he'd probably just smile, the way i know he is now.
..
alex and i woke up on tuesday ready for a 45-minute trek to the waterfall. we found alek around 8:30 and began our trek up the mountain. just before leaving the property line, combro (previous bossman) met up with us for the hike as well. we weren't sure why, as we thought alex's reason for coming was to show us the way, but i'm sure combro was along to either a, make fun of us, or b, help out in case one of us was stupid enough to fall into some life-threatening situation.
they wouldn't put it past us, i know it.
we started up the mountain towards the falls. every so often, we'd look back at our view.
and we thought we had it good at joceans. don't get me wrong, we've got a phenominal lookout point, but the higher we went, the more stunning it became.
the walk up the mountain was unforgiving ninety percent of the way-- there was virtually no downhill until we came to just before the waterfall. i'm not quite sure how the boys did it. eventually, our somewhat-gravel road turned into a path in the woods, which then turned into some trampled grass. there were times when one wrong step would have meant rolling down the side of the mountain. i don't mean to make this more dramatic than necessary, but if that were the case, there would be no return flight.
about two steps behind us in this picture is a cliff stright down.
alex and i quietly complained to ourselves the whole way as we tripped over our own feet and the grass on the path, even in sneakers and hiking sandals. sweating and out of breath, we were the laughing stock. our attempts at looking somewhat coordinated were muffled by our clumsy, pathetic steps. shocked at the boys. despite combro and alek lighting a cigarette halfway through the uphill trek, they showed no signs of being tired or uncomfortable in flipflops, not in the least bit.
what the hell. that's not normal.
we hiked hills so steep that i could have been rock climbing. my hands and feet were moving almost more vertically than horizontally. but soon we heard running water and our hike turned back downhill beside a small pool of water. alex and i looked over. it was gorgeous.
though the fall's size wasn't much to write home about, the water was so clear we could probably read the text to 1984, had it been sitting on the bottom.
still, the sound of running water was soothing, and the waterfall itself was quite beautiful. we immediately took off our flipflops and climbed to the rock path across the water to stick our feet in.
but it was so freakin cold!
it did feel good on our sweaty feet, but there was no way in hell i was jumping in. sixty-five degree weather is cold to me now, let alone fifty degree water.
we walked to the other side and i spent most of my time taking pictures. eventually i got tired of the lower angle and wanted to get to the top of the falls. it wasn't looking very promising, but i tried to climb the rocks on the side.
but halfway up i couldn't even figure out how i was going to get back down and i heard alek in the distance saying something in indonesian that translated to "that's not a good idea." so i listened to the homeboy figuring he knew better than me.
he was sitting on the rocks with combro, doing absolutely nothing while alex and i explored every nook and cranny of this small waterfall base. despite their reasoning for being here, whether it be their own desire or heartfelt obligation, i loved that we had the company. they said almost nothing, even to each other. they know so little about alex and i, but still they cater to everything we need, even when we don't ask. i feel so safe and well taken care of.
after some time, i saw alek wandering around the top of the falls himself. i crawled back up to where our shoes were, past alex and combro, and wandered along a path beside the water. eventually i came to a dead end, with a huge rock to my right that stretched straight up towards the sky. as i was turning around, alek peeked from above it. "want up?"
shit yeah. but how?
there was a vine growing to my left, and an uprooted tree almost behind me. i handed him my camera. to put this into perspective, the rock had to be about six feet tall and had no place for me to put my feet. i put my foot in the root of the tree behind me, but that only raised me a few inches off of the ground. i literally had to pull myself up with the vine. alek grabbed my arm when i was within reach to help me balance, but the thought crossed my mind to let go and not even bother. i quickly shoved it aside and my feet scrambled up the rock, slipping. it was of little help, but i eventually made my way up the rock.
getting back down was really gonna suck.
it was a gorgeous view from the top, but not very safe. one slight slip and i would have been in alex's lap below. i wandered among the huge rocks, looking for something interesting, like a snake or monkey, but i knew neither of these would be up here.
instead i settled for sprawling out on one of the rocks and listening to the water crash below. ah, farm work is so hard.
..
jocean had arrived when we got back to the farm. we made lunch, some sort of bacon fried rice with just about every vegetable in the kitched added. alex and i wanted to venture down to the bigger gardens at the bottom of the hill, so after we ate, we headed down. jocean stopped off to talk to some workers and pin down the details of the bathroom they were working on, so alex and i continued towards the gardens ourselves. we took some photographs and waited for him.
aside from all of the fresh veggies and fruit, there are plenty of flowers.
but of course, i was most ecstatic about the dragonfruit cactus!! i love dragonfruit, and, pathetically, it might be my greatest discovery on this trip. though it didn't bear any fruit today, as we're out of season, i was still stokked about seeing where it came from. but you have to tie the tree off and make it grow awkwardly to get good produce. weird fruit comes from weird trees, i guess.
by the time jocean met up with us, rainclouds had moved in overhead.
in case i didn't mention it, we're in the middle of the rainy season here in java. from about mid-december to the end of february, it rains almost every day in the afternoon-- we have yet to skip a day. the mornings are hot and humid, but by the time one o'clock rolls around, the clouds can be seen in the distance. alex and i have been spoiled this entire trip with almost-perfect weather. it only rained one day in ko samui until we got here.
so now our days are planned around what can be done inside and what needs to be done outside. though the rains are extremely strong, bringing in shows of lighting and might as well be amplifiers with thunder, they're welcomed. since workers here despise being in the rain, their day stops once the first signs of a constant rain begin. plus it tends to cool off the air quite nicely, not to mention it makes for amazing sunsets. but generally, from about 2:00 onward, if there's rain, everyone is sitting around, relaxing. and in alex and i's case, eating.
we sat on the porch, waiting for the rain to pass, or at least lighten up.
alex still wanted to go out in the rain, hot from earlier. "i want to get soaked," she remarked. be my guest.
within a few minutes, jocean handed us freshly made lemongrass and ginger tea from mang yoyo, one of the workers. it's supposedly his specialty, and he made it in anticipation of our visit. since tea has been the one thing to get me through all the time i've wanted to sleep on this trip, i happily grabbed it despite my growing bitterness towards both lemongrass and ginger. i took a sip.
"oh my god. what the hell kind of crack cocaine is in this?!"
it was delicious.
..
after two cups of tea and the rain not lightening up, we decided we would harvest anyway. we walked out in the storm, but it wasn't too terrible. we walked over to the okra, which jocean wanted to watch alex prepare since he grew it but has never made it. then we grabbed some kind of nut that i've never seen before. alex and i's sick addiction to the peanuts the boys so kindly brought us the other day made jocean remember that these were ready to be harvested, so we grabbed some to try. just as we were finishing up, the rains fell harder.
of course they would.
we walked back to the house on the lower end of the property, crops in hand.
well, we posed for the corny-but-necessary tourist picture, but alex, who was so excited about it, "got rain right in my eye!" of course i had to be a smartass and point out that she wanted to be soaked.
and i got what i deserved.
sat under the porch, talking, watching the rain fall. jocean gave us some tshirts to help keep us warm until we could get back up to the house and change. alex got first dibs, and i got the gansta shirt. i like the look.
after about two more hours, it still wasn't lifting. jocean told us he would call alek and have him bring the truck down, considering it was a decent hike back up the hill to the house. we waited a bit, but no sign of alek. figuring he was caught up in painting, jocean told us he'd call him and tell him we'd walk, so as not to disturb him, and that we should put on our ponchos if we wanted to stay dry.
understand, the ponchos have been in our bags since day 1 and never have we even thought about breaking them out. we're touristy enough as it is.
laughing at our expense, jocean offered to take a few pictures. we let him, despite feeling like fools.
as soon as he shut the camera off, he says "go ahead, put those back in your bag. alek is actually on his way. just wanted to see you in those hideous ponchos."
damn not speaking indonesian fluently.
..
as jocean drove the truck back up the hill, combro was walking down. jocean slowed down to say something in indonesian, but with the window still down and combro still right outside of the truck, the tires started spinning in the mud. alex, in a cute, trying to fit in kind of way, spit out some inappropriate bahasa indonesian. while attemping to say "shit/dammit!", she instead shouted "goblok!"
jocean, alek and i all started laughing hysterically, while the look on combro's face displayed complete confusion. alex smiled, but i looked at her. "you mean an-ging?"
"i think you meant an-ging, not goblok. an-ging is shit!"
she didn't really respond.
"uh, you just called combro an asshole!"
..
one perk about the farm:
it's impossible to take a bad sunset picture.
..
Y rae. racho. d.
