Not so glamorous

While I know it may seem as though I have been rubbing my trip to Indonesia in all of your faces with my pictures and descriptions of the magnificent beaches, cheap rooms, awesome views, fun treks, massages, and excellent food, my trip was not as glamorous as I may have portrayed it at times. After all I did go to Indonesia, and like any third world country, there are some amenities that you should simply not expect when you travel outside of the US or any other well established country. At times it was frustrating, while other times were so ridiculous that we couldn't do anything but laugh at our misfortune.

In short, I present you with a summary of some of the many odd things that happened on our trip. May you find just as much pleasure as I did frustration.

• Our hostel decided to fumigate the area while we are all laying by the pool with no warning. Hello smoke bomb. 
• While traveling to the Gili T island, one of the pumps on the speed boat was not working. In order to fix the problem, one Indonesian man laid on his stomach and reached his hand into the motor room (engine still running, duhhh...) and began shoveling water out in buckets while the other Indonesian crew member held his feet from sliding head first into the engine room. Safety first! 
• Our speed boat ran out of gas on the way to the Gili T island (same trip, mind you). For a solid thirty minutes we were stranded in the middle of the ocean-- one man shoveling water out of the pump room and another refilling the gas. Ya imagine that. I think I was high off fumes for the rest of the day. 
• Last note on the speed boat trip (my favorite, obviously) they oversold the number of returning tickets. The concept of business in Indonesia-- Goal: just sell as many tickets as people are willing to buy. Solution when the boat hits its occupancy: well sorry about it! We were forced to buy tickets from another company because my friend had a flight to catch the next morning. And no, you don't get your money back. 
• The sunrise hike up the volcano: getting picked up at 2 in the morning to wait for the sun to rise 4 hours later. Makes perfect sense. 
• Sunrise hike up the volcano cost $40. Selling point: includes tour guide, flashlights, breakfast, and transportation. Um so ya it included one tiny flashlight and two hard boiled eggs. You had to pay extra if you wanted hot coffee. 

Plus a number of other things that I am sure you can imagine went wrong, but that is the fun of going to places like Indonesia. If you can't learn to live with brushing things of your shoulder, you'll end up carrying a load full of bricks by yourself across the finish line.