On to Surabaya

(Written on Tuesday, 27 July regarding that days travel)

I finally slept well last night! After I wrote, I went to the restaurant for dinner. A woman came up to me and asked if I wanted to join her and her friends since I was sitting by myself. They had already eaten and were smoking, so I politely turned her town. I tried Mei Goreng Ayam (noodles with chicken) for dinner, a new Indonesian dish for me, and my first Indonesian beer. I have been avoiding alcohol because every night I return to my hostel/hotel on my own and need to have my wits about me. Last night I only needed to walk a few steps back to my room and figured a small beer wouldn't do any harm.

As I sat eating, I noticed two girls I had talked to earlier in the day, and I went to say hello when I'd finished my meal. They decided to take a Jeep up the mountain in the morning, a very good idea, and then walk back. Originally they were going to hike up, but I told them they were crazy as it is far and hard to navigate in the dark. We exchanged emails (and got a photo) since one of the girls spent four months in Peru and Bolivia and had tons of tips. Always good to get ideas for the future.

I was almost falling asleep at the table, so I said good night, but it was only 9pm, too early to go to bed, ad I watched an episode of Glee before popping an Ambien, putting on my eye mask and passing out. My dad had suggested that I take an Ambien to help get my sleeping on schedule. There was music playing outside when I went to sleep, but some combination of sleeping meds, beer and exhaustion seemed to do the trick. I slept through the night until 6am, 8 hours of good sleep, when the music started up again outside. My bed was warm and I waited an hour to get up and get moving.

Breakfast was more involved than it has been the whole trip, partly because I paid a little extra, but it was nice to have more than toast for a change. Then I waited for the minibus to pick me up for a transfer to Probolinggo and on to Surabaya. Met more nice people in the bus (Angela and Stephanie from Germany) and the hour ride was painless. The main stop for transfers was meant for everyone expect those transferring to Surabaya; I was the only one. We drove a bit further and pulled into the same sketchy parking lot I'd been in on Sunday night. Brought back memories. The driver crossed the street with me and hailed the Surabaya bus, which was just passing by. It was a local bus, but it was a coach with air conditioning, and most ways it was much more comfortable than the minibuses.

I was the only foreigner on the bus and there were plenty of seats, so I was able to take two for myself. The non-stop bus arrived in Surabaya around 12:30pm. As soon as I stepped off, a taxi driver approached me. I had noticed there was an official stand, but this guy kept insisting that he could take me. Now, my gut was telling me to go wait in line, but this guy was so persistent that I went with him. He didn't speak much English so I couldn't tell if he actually knew where my hotel was. Not only that, but I felt as though everyone we passed was making comments and laughing. Of course I understood nothing; it was very frustrating to be unable to communicate and be laughed at. In the taxi, I hoped I had not made a mistake as it was still a licensed taxi car. He got me to the hotel just fine, but in the future, I'm going to go to the taxi stand (like I wanted) and not be pushed into something different. I wasn't really worried about my safety, but it reminded me that as a single woman traveler, I must always do what feels comfortable to me. A lesson I already knew, but I'm glad I got the reminder early.

Checking in at the hotel went smoothly, which was a relief as I was expecting them to ask for my voucher and credit card, but luckily they only needed a copy of my passport. The room here is somewhat nice. There are a few small bugs flying around (not ones that are very noticeable) but I've been trying to kill them since I think they are mosquitoes. Contrary to my belief, there is only internet in the lobby, and I spent about three hours there posting on my blog (trying to catch up even though its all written), etc , then back to the room to relax (two more Glee episodes) and to the hotel restaurant for dinner at 6:45pm. I got Nasi Goreng again; rice can't be that bad. There were mosquitoes everywhere. My goal was to avoid being bitten while I ate and to get out of there fast.

Once again I'm ready for bed early. This won't go up until tomorrow. Next stop Malaysia...