I haven't really had to take any mass public transportation in Indonesia except for the occasional small ferry from one island to another. So this experience on the KM. Umsini from Maumere to Makassar was interesting and uncomfortable but undoubtably I wasn't doing myself any favors by opting for the cheapest economy ticket.
I had heard and read some horror stories about these Pelni boats but in all honesty it wasn't all that bad.
I had Indonesian special forces help me with my bags and bicycle when boarding the boat and although everyone is crammed in like sardines once you have found your place you make the most of the time you have, whether its practicing your bahasa Indonesia, catching up on sleep, sewing up various items that need fixing or if your like me all of the above.
One complaint I do have is that it is horribly hot, that uncomfortable humid temperature with the residual stench of bodies and cigarettes, perhaps the perfect conditions for bacterial growth.
I found a solution to cope with the heat and that was to use my USB fan to cool me down.
Being approached by locals often I was asked the following questions:
First question - where are you going? Isn't it obvious I am going to Makassar, like the thousands of other people on this boat as it is the final port of call?!
Second question - do you have a girlfriend/wife? To this I would reply that my bicycle better than having a wife as she doesn't complain, moan or bitch.
Third question - which religion do you follow? Normally I would tell people who ask me this question that I am Christian and no one would bat an eyelid. However here on the boat I had time to tell the truth, I told them "I don't follow any religion". One woman who I was sharing the cabin space with actually gasped, shocked by what she just heard. So I asked her (in Indonesian) "why must I have a religion?", I asked everyone in the cabin this question with each and every person having a blank look in their gaze, dumb-fuddled and perplexed by this question they perhaps had never heard or asked themselves. Of course I could have rambled on about the benefits of being an atheist, living life without restriction and being free but I knew that these words would have fallen on deaf ears.
I slept on my ground mat beside my bicycle next to a 6yo boy who pummeled me with various limbs throughout the night flailing his body around unable to sleep in a single position only to be woken up at 6am to Celine Dion playing that track from the movie Titanic, this was a little unnerving and defiantly the most inappropriate song to play on the loudspeaker of a passenger ship.
Conditions onboard the K.M Umsini
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