Going to the Market and the countryside

 Not quite the view that one is accustomed to when you go to the market. But you learn to just keep on walking.  Getting to the market early so that the produce is still fresh...and the garbage on the left isn't too rank...yet...but we could still get some aroma, walk faster, Elder Lisk! And no, the garbage men are not on strike, later in the day the people will come with empty carts, go through the rot manually and it's finders keepers, they'll have their carts full of goodies to resell later. We have heard that in some cases garbage could be looked through 4 and 5 times.

 Everywhere we go there is always time to stop and watch the children. Note the man behind the kids, he is actually pedaling that allows them to move up and down on this ride.

There is plenty of banana's to choose from in Indonesia. (Called pisang). Yellow , green, regular size and even some just a couple of inches long.

 

Check out the meat market. A few slabs of something there to my right. Something is also hanging in a plastic bag just above the meat. Business was slow, so note the guy sleeping on the counter just to the side of my shoulder. We had some interesting experiences growing up as a butcher at Horlachers Meats in Logan, but I had never taken a nap on the counter.

 

Mangos, watermelons, kiwi, dragon fruit ( the pink colored fruit, has scales like an outer shell, hence the name). Papaya, pears, cantaloupe and several other fruits and many vegetables. This market is 5 minutes from our home. A nice stop on a Saturday morning. We even get a chance to barter. One of Lonnie's favorite past times.

Its the water that is often the source of some of the more difficult smells. Sanitation is one of the major concerns in Indonesia. It is a beautiful place with beautiful flowers and trees. And why not with an average temperature in the high 80's to mid 90's and almost 90% humidity year round. Hopefully someday the waterways in the cities will be cleaned.

 

We finally had the opportunity to leave the city for a couple days and go to a city about 2 1/2 hours away called Bandung. Most of these next several photos are pictures of the countryside from Jakarta to Bandung. 

                                         The terraces are rice fields cut out of the hillsides. Much like what we saw in China and I'm sure pretty typical throughout southeast Asia.

 Rice ( called beras when uncooked, nasi when cooked) is the staple food eaten here. Rice for breakfast, rice for lunch and rice for dinner. Rice desserts, even rice drinks. Primarily fried, sometimes boiled.....we have never seen it baked, except at our house.

 

 

 

 

 It may be hot and humid, but this is the result. Everywhere you look it is green and lush. We look forward to an opportunity in the future to get out into these areas and get a closer look. I'm sure there will be all sorts of critters to behold in those hills????