I arrived at the airport relatively early. I had to cancel a flight the other day that I wasn't going to use, and the ticket counter ran out of money and asked me to come back to get my refund on the day I would be leaving Bali. So strange. I gave myself plenty of time to deal with that situation, if I needed to, and to have some lunch in the airport, because my connection is tight in Jakarta and I won't have the opportunity.
Even airport food doesn't disappoint here. I've had enough noodle to last a lifetime though!
The flight from Bali, over Java, was really fantastic. You could see volcanoes peeking through the clouds, farm fields, hundreds if not thousands of fishing rigs in the sea (all perfectly spaced out), and the clustered and crowded city of Jakarta.
My flight from Jakarta to Medan, Sumatra departed at just before dark. I was the only caucasion person on the full flight. When I arrived in Medan, I was the only caucasion person in the airport (that I saw). Sumatra has an extremely high population of Muslims like Jakarta, and Medan doesn't see a lot of foreign travelers, so I definitely felt like a fish out of water. I've mentioned before that I don't like to arrive in a new city after sunset, because it's just a little unnerving, and this situation just added to it. Sometimes, like in this case, it was my only flight option. Being not just a minority, but the ONLY white person, and seeing the way people stare, point, and even take photos is quite uncomfortable and strange. It really puts things into perspective. It's another item I'll add to the "I hated it at the time, but I'm glad I experienced it" list.
Leaving the airport was hectic and scary, to be honest. As usual, I was bombarded by taxi drivers, but here they don't speak any English at all (again, because it's not a tourist city, so they really have no need). Trying to get a cab and figure out the cost was excruciatingly frustrating, and it was only getting later. I showed one gentleman my iPad with the hotel address (which really means next to nothing) and he nodded and grabbed my bag. I tried to find out how much and he said nothing. I made the universal money sign with my hands and he said something in Indonesian. So, I pulled out my iPad again and had him type the numbers, but then he pointed to it and then made the number 2 with his fingers. WTH? Does that mean times two? Or, plus two, or....
I motioned him to go and just decided to figure it out when I got to the hotel. Stupid me.
We drove around in the pouring rain for almost 3 HOURS down dark alleys, random neighborhoods, nowhere near other hotels. He would occasionally stop to ask someone where the hotel was, to no avail. He began cursing (I'm guessing) and banging on the steering wheel, while making circles and turning down the same wrong roads. The google maps app that I had open with the location of the hotel meant nothing to him. He would just rotate my iPad in circles, point and say something and them hand it back. I was getting very concerned and it was nearing midnight, but my concern was lost in the language barrier. My iPad battery died, and it's like my lifeline in situations like these, so I was even more frantic. My pointing and saying no, (and I'm embarrassed to say even a little crying) was ignored, and finally when I saw a large hotel I banged on the window and yelled stop.
Thankfully, as I was hoping since it was a large hotel, the front desk had an English speaking rep who saw how upset I was, looked up my hotel and printed directions, hailed a cab for me in the rain and made sure the cab had the directions and knew where to go. He was a lifesaver and made a nice tip for it!!!
I made it to my hotel around 1am, hungry from not eating since 11am, and shaken up from the better half of the day. Hoping tomorrow is better. I can't wait for breakfast.
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