Day 28: Of Virgins and Mermaids (and also of No-Longer-Virgins)

27.07.2016

Actually, we thought we would fly to Medan quite early today, but a quick check once again turns our whole day upside down. It turns out that we have to leave for the airport at 4 pm. All this flying, there will probably be fourteen flights on this trip in total, makes you quite careless.

Anyway, it doesn't matter, at least we can still go to the market and Gudi can buy the €5 shirt that she didn't want to spend money on yesterday. Resourceful as she is, she uses her network again and contacts a local friend, whom she also knows from her time in Wales. These Welsh students really multiply like rabbits. Anyway, it seems that Gudi's stinginess is reaching a new level of ruthlessness, as she actually wants to get local help in haggling for a €5 shirt. In the end, everything turns out differently.

Aainaa, a Muslim Kuala Lumpian, has time and is excited to drive us around in her car. She even brought a friend, and together they discover the role of tour guides for themselves. So they show us everything on this day - except for the market, which is why Gudi has to do without her shirt and can't impoverish the seller. Instead, we drive to a cheap local restaurant in an air-conditioned vehicle, where only locals are and Gudi can get to know and love the taste of her own fingers in the food. She is not so clumsy in her motor skills, and the two Malaysian girls really excel as excellent teachers, if they are not rolling on the floor laughing. For me, it means enjoying the overwhelming taste explosion of Mie Blanco on this day (Mie Blanco doesn't really exist, I mixed a Spanish and an Indonesian word together to jazz up the dish of white rice a bit, as I happen to know both words by chance).

Later, the gracefulness, if I may say so (actually, I'm hardly allowed to say or do anything, but more about that later), takes us to the Batu Caves that we shamefully scorned the day before. Actually, it's quite a nice complex. The caves are overcrowded, dirty, and not very exciting compared to what Austrians know, but the first adjectives seem to apply to many Asian sights. However, the huge golden Hindu statue and the numerous steps to the temple are relatively entertaining and, above all, adrenaline-inducing due to the constant tension of being attacked by monkeys. When we get down, Gudi decides to celebrate the fact that she wasn't stolen from with a henna tattoo. It's scribbled on her hand in 10 minutes and looks amazingly good - at least initially.

On this day, we continue and dare to enter a mosque. It's much easier with a local, although the prayer houses are generally accessible, we naturally feel more comfortable when we have someone to look after us. The mosque is quite interesting, the girls have to walk around, veiled and quite covered up, unless they already are. I only need to cover my shoulders, but since I don't have anything with me, the mosque lends me a robe in which I look like I'm celebrating my graduation. While the girls go into the female prayer rooms, I have to wait outside, which gives me time to study the Quran in German translation. Maybe we ended up in a more touristy mosque than we thought. In vain, I search for the part about the virgins. Instead, I discover that the whole mosque is equipped with free WiFi. I find this quite amusing, as this would probably not be possible in churches and doesn't really fit with the strict behavior, dress style, and prayer ritual of Muslims. Somehow, my phone cannot log in, so I suspect a Christian filter.

In the late afternoon, we give in to the selfie obsession of the Asian girls before we can enjoy their free airport shuttle. After a long farewell ceremony, we go our separate ways and take our flight to Medan. This is probably the shortest flight I have ever had and lasts less than half an hour.

Upon arrival in Medan, we expect a small provincial airport, but are surprised by a large, visitor-friendly complex. Since we plan to spend the night at the airport, we first look for certain cornerstones to guarantee a pleasant airport stay. Surprisingly, the staff at the information desk turn out to be friendly and willingly show us sleeping benches and the like. There is also a very cheap supermarket where we can stock up on supplies.

Only now do we decide what we actually want to do next. After much consideration of alternatives and much hesitation, we are heading to Nias tomorrow at 6 am, a small island west of Sumatra where I suspect mermaids and want to go surfing - preferably with the latter.

Once this decision is made, Gudi starts to familiarize herself with the island a bit, while I take a seat in my laybag (a portable, giant air lounger/air mattress) and think a little about the third anniversary of my father's death.

Gudi's Glorious Laws

Matthias, never touch a Muslim woman - and especially don't make jokes in the style you usually do.

This rule stems from the fact that Gudi briefs me shortly before the Muslim women arrive and explains to me not to touch them (and actually not even herself). So I'm not even allowed to shake hands, let alone give a farewell hug. This is especially difficult for me, as I even receive a farewell gift from dear Aainaa - a Chinese digestive powder. Who knows - the Chinese on Perhentian Island ruined my stomach, maybe they will fix it again.