Rudy's kitchen!

Based on a complete lack of things to do in Surabaya, I was adamant I would not be trapped there for the entirety of my wait for my visa extension. Bags packed, I was on my way to Tanjung perak, a harbour to the north of the city, ticket bought, I boarded a ferry to island of Madura. A quick thirty minute crossing and I was helped onto the right bus to Bangkalan on the island's west coast. I quickly became a mini attraction on the bus and Rudy jumped in, Rudy was nice enough but I couldn't get over how camp he was and how much he reminded me of Kim Jung Il! He offered to take me back to his house (with his mother), I was a little dubious but I had heard that Indonesian hospitality knows no bounds so I thought why not. Once at Rudy's, he made me iced tea and gave me a platter of watermelon...to myself! He spoke relatively good English so we spoke for quite a while and he made some lunch, things became awkward when he offered me a massage - slightly perturbed, I made some excuses and made my way to a Hotel in town.

The box I made my home!

Hotel Ningrat was gearing up for a wedding as I checked into the box which was my room. I wandered around the...town...? If that's what you can call it. I quickly noticed that the locals are bewitched by me, I walked into a bustling supermarket and within seconds you could have heard a pin drop. I was frequently approached by younger people eager to practice their English and they told me they 'seldom' see Westerners - it shows! Everyone else will shout either "Hello Mister, how are you' or generally holler to make sure you know they have seen you. The photo requests also make walking down the street quite an ordeal.

Me on the Edge, the Edge...the Edge!

The day after my arrival in Bangkalan, I made my way to Sambilangan with the promise of a beach. I hopped on the back of an ojek (motorbike) and was off on a white knuckle ride across the island to the western-most peninsula. The journey whilst petrifying took me winding through some beautiful scenery and my driver dropped me at the isolated lighthouse on the peninsula, took my money and was gone. I had a long walk back! First, I ascended the lighthouse to get some fantastic views across the island and back toward the mainland. After many, many flights of stairs in the sweltering heat, I was a little sweaty, the descent wasn't much better! I began the long walk back to Bangkalan along the dusty and fairly deserted road, every now and then a moped would whistle by with a "Hello Mister" trailing in its wake. The sun was relentless, luckily I had my factor 30 on me otherwise things could have ended badly! I walked for the best part of 4 hours along the dusty roads through tiny villages, past beautiful mosques and picturesque scenery. The people were extraordinarily friendly, forever stopping to offer me a lift or just to say 'Hello', none of them could understand why I wanted to walk!

Sambilangan Lighthouse

Mercury and his Scouts!

About half-way into the walk, I stumbled past a Scout Camp, their leader invited me to come and speak to the kids. It was a bizarre experience - I'm fast realising there are a set of stock phrases that kids are taught and beyond that English doesn't progress in the majority of people! They sang me some songs and I realised time was fleeting so I made a move, whilst I was there, the local primary school had assembled to see what the fuss was about. As I left the village, I was followed by a horde of cheering children - it was quite cute really! Striking distance from the hotel, I stopped of for some water at a warung, the local men were enthralled and people gathered around to attempt to ask me questions. It's amazing that despite the fact they have so little, they will offer drinks and food to random people off the street. I've overcome my distrust of friendly Asian's, instilled by the money grabbing folk of southern Thailand and have begun to embrace their hospitality!  Finally home, I was repulsed by my own feet. A shower followed, harassment by the local prostitute and sleep...

Ghandi has nothing on this!