When in Indonesia, do as the Indonesian's do...

I am driving back from my morning detention with the Indonesian Immigration and Secret Police. All around town festivities and Independence day celebrations continue on. On the left I spot a very large gathering at a Police/Military post. The attraction is two greased telephone poles, each with a prize carousel at the top. Men from two competing villages are trying to reach the top and score the prizes by building a human pyramid. As if having the pole covered in grease was not challenging enough, he poles are set in the middle of a mud pool.

I spent about ten minutes watching and photographing this. Keep in mind I am the only white person in town so I am getting a lot of attention. I watch these guys try and fall, then pick themselves out of the mud, rally and try again, only to fall in a heap of grease, mud covered bodies.

For some reason I got the urge to do this, I actually thought that with my help we could do it!

This was much harder than it looks. First of all you can barely breath because of the body order of your team mates, then you can barely get your footing in the mud, then you get the first guy on your shoulders, his feet are covered in a coarse sand/mud mix that immediately starts to work your skin like 60 grit sandpaper. Now you have to plant your self, wrap your arms around the grease covered pole, like a wrestler going for a single leg take down and hold on, block out the pain in your forearms and shoulders, forget your legs trembling as the third layer of people go up.

Then it happens, a weak link gives out, with out warning, and everyone comes falling down on top of you.

Well by the third go of this, I had the battle going in my mind should a quit or stick it out. I quit, I could not do it! I was sore, my skin was shredding and I was afraid that someone was going to fall on my neck and that might be the end of the day.

Covered in mud and grease I do walk of defeat off the field. I have not quit many things that I have started, but I am pretty sure I made the right decision here!


Now time to find a hose and rinse down. I am out behind the Military Police barracks grimacing in pain as I rinse the ground in sand out of my shoulders and clean off all of the mud.

Walking out of the office door next to me strolls the same Secret Police guy that grabbed me in the morning. Both with complete suprise, I look at him, he looks at me...and we both just start shaking our heads and laughing!