of our recommendations will be implemented and help make a material difference. Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world. It’s a country of contrasts and contradictions. It is developing, but still a long way behind. It was awesome being part of Indonesia8, I could ooze superlatives about this and that but unless you were on the journey it wouldn’t mean much. I had a blast. Over and out.

The long goodbye

Friday was our final full day in Solo. After a slightly later than normal breakfast we went and took a look around a local antique market. There were some fascinating sights and colours and quite a lot of what could only be described as junk and relics. How some of these places survive I don’t know. A bit like all the street food vendors I guess. There were also a couple of shops that sold nothing other than huge varieties of springs. I’m sure antique cathode ray TV’s have their place somewhere as well!

We wandered back and some people taking photographs of Becak and apparently the royal wedding next weekend is using some of them as part of the ceremony.

Also interesting were a few photos of street art just down the road from the hotel. The Becak drivers don’t go out of their way to attract custom but then I guess they must just get by.

It was then time for the first goodbyes. Yemisi, Christian and Abhi were all leaving and going back home. A few tears were shed as we all said goodbye to colleagues who had become good friends. We formed an arch to bid them farewell. There will plenty more lumps in the throat in the next few days.

An hour in the gym was then followed by dinner. We went to the same place we went with Kotheid the first or second night as we had passed it earlier walking. Unfortunately they seemed to be out of a lot of dishes and when my noodles didn’t arrive and I asked, they were out of them too. Pity the waiter didn’t come and say so like he did for everyone else who had ordered something they no longer had. Luckily I had also ordered spring rolls and there was plenty of boiled rice left over so rice and satay sauce went down well.

A final trip to the pool bar for a bucket of Prost and some reflections on our time in Solo.

Final Presentation and a night of fun

The day finally arrived. In one sense it represents the conclusion of our assignment. In another it means we’re nearing the end of our time here in Solo and I have very mixed feelings. Of course I have missed family and friends but as we start to go our separate ways I will miss all 12 of my colleagues that have been on this journey with me the past month, and for 3 months virtually prior to that.

We again went to the meeting room and finished off our presentation following some translation changes. We had an hour or so until we were due to make the final walk to Bappeda and I took the opportunity to download some further programmes to my iPad for the flights to Bali and then home.

We gathered in reception, splendidly dressed in our Batiks, coincidentally with matching colours. We then walked around to our work home for the past month.

We gave Oki the scarf we had bought and she surprised us with some gifts too. Two cars took us to Solo Technopark as the venue had changed to there.  The car appeared warmer than outside and as I tried to change the dials the driver spoke only 3 words of English, “air conditioning error”. Thankfully there was a small amount of cold air coming out and we arrived relatively dry!

The closing ceremony went well and the speeches before our 15 minute presentations were relatively brief. I was thrown slightly when the Deputy Mayor arrived as I was in full flow but thankfully he took a seat quickly and there was minimal fuss around him as he did so. Our Agency Head Mr Ahyani was the other key Solo City dignatory, in addition to David and Santi.

Once the last group had finished there were no further speeches but of course many photos to be taken, both all together and in our separate groups.

We then got dropped off back at the hotel and had a photo of the 13 of us taken, resplendent in Batik.

We had a wrap up meeting with our IBM Jakarta CSC liaison and Anim at 5 but first we all signed the framed photographs of us all at Prambanan that we had got for Anim and the hotel. Ibad presented this and A few tears were shed.

It was then time for a shower, a change of clothes and off to Saffron for dinner. This is the non-Asian menu and I had burger and fries as a slow introduction back into western cuisine! It was only the second non-Asian dinner for me (the other also being here) and I could quite happily live on rice and noodles going forward, perhaps with pasta and pizza thrown in now and then.

Back at the hotel Ibad had said we all wanted to see the hotel manager about a complaint. He looked visibly worried as we all marched up to within an uncomfortable personal space level for this part of the world. However, he cheered up when our complaint had been the hotel had been so good and we wanted to recognise that with the photo. That was a weight off his mind as we wondered why we had left it until now to complain!

For our our final night together a dozen of us then went to 1112 Beer Garden, which actually is a beer garden with live music. It was a great finale and we danced and sang the night away with beer and puffed on Shisha.

The band were excellent; the lead guitarist in particular was great and they played to us visitors. Tracey, Donnacha, Natasa and Christian all got to take centre stage and sing. The band stopped just after 1am and we got back to the hotel around 2.

A day of surprises

We had decided to work in the hotel meeting room on our presentation and were busy on our deck when in breezed Santi. “We’re going to the palace” she announced. “Be ready at 11:30”. She left without taking a single photo. Then she returned with David, our Corporate Citizen lead, who had flown in from the US, and we had a quick introduction, followed by photos.

We smartened up and were ready for the bus. All groups had returned to the hotel except BLK who were due their final presentation early in the afternoon.

The palace covers 54 hectares and we were going to be covering one. It is around 300 years old and I’m sure it was spectacular around this time. It is occupied by the King of Surakarta and his wife.

We started with a tour of the museum and there were certainly a number of interesting exhibits. Our tour guide referred to the size of the previous King’s families and apparently the tenth King had 42 wives and 64 children we think he died young and one can only speculate why! In my experience it’s a challenge to keep one wife happy…!

Phone calls were made and apparently the Prime Minister was going to come and show us around parts of the palace that the general public don’t have access to. We waited in the courtyard, thankfully in some shade as by this time the swear glands were struggling to contain the humidity. An old woman ventured out; she has lived her life in the palace, and was we think in her late eighties.

The Prime Minister arrived and of course photos were taken. By a strange coincidence he had actually been the IBM Indonesia Country Manager around 18 years ago and had fond memories of mainframes so he was interested to learn that the next generation had just recently been launched. Actually, the Prime Minister is more akin to the King’s Private Secretary.

We then had another long wait as ties were fetched and skirts for the ladies. The former were required to ward off evil spirits. We walked around several buildings in various states of repair. There was a lot of building renovation taking place and it is not a fast process.

We then got back in the bus and spirits were high as we were looking forward to changing. The bus then proceeded straight past the hotel. Lunch had suddenly made its way onto our agenda. To be fair the food was delicious. We eventually arrived back at 3pm and after a quick change it was a taxi to the Park Mall.

Now this was a mall that wouldn’t have looked out of place in any well developed country. It had an excellent Batik shop and we bought a scarf for our translator and other souvenirs. We made it back to the hotel in time for the Celebration Dinner.

We had received invites to this the previous week and weren’t quite sure what to expect. The hotel had pulled out all the stops and the room was just amazing.

Even the 2 gents we see on the way into breakfast each morning had come back to help out. Following a number of speeches and thanks we were entertained with some traditional dancing and then allowed to tackle the vast buffet. The centrepiece fish was awesome. Just when we thought we had finished, coconut milk and flesh was presented (very refreshing) followed by desserts (too full). It had been an excellent dinner and again the hotel and staff were fantastic.

We retired to the pool bar where Ibad had tea on the boil and wanted us to experience a typical tea party. Perhaps not too typical when we got the buckets of Prost in but nevertheless the tea was pleasant. It was made with UHT milk in-situ, rather like a latte, and perhaps it was this but for my palate the milk slightly overpowered the tea.

We finally called it a night at around 11:10pm, which I think is the latest we have been at the pool bar in the evenings. It had been a day full of surprises.

Final Presentation

Today was the big day. The culmination of our assignment for Bapppeda. From the 8th floor of the hotel the two large volcanoes on the horizon are usually shrouded in either mist or smog from early in the day but at 7am today their outlines were clearly visible.

We spent the morning updating our slide deck for consistency, typos etc. ahead of our session. It was advertised as a 2pm start but we knew this more likely meant 2:30. And true enough we started at around then.

We had a good representative selection from the Planning, Budgeting and Monitoring Agencies. Our deck also had a section in Bahasa (Indonesian) although we used Oki to translate as we went. The session was scheduled until 4pm however we ended around 4:40 as Mr Bayu, who we had singled out as noteworthy, and Christian, had a good conversation on freeware. Ibu (Mrs) Enny concluded by thanking us for our recommendations and saying that we had made them think more broadly than they had done previously, that they thought our recommendations were appropriate and how impressed they were that we could do this in a few weeks.

It was a bit unnerving at times, but it does seem to be standard practice here that folks are often looking and typing on their phone or having a conversation with their neighbour as we were speaking.

As we completed the Community Service Survey and asked if she had any other comments she said; 4 weeks wasn’t enough and could we come back to evaluate their progress on implementing our recommendations. We would love to do this but I suspect otherwise.

We finished with some photos (of course) and on seeing a camera a number of others who were just passing gate crashed their way in. It was a nice end to our time there.

Back to the hotel and despite the painful muscles in the right leg from the hike it was into the gym and then the pool for a swim. We have seen few colourful sunsets but today wasn’t too bad.

We went out to eat at Saffron but there was no room and so we ended up back at Mr Chubby’s for what seemed like the umptieth time (which it was). But their asparagus soup is wonderful. Back to the pool bar after and we took advantage of one of their new offers for a bucket of 5 Prost beers. In fact we had 2 although it must have taken at least 20 minutes to source them.

 

Start of the end

I shouldn’t say this as I will get into trouble from those back home. But the past 3 weeks have flown by. Coming into the final week it’s hard to believe we’ve been here for all this time. Would I do it again. You bet I would.  Will I get another chance. You bet I won’t; this is a once and only!

The humidity returned big time for our walk to work and there was another ceremony taking place, and going on for another 30 minutes so we had to come the back way.  Suffice to say we all gathered below we main air con unit to cool down.

Our final presentation was translated by Oki and we had a couple of changes to make but we’re in good shape for our final presentation tomorrow afternoon.

We were ready to leave when it started raining cats and dogs (sorry British expression meaning an awful lot). It fair bounced off the roof. However, although it went on for around 20 minutes, when we left 10 minutes after this the ground, quite dry, was certainly only moist.

We had a meeting at 6 looking to work out the schedule for the final presentation on Thursday. It looks like the Mayor (who Oki pronounces the Major) will be in Jakarta and unable to come. Santi and the IBM President of Indonesia are due in town tomorrow and we may have another meeting tomorrow night to refine the plan we drew up. Experience has taught us that no matter what we plan events are unlikely to turn out just quite the same! We shall see.

Dinner followed and as a majority were still feeling the effects of the hike on Saturday we passed on the pool bar. I should have said at the weekend there were 2 outings on Saturday. One to the hike and then shoppers caught the train to Jogyakarta where they proceeded to buy souvenirs, Batik and silver.

Cycling and chilling

Early to bed early to rise. So goes the saying and after an early night it was no surprise that I woke just before 6. Of course it’s car free day and the Zumba dancers’ music was  just getting started so there was no chance of some extra z’s.

I was a bit sore this morning, not I hasten to add because of the walk, but rather my sunburt arms and face. I put some factor 30 on for the morning but you could say ‘after the horse has bolted.

In any case those interested in a cycle ride had been told to be ready by around 6:30. We had breakfast and then a taxi to Kota Kita’s office to pick up the bikes. There were 8 of us and we each selected or were given one each. I had to have the saddle raised and realised only after we had set off that I hadn’t raised it enough. Anyway, it was just about ok, but thankfully the brakes worked this week.

The Kota office is on the outskirts of Solo and we cycled about 16km in total passing through very scenic paddy fields and small villages.

One challenging part involved carrying our bikes over small planks of wood to the other side of the small viaduct. Not too difficult with the guide rails but it made for some good photos.

We continued the ride via further rice fields. Once when we stopped a Go Jek driver stopped and asked for photos so I reciprocated.

With just over 2km to go we stopped for a refreshing drink of coconut juice, followed by scraping out some of the fleshy interior. I think we certainly bolstered the weekend takings.

Once back, taxis were summoned and we returned to the hotel. Another shower and then delicate towering. The afternoon was spent chilling by the pool, writing the blogs for Friday and Saturday and watching a couple of TV programmes I had downloaded to my iPad.

A number of us went out at 7 pm to Hello Cow. The play on words was amusing and the food was fine, clearly a reasonable amount of steak on the menu. The rule in Indonesia appears to be to bring dishes as soon as they are ready, they don’t have the etiquette that we have to bring everything to the table at the same time. Anyway it’s the first time I’ve had my main course before my starter!

 

 

A tough but very rewarding day

Saturday 02:50 and for once the alarm clock went off before I was awake. It was going to be a long day. A 3am departure became 03:25 when one of our party was late. We’ll keep their name anonymous to protect the guilty and for the sake of this blog just refer to him by a random name, say, Ibad!

We made good timing to base camp although had to circle back when we went past and started going downhill. We then picked up our local guide, paid our 15,000 Ripiah entrance fee, wolfed down our breakfast boxes and started off at 05:30. Base camp is at 1,900 meters, higher than the highest point in the UK and we were going up to 3,265 metres or 10,709 feet in old money.

It soon became apparent that some were keen on making the top while some were taking it much more gently. Poor Chandra and Dodo, our translators turned intrepid explorers, were having trouble keeping the group together. We had after all had security approval for the Lawu hike and that it didn’t present any issues. About 30 minutes in there was mutiny and the group split in two with four keen to see whether they could get to the summit, including your truly. Dodo drew the short straw and came with us. Not long after we were joined by the guide and Donnacha.

The climb was challenging but the scenery was spectacular. There are six posts (called Pos) between base camp and the top, albeit some have more facilities than the rest. Between 3 and 5 was the most arduous with the path containing mainly stone steps. We stopped at most to refuel and take on more liquid. 4 600ml bottles of water is a reasonable weight.

After a while we found ourselves above the clouds and the views were amazing. It was slightly colder but still the sweat lured off as we climbed higher. Certainly no need for a layer of sleeves.

At 11:11, nearly five and three quarter hours after starting, we got to the top. We took lots of photos of course and refuelled for the descent.

The guide had said expect it to take 3 hours, however that would be overly optimistic. At the final Pos we came across Abhi and Ibad and then further down Aban and finally Chandra. We had all agreed to start our respective descents at noon as that would allow us enough time to get down in the light.

We dropped Donnacha at the final Pos as he was keen to make use of the Pot Noodels he had carried up and he and  Ibad had one each.

The descent was certainly no walk in the park and the stone steps made for hard going. Continued refuelling and constant water intake ensured fatigue didn’t unduly set in. We caught up with Christian at Pos 2; he hadn’t felt 100% and decided to stop early – a wise move.

Tash and I then went ahead and we finally arrived back at base camp at 3:45pm. The descent had taken nearly three and three quarter hours. Christian, Anette and Betka arrived at almost 4:30pm. Unfortunately then the heavens opened and it truly poured down. Donnacha and Ibad arrived about 5:15 and the the rest just after 5:45pm. Just as well they all had raincoats and had navigated the majority of the stone steps by the time the rains came. Abhi was suffering as his legs were sore and Aban had lost the soul of one of his shoes. After Chandra and Doda had said their prayers we left for the hotel.

Three of us then went for a bowl of soup, and a celebratory Bintang Following a shower, and a realisation that my arms and face were suffering from the sun, I hit the pillow and went out like a light around 10pm.

The week ends on another high

We saw the kids from earlier this week on the walk into work although we were a few yards ahead.  They all waved like mad and mimicked the folks doing, well I’m not really sure, it could have been a type of Zumba, but more sedate, or something similar.

We had a good catch up meeting with our sponsor and went through the integration roadmap we had put together following the workshop yesterday. She seemed happy and that brought the working week to a positive close.

After coming back and getting changed we went looking for souvenirs and also kit for our volcano hike tomorrow. Then it was into full scale birthday party preparations. Christian and I went to Solo Grand Mall for some beers, 36 Prost in total, and I also got a backpack and bread and cheese for tomorrow.

Then  when we arrived back we helped put the balloons up around the pool bar. After last week’s breakfast cake surprise for Christian we were wise to what the hotel might do and hence agreed that their cake would come just befor 6. In addition, Anette had arranged macaroons and these were assembled together with the beers by the time Betka arrived. The hotel had been excellent providing cooler and ice buckets together with a sound system for the playlist we had put together.

Everything went well, Betka was as ‘surprised’ as we could have hoped given last Friday and it was good to have the group together for the evening.

As it was Friday we got our weekly gift from the hotel. However, they mixed Christian’s and mine up and I found his in my room and vice verse. Also our names were a bit jumbled up.  Still it made us all laugh and my image is very good. We figured they must have got them all from our Facebook profiles. The bow and arrows and dress all represent some form of local traditional people.

As as we had an early start tomorrow folks started drifting off to bed around 9:30pm.

Successful workshop

Today was all about the workshop! We had requested this last week; a workshop to discuss integration feasibility with a number of different Agencies.

It was scheduled for 9 am and we were there just before, eager, prepped and ready to go. Participants wandered in and out, sat at the back of the room and generally showed no urgency as the clock moved forward. We have come to recognise that this is just the way things work around here.

We finally kicked off at 9:32. We had all the Agencies we had asked for and to be fair once things got going a number were quite vocal. Not of course that we understood most of it and once again we were very reliant on our translator Oki.

However, our starting position that integration should be technically feasible was confirmed and the reasons it hadn’t been done before were a combination of organisation, culture and the need to engage National Government in reading data from systems they have developed (which I still think is worthy of more probing).

We got through our agenda with the continued positive contribution of attendees and kept on hearing what translates very easily as ‘mis-communication’. Smiles on faces also confirmed this. When asked how often they got together across Agencies they thought at best once per year. Had this been useful? Absolutely they said as some had different perceptions about what could and couldn’t be done but because they had never met they had never been able to test their understanding. We then went for the customary photo.

The afternoon was spent working on our final presentation deck. We have the session with our sponsor to go through this next Tuesday.

Another decent session in he gym, although having said that I didn’t see the What’sApp for a 6pm departure to the Beer Garden and instead went out with some who hadn’t gone, at 7.

We finalised (ish) Saturday’s volcano walk albeit some of the logistics are still to be confirmed. It will be no walk in the part and if it comes off a fair achievement.