Holiday in Sumatra
by Monica Le Cornu
(The following article was originally published in the newsletter of an Australian Indonesian teaching organization, Sekolah Indonesia. It is included here with Monica's permission.)
Medan, 4.30 am. "Allahu akbar...." The amplified call to prayer from the Mesjid Raya reminded me that Melbourne was far away, and that sleep, for a while anyway, would be impossible. Just how impossible, I realised later, when our next-door neighbours, Hindus, began their (also amplified) daily devotions!
By 6am the family was stirring and my first day in Medan had begun. How different to staying in Indonesia as a tourist. I was staying in the home of an Indonesian friend and her family and had been welcomed with open arms (not only by the family, either, the local mosquitoes had obviously been informed of my arrival too!). How hospitable the Indonesians are! As the days passed I began to feel more and more part of the family - and the extended family - and their many friends, although it took me quite some time to remember all their names, and to sort out where the many `Tek's (aunts), fitted in.
"Tamba lagi" "Assalamu alaikum, Alaikum salam", and "Sudah mandi?" soon became part of my daily vocabulary; - the latter not an enquiry about personal hygiene, but an indication of whether or not one is ready to socialise again after taking an afternoon rest or nap.
We stayed in Medan for 9 days and I saw a totally different side of life to a previous visit, when Jim and I had stayed in a hotel - the life of ordinary middle-class Indonesians.
During my stay there I would experience a traditional Javanese massage (ouch!), go shopping at various markets and shopping malls, stay overnight in a holiday-home in Berastagi, visit many friends of the family, and generally enjoy myself.
I marvelled at the traffic chaos, the air pollution and noise, not to mention the copious amounts of food the Indonesians consume. My stomach was certainly no match for theirs! Food is very important in their social life - visitors bring welcome presents of `beras', to be `gemuk' is also to be `sehat' or `cantik', the table is set as soon as one enters someone's home....
Highlight of the stay was the "pesta perpisahan" for our hostess, who was about to leave for Mekka on the Haj. All the furniture was removed from the living areas and large and beautiful rugs put on the floor to sit on. The male guests sat outside, the females inside - and how lovely they were in their brightly coloured `baju kuring' and `selendang' (to my western eyes, not only a religious but also a fashion statement).
At Medan airport, en route to Padang, we were greeted with the news that all fares had been increased by 10-20% and we were forced to pay the extra, in spite of the fact that our flights had been pre-booked and pre-paid. Padang itself was only a stepping-stone to our final destination, Bayua, a tiny village on the shores of Danau Maninjau, a three hours drive by taxi. Our driver informed us that his car was equipped with `a/c angin'....
Bayua Beach Inn, where we stayed for almost two weeks is situated among rice fields, only a few metres from the lake's edge. The lake, incidentally, is quite warm (+/-30 degrees C), so very pleasant for swimming, splashing around or canoeing. There was even a large `biawak' (iguana) which swam past every afternoon.
Any illusions we may have had about our appearance were cruelly shattered when we were chatting to Budi, the young Indonesian manager. He informed us that the previous week there had been two "old ladies" staying there. On closer enquiry, they turned out to be younger than we were!
Life in Bayua was very relaxing and peaceful - visits to the local markets, walks through the fields, massage (sometimes twice a day), visiting the extended family and chatting to the other guests - the most memorable being Jeffrey, a Taiwanese who wandered in from the road and offered to share his breakfast (3 carrots) with us. A philosopher (well, Lake Maninjau is the retreat of poets and philosophers, after all) who reminded me of someone from "The Karate Kid" or a stereotype Chinese sage....
We were also invited to the local PKK meeting (equivalent of the Country Women's Association in Australia), the only problem being that I turned out to be the guest speaker....
All too soon the time for our departure arrived and we returned to Padang, from where we were to fly to Palembang. Palembang was to have been one of the highlights of the trip for me, as I hoped to meet Yustina, a girl from Flores, whom we had sponsored for a while. Unfortunately, she was no longer in Palembang, having moved to Cipanas or Jakarta.
Palembang itself has little to recommend it (although we did fly there via Batam, so we saw Singapore in the near distance) but in compensation, there were family and friends to visit....
Our final stop was Jakarta where, although I failed to meet Yustina, we did succeed in tracking down her sister, brother and his wife, and arranged for them to visit us in our hotel. While in Jakarta, we, of course, visited the Monas, Taman Mini Indah, various relatives, Sarinah department store, etc., and it was there, too, that we heard the news that Ibu Tien Soeharto, "ibunda negara yang tercinta kita" had died and all TV programmed (apart from those commemorating her life, funeral etc.) were cancelled.
All too soon it was time to find our way to the international airport Sukarno/Hatta for our return flight to Melbourne. I will certain remember the month I spent in Sumatra as one of the best holidays I have ever had and I look forward to returning there if I ever have the opportunity.
Monica Le Cornu