Saturday, April 30, 2005
of toilets, trains and toxic gases
Now Pete will undoubtedly be cross at me for making the site too 'toiletry' (his word - surely something you use to brush your hair or teeth?)... but I can't let an opportunity pass to have a mini rant about the state of Indonesian toilets. I'm not talking public toilets - which seem plentiful (unlike India, where folks let loose in the streets) and in reasonable condition (unlike China where there were no doors and maggots).
I'm talking about the ones in our hotel room (our room in Bandung has the WORST hotel toilet I have ever seen). Think: corroded green bathtub of the sort you might see in the council house of a Glaswegian drug addict; hot water that doesn't work; a sink that drains onto the floor (also never been cleaned). Enough. Perhaps I expect too much from a hotel room that costs only fractionally more than a dinner for 2 at a bus station cafe?
And now my next observation, trains. Obviously they are maintained by the brother of the toilet cleaner (ie. no one). The 'Eksecutif' class cabin we took from Yogyakarta to Bandung (home of the Asia-Africa Summit - fascinating - at least to Pete, but I think that says it all) had a door that refused to shut/open, confounding ALL 57 PEOPLE who went to the loo during the 7 hour journey (I know because I was sitting right in front of it); and windows cracked into glass spiderwebs 2 feet in diameter. At least the volcanic mountain scenery was spectacular.
And that brings me nicely to my final theme. We went to a volcano today. Yes, another one (there rather a lot of them around here). We went in a taxi because we both had claustrophobc paranoia at the thought of cramming into yet another Bemo - but that is another story.... On arrival we were told we could not visit the number 2 crater because it had been emitting TOXIC GASES for the last 2 weeks - in fact the whole area was evacuated and closed down for a week just last week. Apparently linked to the crazy volcanic activity that has been going up and down the fault line after the tsunami of December. How exciting is that!?
Anyway, we're moving on tomorrow to Bogor - home of Botanical Gardens (another not to be missed, tip top tourist attraction beckons). Perhaps you can sense in our increased posting frequency a direct correlation with the underwhelming siteseeing on offer here!
I'm talking about the ones in our hotel room (our room in Bandung has the WORST hotel toilet I have ever seen). Think: corroded green bathtub of the sort you might see in the council house of a Glaswegian drug addict; hot water that doesn't work; a sink that drains onto the floor (also never been cleaned). Enough. Perhaps I expect too much from a hotel room that costs only fractionally more than a dinner for 2 at a bus station cafe?
And now my next observation, trains. Obviously they are maintained by the brother of the toilet cleaner (ie. no one). The 'Eksecutif' class cabin we took from Yogyakarta to Bandung (home of the Asia-Africa Summit - fascinating - at least to Pete, but I think that says it all) had a door that refused to shut/open, confounding ALL 57 PEOPLE who went to the loo during the 7 hour journey (I know because I was sitting right in front of it); and windows cracked into glass spiderwebs 2 feet in diameter. At least the volcanic mountain scenery was spectacular.
And that brings me nicely to my final theme. We went to a volcano today. Yes, another one (there rather a lot of them around here). We went in a taxi because we both had claustrophobc paranoia at the thought of cramming into yet another Bemo - but that is another story.... On arrival we were told we could not visit the number 2 crater because it had been emitting TOXIC GASES for the last 2 weeks - in fact the whole area was evacuated and closed down for a week just last week. Apparently linked to the crazy volcanic activity that has been going up and down the fault line after the tsunami of December. How exciting is that!?
Anyway, we're moving on tomorrow to Bogor - home of Botanical Gardens (another not to be missed, tip top tourist attraction beckons). Perhaps you can sense in our increased posting frequency a direct correlation with the underwhelming siteseeing on offer here!
// posted by courtney and pete @ 09:39 
Comments:
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Not enough to see. Too much time in internet cafes. Definitely time to come home!!! See you in Thunder Bay. 3 more weeks (I think that equates to 21 more sleeps) Bring the black fly repellant!!
Love you,
Your Aunt
Love you,
Your Aunt
# posted by 
: 11:52 am
: 11:52 am
Almost forgot - Peter, bring the hat. It may be terminally tacky but it'll keep the bugs off!!!!!
See ya soon,
The Aunt
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See ya soon,
The Aunt
# posted by : 12:35 pm
: 12:35 pm << Home
