Mt Agung

Let’s rewind to September, when seismic activity had increased around Mt Agung and over 100,000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the volcano. The rumblings and volcanic earthquakes were extremely frequent, and it seemed like an eruption could be imminent. But it became a waiting game, with no eruption occurring, and even a dwindling of seismic activity in October.

A small phreatic eruption occurred on November 21, but it didn’t affect flights (that was the day of my quick roundtrip to Jakarta and back). On November 25th, however, a magmatic eruption occurred, with a plume that rose somewhere between 1.6 and 4km above Mt Agung. Another eruption occurred on November 26th, ash was spreading to the southeast, lahars were reported, and the airport was definitely closed.

I did not take this photo. I do not live this close to the volcano.

Here is another dramatic photo that I did not take.

Meanwhile, on Sunday evening (November 26) I was in Kuala Lumpur trying to get TO Bali (see my last blog post for the exciting details!). In typical Southeast Asian confusing way, I still managed to check into the flight and received my ticket. But when I double-checked at a service counter, I was told they wouldn’t be flying to Bali for “at least a week.”

“Lombok?” I asked.

Nope.

“Anywhere in East Java?” (I figured I could travel to Bali via land / boat).

I received a blank stare and a “Name a place?”

At this point I was trying my hardest to get to a natural disaster zone – I had to be at work the next day. Because really - let’s be clear - Bali is a HUGE island and Agung is quite far away from my office and apartment (yes, ash travels far and yes volcanoes are dangerous, but it really, really hasn’t been that bad).

I contemplated flying to Surabaya and then taking a bus to Denpasar - this would take about 24 hours. So I’d arrive at best on Monday night. Tuesday I was supposed to fly to Jakarta for a meeting anyway, so I decided I might as well fly there. I texted the trusty Wests, and sure enough they had a mat and sleeping bag for me so I booked a flight to Jakarta that evening. Then I rewarded myself with several delicious treats at the airport and hunkered down, praying that Richard and Tara wouldn’t judge how stinky I was when I arrived at their apartment in a few hours.

The flight was delayed over an hour and seemed to take forever. As we began our descent, an announcement was made about not needing customs forms in Vietnam.

VIETNAM?!

Things were about to get a whole lot more interesting… but luckily it was a mistake. Haha. Phew.

The plane landed in Jakarta and within an hour or two I had made it safely to Richard and Tara’s apartment. It felt so nice to be with friends that evening (as much as I wasn’t scared of the volcano, it definitely made for stressful air travel). Tara had assembled the most adorable makeshift bed for me (that was super comfy), and I was grateful to be spending the night there.

Camped out at the West Hotel

I spent the next couple of days working from different cafes (and continuing to watch Stranger Things – shoutout to Jane’s Netflix account for being the real hero of this story).

Eventually Agung settled down and the airport in Bali reopened, though it was unclear how long the window might be. I hastily booked a morning flight for Thursday November 30th and all went smoothly. It felt like such a relief to be back in Bali, oddly enough. I haven’t seen or felt anything from Agung since I’ve been back. There have been no major eruptions, though the volcano is still technically in an eruptive state (if I can understand the volcanologists’ reports correctly), so it could cause further disruption. Until then, it continues to be a waiting game, especially for all of the poor people who are still in shelters, having been evacuated from their homes that are too close to the volcano.

Peering at Agung, shrouded in cloud, from the plane

Equipped with ash protection just in case!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Under my current visa, I’m limited to sixty days in Indonesia at a time. Sixty days had passed since I’d arrived back from Richard and Tara’s wedding in Macau as of November 24, so I was about to turn into a pumpkin that day. 

Work was willing to pay for a same-day round trip to Singapore, but since I’d already been there (albeit briefly), and it seemed so ridiculous to get on a plane for two hours just to turn around and fly right back, I decided to spend the weekend somewhere new. I thought about visiting Borneo, Timor Leste, or even Australia, but in the end decided on Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s a direct flight from Bali and I’d never visited Malaysia, nor did I know much about it.

I knew so little, in fact, that it wasn’t until I was greeted with “Petronas Welcomes You Home” at the airport that I remembered it was the Malaysian-owned oil company Petronas that infamously planned to build an LNG export terminal in precious salmon habitat on the north coast of British Columbia. It turns out Malaysia is a much wealthier country than I had presumed. Kuala Lumpur boasts an extensive transit system involving several rail lines, and its skyline is dotted with massive skyscrapers like the famous Petronas towers.

Ugh.

I obviously did not take this photo, but this should give you an idea of how big KL is.

I had grand plans for my weekend in Malaysia: getting out of the city, hiking through the jungle, and exploring some of the unique wilderness spaces that Malaysia has to offer. Instead, I flew into the city with the beginnings of a cold and the third week of GI issues. I pretty much just wanted to turn around and fly back to Bali like work had offered to do in the first place. Sigh.

I guess that’s a huge perk of travelling alone though - you can go completely at your own pace and not feel guilty about affecting someone else’s experience. Everyone I met and spoke with in Kuala Lumpur was a bit shocked that I was travelling solo - “No friend? Alone?!” Asked taxi drivers, waiters, chatty passengers on public transit. “Yes, alone,” I’d say, and smile. It’s a nice feeling, and I understand why so many people are big fans of travelling solo. I haven’t had much experience with it, seeing as most of my travelling has been linked to work or study and has inherently had networks of communities and travel buddies built in.

So, because I was feeling pretty crummy, I took things rather easily for the weekend, just doing one or two activities each day and then hiding out in my tiny hotel room to watch Netflix in the evenings (which felt glorious; my internet in Bali blocks Netflix). A summary of my activities:

Day One:

• Arrive in Kuala Lumpur. Figure out taking the train into the city. Stare out of the window the entire ride.
• Check into adorable hotel. 
• Do a bit of work (it was still Friday after all). 
• Eat amazing Middle Eastern food for dinner (yes, I chose to eat falafel instead of Malaysian food, go ahead and judge me – it was delicous). 
• Start watching Stranger Things Season One. 

This is what the lady at the drugstore in the airport recommended for my cold; "Sanjin Compound Prescribed Watermelon Frost." I did not buy the watermelon frost, though I am still quite curious about it.

The streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Day Two:

• Pack up my stuff and check out of the hotel (I’d only booked one night and it was full on Saturday) and take an Uber to the Batu Caves just north of Kuala Lumpur. Fun fact, my mum travelled here when she was in her early twenties!
• Walk up the many steps and admire beautiful caves and Hindu shrines within.
• Buy a ticket for the restricted “Dark Cave,” go on a cave tour and nerd out on cave ecosystems. 
• Visit the Ramayana Cave, which is filled with larger-than-life figures depicting the story of Ramayana. 
• Watch the monkeys steal snacks from tourists. 
• Decide to take transit back from the caves, spend an hour waiting for the train. Eat potato karipap as a snack, chat with a group of Zimbabweans who are also waiting. 
• Make a new friend on the train. 
• Check into new hotel. 
• Watch several episodes of Stranger Things. 
• Visit the night markets and explore Chinatown, eat interesting food.
• Early bedtime!

Batu Caves - Murugan Statue

Batu Caves

Batu Caves

Batu Caves

Learning about spiders in the Dark Cave. Most of this cave system is blocked off to the public and is only accessible to researchers. NEAT-O!

Caves are cool!! And difficult to photograph!

Hanging out, waiting for treats from tourists.

One of the locals.

Hanuman statue near the entrance to Ramayana cave.

Ravana's army attempts to wake Kumbakarnan in order to wage war against Rama.

Ramayana caves or Lord of the Rings? 

Disco lights = definitely not Lord of the Rings.

Snoozin like Kumbakarnan.

This adorable Japanese couple had an instant translation device. He'd ask questions in Japanese into the microphone and a robotic woman's voice would repeat the questions in English! They were mostly curious about where I was heading next.

Karipap (curry puff) - yum!

Can't escape selfies anywhere!! ... we actually had a really nice conversation though.

All sorts of choices for dinner at the night market!

Day Three:

• Wake up to news that Agung has erupted once again - hard to say how intensely, the pictures just show it churning out more ash. 
• Panic slightly. Flights appear to still be running but decide to leave extra early for the airport that afternoon. 
• Watch an episode of Stranger Things in order to relax.
• Spend the morning in a bit of a haze, having skipped breakfast (bad idea).
• Meander through the Central Market and surrounding markets but find them uninspiring. 
• Become quite sweaty and sapped of energy but can’t find a decent looking restaurant.
• Visit the Textile Museum, where I find a little café that could not have been more perfect: filled with textiles and trinkets, lit softly, cool and breezy, playing soothing music in the background.
• Order hot lemon honey water and immediately feel like I’m in heaven; enjoy a delicious meal of beef rendang and coconut rice. 
• Rejuvenated by the café, I wander through the Botanical Gardens and National Museum. Museums seem to be filled with lots of mannequins.
• Get on the train to the airport, and arrive at three hours early for my flight.
• Learn that all flights to Bali have been cancelled. 

A mannequin makes batik prints at the textile museum.

In my happy place (note the monkey doll in the background).

Perfect funky little cafe in the textile museum.

Botanical Garden

Mannequins having an important meeting.

I seriously wasn't kidding about the mannequins. I have so many mannequin photos.

TO BE CONTINUED...

November: A Month Spent Mostly Commuting to Jakarta

If I had to sum up November in one word, it would probably be Jakarta.

The morning after Tobin flew back to Canada, I flew to Bogor (which is just south of Jakarta) for four days of meetings. They were actually really interesting (in a nerdy way), because Indonesia is actively developing its management plans for tuna fisheries. These meetings brought together top fisheries scientists, government officials, and representatives from across the country for the seventh time. Developing fisheries management is not a speedy process, especially when the country lacks adequate data to develop the plans. It was fascinating to learn about the process and watch the development of these plans unfold in real time.

… okay I’m guessing that that is probably the limit of what is remotely interesting enough to go on the blog.

Instant translation!

That week flew by, and helped distract me from the fact that Tobin was gone. Plus I got to spend some quality time with Momo, MDPI’s Program Director, and the only other “bule” on staff (a bule – pronounced “boo-lay” – is an Indonesian word used to describe a foreigner). Momo has been with MDPI since the very beginning, and she is a wealth of knowledge, but she’s leaving the organization in January so I’m trying to soak up every minute with her before she leaves.



Back in Bali, I had a mellow weekend of snorkelling, relaxing, and visiting a Turtle Conservation Centre (every bit as delightful and depressing as you might imagine). I won’t show photos of the poor turtles that ate plastic or lost fins to propellers.

Baby turtles! So cute (but also being held back from being released because they're sick)

Snorkelling at a coral plantation

Just over a week later, I was back in Jakarta for four more days. The first day was a meeting related to sustainable fisheries (and was therefore somewhat interesting), but the next three days were spent reviewing annual progress for one of our funders… aka not the most thrilling way to spend three days. Luckily I was able to spend every evening exploring Jakarta and having dinner with Richard and Tara – those were certainly the highlights of the week!

Visiting the national monument, a hubub of activity in the evenings.

Morning traffic

Local transportation

I love learning more about the nature of Indonesian people, and these meetings have provided some interesting insights. For example, one day in the late afternoon, the meeting room had been separated into two groups on either side of a room divider. When the other group (on the opposite side of the sliding wall) finished their meeting, they cheered. As soon as we finished, our group started to cheer too. The other group cheered back and there were even some thumps on the divider. So our group cheered back. And on it went until our group started to sing (at the top of their lungs) “Selamat sore Pak, selamat sore Bu” which basically means good evening sir, good evening ma’am - like the type of song you would have sung in elementary school. They had huge smiles on their faces and were singing unabashedly at the tops of their lungs. I cannot imagine something similar happening anywhere else! They’re also big fans of having “quizzes” after presentations, where the presenter gives out candy as prizes.

The next week, my weekly visit to Jakarta became even more ridiculous – I did it in a day. It started at 6am with a two hour flight in the morning and over an hour of fighting Jakarta traffic, followed by three different meetings, then more time in traffic and a two-hour flight back to Bali. A twenty-hour day in total. Phew. It was a bit nervewracking on the return flight - Mt Agung had released a plume of ash, but luckily it wasn't big enough to affect flights.

My next visit to Jakara (less than a week later) was under more interesting circumstances, so I’ll write about that in my next blog post!

Lunch buffets are a good part of the day!