Entry 2 - Island hopping in Indonesia - Follow the Haj

Island number two on the journey: Bintan. The boat ride ITomSekupang was gorgeous. It
would up leaving late (even by Indonesian standards) so we went during the sunset. The light was incredible, I think I'm falling in love with the Contax camera that Johann loaned me.

Of course leaving late, means arriving late. The ticket office for my boat to Singkep was closed, so I have to spend the night. I decided that ''Pinang'' looked a little rough to camp anywhere within 200kilometers of, so I came here to ''Bong's Homestay"-Lonely Planet p254.

I could have either taken the ''bed in the hall" option for sepuluh ribu rupiah, or the "singlelockable-room" special for tujuhbelas ribu rupiah. I was so proud of myself for even understanding tujuhbelas ribu rupiah (17,000 rupiah) that I thought I deserved a treat. Hell, it's less than $3 Canadian anyhow! The place is actually quite & is run by an 80-something couple who kicked my butt in Scrabble. (Thank you by the way, to Tina for teaching me enough words in hakka to be able to decipher that, that is what they were speaking. Which, of course made me seem far more intelligent than I actually am!) Really only the location of the place leaves
something to be desired. It is on "Lorong Bintan 11"which, when directly translated means: "Small dark alley, that no tourist with half a brain would wander down at night, let alone stay there." (Indonesian is a rich & colourfullanguage, which needs few words)

That being said, I was hungry & went out for some mekanen. (food) After several rounds of random finger pointing in response to my: "di mana kopi tiam?" (translated:Where can a hungry Canadian cyclist go to get something to eat that is good, clean & cheap. (What a wonderful language isn't it?» Anyhow the directions were getting me nowhere, and slowly at that. Then I suddenly remembered a travelling tip that I hadn't thought of since I was in the Old City in Jerusalem II years ago: ''When you are lost in a strange muslim city, and you want to find civilization, just follow the haj" The haj is the loud wailing "call to prayer" which is played over
the loudspeakers five times a day ITomthe local mosque. If you just keep walking towards the sound, sure enough you will usually wind up at the biggest, most populous mosque in town which is invariably surrounded by parasite businesses such as coffee shops, pharmacies, and Hallmark card shops. So in just a short while there I was sitting in a dingy smoke filled satay joint with the haj wailing in the background, smiling. This was going to be a great adventure!