Tremendous Women in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

We spent the third and final leg of our Indonesian holiday in Yogyakarta. It all goes back to a sunny May day in Baltimore...

Saying goodbye to our wonderful Baltimore neighbors, Jan Houbolt and Rachel Wohl, Jan said "if you find yourself traveling to Indonesia, could you please go visit Yogyakarta? There is a little NGO I'd like you to see." I said, "I'm sure we will travel through Jakarta." Er - yeah - totally different cities. Guess it was my first of many Indonesian geography lessons. Both cities are on the large island of Java. Jakarta, the capital and largest city, is on the northwest shore while Yogyakarta is near the southern coast and more central on the long, narrow island. We've heard it takes about 12 hours to drive between the cities. Yogyakarta, with a regional population of about 3.4 million, is known as a center for Javanese arts and culture and is home to one of the country's major universities. And despite the English spelling, it's pronounced "Jog-ja" ("jog" as in jogging, like the thing I've not done since I arrived in KL, and "ja" like the beginning of Jack). So four months after Jan mentioned Yogyakarta, Robin booked Camp WienerPohl on the orangutan adventure; and, we did indeed find ourselves looking for 9 more days of adventure in Indonesia. Jan sent me this message about the NGO (not-for profit, nongovernmental organization) called PPMK:

"I do not know if I sent you the video/YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpnoSBtVJUQ) that my lifetime best friend Jack made after he was diagnosed with cancer and about 18 months before he died. It is a remarkable story of a Vietnam vet who declined into the depths of self destruction, drug addiction and then turned his life around and became a powerful story of goodness utilizing all of his Vet’s benefits to start and support PPMK. Promised him on his death bed literally that we would replace his Veterans benefits and keep PPMK alive."

Well, that's a great hook. PPMK is the acronym for an organization whose name means "Empowering Women to Fight Poverty". PPMK provides microcredit to poor women in villages around Yogyakarta. Microcredit, part of a global microfinancing movement, provides very small loans (usually under $250 US dollars) to people living in poverty. PPMK's loans are nearly exclusively to women and must be used to start or build small businesses. Think about it this way. In the long run, to empower women, you start off in the family. In a family struggling to get by, if a woman brings home money to support the family, she has an elevated importance. She also gains a voice in economic decision-making. This tends to lead to more emphasis on education (and added resources) to send children to school.

Tyler's favorite part of the village visits was by far the motor scooter ride!

PPMK's amazing director, Lastri, arranged transport and our hotel. She picked us up in the airport (despite the 6:00 am arrival!) and invited us to eat breakfast and have coffee at her home as we started the day. We then spent the morning in PPMK's rustic office, beautifully set in a rice field on the edge of town. Lastri reviewed with us the loan-making process, including the loan application forms, assessment tools, and loan agreements. PPMK currently supports 200 loans in multiple villages and sub-villages in the Yogyakarta region. The next day we headed out on motor bikes to see the loans in action by visiting women in the villages. This was an incredibly powerful experience.

Coming into this experience, I expected that I'd want to drop $50 bills on the way out the door of every house. Surprisingly, I didn't feel that way. From my assessment, microcredit works particularly well here because while people are very poor, there is an economy operating. Many individuals (not necessarily the ones receiving their first loans, but others in the villages), have disposable income to buy snacks or goats. Tourism in the area also makes a market for handicrafts. The women were not seeking charity, but are building a craft and a business - and they have an apparent pride in their efforts. That's not to say that money doesn't help. The administration of PPMK needs support, but the distribution of resources through the micro loans delivered by PPMK develops sustainable efforts.

What I did feel was overwhelmed - seriously blown away - by the generosity of all. People who had seemingly so little, gave us so much. We visited a loan repayment meeting. The women gave Violet and Tyler beaded bracelets - and would not allow us to pay for them. And they made me take a bag of boiled peanuts after I mentioned that they reminded me of home (thinking of you, Uncle Simon!). The women all gave up their time to visit with us. When you are earning only 2 cents to sew a complete bag, pausing for 15 minutes to talk with us, show us your workshop, and teach our kids a skill is forgoing a tangible portion of income.

The kids definitely realized what an incredible experience this was for us.  When given the option of choosing what to do on our last day in Yogya, they both asked to spend the morning with Lastri and the folks at PPMK.

It was such a powerful experience that I can't do it justice in words. Maybe these pictures will help convey my feelings:

Hand batiking. A batik gallery provides the silk. The woman here creates the wax motif and the silk is sent to others to dye.

Batik bag making. PPMK has supported two rounds of loans for this woman. With the first loan, she purchased a foot-powered sewing machine and started the business. With the second loan, she purchased an electric sewing machine and doubled her productivity. She earns 2 cents per completed bag (the bags sell for $3 or $4 at the market). She partners with a person who supplies the fabric, surveys the market, and determines the style and batik colors for the bags.

I'm all smiles because this is the best thing I've ever eaten. This family makes Tempe "burgers" with sticky rice "buns". The burger is sticky and sweet and oh so good.  The process is involved, with many ingredients - the PPMK loan served to provide money to purchase the start-up materials. They sell these at a road side stand. (Anyone looking to start your own business? You could make these in Baltimore and sell at the Jones Falls farmers market for $10 a burger...).  Brian said is was among to top 3 things he's eaten in Asia.

We visited a loan repayment meeting. The kids, with some help from a mom, taught Violet and Tyler to make beaded bracelets.

Learning that Tyler's favorite fruit is rambutan, this woman took Violet and Tyler to her tree for a fresh picked snack! 

See the PPMK December Newsletter (FaceBook friend "PPMK Jogja") to learn about this very poor family's goat raising business. A very sad, yet inspiring story.

I asked Lastri where the women learn the handicraft skills. This woman worked in a souvenir-making factory. She had to leave when she had her first child. The PPMK loan allowed her to buy the supplies and equipment to start her own business. She now earns more than she did at the factory, plus she is home near her children.

This couple laboriously shells and pounds beans into chips. They dry the chips and sell them to folks that ship the chips across Indonesia. The finished product is delicious! The family used their loan to purchase chip making equipment. Lastri explained that families hold little to no reserve money. A family may have a business, but if they need money (medical emergency or disaster) they may sell their equipment, leaving them with no means to earn money. The loans allow the families to re-start businesses. This happened to many families that lost their homes in during an earthquake a few years back.

This experience absolutely moved me to engage more with PPMK. If you are looking to support an organization, this is the real-deal ground roots effort. Okay, want to find out more? Here's the PPMK website: http://www.ppmk.net/  If you are in the US and want to donate, PPMK's US-based financial funding is here: http://www.optglobal.org/. (100% of funds go to PPMK. A $250 donation will support the development of at least one new business). You can also FaceBook friend "PPMK Jogja" to receive their monthly newsletter. Some the the US team supporting PPMK also started profiles. They are in draft, but showcase the many women PPMK supports. https://www.dropbox.com/s/gyo8l3i9stq8ulp/Project%20card%201%20edited.pdf


Organizations function by the power of their people. Lastri -- I know this will embarrass you -- but you are a superstar! Lastri's passion and caring make the organization run. We were, again, overwhelmed by her generosity as our host and now as a friend. Lastri put work and life on hold for a week to take care of the Pohl Garibaldi clan. We deeply thank you!

While we were in Yogyakarta, Lastri and her team also took us out and about town. We saw a spectacular Ramayana ballet at the Prambanan, a collection of Hindu temples circa 850 AD. The show was so, so good. All of us, even Tyler, was entranced by the performance. It helped that the show included excellent sword fighting scenes and lots of humor!

We also hiked up a volcano. Tyler got a lift from Brian who noted carrying 40 lbs uphill as his day's cardiac exercise.

Danger: pirates ahead.

A Yogyakarta highlight is visiting Borobudur. We recently had some visiting JHU faculty in town that weekended to Jogja simply to see Borobudur. Borobudur is a 9-century Buddhist shrine. Set on a hill, the pyramid-like structure has multiple concentric levels, each with stone sculpture reliefs depicting the path to enlightenment. 500 seated Buddha statues surround the walls. At some point, the shrine was abandoned and overtaken by jungle and volcanic ash. In the early 1800's the monument was relocated and unearthing began in 1835. UNESCO deemed Borobudur a World Heritage Site in 1991. Lastri and the PPMK team brought us here for a sunset visit.  (http://www.borobudurpark.com/)

Violet (aka - "Little Barbie") and I being pulled into a 15 minute photo shoot with an Indonesia school group! Peace!

All parts of the visit with Lastri were a huge success. When we struck out on our own it was - well - an experience. We went outside town for a river caving tube ride thing. It was New Year's Day and crowded, I mean like mud up to your knees, fighting to get into the murky water crowded. Our enthusiastic guide spoke limited English and just keep saying - "No worry. You be okay. Mom, boy - you be okay. No worry. No worry." Yeah, sure, man. I'm in a floating tube, wearing a well-fitting life vest in a well-lit cave with like a 1,000 people in warm and nearly stagnate water. My only worries were giardia and leptospirosis. Just because it's un-fun, doesn't mean I'm worrying.

Leaving the assembly line tube tour, the four of us and a moderately amused Russian couple were stuck in the back of a pickup truck to head to the other river for the rapids "float". Before we left, the guide said, "Mom, give me camera. River is dangerous. River is dangerous." What? From "Mom, no worry" to flat out dangerous. He probably could tell from my face and said "Dangerous for camera. You be wet." Okay, feeling better. Still thinking of giardia and leptospirosis. The truck ride to the river was beautiful. Then the cold rain came. Then we formed a tube chain and cast out in the rapidly flowing and swollen river to view the river bank engorged with plastic bags. Trip meter approaching un-fun again. I'd call it maybe a Class 2, but I just hit a dip the right way (maybe wrong way) and shot out of my tube, as Brian said "like a champagne cork." Something went click in my head. This was no longer a passive float. I shed my tourist, "bring fun to me" mentality. I was now in full adventure mode. My feet went forward, I grabbed my tube, and used it to bounce off the rocks. The change was all in my mind. And it really was a - click. In the calm water, I popped up into my tube and joined our tube chain. When some tour organizers fished us out of the water at the end of the run, I realized I actually had a really fun day. Fun is mental. And sitting sipping hot tea at a road side stand with the Russians, I knew that at the very least, we had a pretty funny story.

An incredible stay in Jogja! An incredible trip to Indonesia! We returned to KL energized. I'm meeting with Jan and Rachel to discuss continuing support for PPMK. The kids gained a glimpse-- hopefully a start to an understanding--of the world outside of their small realm. And from some agriculturally-polluted river in central Java, I remembered again to just let go and have fun.

Love to all around the world! Here's a picture from our final dinner in Jogja.

Relaxing in a Sea of Rice Paddys

On the second leg of our holiday vacation triumvirate we ventured to Bali.

I have to sheepishly admit that in the planning process for this trip, I was not at all into Bali. Bali sounded very commercial and overdone (I've heard from friends "think Australian's Cancun, spring break-style"). Brian pushed this into the itinerary, and after finding acceptably priced flights and connecting times, I scheduled three days, four nights in Bali. And now I totally admit I was wrong. I L-O-V-E Bali!

But first a note on transit. To fly from Pankalan Bun to Bali, we needed to connect in Java. Our connection, in Surabaya on the northeast end of the island, was scheduled for six hours. Indonesia is a county stretched across an archipelago of about 6,000 inhabited islands (with another at least 11,000 uninhabited islands!). Some islands - Sumatra, Java, Borneo - are huge. Others are tiny. There are over 700 indigenous languages spoken in cultures across three time zones. A majority of the population is Muslim, although the island of Bali is nearly entirely Hindu. As Brian also said in the last blog, I'm so very impressed with our kids becoming exceptional travelers in such a short time. Transit time really did fly by. We played a bunch of card games, enjoyed dinner and a beer, and indulged in a tremendous game of Carcassone, our new family-favorite game. Upon arriving at the departure gate, we saw that the flight was slightly delayed. About 15 minutes before the new scheduled departure time, there was an announcement in Bahasa Indonesian and a mob stormed the gate grabbing Styrofoam packages. I went to check it out - as I watched, the notification sign changed from "Delay" to "Refreshment". I went back to Brian, informing him and the kids to bunker down for a long delay. With a belly full of AirAsia-provided Nasi Goreng, we took off another two hours later.

Our first lunch in Bali. Food in Ubud is delicious and healthy!

We opted to avoid the beach party scene (foam party, anyone?) and headed toward inland Bali. We arrived at the beautiful Infinity Villa near Ubud, Bali in the middle of the night, settled down, and then woke up to a breathtaking view of a 360 degree sea of rice fields. http://www.infinity-villa-ubud.com/ The kids swam away the morning in the infinity pool outside the villa. Then we headed out to the town of Ubud, the Bali epicenter of art and culture. During our time on the klotok, the kids developed an interest in whittling sticks. Maybe it was just an excuse to use the pocket knife, but they really had a lot of fun with it. So in looking at the cool craft classes we could take that afternoon, we all opted for wood carving.

I was a bit skeptical when the master carver had us select our models - Violet choose to make a dolphin, Tyler a sea turtle, and Brian a gecko. The wood tile designs feed my need for symmetry so I selected a beautiful but complex pattern. Our carving master sat us down and assured us that we could replicate the models. With an unbelievable calm, the carving master handed my six-year-old a razor sharp chisel and hammer, and instructed him where and how to cut away to wood. The three hour course flew by -- so fun! It's cool to be at a place with the kids now that we can all do an activity or take a lesson together. We were all beginners, starting at the same level, and having tremendous fun.

After the class we went to a traditional Balinese Kecak, or fire dance. The Kecak has no musical instruments and, instead, a chorus of 100 men chant throughout the performance, mimicking a pack of monkeys. Now that we have more than one monkey experience under our belts, I can verify that they did indeed sound like monkeys. The monkey song is meant to put a devotee into a trance who at the culmination of the performance kicks and dances on a big pile of coconut shell embers. All in all, it was a good performance, with exceptionally cool chanting.

We spent Bali day #2 at an elephant sanctuary and wildlife park. While elephants are not native to Bali, the Sumatran elephant, a subspecies of the Asian elephant, is native to Indonesia's islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Deforestation is threatening these elephants in a similar way as Malaysia's elephant population. The elephant sanctuary has relocated about 30 elephants that were captured in palm plantations and would have otherwise have been killed. We took an elephant ride and spent hours feeding the juvenile elephants. The elephant park is beautiful. By all accounts they are doing it right. Lots of space, lots of clean water. Long term, one-on-one relationships between an elephant and its trainer. But it also highlighted again the impacts of deforestation and there was a sadness to see these giant refugees. We spent the afternoon touring local Hindu temples; one was right out of an Indian Jones movie! Tyler even found and stepped on a family of cave-ducks: think Rodney Dangerfield a la Caddy Shack, and you might get this family inside joke. (Yes - Brian added that line during the editing process).

A quick dunk at the Water Temple...

...followed by meditation.

The super old and really amazing Moon Temple.

The wonderful owner of the Infinity Villa said that the Ubud "must do" is a rice paddy bicycle tour. This was only slightly complicated since our kids can't yet ride bikes. Or as Violet said "I can ride a bicycle. I just can't start or stop. Or turn." Brian did a quick round of research and found a bicycle tour company with tandem bikes. We were in! So for our last day in Bali, our guide picked us up in the morning and we headed for the volcano. Along the way, we stopped at a coffee plantation and learned about coffee growing and roasting. We also met the furry little Asian palm civet, a nocturnal weasel-like creature that eats coffee beans and then poops them out. The coffee makers, after collecting these beans, roast them as sell them as Kopi Luwak for like $100 a pound. Brian and I sampled some coffee - it was okay, but in no way worth the price tag. But Tyler loved that we were drinking "poop coffee."


We continued our drive past the volcano and then met up with our advance team. They had the bikes ready. So the tandem bikes were actually tandem bikes for ADULTS. Vi couldn't even reach the peddles. Fortunately, the tour guides knew the childrens' dimensions and they'd affixed a short bamboo pole across the bike frames for the kids to rest their feet (maybe not the safest, but we'd brought the childrens' bike helmets from KL so we should get some points for that). The rig worked surprisingly well. Our fantastic guide grew up as a rice farmer and along the tour he shared with us a wonderful wealth of knowledge on rice growing. It's laborious, unrelenting work that showcases an ancient yet well-preserved system of resource distribution. Water is centrally channeled and farmers downstream must coordinate the field flooding and harvest patterns. He also shared some sad accounts of land and wildlife changes since the introduction of industrial pesticides. Amid the breathtaking scenery, I am pleased to report that no child fell off his or her bamboo bike perch.

For those in our region, Bali is an easy and wonderful vacation spot. Ubud has great accommodations and delicious, healthy food. It's chill and relaxed, yet with a wealth of activities. And with a direct flight from KL to Bali, we can be there in two hours for as little as $100 on AirAsia -- yes, I have already looked for flights to go back!

Next stop in the holiday adventure - a middle of the night flight back to Java for a 6:00 am arrival in Yojyakarta.

But for now I leave you with a cockfighting picture. Well actually, it's a post fight shot. The winner, on the left, returns home for a shower and massage. The loser, on the right, is already cleaned up and ready to be dinner.

Christmas in Borneo with the Orangutans

We just returned from the most amazing family trip that we have ever taken. There are so many things that we want to share with you so we are going to divide the trip into 3 separate posts, one for each of the places we visited over the last 2 weeks: Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Bali, and Jogjakarta (Java).

Since I studied non-human primate communication in college (basically I fed fruit loops to monkeys while playing them different sounds), Mary has tasked me with writing about our experience with the orangutans in Borneo. I was definitely the most qualified to dodge flying primate poop so we'll see how that translates to the blog...

Robin (of Camp MillerWiener) gets pretty much all of the credit for this part of the trip since she came up with the idea of spending Christmas with the orangutans, she found the guide, she booked the houseboat, etc. - you get the idea.

First a little background on Kalimantan. Kalimantan is the southern part of Borneo claimed by Indonesia. Near the southern edge there is a national park called Tanjung Puting, which is the primary home to one of the two remaining subspecies of Orangutans in the world, the Borneo Orangutan. The other subspecies is also in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra. In the 1960s there was intense scientific interest in studying the behavior of our closest animal relatives, the great apes. Louis Leakey was one of the most instrumental figures in this movement. Dr. Leakey is probably best known for his work as a paleontologist, researching early hominid fossils in Olduvai gorge in Tanzania. He strongly believed that studying our closest primate relatives would help uncover clues as to how our early ancestors lived. He funded Jane Goodall to study chimpanzees in Gombe national park in Tanzania and Diane Fossey to study mountain gorillas in Congo and Rwanda. Shortly before his death he funded a third female scientist, Birute Galdikas, to study Orangutans in Indonesia.

Dr. Galdikas has since become one of the world's foremost experts in orangutans. Shortly after arriving in Indonesia she established "Camp Leakey," a research/feeding station where she first tracked and observed orangutans. She also started a program to rehabilitate baby orangutans that had been either taken captive as part of the pet trade or orphaned when their mothers were killed for meat. Her early work laid the foundation for the national park and the 3 feeding stations we ultimately visited. (For anyone interested in learning more about orangutan research in Indonesia you should definitely check out "Intimate Ape," by Shawn Thompson.)

Getting to Kalimantan was not exactly straight forward. We had to fly from KL to Semarang (a small city on the island of Java) and then on to Pangkalan Bun, the a small city in Kalimantan. We were so proud of the kids during this part of the trip as they made it through the multiple delays and various transfers with a smile. They would not have been able to handle the uncertainties of this type of trip 6 months ago. After 11 hrs on the road, we finally met the Wieners and boarded our Klotok (a large houseboat) to start our adventure.

We absolutely loved the klotok. As we sailed down the Sekonyer river, we were slowly enveloped by the rain forest and happily left the city behind (fours days with no iPads, no email, no phone...).

For the next 3 nights and 4 days we lived on the deck of the klotok. There was a large table for meals and at night our guides would set up futons and mosquito nets so we could sleep outside.  

Within minutes of starting the trip we were in the secondary forest and spotted proboscis monkeys and even an orangutan from the boat. The first night we anchored along a shore that was home to thousands of fireflies. They weren't the synchronized fireflies from Kelip Kelip but it was an incredible backdrop to a great dinner of local chicken curry and fresh fish. Alas, my iPhone camera was not good enough to capture the fireflies mingling with the stars.  

After a leisurely breakfast the next morning we set out for Camp Leakey and our first real encounter with orangutans. As we stepped off the dock at Camp Leakey we were met by Peta. She is the daughter of Princess, one of the first orangutan orphans studied by Dr. Galdikas (all families share the same first letter, a technique used by Jane Goodall when she started following chimpanzees). Princess used to wait on the dock for visitors. She was in the orangutan hospital with a shoulder injury during our visit so apparently Peta was minding the family business while she was away.  

Peta and baby meeting us on the dock!

We hiked about a kilometer through the forest towards the feeding station for Camp Leakey, a wooden platform in a small clearing. About halfway to the station our guide spotted a gibbon (another from the ape family - this one a "lesser ape" vs a "great ape") and the kids coaxed it down from the tree with an offering of some apples.

As we arrived at the station, the park rangers laid out bananas and fresh milk and called out to the surrounding orangutans. Waiting for them to arrive was my favorite part of the day. You could hear them in the distance and see the trees bend a little more than they normally do from the wind as they approached. There was a rope that prevented us from getting closer than about 10 meters from the station, but the orangutans didn't seem to notice as some of them came right through the gathered observers to get to the platform.   

Initially, only females came to feed but after about 20 minutes or so, one of the larger males in the area came to the platform. He was--simply put--one great big ape. Males are typically a lot larger than females and as they become dominant they develop enlarged cheek pads that aid in their long calling and are a sign of their status. As big as this guy was, he was not even the king for that area. We never did get to meet the king, Tom, but we were treated to about a 30 second all out brawl between the larger male and a smaller one that was trying to make his way to the feeding station. I've never been on an NFL field but I imagine that offensive lineman move with the same unexpected speed and ferocity. (Some friends we met on another klotok did get to meet Tom. As they left the feeding station they found him enjoying a meal in the park ranger's kitchen! When a king orangutan invites himself over for dinner, you welcome him in...)

This male was not even the biggest in the area!

The following day we visited two additional research stations further upriver and had similarly cool experiences. Tyler discovered a new interest in photography and was never more than 3 feet away from Robin and her excellent camera!  

My favorite part of the day happened while we were docked at the second station waiting to hike into the feeding platform. A young male sat in a tree by the dock. As Violet and I approached he slowly came down towards the ground. We stood there for about 10 minutes watching each other from about 5 meters away until he yawned and showed us his rather large teeth. We decided to slowly back away (Tyler, who had joined us about halfway through ran backwards faster than I thought humanly possible - he had learned from our guide not to turn your back and run from an orangutan since that is a sign of weakness). 

We still had about 30 minutes until the hike so Tyler and I joined a soccer game of tourists vs. park rangers (plus a really fast Australian kid). Needless to say the predominantly American team with the two baseball guys got smoked, although I did manage to steal the ball from a ranger (but promptly kicked it into the river when I got too excited). Mary was too busy eating delicious fried bananas with our new Australian friends to take any pics.

The last feeding station might have been my favorite. Everyone left after about twenty minutes because it was rainy, hot and really mosquito-filled. As we turned to leave, Violet grabbed my arm and asked if I would stay with her. After bathing in DEET we sat together watching Orangutans for almost an hour.  It was awesome.

Back on the boat we prepared to celebrate Christmas Eve. We anchored on the shoreline about 20 meters from a group of proboscis monkeys and watched as they jockeyed for position in the trees as the sun began to set. There were 3 males in the troop that were in a constant battle to get to the top of the tallest tree. Best TV show I've ever watched. 

I read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' as the guides cleared the dinner table. After dinner we had a rousing round of Christmas carols with our surprisingly well-versed non-Christian friends! We also played some Christmas Bon Jovi. (From Mary: Our murderous attempt of Stairway to Heaven was my highlight!) (From Brian: Stairway to Heaven is not Bon Jovi, it's Led Zeppelin.) (Mary: Thank you anthropologist, that didn't know a gibbon was a lesser ape, but please do recall we played a diverse collection of songs that evening, including Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, the Beatles, and Billy Joel.)

Well, maybe Tyler wasn't so roused by the caroling...

The kids were a little nervous that Santa wouldn't be able to find us in the middle of the rain forest on a boat in Borneo but after some reassurance they finally all got to sleep. Violet awoke at dawn (aka 5:45 am) excited to tell everyone that she had heard sleigh bells and hooves in the nearby palm trees during the night! Low and behold, Santa had left stockings for all 4 children. It was a little weird watching the kids open their stockings through mosquito netting.

Our guide Poncho was fantastic with the kids and made the trip simply outstanding! He even showed them how to weave palm fronds and carve animals from fruit with a pocket knife.

After breakfast we started out on our 4 hr return journey back to Pangkalan Bun. Christmas night was fairly low key. Our hotel had a Christmas dinner complete with an Indonesian acoustic rock band (for those of you who knew me in college, remember Danny Taylor and Brian Garibaldi as "Acoustic Rain"?). We decided to try to explore the city and walked down the hill to a local restaurant. I was super excited to order the duck for Christmas dinner a la "A Christmas Story." When the tiny black, charred thing came out on a small platter I politely inquired what had happened to the duck. The waiter responded in surprisingly good English - "No duck tonight, only pigeon." The rest of the dinner pretty much followed suit.  

After we arrived back at the hotel, we said goodbye to the Miller-Wiener clan since they had to leave at 4 am the next morning to get back to KL. We then proceeded down to the hotel Christmas party to celebrate the end of the first leg of our fantastic holiday journey! The Indonesian acoustic rock band did a not to shabby version of Holy Night. The hotel didn't serve beer but we paid the waitress on the side to bring us some of her stash of Bintang (a local Pilsener). After 4 days without alcohol (long story but the Wieners thought we had gone to duty free in KL and we thought the same about them...) it was nice to have some Christmas cheer.

Santa passing out chocolates.

A special thanks to the Miller-Wieners for making this an incredibly memorable Christmas. Mary has said it before and I will say it again - You know that you are truly blessed when you have family who are friends and friends who are family!

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone!

Love, 

Brian, Mary, Violet and Tyler