A former freelance journalist who worked in Jakarta following
the abortive October 1965 communist coup attempt relates his
numerous interesting experiences
Stringing for Time Magazine
Tom Graciano/Indonesia Media
 PART 5
Both Bengkulu and Mana were coastal towns on the Southwestern part of Sumatra . So the damaged dirt road connecting the two towns actually ran along the coast. Going to Mana, on the left-hand side of the road were thickly wooded lands and ravines. On our right there were villagers’ huts with vegetable gardens and papaya groves on the sides and backs of those huts. And beyond the gardens or groves was the coastline that separates Sumatra from the Indian Ocean . We damaged the villagers’ vegetable plants each time we had to get off the unpassable road and swerved onto the high ground of the beach. Effendi gave them money to compensate for the damages.
It was actually a pretty scary drive, but Effendi demonstrated to us from the very beginning of our trip in his Land Rover that he was a very skillful driver and a very creative and resourceful guide. We left Bengkulu at 5 a.m. after a hurried breakfast, stopped over at a village to get a quick lunch at a local coffee shop, and arrived in Mana at about 8 p.m. During the long but exciting journey we had to cross at least half a dozen rivers, if not more, on makeshift rafts. In some of the rivers the currents were pretty strong, making the crossings feel like shooting the rapids except that we had the Land Rover on the rafts.
 I don’t remember if there was any hotel at the time in Mana because Effendi insisted that we stay at his parents’ house. It was of course a very simple accommodation. I think we slept on a mattress laid out on the floor of the living room. We went out for dinner in one of the local restaurants. The following morning we had to go to the river to take a bath because that was the only way to do it. Peter had no problem doing it, so I exercised my strong willpower telling myself, “C’mon, if Peter can do it, being a “bule” (white man), why can’t you do it?” But I didn’t brush my teeth with the river water like Effendi and other members of his family did. I think neither did Peter. I remember each of us asked for a glass of boiled water for that purpose when we got back to the house.
After breakfast the day was filled with interviews with a few government and political leaders lined up by Effendi. He was apparently quite respected and well-connected in Mana, judging from his ability to get the appointments arranged within such a very short notice. The bottom line of the political moves to separate South Bengkulu from its northern neighbor was the desire of the leaders in Mana to get a larger share of the revenue cake. They said that was the only way they could upgrade the dirt road we traveled on and build bridges across the rivers we crossed on rafts the day before, and finance other development projects to improve the living standards of the population. In both Bengkulu and Mana we were told by government and political leaders both sides had amicably reached a consensus on the separation issue. I remember just a few months after our trip to Mana the Jakarta central government decreed to split Bengkulu into two separate provinces – North Bengkulu with Bengkulu as its capital and South Bengkulu with Mana as its seat of provincial administration.
 We stayed one more night in Mana and left at 5 a.m. the following morning for our return trip to Bengkulu. I was asleep during most of the drive back, which was pretty much a repeat of the southward journey we did two days earlier. Going to Mana was excting because we had never been on that kind of a drive in which we had to get off the muddy and slippery road every hour, if not every half hour, run over the villagers’ vegetable gardens and drive almost on the beach with the vast Indian Ocean clearly visible on our right. It was quite a tense sight to see the villagers’ faces showing burning anger as they helplessly watched the destruction of their source of livelihood crushed by our mighty Land Rover. And it was heartening, even amusing, to see those faces turn back into big smiles and grins as they waved their hands to us after Effendi gave them wads of cash.
 We spent the night in Bengkulu and the following morning took a Garuda flight to Lampung, capital of the province with the same name located in the southern tip of the Sumatra island. Effendi took us to the airport and managed to get us two seats on the DC-6 flight. The flight would connect with another Garuda flight from Lampung to Palembang , where we first started our South Sumatra odyssey. It took us only 45 minutes to reach Lampung, and another one hour to get to Palembang from there. We stayed overnight in Palembang as we arrived in the evening. The following morning we flew on a small 10-seater Twin Otter aircraft operated by Merpati (the domestic airline) from Palembang to Pangkalpinang, capital of the Bangka-Belitung province located on the island of Bangka , east of Sumatra .
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