Our bus ride to the next island, Sumatra, was totally grueling. We were on that bus for 3 days and 2 nights!

We were heading halfway up Sumatra (the largest island in Indonesia, maybe the largest in the world) to the province of Western Sumatra. We had to hurry since our visas were running out---(2 months is all you get in Indo, although a lot of people just exit the country then come right back in). The bus was packed and rain dripped in on us. The worst part was that they would blast Muslim preachers on the stereo for hours at a time, so loud that it was painfully distorted, so loud that we couldn't have a conversation with each other.

We were the only tourists on the bus so I was surprised when it stopped at a restaurant during the day, since everyone else was fasting for Ramadhan. Everybody just stared at us as we ate. Not a soul spoke English, and we hadn't made a great deal of progress with our Bahasa Indonesia. We tasted our first Padang food--a cuisine that originated in Western Sumatra but has spread all over Indonesia. I wish you could find this delicious food in the States. Everyone gets a bowl of rice, and then there are about 10 dishes in the middle of the table. Each dish, either vegetable or lamb of chicken, has its own unique blend of flavors. You takes morsels of whatever you like, and you pay according to how much you eat.