A taxi, a train, a bicycle and a bus to Pangandaran

Waking up in Jakarta, we went down for breakfast at around half 7 as our train was at 9. It was a strange breakfast consisting of coconut rice with a red bean sauce and some other savoury things that I avoided. I miss cereal. However, we filled ourselves up slightly and were advised to hail a taxi from the end of the street so we could get to the train station on time. This wasn't the easiest of tasks as all the taxis seemed to be occupied and we were running out of time. Just when we were about to give up I managed to get a taxi and we quickly hopped in, making it through the masses of traffic to the station at just gone quarter to 9. Perfect! We went to ask where to get a ticket from which took time and then a guard helped us out and hurried us off to the opposite end of the station to buy tickets for us then hurried us back so we wouldn't miss the train. By this point neither of us were stressed as we felt the guard was looking after us and wouldn't let us miss the train. We got on the train with a few minutes to go and set off for Banjar, the nearest station to Pangandaran. 

The train took 7 hours and although long, swept through some lovely countryside with rice fields and little brick houses (they use brick!). We got a little mini lunch in a box on the train which consisted of some spicy rice and cucumber that filled a hole until we arrived at Banjar at around half 4. As soon as we were off the train some helpful guards told us to take a bicycle tuk tuk to the bus station and take a bus from there to Pangandaran. We happily hopped in a bike each (both thinking they'd be really slow) and were pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they were and how nicely they glided along. However, our two bicycle guys stopped at a minibus and we were offered a ride to Pangandaran. We thought this was great until we were told the price: 500,000 Indonesian monies which is around £25. I got a little stroppy in the end as I told the minibus guy we wanted to get a local bus as we couldn't afford his bus (they think we're very well off which we are compared to them but £25 is a lot) but he didn't seem to understand. In the end I explained it to our bicycle guys who understood straight away and took us on to the bus station for no extra cost. We hopped on a local bus for a tenth of the price and two hours later made it to Pangandaran. 

We pushed our way through all of the offers of bicycle rides when we arrived and instead walked 10 minutes to find somewhere to stay the night. We'd read about an amazing place in our guide book but when we got there it was fully booked. Fortunately, a local man told us about a place and then walked us five minutes round the corner to it. Panorama guesthouse was okay and would do for a couple of nights. It was basic but cheap and breakfast was included. I love a free breakfast. 

It was past 7 when we'd dropped off our bags and set out to find food. It had been a long time since our small lunch so we were both on the verge of becoming hangry. We walked quite a way down the street, thinking we could find somewhere really good, until we gave up and stopped at a little place that looked okay. I ordered prawns in a spicy tomato sauce which was lovely but a little too spicy so I shared it with Matt and had some of his marinated chicken. The prawns were big and meaty and tasty (apart from my last one that looked dodgy so I didn't eat it) and the chicken was tender and had a lovely barbecue flavour that makes chicken so much better. It wasn't a bad meal so we were a lot jollier on our walk back meaning we thought stopping for a beer at a beach bar would be a lovely idea. It was dark so we didn't know what the sea looked like but having a beer with your toes in the sand is rather special. A nice end to a long day of travelling.