For many years, the warm waters of the Indonesian archipelago are furrowed with ferries to the pelnas, a shipping company which is no longer very competitive due to the development of air transport at low prices. Although the Indonesian aircraft are not very safe, most people who travel from one island to another therefore prefer to save time left to pay only an additional few thousand rupiah.
The pelnas divides Western travelers.
For some, a trip aboard vessels pelnas would quickly exhausting for the nerves. Tourists are being harassed, bombarded with questions uninteresting and repetitive relating to their employment, marital status, religion ... by guys certainly friendly but still relatively limited, not only in English. If one adds to this insecurity, basic comfort or economic classes instead the high price of single cabins, it is clear that according to those grumpy tourists it is better to boycott the pelnas and travel only by air.
For others, however, trips by sea, which often last several days, would be a unique opportunity to discover the true face of Indonesia and going to meet his people, known for be one of the friendliest in the world among backpackers who have enough points of comparison in hand to decide on this issue. In addition, the ferries have the advantage pelnas significant in this pre-apocalyptic to be less polluting means of transportation than airplanes.
To have traveled several times on the boats of the pelnas between Java and Borneo, first by curiosity and of obligation (I did trade in clothing between the two islands and was carrying bags of a hundred pounds of goods), I must say that even if my heart scales in favor of arguments humanist pro-pelnas, tourists unpleasant mentioned above do not necessarily completely wrong: the travel conditions in the lower decks are actually quite challenging.
promiscuity, crowding, poor hygiene, tricks and corruption, the vessels pelnas concentrate all the flaws of Indonesia today.
From the beginning of the boarding passengers act as if the boat threatened to leave the dock. Men, women, old men and children rushed to the assault bridges. The melee that ensues is wild. Falls and minor injuries are common. Sometimes, a big mustache for Security and posted at the foot of the bridge club at random all these good people to teach them to stand properly. Surprisingly, when taking a shot, most of them laugh. The stampede, local specialty, if one believes the frequent incidents at rock concerts or during the pilgrimage to Mecca (hundreds of deaths each year, mostly Indonesians and Filipinos), may proceed in the right mood .
Once aboard, we must find a place in the general crowd. The most popular among Indonesians are located right in front of TVs that work non-stop from 6 am until midnight at full volume. And it's something on TV there! Programs poor (accumulation of garbage and Western television sitcoms local) are interspersed every five minutes (watch in hand!) Commercials feature an unusual weakness. Sometimes, a single advertisement may be broadcast three times!
Normally, each passenger has a mattress covered with imitation leather. But the crew of the less scrupulous have the annoying tendency to hide them for redistribution against payment Extra unnecessary in this case, prevent 50 million consumers, we need to show a bit of nerve and resourcefulness or otherwise pay the surcharge applied.
When everyone is more or less installed, even though the ship is still docked, all males take up smoking as a fire despite the ban. Obviously, the windows do not open. Some of them, a cigarette in hand, just sit down amicably with you to get acquainted, you thereby blowing their cigarette smoke in his face.
Then, as soon as the ship shakes, hundreds of cockroaches and cockroaches emerge from the walls perforated by rust and are riding in all directions including passengers. The threat of being crushed, burned by cigarettes or scanned a flick does not scare these friendly animals. We therefore advise beginners to remember before going to sleep, to sink the cotton in his ears to avoid getting lost a small cockroach in his ear canals.
few hours later, the high seas are already clogged toilets and shower rooms flooded. Passenger pot-bellied and heavily mustached satisfaction with urinating on the floor before you throw their cigarette butts. The smell is disgusting. With each roll of the boat the water flooding the floor of the bathroom just whipping the edges of doors and overflowing into the halls crammed with passengers.
Meals served at 5 h, 12 h, 16 h, at the height of the toilets clean. A little white rice, a piece of fish (or pray to have the tail or the head) and three unidentified vegetables are served on a metal tray that will remind some school canteens, other prison. Fortunately, it is possible to corrupt the cook and serve meals to be more consistent. Go through the back door and handed a note from 5000 rupiah per tray.
But gentlemen, if you travel together, do not spend too much time negotiating in the kitchen, because during this time, your girlfriend or your wife may well be annoyed by officers confident of their charm. Believe that continuing the journey into the captain's cabin is for any of the passengers an irresistible offer, especially as the house provides the key to great perfume samples, these luxurious mustaches dressed all in white continue to court and your companion may have it hard to discard. But otherwise, this slut wanted to really hunt these magnificent marine manly as she would claim later? The sight of these finely cut whiskers do not recall him at'elle oh how she had strayed in choosing to curl up in the arms of a stranger?
As for traveling companions, there is no place to demonize or romanticize them. While the meetings are easy to Indonesia, and people are very friendly, smiling a lot more than in France, but these links are created can be very superficial. Moreover, as everywhere, the country has its share of assholes, bastards of rednecks and finished. Simply, it takes a certain mastery of the language and some knowledge of local customs to identify them.
For the rest, anti-Western travelers pelnas demonstrate very little adaptability by refusing to understand the issues that bombard Indonesian tourists are primarily a testament to the interest they bear their . These issues are foremost intended to be returned to the person who transmits ("Yes I am married, do you?"), It order to initiate the conversation. Of course, some speakers are more interesting than others. But those that unbearable social practice can totally avoid it ... staying at home in Paris or Marseilles, or traveling to the limit, like Richards, locked in tight in their first class cabin.
FRED
