Two weddings but no funeral!

We were up early and ready to go by 9 am on this, the second day of the Wonderful West Kalimantan Rally. 
We had been invited to another wedding (the one on the previous day we sort of gate crashed). 

Fortunately no funeral though. 

 

It was quite a long drive but this was soon forgotten when we arrived to a great welcome with hoards of people wanting to shake hands and of course, take photos. 

There was even a raucous marching band led by a diminutive but enthusiastic man who certainly made up for his lack of height with the amount of noise he made!



With the band leading we were swept along towards the wedding celebrations. All of a sudden the men in our group were whisked away to meet the males from the bride and bridegroom’s families and the ladies were swept into a house nearby where we sat on the floor (decorated with colourful carpets) and attempted to talk with the female members of the family. 

Despite their English being very limited and our Indonesian almost non existent we managed to chat away quite comfortably. 

After quite a long period of sitting (and taking of photos) trays of food appeared. On each tray were six dishes and the food destined to feed six people – we were told that six is an auspicious number in Islam (hope that wasn’t lost in translation).
The food which was accompanied by rice, included a delicious cucumber and pineapple salad with a real bite of chilli, a bone marrow soup with a slick of semi solidified fat over it, fried chicken, beef liver, some stewed beef (which tasted good), and a small whole fish (hot, hot,hot). 

At first there were no implements to divide the food up with but then a spoon was found which made it easier. Some of us ate in traditional style with our right hands and afterwards a pot of water and a bowl were brought to us to rinse our hands. 

After lunch we were taken to have photos taken with the bride and groom. Like the couple we had met the previous day, the poor things had been standing in all their heavy finery for hours. I felt so sorry for them! The groom spoke quite good English and we had a quick chat about the wedding and the customs that were part of this important day.  

We were then spirited off to another house where both the men and women from the rally sat together and ate some of the fantastically sweet Sambas oranges. More photos were taken until it was time to board the bus once again. 

We were heading next to what we thought was a nearby canework collective but after driving for more than an hour we still hadn’t reached our destination.  

Travelling along on a quiet country road  we were suddenly caught up in an enormous traffic jam. There were motorbikes everywhere! At first we thought it must be a “meet” for bikers but then we saw a poster advertising a music festival. Apparently,  a famous Indonesian band was playing. 

The bus stopped outside the main entrance and we’re not sure but we think there might have been some idea of a photo opportunity with the band. None of us felt we wanted to set foot outside of the bus – the idea of getting surrounded by hyped up, excited young adults did not appeal in the least.  

 

Our lack of enthusiasm must have shown because soon we were on the road again and reached the cane workshop less than an hour later. 

It was fascinating to see how the craftsmen bent the cane by heating it with a blow torch. We all loved the chairs but sadly they were too big to take home so we had to make do with smaller items such as fruit baskets. 

Before leaving we were treated to a variety of wonderful cakes (including straight out of the oven banana cake) and a delicious drink made from the dragon fruit. This gorgeous looking fruit is as colourful inside as out and makes a very refreshing drink. 

We were feeling quite weary by the time we were on our way home to our boats but not too tired to admire the stunning Sambas sunset from the bus.