Tuesday, April 28

To get to Nias required several steps. The first was a bus (all day or overnight) to Sibolga, a small town on the coast. From there, there was an overnight boat to the main town on Nias’ southern side. There were a lot of horror stories about the bus ride: one tale had the traveler standing on someone’s cargo with their head touching the ceiling for the entire eight hour journey. 

I started with one of the tour operators on Bukittingi’s main drag to buy a ticket to Sibolga. Like nearly everywhere in Indonesia, the best prices were to be had at the bus station; the tour operators’ fees doubled the cost. Even once at the bus station, there were many ticket prices and the best price was obtained by going to the ticket counters at the various bus operator booths. But before I could do this, I was intercepted by several dozen touts who wanted me to get the “best price.” The prices were pretty good, so I bought a ticket, and then waited for several hours while the bus was loaded with cargo. My bus was fairly empty so I ended up with a row of two seats to myself. Though I faired better than others on the same trip, this should not be confused with being comfortable. Clearly the seats were arranged with smaller people in mind. My knees were pushed into the seat in front of me. My shoulders were on the metal frame on both sides of the seat. This was the overnight trip, mind you, so the cramped seating prevented me from sleeping. 

As the bus wound it’s way through the mountains, we would stop occasionally to pick up or drop off passengers. For part of the ride, I had to share my seat with an Indonesian man and his chicken. Fortunately, the chicken sat on the floor. At one point we stopped at a rest area at the Earth’s equator. There was a giant globe on a pole and a line marking the exact spot and a store selling souvenir T-shirts and other bric-a-brac. As a foreigner, the locals encouraged me to jump back and forth over the equator line so that I could claim I had crossed the equator “hundreds of times.” 

The bus arrived in Sibolga around morning, and after a long night without sleep, I staggered around the town until I found a dirty but cheap guest house. 

There were several backpackers gathered at an outdoor restaurant near the dock when I awoke. After arranging our tickets to Nias, we hired a small truck to take us to a nearby swimming hole. This idyllic site had a beautiful waterfall in the heart of the rainforest. While we swam, small children jumped off the cliffs into the water, or rode the waterfall down. 

After an overnight boat ride, we arrived in Nias for a beautiful sunrise. The markets were already open, as vendors hawked their wares. Nias is going to be a break from my vacation. Rather than do a lot of sightseeing, my goal is to simply relax on a beautiful beach. I’ll sleep late, eat often, and walk on the beach. 

Sure enough, that’s how the week went. There were a few activities, but nothing too strenuous. I took a trek through some villages for most of a day, witnessing some of the interesting handiwork and wood carvings of the village craftspeople. Back in the cannibal days, the warriors would jump over 2 meter rock walls for practice, and there was a demonstration of this and traditional dance. I played chess for the first time since elementary school, and proved it by getting beaten by a 7-year old. Eventually, Tim showed up and we relaxed on the beach for a couple of days more. 

After a week, I felt fully relaxed and caught a large government boat to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital.