Hitchhiking in Indonesia: way to Ajibarang
8th of February, 2025.
I’m curious about how hitchhiking will work out in Java. But I have a feeling that it will be better than in Sumatra. Luckily, I’m right!
Abi told me that, this route which I am taking now, a non-toll road, it’s better to get rides, as more cars take this one, rather than the toll, which is more expensive. And he’s right! Not only more cars are coming these way, as it’s a way easier road to hitchhike, looking more like a regular road than an actual highway.
Soon enough a young man called Faisal stops. He is going nearby a small town called Ciamis, which is over 100 km from here. Great! Faisal works with a company in the skin care market and he’s going to visit his family in his village.
Even though hitchhiking works well in Java, I still have to face another obstacle: the roads. Their condition is not bad itself, but the facts that they are super narrow, and always between some villages and tows, make the trips longer than it should.
The next man to stop, takes a lot of time and thinking to decide if he will take me for free or not, but he finally decides to help me. His name is Aiseb, and if at first he was doubtful, after a while he does a lot to make me comfortable. We have coconut water together (one of the biggest coconuts I’ve ever had!), and by the time we get to the intersection where he goes to his home, a quite famous town called Ajibarang, we have a delicious fried rice, prepared by two young man. I love how simple their food stand is, just by the road, and still, and even being so young, they are so agile and good cooks!
By the time I get to this intersection, in Central Java and at Bayamas Province, I decide to ask in a family house for a place for camping. At the very first place, and after only a few minutes of explanation, Adi accepts me in his family home.
Adi and his wife Nur are two very generous and lovely people! As for their two kids too, Nafisya and Javaz. Later on in my trips, that would be even more evident to me. The fact that they simply open the doors of their home, to a completely stranger, without asking me anything apart from the initial and basic information I give to them at first, it’s amazing! Of course, that’s what I think we all should do, but as some people look and act so doubtful regarding me, asking me for my passport and many other information, I must to glorify and highlight Adi’s family attitude. Congratulations!
Immediately, Nur prepares her son’s room for me, telling me I don’t need to camp outside their home. How sweet! She also offers me food (which I kindly refuse as I have just eaten), brings me some fresh water, and some chocolate snacks. She and her daughter Nafisya can understand English but only Adi can speak really well, the reason being because he practices more often than the girls, and that’s what I keep telling Nafisya, as long as they both practice, either with each other or alone, they will improve a lot. Nafisya makes beautiful drawings as she is studying architecture in college, and she’s also a wonderful young lady. Javas, as he arrives later from his karate classes, is also a protege, and has won many medals not only in sports but also in school.
Later on, Nur offers me a delicious ginger milk! How wonderful! And we all have some martabak together, which here they call it cake, but it’s very similar to what I had in Malaysia, in Kedar, but there they call it pancakes. We have two different flavours: chocolate peanuts and chocolate cheese. They are both delicious!
They offer me a fan for the room but I kindly refuse. I do wake up in the middle of the night due to the heat though. Luckily, there’s a small and cute bear fan inside the room, so I use that. What a surprise that I also see a quite big spider just hanging around by the bed, on the floor.
Next morning, I am overwhelmed by the incredible buffet they prepare for breakfast. Check it out the photos! Everything looks amazing and it’s delicious! Nur prepares this amazing omelet pie kind of it, and we also have some traditional Indonesian sweets (little pancakes made out of cassava flour and coconut milk; little green pieces of though, which you have with palm sugar and coconut; soy milk with padan), among many other things. And coffee, of course! And they give me some of the chocolate snacks for the road, which is awesome, as I haven’t had chocolate in a while.
It’s sad saying goodbye to this lovely, so kind and generous family, but I must carry on. Adi gives me a lift to the main road. Soon enough he will also be on the road again, going back to the town where he stays and works for the whole week, in a construction project.
10 Years Around the World 