Burninating the Oceanside

So the blog is still retroactive. Pretend it’s a month ago………

Bad news. Time to get on a boat again. We were booked, not for a 3 hour tour, but for a 3 day tour. It promised to show us several islands and the famed home of the Komodo dragons whilst carrying us to more-Eastern Indonesia.

Pics of Boat Tour and DRAGONS!!!

We booked with Perama, which is an Indonesian tour company, but also sort of like a summer camp. I’ll try to explain. We first bussed across the Island of Lombok to see the great things Perama was doing for the community. The first small town was our rock star tour stop. As soon as we get off the bus, there is a small marching band (all playing gongs, drums, and chime-type things) decked out in Perama T-shirts. We then are then marched along in a parade (in our honor) to the center of the village. As the band plays us along, every child in a 5 mile radius starts filing out of doors, windows, and the air to see the parading whities.

We crowd into a courtyard to see “traditional dance.” I think there was some dancing, but I don’t remember it. Because then this little guy walked out with a wooden shield and stick. So did another guy. A third man, a referee of sorts blew a whistle and put some money down on the ground. I figured I was a millionaire, so I did the same, as did the other whities. Soon the ground was full of cash, one stick guy was praying, and I realized they were not fucking around. They proceeded to beat the shit out each other for three rounds. I don’t know where that money actually went, but I do know boxing seems like a boring sport now.

Then we got on a little ship. The first night Jen and I decide to sleep up-top under the stars while we traveled. Worst idea ever. We nearly got swept out to sea. Only the gods of friction and gravity saved us. The best part of the boat trip was that the boat crew performed awesome dances at night and in the mornings. “The Perama Dance” consisted of captains, cooks, cabin boys, etc, doing a serious multi-version rendition of the electric slide. The next morning we were lined up on the beach and led in musically accompanied stretching exercises. It was awesome.

We soon arrived at Komodo Island. Unhappily, we were told that the dragons were mating, so we might not see one. I figured though, since there are 7 males for every one female, some dragon guy must not be getting lucky. This proved correct as we saw two massive guy dragons ambling around. How do I know they were guys? Because their names were Trogdor. Both of them. They were awesome. No worries about safety though. The most dangerous things were the souvenir salesman at the dock. One poor guy showed interest in buying a wooden dragon, and the salesmen went into an orgiastic frenzy I hope never to see the likes of again.

Soon the real danger would begin….