Wednesday, October 24. We are in some sort of very small mini van headed to the city of Jambi. The drive from Palembang, where we now are, to Jambi is 6 hours. No idea if we go in this vehicle or transfer to a larger vehicle.
Now we know. We've been transferred to a larger and more comfortable van. Three rows of seats with plenty of leg room. While waiting for this van to fill, Marty began to improvise using advice from someone he met. To save ourselves from another 10 hour bus ride and a travel day, he wants to fly to Medan from Jambi. We'd fly late in the afternoon tomorrow, so we can visit Muara Jambi, Sumatra's most important historical religious site, in the morning. Of course, that plan could change at any moment.
We're now in Jambi, but not at the hotel. Instead we're waiting in a long gas line at a station. In fact, the ass end of this van is hanging out into the street blocking traffic. This'll take a half hour at least. On the bright side, it's 4:30 and this is the first time we've arrived at a city in daylight. We can actually watch everyday street life while we wait. Since there is virtually no light at night in what are now called emerging nations, you have no idea except for traffic if you're in a large city, small or medium. Of course there are lights, but a bare minimum are kept on. The darkness is very weird to experience, especially when you wake up and see there can be a population of over a million around you.
OK, we're checked in to the Hotel Abadi. It's in an interesting part of town. We're going to scope it out quickly before it's in total darkness.
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