Everybody goes surfing

After our day of travelling we thought we deserved a bit of a lie in and then took our time with our breakfast. I had a big pancake with banana inside and covered in chocolate sauce with a fresh fruit juice. Very decent. As we'd woken later we'd missed out on doing a tour to a green canyon that sounded rather cool. Instead I persuaded Matt to do a surfing lesson with me so we strolled along the beach (it was quite nice but no El Nido) until some Indonesian surfer guys offered us a lesson. It cost about £7.50 each for a two hour one on one surfing lesson and then use of the board for the rest of the day. We couldn't complain. We were kitted out with special tops and I was given some rather large shorts (wish I'd taken a picture). After a quick warm up we were told about the basics and did the usual jumping up on the board in the sand for 10 minutes or so. Then we got to go in the sea. I think I stood up on my board on my third attempt (Matt took a little longer as our teachers realised after a while that he was really tall so jumping up would be easier) and the majority of the time after that. The waves weren't huge (2 or 3 metres) but they had enough power for us to learn with. I think I could be a pro. 

We stayed out for a good hour before a short break and another hour. It was great fun and I barely noticed the salt water in my eyes. However, the boards had a foam covering so somehow we both ended up with foam burns on our fingers from pushing ourselves up on the boards. This ended our surfing career for the day as it just became rather painful. Instead we dried off at the surf place and ordered some food in their restaurant. We shared some mie goreng (noodles) and a plate of Bala Bala which we little mini fried tasty omelette style things. We chose the chicken Bala Bala as well which added to the yumminess. Probably not the healthiest of lunches but it all tasted nice. 

After lunch we decided to book a bus out of Pangandaran for tomorrow morning. We wanted to get to Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta) which turned out to be a little pricier than we thought so we had to go in search of a cash machine before we could pay. It was cheaper than the train though so we didn't feel too bad. Unfortunately, I think all the heat had got to Matt so he felt a little ill (probably sun stroke). This meant after booking our bus we went back to the hostel for a nap. I didn't complain as I was starting to feel the tiredness that the surfing had caused. 

After a little sleep we both felt rather refreshed and so set out to explore the other side of the town. We'd been told there was a fish market near the opposite beach so we walked quite a way to find it. Without a map we got a little lost and ended up walking round aimlessly for quite a while. We couldn't even figure out which way the beach was and when we asked someone they pointed us in the direction of the beach we'd been at this morning, not the one we were trying to find. It began to get dark so we stopped off at a restaurant that was in our guidebook which we happened to come across. We were the only people in the restaurant but it was still rather lovely. It was family run so there were children playing and giggling at one side (not too loud though) and the lovely lady that I think owned the place made sure our food was perfect. To start I had a banana milkshake (it was quite early so we had a drink first) and then had a plate of delicious chicken satay with rice and a big bowl of cabbage and carrots. It felt like a real meal. I was full after all this but had to try the banana with cheese and honey. The banana had been fried but kept its firmness and the honey tasted amazing. The cheese was odd but cheese is always good so I happily ate it all. 

We played a few card games at the restaurant before walking back in a direction we thought was correct. We ended up walking through a very lively area with people cycling round on these big cars that were covered in neon lights. Rather garish but they looked fun. The town seemed a little dead last night so it was nice to see more people around. Maybe Pangandaran was a little more than just a sleepy surfer town.