Independence Day celebrations last the entire weekend and different neighborhoods, or kampung as they are called, hold celebrations throughout the weekend. Celebrations mainly focus on the children of the kampung, but as we found out the woman are also big participants in all the events, with the exception only of the greased coconut tree climbing. Yes, you read that right. Teams of men climb a greased coconut tree, although since these are city folk, it is more like a greased pole and instead of coconuts at the top, there are prizes that include bikes, money, woks, spatulas and much, much more.
We did not join in the climbing fun, although the men were tempted, but we did each participate in the “rice sack race”, the “marble in the spoon” race and the ever popular tie a chili around your waist and try to get it into the bottle competition. Mel and I had no chance in that one – those women have been squatting with much more expertise for years. We also had the chance to watch the Bengkulu official town celebrations where we saw some excellent performances from the local marching bands.
Other than Independence Day celebrations, we also rented a car in search for the Raffelasia – the world’s largest flower. Our book said it blooms between August and November and that we were in the right part of the country to see it, despite its being rare and hard to find. Well, depending who you ask, it bloomed last week, it is blooming next week or you will never find it no matter how hard you look, we found it. Shockingly easily, at that. In fact not minutes after the driver told us we should give up hope, he pulled over to a sign that said “Welcome Miss Universe” and said, “Would you like to see raffelasia?” Um, yeah…after about 10 steps into the jungle with about 5 Indonesians following us and clicking their camera phones, there it was. And it was still in bloom! Even with the hype, it was pretty impressive and quite a large flower. Clearly not at it’s peak of beauty, but still pretty cool. As we had taken a car and driver on the search and it went much faster than expected, we took full advantage and headed further from “town” to some hot springs for some real relaxation.
Our last day in town we hit the local traditional market, the fort, and the beach before heading back to Jakarta. It was a really nice weekend and if you ever meet anyone from Bengkulu, ask to see the pictures on their camera, chances are we are in them.
We too went a little picture crazy and there is a nice sampling in the web album. Howie will soon post a video montage of our adventures as well. http://picasaweb.google.com/howieandhaviva/IndependenceDayInBengkulu
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