I was told by some local about a scenic waterfall lying next to a picturesque viewpoint located in the far north of the island, around 100 km away. He went on saying that I would be the dumbest man alive if I’d miss the chance to see that natural wonder. So I rented a scooter and set the navigation for that intriguing point.
Everything went well until somewhere midway the lousy GPS brought me into some wild-looking, dusty village that didn’t have any signs or concrete. It looked so deserted that it didn’t even seem to have a name. It really had a wild west appearance. However, it was rather East. At some point I saw some guy around my age who looked at me like I was from Mars or something. I couldn’t blame him. I was probably the first foreigner to ever set foot in that nameless, God-forsaken village.
“I think you lost, man.” He told me in his broken English.
“I think so too.” I said.
“Where you go?”
“Up North to the big waterfall.”
“The waterfall?? Hmm… Yes yes yes, I know the waterfall! You need go main road. Go right on the first road there. Then go left and drive. You will be on big road. Go right there.”
“Oh man, thanks a lot. I’ll just be on my way then. Nice to see you, dude.”
“WAIT!” He yelled right when I started driving.
“What?”
“Want have drink? You and me? Drink?” He gesticulated the act of drinking.
I thought about his offer for a little bit. It was still pretty early so why not.
“Well… sure! Where?”
“My place close. Very close. I show you.”
“Ok, show me.”
He got on the back of my scooter, and we drove a little bit on the dusty roads. After around 2 turns, we were there. He had a pretty respectable residence. It wasn’t big, yet it had style. It didn’t really fit with its desolated surroundings. We both sat cross-legged on this rug in the middle of this room under a ceiling fan. His parents greeted us. Then this really young girl showed up. Her age was probably around 16 or 17, judging by the looks. She was pretty shy and didn’t say much. She only smiled at our sight before walking into a different room.
“That my sister. She beautiful, right?” The guy said.
“Indeed. You have a beautiful sister.” I really meant it. She had some really pleasant features.
“What do you want drink?”
“Whatever you got, buddy.”
“Ok. Wait me one minute.”
He walked away and returned with two beers. He asked me about what my deal was in Indonesia and that island in particular. I told him everything that had happened. Jakarta, the slum, Bali, the paradise island, the other island with turtles and the Ohio man, and then the current one. He liked the story. He got me another beer. And then another one. I still wanted to drive, so I stopped drinking once I began feeling tipsy.
“Ok buddy. I really need to go. The waterfall is waiting.” I told him.
“Wait. Don’t go. You need talk to my sister more.” He began acting strange. His tone was a bit eerie.
“There’s no time, man.”
“You don’t want talk to my sister??” He was getting slightly irritated. I couldn’t really understand what was wrong with him all of a sudden.
“I’d like to but there’s no time. I don’t want to miss the waterfall.”
“But you say you like her. You say she beautiful!”
“Come on, man.”
“Stay here. I call my sister.” And he left the room for a bit.
That whole encounter had just become really uncanny. What the hell did that guy want from me? Marry his sister? I didn’t want to know. And I would never know because the moment he was out of sight, I took my chance and fled. I immediately ran out of the house as fast as I could, hopped on the scooter parked outside the gate, and drove away like the wind. For some reason I got lucky and quickly found myself on the main road again, leaving that dusty village behind.
The rest of that small voyage had no detours. At some point, while going through some mountain road, there were a bunch of monkeys, and I had to do my best not to run over any of them. That way, I would avoid the wrath of their little community. Getting jumped by those primates while driving a scooter was no fun business.
ALAS! THE ASTONISHMENT BEFORE MY EYES. I finally found myself at the waterfall. What a fine sight to see. The whole road, including the weird dusty village encounter, was all worth it. Only God knows how long I have been staring at that humongous waterfall. Later on, I took a hike that would lead me up to the view point that had also been mentioned by the local who had triggered that whole little adventure. Once I had reached that spot, I recalled the local’s words, and he was right. I would’ve been a damn fool if I’d come all that way to that island and miss that spot.
The landscape up there was something to remember, being proportionate to the arduous, rocky climbing, which almost made me slip and join the lofty heavens a few times. On the trail’s top, I could discern rice fields put together like colored patches on a garment, crusty mountains in the distance, scratching the bright sky with their dark tops, and a windy river making its way through the gorge beneath. Far ahead, beyond all the mountain tips, the island’s central volcano could be seen sending its smokes as to give a token to the ancestors who had roamed the island for over a thousand generations.
Sitting with that frame cast ahead, I felt like I was winning. It made no difference what side I was on, as long as that piece of tropical heaven was on my retina. Only a few months had passed since my moment of leaving college. This thought triggered my recollections of all that had been going on since that day. The whole process engulfed me in pride and satisfaction, the sole reason being that all those peculiar episodes that followed had been done my way. I hadn’t asked my parents for a dime during all that time, and everything had been earned due to my own effort and cunning will. For the first time in my life, I was in charge. I owed allegiance to none other than myself.
Copyright © 2025 by Andy Vansen
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Illustrations by Andy Vansen