Pacitan

Phew. Sorry for the long wait between posts. Internet was mostly unavailable in Pacitan and Yogya was too busy to write. However, I managed to upload these pictures on a fast connection in Yogyakarta and now that I'm on a bus to Bogor, I have time to write.

I took the 5am bus from Bogor to Jakarta to catch a flight to Yogyakarta. This was unpleasant to say the least but I survived. I was already feeling slightly nauseous at this point but I chalked it up to the early departure. After arriving, our driver was waiting for us to take Uchi, Worol and I to Pacitan. The drive was gorgeous as the sprawling cultural city of Yogya gave way to rolling hills then to steep sided bubble/hills. The road narrowed and twisted around the hills. Small paddies dotted the tiny flat valleys we occasionally passed. I was already stoked about Pacitan due to the terrain. The jungle just hangs off these cliffs that the road hugs and dirt goat paths switchback to the huts down below. As this was the dry season, little rice was cultivated, mostly corn or cassava.

This picture is one of the larger farms showcasing the terracing. It was taken on a rainy day a couple days after my arrival.

This is a beautiful beach we stopped at before arriving at the house. This is a traditional fishing boat. This beach is almost right at Pacitan "city" (more of a town) and is almost totally undeveloped. Just a "Warung" (family owned food stand) that sells cold beers, snacks and drinks. The locals didn't really seem to like to hang out at the beach so it left the whole thing for me.
Another view of the beach. Quite the place and very picturesque. "Cantik" (beautiful in Bahasa.)
This was a small family owned restaurant on a cliff overlooking the beach. It had a nice breeze which made the temperature very pleasant. I ate shrimp, fish, shark soup and several other dishes. They were excellent, but I would see them again all too soon.
After the beach I arrived at the house I stayed at. Pretty comfy and cool. It was situated on top of one of those round hills so it got a nice breeze as well. That dish is for satellite tv but its virtually useless since world cup games are blacked out over satellite in Indonesia. No AC but I didn't need it. We also had an excellent cook, Mrs. Sittie, which was convenient. It was here that I met the students working in Pacitan for the summer, Galei, Icha (my permanent paparazzi) and Rami.

After eating some coconut milk soup that evening which may have no longer been good, I got heinously ill. It also could have been the lunch or a holdover from my last bout. My stomach never felt well in the two weeks between illnesses. Galei and I shared a room in Mrs. Sittie's house since there was not enough space in the one above and it was there I got sick. I'll spare everyone the gritty details but the vomiting was more frequent and more intense than the last round but it didn't last as long (only 5 hours!). I spent most of the night (after not sleeping in almost 24 hours thanks to the 330 am wake up) tucked onto a squat toilet under the stairs. Not pleasant and it was the only time I've been sick that my stomach was in actual pain. Galei stayed with me for most of the night and slept on the floor in another room. I can't say enough about how helpful Galei was. I was much more intelligent this time about how I managed things and I didn't really get dehydrated so by the afternoon of the next day I was more or less in business again. I ate some rice oatmeal which settled pretty well. Since this bout of sickness I've felt much better than anytime in weeks. I hope this cleared everything out.

The people across the street were having a wedding on sunday and as part of the preparations they hung Pepsodent signs. I don't know why but they are serious about oral hygiene. Even the poor farmers grow plants that they chew to protect their teeth. Surprisingly it seems to work. People have pretty good teeth.

This is another terraced rice field. Pretty standard for a good sized village in Pacitan.
This was sad. After interviewing some local agricultural managers we stopped at a scenic overlook to check out this new coal plant that is being built on a remote beach. Andrea had no electricity for several days so the people need the power. Its hard to tell them not to build a coal plant when the area has no solar potential due to the rainy season and little in the way of wind resources and they have no refrigerators, air conditioners or other amenities. Public health and the environment are not priorities here like they are in richer countries so the soot from the plant will probably just be released. I've had several people tell me that they get sick frequently and if this coal plant helps refrigerate some food and buy some pumps to help purify water, its probably worth it.
This was another beach near a small town we stopped at after a meeting. The local agricultural managers straight up told me false rains are not a problem in Pacitan because the farmers are "very tough". They thought perhaps a place like Indramayu might need something like that. Funny, they told me in Indramayu that the farmers in Pacitan might be interested in a forecast as it wasn't a problem in Indramayu. Funny how well everything is working on everyones watches. However, this particular group of local managers were pretty helpful overall.
This is one of the few shots that really came out that show the jungle hills, steamy humid fog and villages tucked into the valleys. This kind of thing dots the district everywhere.
On our way out of Pacitan we visited one of the largest caves in southeast Asia. Very cool but extremely hot and humid. I thought being underground was supposed to be cool but this is not the case. Everyone came out drenched in sweat, even the locals.
The morning before leaving we interviewed some farmers from a remote village. We drove about 45 min to an hour on a road like this through the forest and cultivated fields passing through villages on the way. This road is basically a permanent rumble strip.
This is me with some of the farmers and the team from IPB. One of the farmers kindly showed me all the crops he is planting on his hilly property. Spinach, sweet potatoes, cassava, mangos, papaya, coconut, ginger, peanuts, rice, eggplant and a ton of other stuff I forgot. He has quite the operation going and its all rain fed. The farm also has a brilliant view. I was also able to tour a traditional house that some members of the family still live in. This was extremely educational and useful to my studies. I got clear, straight answers and I got more information out of 2 hours with these guys than I had in the last 10 days combined. It just shows you need to go directly to the source. These farmers really know their land, climate and crops, so its hugely useful to interview them.
I'm with some of the farmers here. They were doing something with a bin of black beans here. They let me mash some cassava in that mashing trough on the left. Extremely helpful and friendly people who were happy to show their farm to me. I tried some raw cassava. Not bad, but very starchy. They also made us lunch, a noodle soup if I recall that was outstanding.
A farmer in a nearby cassava field. I got him to wave.
After this, we were driven to Yogyakarta for a weekend of R&R and sightseeing at the temples so that will be the next post. Overall, Pacitan is an outstanding place. Beautiful terrain, extraordinarily friendly people, even by high indonesian standards, great beaches and a pleasant temperature. I liked Indramayu, but Pacitan was better. It was more rural and rugged which suits my tastes. I was able to watch the US world cup games thans to a tv in the local store. They packed 15 people in a room around a small tv. It wasn't a big screen, but I don't mind watching games like that. It feels authentic. Pacitan has so much potential, but it is still hard to get to, due to the poor quality of roads and lack of infrastructure.