Sightseeing and bike maintenance
21 Dec
Drive out north vaguely towards Merapi volcano but its hidden in the heat haze as usual. Never mind, with the sun just risen I have a good guide to my direction and am confident of finding my way on a circular route back to the village. The roads vary from concrete to bare earth but with the rainy season barely started there’s no problem with mud or puddles as yet. Many attractive villages sheltering in their wooded gardens and set in a flat landscape of bright green paddy fields with a backdrop of woodlands and distant mountains. One village seems to be devoted entirely to brick and tile manufacture with every other house having a smoking kiln the same size as itself and with a stack of materials for sale at the roadside. I find myself eventually on the main Godean road with all its traffic but I don’t need to cross the road fortunately and cope ok. Pass the Honda service station but it’s not open yet (I have that dodgy fuel pipe which needs replacing) and so back to the village.
Priyo agrees to go with me in the afternoon to the service station to explain the work I want doing, and hopefully help negotiate a price but in the meantime with a power cut switching off my fan I retire to bed and sleep for a couple of hours. Salad lunch, still no electricity and I must go food shopping soon. Chat with T.O., Priyo and others before going of to the bike garage. Not a good start, the depot says it hasn’t got a new fuel line but can do me a service. I ask where can we get it and are given a name, a few kilometres down the road. We get there, Priyo recognising it and find, behind a scruffy front, a smart clean service station happy to help with no waiting. Three mechanics and one hour including the new fuel pipe, repair to the gear indicator light and replacing the faulty spark plug lead that I had forgotten to tell them about. The bike virtually dismantled, cleaned and re-assembled in front of our eyes – I love work, could watch it for hours as someone said! All this, and an oil change too for £3-80 so I was still rich enough to fork out for five litres of petrol (£1.50) on the way home.
Power comes back on when we return but only briefly before going down again as a tropical rainstorm, thunder and lightning envelope us as we sit around the office talking and admiring the intruding firefly – so bight you wonder how it gets the energy for such a display!
Drive out north vaguely towards Merapi volcano but its hidden in the heat haze as usual. Never mind, with the sun just risen I have a good guide to my direction and am confident of finding my way on a circular route back to the village. The roads vary from concrete to bare earth but with the rainy season barely started there’s no problem with mud or puddles as yet. Many attractive villages sheltering in their wooded gardens and set in a flat landscape of bright green paddy fields with a backdrop of woodlands and distant mountains. One village seems to be devoted entirely to brick and tile manufacture with every other house having a smoking kiln the same size as itself and with a stack of materials for sale at the roadside. I find myself eventually on the main Godean road with all its traffic but I don’t need to cross the road fortunately and cope ok. Pass the Honda service station but it’s not open yet (I have that dodgy fuel pipe which needs replacing) and so back to the village.
Priyo agrees to go with me in the afternoon to the service station to explain the work I want doing, and hopefully help negotiate a price but in the meantime with a power cut switching off my fan I retire to bed and sleep for a couple of hours. Salad lunch, still no electricity and I must go food shopping soon. Chat with T.O., Priyo and others before going of to the bike garage. Not a good start, the depot says it hasn’t got a new fuel line but can do me a service. I ask where can we get it and are given a name, a few kilometres down the road. We get there, Priyo recognising it and find, behind a scruffy front, a smart clean service station happy to help with no waiting. Three mechanics and one hour including the new fuel pipe, repair to the gear indicator light and replacing the faulty spark plug lead that I had forgotten to tell them about. The bike virtually dismantled, cleaned and re-assembled in front of our eyes – I love work, could watch it for hours as someone said! All this, and an oil change too for £3-80 so I was still rich enough to fork out for five litres of petrol (£1.50) on the way home.
Power comes back on when we return but only briefly before going down again as a tropical rainstorm, thunder and lightning envelope us as we sit around the office talking and admiring the intruding firefly – so bight you wonder how it gets the energy for such a display!
posted by bairuide | 6:26 am
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