We left the guesthouse and crossed the street to catch a bus to the next largish town ... Kotacane. There were some school girls on the bus with an Indonesian/English dictionary. We entertained ourselves by a dictionary assisted conversation with the girls.
In Kotacane we needed to top up on funds before continuing our journey. This proved a little more tricky than expected ...
Christine went first to try to find an ATM. She returned after walking for miles and had found 4. Would they give her any money. NO! Darryl's turn and he walked the opposite way. There was a queue for the first ATM. A good sign! He waited in line but as his turn approached the ATM went offline and was unavailable. He tried the bank across the street but the ATM spat his card straight back out saying the ATM could not service this card. Next, out came the emergency US dollars cash. Darryl tried 2 banks but neither would change foreign currency, nor did any other banks in the town. Yikes ...
Darryl went back to the first ATM which was now online again. He tried his card for different sums but to no avail. The ATM kept going offline and Darryl had to wait for 5 minutes between each try. But each time, no money was issued. Now getting a little concerned, he tried an emergency bank card. Luckily, this worked just fine!
We bought some 'peanut pancakes', caught a becak (tuk tuk) to the bus station and 5 minutes later, we were off. Our destination, Berastagi.
The driver drove very slowly and cautiously. Obviously to pick up more passengers. However, we stopped at a mechanics ...
Here they refilled the compressed air for the horn and we were off again. However this time rather faster and the horn seemed to be a missing necessity to the speed! The driver tooted his horn pretty much non stop. As we passed small stalls, he tooted and waved, proud of his new a accessory. We laughed!
At a lunch stop we saw another bus with a motorbike strapped upright on the roof but we are unsure of how it stayed there. The road was terrible! We chatted to an Indonesia primary school teacher on the bus who was about to retire after 37 years.
In Kotacane we needed to top up on funds before continuing our journey. This proved a little more tricky than expected ...
Christine went first to try to find an ATM. She returned after walking for miles and had found 4. Would they give her any money. NO! Darryl's turn and he walked the opposite way. There was a queue for the first ATM. A good sign! He waited in line but as his turn approached the ATM went offline and was unavailable. He tried the bank across the street but the ATM spat his card straight back out saying the ATM could not service this card. Next, out came the emergency US dollars cash. Darryl tried 2 banks but neither would change foreign currency, nor did any other banks in the town. Yikes ...
Darryl went back to the first ATM which was now online again. He tried his card for different sums but to no avail. The ATM kept going offline and Darryl had to wait for 5 minutes between each try. But each time, no money was issued. Now getting a little concerned, he tried an emergency bank card. Luckily, this worked just fine!
We bought some 'peanut pancakes', caught a becak (tuk tuk) to the bus station and 5 minutes later, we were off. Our destination, Berastagi.
The driver drove very slowly and cautiously. Obviously to pick up more passengers. However, we stopped at a mechanics ...
Here they refilled the compressed air for the horn and we were off again. However this time rather faster and the horn seemed to be a missing necessity to the speed! The driver tooted his horn pretty much non stop. As we passed small stalls, he tooted and waved, proud of his new a accessory. We laughed!
At a lunch stop we saw another bus with a motorbike strapped upright on the roof but we are unsure of how it stayed there. The road was terrible! We chatted to an Indonesia primary school teacher on the bus who was about to retire after 37 years.
