Indonesia, Java - Two Islands In Two Months; Three In A Third?

"It's not impossible. Nothing is impossible - only improbable," is one of those iconic phrases that is eager to become permanently imprinted onto a young child's mind, ready to be simultaneously pondered over internally and externally requoted with perfect conviction at just those right moments in conversation, despite the disadvantage of misremembering where exactly the phrase was first heard or from whom.

Well it's certainly not impossible. What's more unlikely is the possibility of me now continually adding blog entries, for as we cross the body of water that separates the island of Java from the very large and impressive island of Sumatra (6th largest in the World, about the length of California) I get a text from my Indonesian brother: "Bad news bro. You've left your phone charger."

Dammit. Ok, not the end if the World, though it can easily sometimes feel that way. You know what I mean; when you forget your phone at home, or misplace it, or leave it on a tropical island which happens to be slowly moving away from you, taunting my mistake with slow satisfying enjoyment. Dammit.

So as my last droplets of battery life are consumed, I'll tell you that this next island will be a challenge. Thickly forested with palm trees that block out the sun, narrow partly finished roads, and basically nothing to link the towns together except the physical exertion of riding under an equatorial sun for hours and hours during an accompanying psychological exam of solitude. And the indigenous gorilla units who plunder cargo trucks. At least that's what they tell us.

All that aside, I'm stoked. No, really! Sumatra is supposed to, for all it's underdevelopment, be home to ultimate natural sceneries (and mountains that have been described as "monstrous"). We'll see. We've extended our visas another month to take in as much as we can. But with my phone charger stuck in Jakarta my camera is useless. You'll just have to take my word for things until I wrestle some pics away from Chris and Steve.

Miss you all,
-Andres