Jakarta to Solo

After spending a relaxing day and a half with Arief and Dianita, it was time to prepare for the next stage of the trip: Solo. They accompanied me to Soekarno-Hatta airport, leaving their place about 2pm. Surprisingly, the streets were empty (jalan kosong) due, they explained, to the Idul Fitri holiday. We traveled smoothly (berjalan lancar), which deprived me of the opportunity to say "macet", a term commonly uttered in Jakarta whenever the traffic is jammed up.

No hassles at the airport, even though it was crowded. Scheduled to depart at 4.10pm. Plane delayed. Music for the airport: The Busy Signals. Classic lyric from "Stormy Stormy Stormy": Underachievers please try harder/I know you're cool and insecure. Another delay. Onboard by 5pm, arrive in Solo at 6pm. I may as well say it now: thank goodness for the mobile phone! Impossible to imagine travelling throughout Indonesia without it. Pak Agna had contacted me frequently. Met at the airport by Nova, Pak Agna's assistant, whose first SMS to me was hard to read as she, as an experienced texter, used SMS shorthand: "Sy sdh d dpn pintu dg baju hitam. Terimakasih"; almost immediately after that text, she sent me another text that didn't use abbreviations in bahasa. Very thoughtful.

Stopped at an Italian-style restaurant in Solo, where, much to my amazement, the menu had a vegetarian section. Had vegie pizza and lime juice. Traffic between Solo and Salatiga was macet due to people returning home from their Idul Fitri commitments. Felt pretty exhausted, but also wanted to speak bahasa with Nova, so kept up the conversation. On a map, Solo to Salatiga looks the same as going from Canberra to Braidwood. In terms of distance it is, but it's very different. The whole road is lined with houses, small shops, buildings of all shapes and sizes. Traffic is fluid, as motorbikes dart in and out, as cars beep politely, and as buses muscle their way through the congestion. Every inch of space is taken up. At one point, Nova said: "We're in Salatiga now" and I asked, "How can you tell?" It's difficult to see where one city starts, and the other ends.


Arrived at Pak Agna's place about 9pm. After being introduced to the family and making small-talk, I went to bed. Bit of a racket outside, but with the iPod I found the perfect sound: Colleen. Fell asleep by 10pm, Colleen's dusty crackles popping in my ears.