To Bandung

I'm not a morning person and I hate alarms. So it was pretty hard getting up at 5.45am, especially after the tiring trek. Unfortunately the 'tourist bus' wouldn't be leaving early enough to guarantee I'd be at the airport in Medan in time for my flight, so I had to get the 6.30am local bus instead.

It was a minivan made for about 10 people but more people got on at every stop even when I was sure no more could fit. I counted about 25 people, so many that the main door wouldn't close so we drove with one guy holding on to the open door. I was the only tourist and I got some strange looks but I've got used to that now.

After about three hours we got to Medan and I tried asking one of the staff if we were going to the main train station. I had the name of it written down and had Google Maps open but he didn't want to look. I've had this multiple times now and I'm pretty sure it's rude in every culture. If someone needed help in the UK but didn't speak English I'd always try, especially if they had a map or something written down. It's amazing how much you can communicate without speaking the same language. This guy, however, wouldn't even look in my direction.

I made my way to the train station and got a nice new train (Korean-made, apparently) to the airport. It was five times more expensive than the cheap local bus I got when I arrived in Indonesia but I just wanted to get there and avoid all the traffic.

I flew down to Bandung, Java and we got off the plane and walked to the terminal (no shuttle bus) with lots of other people walking in the other direction to different planes. Because it's only a domestic airport it felt more like a bus station. I got a taxi to my hotel (which I'd booked that morning) and checked in. It was a bit of a flashy hotel, but still only about £15 per night. I needed a bit of luxury after the jungle and there aren't really any decent budget options in Bandung, it seems.

In the evening I went to a food market and had Mie Rica, a dish which is basically an extremely spicy Asian version of spaghetti bolognese. Bandung is a big city but so far I like it. I mainly picked it as it has a reputation as being one of the hot-spots for great food. I hope so!