It is crazy times we are currently living in!
The Covid pandemic that has spread around the world recently has spread really fast! With the few new variants of this virus emerging in different countries is also a very scary thought and it is just causing more mayhem along the way.
I still cannot understand that people will protest in mass gatherings knowing that this virus is pretty contagious. Following some news recently regarding Indonesia, I could not believe what I was reading.
There has been a small group of students out there who now insist that President Jokowi should step down as President as it seems he has caused “damage” to the country for allowing the virus to spread and become so rampant in this country. The intentions also seemed to be to disrupt the economy by protesting and attempt to show the president in a bad light. Oh my word!! Silly people, very silly! The students refer to it as “Jokowi End Game”. The only end games I see in sight are these students getting arrested and being put in jail. #goblok
What people fail to see is that this pandemic and spread of the virus is not isolated to just one country.
While browsing various news sites, I read about how people, during lebaran, even though they were told to stay indoors (by the government) decided it was a good idea to continue to visit their families all over the countryside. Many of these people would evade roadblocks and police by bypassing these roadblocks be it through alternate roads or through the forests and so the virus spread.
Now how on earth can you blame a President of a country for mistakes made by citizens who are not willing to listen to their government? Yes, I understand that Lebaran is one of the only times in the year when families can be together, but these actions of certain citizens jeopardizing the rest of their fellow citizens is just crazy… Gila! Goblok!
Protect yourself and protect your fellow citizens! This is the only way to reduce the spread of this virus.
I really do not want to spend time talking about politics, but would rather share my views on this beautiful country. Merah Putih.
While touring Indonesia I met some really great friends and various people from different walks of life an other parts of the planet too. One thing that I really enjoyed was the hospitality and friendliness of these people. People who do not even know you would invite you for a Kopi or meal. This is something I have not really experienced in other countries.
One of the friendliest islands I ever visited was the Gili Islands.
The Gili Islands situated just to the North East of Bali is another “hidden Gem”. While exploring here, I met Pandu. What a great guy! He helped me out with some translations during my visit and helped me with accommodation and showed me around the islands.
I found everyone on these islands to be almost from another world. I have yet to experience such hospitality even in my own country. Yes, you do find this kind of hospitality around the world, but the trip to Gili Islands was very different from the normal exploring I had done in this area.
My adventure started on Gili Air and from here I island hopped to Gili Meno and lastly jumped over to Gili Trawangan. It is pretty easy getting from one island to the other via boat.
Whilst on Gili Meno, Pandu came over from Gili Air and took me on a fantastic adventure on a (glass bottom) boat. We went to explore some diving sites where I saw many turtles and even a sea snake, something I had never seen. It was really exciting.
I made it a standard that every morning and every evening I would walk around the island. The views on these islands at different times of the day were quite amazing. Seeing the different sides of the island in different light was really something.
One thing that really stood out about these islands was that there were no forms of “fossil fuel” transport. No cars and no motorbikes. It is either a horse and carriage or you had to walk. I did spot an electric scooter on one of the islands.
More to follow on the Gili Islands soon!
