Disappointed in Solo and Still Sick!!!

Friday, July 6. 2007--Malang

There were nice, helpful English students working at the tourist offices here in town. I stopped twice to visit with them yesterday. They have me information about where and what to eat and where to get my hair cut. Then today, they helped me get my bus ticket to leave here tomorrow.

I felt totally exhausted and napped deeply in the early afternoon after eating beef soup with rice again. I forced myself to get out of bed and go for one last massage before leaving here. I asked for the guy from my first visit. He is so much better than the one I had yesterday. I just wish I could have felt better so that I would have enjoyed the massage more.

After leaving the massage parlor, I thought I would walk to the edge of town to see a road lined with mansions built by the Dutch. I only got about two blocks when it started raining. I was by a bakery that had a clean porch, so just sat there under their awning while it rained. People came and went picking up big supplies of pastries. One van arrived with two young men. As they started to leave, one got of the van and approached me to see if I needed any help. I told him I was just waiting for the rain to end so I could go back to my hotel. He had me show him where it was on the map and then volunteered to take me. It wasn't far, but it was so nice of them to do that. There are many nice Indonesian people like that, it seems.

I forced myself to go out again in the evening. I was worried about finding a hotel in Solo tomorrow, so I went to a telephone booth and called two places I had selected. Unfortunately, both said they are fully booked. So I quickly headed to the Internet cafe to do some research on other hotel possibilities besides those listed in Lonely Planet. I left there with a list of about 12 possibilities. I'm not going to call now. I'll just check them out when I arrive.

I had body sweats and a fever again today. I took Advil. This misery just won't go away. I thought I was getting better, but I'm not. And the worst part is that the congestion I keep blowing out of my nose and coughing up is thicker than I have ever seen before. Instead of being runny blobs, it is thick, gelatin-like clumps that hold their shapes. My siliva is also thick and I become dehydrated quickly.

Saturday, July 7, 2007--Malang to Solo

I had a bad night. My nose was completely stopped up from that thicker form of mucous I mentioned yesterday. Added to that was the fact that I removed my ear plugs during the night so that I would not over sleep and miss my bus this morning. Then the imams began. At 3 a.m. and again at 4 a.m., they were shouting through loud speakers from various mosques. It seems to me that a religion must be quite horrible when it doesn't trust it's people to pray on their and has to force it on them and everyone else who is not of that religion.

I was up and ready for the bus. But I really wasn't ready for that trip. Again, what was told to be a 7-hour trip took 9 hours. Why can't they tell you honestly how long a trip is in this country? And it was a horrible, miserable trip. The seat was narrow and hard. I was between two people over the drive shaft, so I could feel the heat coming through the seat. I thought we would NEVER get to Solo, and I was so glad when we finally did. No more bus trips in Indonesia. I will take the train or fly even if it means arriving at night.

Well, my first two tries at hotels were also full. Fortunately, my third choice had two rooms--a fan room and an air conditioned room. I looked at both. The fan room was depressing looking. The a/c room was newly redone, so it was nicer. I booked it. It's the most expensive room I have had on the trip so far, but it still is only about $11 per night. Maybe the dry a/c air will help with my nasal congestion.

I went out to explore the town of Solo a little. I am disappointed in it. It's rather junky and trashy looking. I thought it would be a nicer place from what the guidebook had said. I can see now why many tourists just skip it and go to the nearby bigger city of Jogyakarta. Both are known for their cultural aspects--dance, music, theater, puppets, batiks, etc.

I decided to also splurge on dinner. I had read about a nice place that makes pizza in a wood-fired oven. I went there. I sat in the back on a walled-in open terrace. There was nice artwork on the walls. The service was great. There was nice jazzy music in the background. I ordered an iced lime drink and a medium meat-lover's pizza. They brought simple syrup with the lime juice so that it could be sweetened easily. They brought some thin, crispy dough on a plate with a small bowl of pesto sauce for snacking. Then they brought my pizza on a nice wooden board. It was a very thin crust and had lots of flavor. It really was quite good. It was nice to eat a nice meal in a nice restaurant for a change. There was one other group of diners--what appeared to be a western man with his Indonesian wife and two children.

On the way back to the hotel, I passed a group of men on the sidewalk playing musical instruments and singing. They all wore the same shirt--their work shirt for an electronics store. They were finished for the evening and just relaxing and having fun together. I took their picture and listened to their music for a while. But I was exhausted and needed to get back to the room.

Note: I have received an e-mail from my friend Merryl saying that I should go to the pharmacy to get some medication. She gave me two choices of penicillin to request. I hope pharmacies here are like ones elsewhere and will give me penicillin by request without seeing a doctor. I'll go by one to try to get the medicine on my way back to the hotel now.