It was approximately 5 hrs flight to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from Mumbai. By the time I reached Kuala Lumpur , I felt I was dead tired till I was half way to my destination … I was half asleep … Just did not walk out of the flight …Just wished if the flight could have taken me to my hotel room…. Somehow dragged myself out of the flight…. As I walked past the airport… I was amazed …the airport looked magnificent…. more of a posh Mall…. Looked here and there in awe and looked for the gate for the next flight.
We had to take a train to another terminal for our next flight … I must say it was an unique experience to travel by the train - known as Aerotrain. My eyes were left wide open at wonderful experience of one of the World’s top 10 best Airports and the scenic beauty… I was no longer in slumber… A good experience before I sat in another Flight (around 5:00 AM IST) which would take 2 hours to Jakarta (Indonesia)…
The transition from one country to another was just smooth as it was just a matter of alighting from one flight and boarding the other. The flight was a comfortable one except the fact that nothing was edible there (some dried stinky shrimps, some buttered bread and chicken gravy). I was slowly getting the hang of cultural differences. My colleague would swallow anything on earth out of hunger. I somehow chose to eat nothing.
Jakarta
It was a small airport which had an exterior look of Buddhist monastery. The interior, made me feel that we were in those magnificent bungalows in the hill stations of India. It was neat and nice…
We were very excited and glad to see a Mercedez Benz giving us a warm welcome in Jakarta airport… this was the best part until now ( Always wanted to go for a drive in a Mercedez Benz.) It drove us to the hotel … It was a nice hotel….called Ciputra (pronounced as Chiputra)…. I chose to rest for some hours as I was very tired… Woke up to realize lunch time was over in hotel…. Nothing much to eat, so chose to have a sandwich.
Evening was a trip all round the city…. Good malls all over, tall buildings and endless traffic to tire you…all that were so much like Mumbai. A feeling of nostalgia crept in…. One of the malls was called the Senayan Plaza. It was very sumptuous in structure and adornment. We got almost lost in the huge mall, though there were very less crowd – just a few to be numbered. I soon realized the mall had all the exquisite brands, (Armani, Gucci, CK, Roberto Cavalli etc) which we don’t find much in India. My jaws dropped on seeing the price tags of most brands and soon realized it was only “window shopping” that I could afford to do.
It was not very advisable to move out at night so we returned back to our hotel. In the vicinity of that we located a Pizza Hut and treated ourselves with a Pizza for dinner and then straight went to the world of dreams after dinner … Next day we had an early morning flight which took us to a different world - the world of greenery and palm tree plantation. The flight was a very old one (called Merpati), in which the overhead baggage bin would open any time. The best part of the flight was the marvelous aerial view - the “Java Sea” and acres of lands of palm plantation…
We reached a place called “Sampit”…. An hour and half flight from Jakarta … The airport did not look too much of an airport... There was the shortest run way possible to somehow land the aircraft. The baggage would come in a trailer of a vehicle and you need to struggle to figure out your bag among the many. Oh! What a struggle……. This made me wonder where I had landed! At the same time I would appreciate how the country has tried to develop their interior village by making an airport with basic amenities.....
Kalimantan - the Palm Plantation
An hour drive and we were there in the plantation….. Very close to Indian village where you have “the Kuchcha “ (Muddy) Road …. Well I realized , it was not road , I am inside the plantation of Indonesia… the plantation of “Kalimantan”… that is the province we were in……My jaws dropped to realize that I have landed in a plantation where I could just see palm trees of various size and shapes ….. what we called in plantation terms as “Immature and Mature “ palm trees…… the drive through the palm trees were of half an hour and then we could see some so called houses…. The place where we would stay for the rest of one month…. My mind was in a state of shock and could not believe where I have come… We were given a “fishy” welcome …… Fish and Fish were on the menu (and fishy as I did not know what was in store for me) …
I could just see insects all over the bathroom and the water would fill the air with a stench of Hydrogen Sulphide. I somehow managed my first night in Plantation with some creepy sound of insects.
The next day was Office and you drive some meters to reach the office… It looked a bungalow converted in an office….. You just had nothing to do just work and make yourself workaholic or start loving the creepy sound of insects and admire the beauty of PALM TREES….
The mornings were very fresh and the grass would be covered with mist. This gave a refreshing feeling and that would motivate us to jog and walk around the plantation. We would take a walk to the Mill (Undercontructed Oil Mill of the plantation for Palm Oil Production ) and have a look at how the mill was constructed. A lazy walk back to the guest house, quick shower, breakfast and off to office. The day would begin as early as 7 am in the office. Days passed by in the office as we would be occupied with loads of work. Office hours we would be admiring the laptop screens and complete the loads of never ending work in Hyperion planning (the technology we were working in). We had some tea and coffee but no breaks… and we had option of coffee/tea with “susu” or without. (now “susu” is Milk in Bahasa dialect ….. don’t take it otherwise).
We would come home very tired and exhausted (A bungalow with rooms and unknown insects to share the room ) have an early dinner and go off to bed to wake up early again. There was nothing much to do after we get back home. Occasionally we would go out for saunters after dinner but that involved risk as you could step a snake or frog in the darkness. The Internet was definitely a savior against all odds.
Food was an issue… It was everything in coconut….. lentils in coconut milk, chicken with coconut blend, fish with coconut gravy….. so on… Yes, Indonesia is one of the world’s highest rice producer. I did not have to read geography for that…. The meals gave the statistics clearly….. Rice Noodles, Rice Stroganoff and Rice off course ….. We had carried some Indian snacks which would make us happy but we would eat little of that as we need to preserve it till the end of our stay. I (I am sure AK and TM also ) would like to thank the Iboos" (maids were called Iboos in Bahasa dialect)for the yummy cake they made for us almost everyday which would be lunch / dinner for us many a times.
Weekends would be mostly lazing around at home - watching movies and numerous gossip sessions (with TM and AK).At times I would refine my culinary skills and 3 of us would enjoy the food ( TM and AK). Oh I should add that TM and AK were the dear friends who made my stay possible and pleasant in the plantation among all “men”.
It was the month of October when I was there and unfortunately it was “Diwali” and we were almost stranded in this village in Indonesia. Truly speaking that was a disaster….
Neither did we have anything to illuminate things around nor did we have any crackers. We had decided to spend the day in an” Orangutan Sanctuary”. This was in a place called “Pangkalangbun” again a 5 hours driving from the plantation. To reach the “Taman National Park” we had to take motor-boat ride for one hour. The back water was inhabited by numerous crocodiles so it was all the more exciting and scary. But this was an amazing experience from the time I have come to Indonesia. Awesome!
The orangutans were very close to you. You could hug them or hold them. It was scary as the male orangutans were 8 times stronger than humans and females were 4 times stronger…So your life could be at stake. (Just to add, Julias Robert – the Noting Hill lady was grabbed by one of the male orangutan in this sanctuary , she had a narrow escape) One thing was definite that they are also the species of the Great Apes ….there was an uncanny resemblance! In fact we share 96.4% of our genetic makeup with orangutans! Apes and monkeys are both primates. The easiest way to distinguish between monkeys and apes is the tail. Apes do not have tails whereas most monkey species do have one.
As the daylight met the darkness, it was “the feeding time” of the orangutans. They would be summoned by some strange “hooligan” voices by the care takers of the sanctuary. This signals all the orangutans to assemble in a place where they were fed with milk. All of a sudden there was a down pour to drench us from head to toe. Our day ended in the sanctuary and we were back by the motor boat and again another 4 hours travel to the plantation.
Before I leave the plantation, I must definitely tell you how the people (generally the Men) survive without their families.
Most of the people in the plantation are men (except the maids, we called them “Iboo”). Well I was an exception. The men in the plantation were mostly married with family residing in Srilanka and Malaysia. Their loneliness and boredom knew no bonds. To the rescue of their frustration came the regular beer parties (Beer was really cheap there – “Bintang” beer) , the massage and spa centers and not to forget the very below standard night clubs and bars of “Sampit” (the nearest township) . Even the maids (we called them “Iboos” in Bahasa dialect) could not evade their lecherous looks.
We were almost coming to the end of our tenure in the plantation. We counted on the days there and then finally the day had come to bid adieu to the plantation and the people.
On our way back drove to the “Palangkaraya” airport (5 hours drive from plantation) and took a flight to Jakarta .The flight was this time a better one (Garuda Airlines – Indonesian National airline carrier) and took us an hour and half to reach Jakarta. Once I was in Jakarta , I realized that the concrete jungle was better and civilized than the palm jungle. I felt like a free bird and decided to pamper myself in Jakarta.
We went out for shopping . I still remember the mall - SOGO, this time we ventured a different mall where we could actually shop (unlike Senayan for window shopping) and SOGO fitted our budget.
Next morning we took a flight to Kuala Lumpur (this time I ensured that I amke a prior meal request for Indian Vegetarian) and from there Mumbai.
My trip to this plantation in Indonesia had come to an end. I would consider this an experience of lifetime – learnt and unlearnt many things.
We had to take a train to another terminal for our next flight … I must say it was an unique experience to travel by the train - known as Aerotrain. My eyes were left wide open at wonderful experience of one of the World’s top 10 best Airports and the scenic beauty… I was no longer in slumber… A good experience before I sat in another Flight (around 5:00 AM IST) which would take 2 hours to Jakarta (Indonesia)…
The transition from one country to another was just smooth as it was just a matter of alighting from one flight and boarding the other. The flight was a comfortable one except the fact that nothing was edible there (some dried stinky shrimps, some buttered bread and chicken gravy). I was slowly getting the hang of cultural differences. My colleague would swallow anything on earth out of hunger. I somehow chose to eat nothing.
Jakarta
It was a small airport which had an exterior look of Buddhist monastery. The interior, made me feel that we were in those magnificent bungalows in the hill stations of India. It was neat and nice…
We were very excited and glad to see a Mercedez Benz giving us a warm welcome in Jakarta airport… this was the best part until now ( Always wanted to go for a drive in a Mercedez Benz.) It drove us to the hotel … It was a nice hotel….called Ciputra (pronounced as Chiputra)…. I chose to rest for some hours as I was very tired… Woke up to realize lunch time was over in hotel…. Nothing much to eat, so chose to have a sandwich.
Evening was a trip all round the city…. Good malls all over, tall buildings and endless traffic to tire you…all that were so much like Mumbai. A feeling of nostalgia crept in…. One of the malls was called the Senayan Plaza. It was very sumptuous in structure and adornment. We got almost lost in the huge mall, though there were very less crowd – just a few to be numbered. I soon realized the mall had all the exquisite brands, (Armani, Gucci, CK, Roberto Cavalli etc) which we don’t find much in India. My jaws dropped on seeing the price tags of most brands and soon realized it was only “window shopping” that I could afford to do.
It was not very advisable to move out at night so we returned back to our hotel. In the vicinity of that we located a Pizza Hut and treated ourselves with a Pizza for dinner and then straight went to the world of dreams after dinner … Next day we had an early morning flight which took us to a different world - the world of greenery and palm tree plantation. The flight was a very old one (called Merpati), in which the overhead baggage bin would open any time. The best part of the flight was the marvelous aerial view - the “Java Sea” and acres of lands of palm plantation…
We reached a place called “Sampit”…. An hour and half flight from Jakarta … The airport did not look too much of an airport... There was the shortest run way possible to somehow land the aircraft. The baggage would come in a trailer of a vehicle and you need to struggle to figure out your bag among the many. Oh! What a struggle……. This made me wonder where I had landed! At the same time I would appreciate how the country has tried to develop their interior village by making an airport with basic amenities.....
Kalimantan - the Palm Plantation
An hour drive and we were there in the plantation….. Very close to Indian village where you have “the Kuchcha “ (Muddy) Road …. Well I realized , it was not road , I am inside the plantation of Indonesia… the plantation of “Kalimantan”… that is the province we were in……My jaws dropped to realize that I have landed in a plantation where I could just see palm trees of various size and shapes ….. what we called in plantation terms as “Immature and Mature “ palm trees…… the drive through the palm trees were of half an hour and then we could see some so called houses…. The place where we would stay for the rest of one month…. My mind was in a state of shock and could not believe where I have come… We were given a “fishy” welcome …… Fish and Fish were on the menu (and fishy as I did not know what was in store for me) …
I could just see insects all over the bathroom and the water would fill the air with a stench of Hydrogen Sulphide. I somehow managed my first night in Plantation with some creepy sound of insects.
The next day was Office and you drive some meters to reach the office… It looked a bungalow converted in an office….. You just had nothing to do just work and make yourself workaholic or start loving the creepy sound of insects and admire the beauty of PALM TREES….
The mornings were very fresh and the grass would be covered with mist. This gave a refreshing feeling and that would motivate us to jog and walk around the plantation. We would take a walk to the Mill (Undercontructed Oil Mill of the plantation for Palm Oil Production ) and have a look at how the mill was constructed. A lazy walk back to the guest house, quick shower, breakfast and off to office. The day would begin as early as 7 am in the office. Days passed by in the office as we would be occupied with loads of work. Office hours we would be admiring the laptop screens and complete the loads of never ending work in Hyperion planning (the technology we were working in). We had some tea and coffee but no breaks… and we had option of coffee/tea with “susu” or without. (now “susu” is Milk in Bahasa dialect ….. don’t take it otherwise).
We would come home very tired and exhausted (A bungalow with rooms and unknown insects to share the room ) have an early dinner and go off to bed to wake up early again. There was nothing much to do after we get back home. Occasionally we would go out for saunters after dinner but that involved risk as you could step a snake or frog in the darkness. The Internet was definitely a savior against all odds.
Food was an issue… It was everything in coconut….. lentils in coconut milk, chicken with coconut blend, fish with coconut gravy….. so on… Yes, Indonesia is one of the world’s highest rice producer. I did not have to read geography for that…. The meals gave the statistics clearly….. Rice Noodles, Rice Stroganoff and Rice off course ….. We had carried some Indian snacks which would make us happy but we would eat little of that as we need to preserve it till the end of our stay. I (I am sure AK and TM also ) would like to thank the Iboos" (maids were called Iboos in Bahasa dialect)for the yummy cake they made for us almost everyday which would be lunch / dinner for us many a times.
Weekends would be mostly lazing around at home - watching movies and numerous gossip sessions (with TM and AK).At times I would refine my culinary skills and 3 of us would enjoy the food ( TM and AK). Oh I should add that TM and AK were the dear friends who made my stay possible and pleasant in the plantation among all “men”.
It was the month of October when I was there and unfortunately it was “Diwali” and we were almost stranded in this village in Indonesia. Truly speaking that was a disaster….
Neither did we have anything to illuminate things around nor did we have any crackers. We had decided to spend the day in an” Orangutan Sanctuary”. This was in a place called “Pangkalangbun” again a 5 hours driving from the plantation. To reach the “Taman National Park” we had to take motor-boat ride for one hour. The back water was inhabited by numerous crocodiles so it was all the more exciting and scary. But this was an amazing experience from the time I have come to Indonesia. Awesome!
The orangutans were very close to you. You could hug them or hold them. It was scary as the male orangutans were 8 times stronger than humans and females were 4 times stronger…So your life could be at stake. (Just to add, Julias Robert – the Noting Hill lady was grabbed by one of the male orangutan in this sanctuary , she had a narrow escape) One thing was definite that they are also the species of the Great Apes ….there was an uncanny resemblance! In fact we share 96.4% of our genetic makeup with orangutans! Apes and monkeys are both primates. The easiest way to distinguish between monkeys and apes is the tail. Apes do not have tails whereas most monkey species do have one.
As the daylight met the darkness, it was “the feeding time” of the orangutans. They would be summoned by some strange “hooligan” voices by the care takers of the sanctuary. This signals all the orangutans to assemble in a place where they were fed with milk. All of a sudden there was a down pour to drench us from head to toe. Our day ended in the sanctuary and we were back by the motor boat and again another 4 hours travel to the plantation.
Before I leave the plantation, I must definitely tell you how the people (generally the Men) survive without their families.
Most of the people in the plantation are men (except the maids, we called them “Iboo”). Well I was an exception. The men in the plantation were mostly married with family residing in Srilanka and Malaysia. Their loneliness and boredom knew no bonds. To the rescue of their frustration came the regular beer parties (Beer was really cheap there – “Bintang” beer) , the massage and spa centers and not to forget the very below standard night clubs and bars of “Sampit” (the nearest township) . Even the maids (we called them “Iboos” in Bahasa dialect) could not evade their lecherous looks.
We were almost coming to the end of our tenure in the plantation. We counted on the days there and then finally the day had come to bid adieu to the plantation and the people.
On our way back drove to the “Palangkaraya” airport (5 hours drive from plantation) and took a flight to Jakarta .The flight was this time a better one (Garuda Airlines – Indonesian National airline carrier) and took us an hour and half to reach Jakarta. Once I was in Jakarta , I realized that the concrete jungle was better and civilized than the palm jungle. I felt like a free bird and decided to pamper myself in Jakarta.
We went out for shopping . I still remember the mall - SOGO, this time we ventured a different mall where we could actually shop (unlike Senayan for window shopping) and SOGO fitted our budget.
Next morning we took a flight to Kuala Lumpur (this time I ensured that I amke a prior meal request for Indian Vegetarian) and from there Mumbai.
My trip to this plantation in Indonesia had come to an end. I would consider this an experience of lifetime – learnt and unlearnt many things.
1 comment:
Good one KC.
I can imagine your expression over
"fishy" welcome n
"Even the maids (we called them “Iboos” in Bahasa dialect) could not evade their lecherous looks."
looking fwd to visit some more places thru this blog...
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