Leaving Indonesia...

While in Bali, i got talking to a local restaurant manager and found out that the average Indonesian salary for a non-professional job (like his) was between 500,000 to 1,000,000 IDR a month (i.e. between £36 - £74 a month, around £2.50 a day). Because of inflation, his monthly salary would cover rent and food for his wife and kids for only 2 - 3 weeks. After this, they would have to supplement their income some other way...then when they retired, there was no pension, so he wasn't sure what they would do.. this is why, absolutely everyone there tries to make money from you in some form or another..by selling tours (which he did to his guests) or by hiring scooters etc, etc.

I felt like i was finally beginning to understand Indonesia and its people just as i was leaving...i began to understand that bartering and trying to make money was just part of life here and lying (in order to try to make money) was also considered 'acceptable'. However, i never once heard anyone raise their voice and bartering can always be done with a smile...

I will miss the 'Hello brudda, where you from ?' lines and the easy going ways of the Indonesian people...


I'm back in Sri Lanka now for the next month and will start blogging again in early April when i leave for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam...