field trip!

Last week, we took a trip to the nearest town, a 4 hour drive northeast to the eastern shore of Indonesian Borneo. We were looking to see what village life was like for the people in that town. Though we're not planning to work up in that area, we accompanied some friends who may work up there. We even got in an afternoon at the beach!

A typical house along the side of the one main road that leads from our town to the next town up.

This photo is taken from our moving vehicle (we took a car up - not our motorbike). This little body of water is part of an elaborate gutter system that blends into the larger rivers, then eventually dumps out to sea. The people in this area make their livelihood on these waterways, fishing in them, traveling on them, bathing in them, etc.

Getting closer to the sea, the boats get bigger and more seaworthy.

Ah, the shore! This little grove of coconut trees lines the shore in one area. We stopped to take a break and get our feet wet.

It was deserted - therefore it was as restful and peaceful as it looks in the photo.

This little village makes its living off the people who come to swim and play in the water by their shore.

At our destination, there are a few hills (which is a nice change for us... our town is at sea level - the highest point in town is at the airport - elevation: 10ft). We got a chance to get to the top of one particularly tall one, and had a chance to see the outlying areas from up high. Beautiful. Also, The Two Year Old had fun on an old swing.

Check out those mini island/mountains in the background of the above photo.

Though it will not be a big deal to you, dear reader, the landscaping on this slope is a major deal to us here. We've not seen professional landscaping of any kind in over a year and a half. We were totally impressed with how well-kept this cliff overlook area was. They had even built real gazebos! That weren't falling apart!

Our friend, Pak Patrick shows Nadia some of the reefs, boats, shores and islands visible from our perch on the cliffs. She was impressed. Even for a two year old. Then again, she's impressed with everything P. Patrick says. :0)

An afternoon at the beach, watching some local boys play and splash after a long day's work.

She calls this the "tubie" :0)

Bobbing along and trying to cool off in the South China Sea. The water was as warm as bathwater. It was possible to bathe and keep sweating. But still so fun.

Say what?

Here's your token Svobodas-at-the-beach-in-their-bathing-suits photo. Didn't want to let you down. (That hill in the background is the one, on the peak of which, we took the photos above).

The end of a day of travel and exploration for us. The end of a long day of work for these folks. A beautiful sunset tucked us in for the night.

At 5:30 the next morning, the motel we stayed at had an amazingly loud, techno-music, public wake-up call. We're not sure how normal that was, but we were pretty groggy. Anyway, we ate our breakfast of complimentary fried rice, deep fried eggs, and very sweet black coffee, and were on the beach by 7am. Since the sun is up right at 5am here, the sun was already super bright and strong as we played a bit more on the beach before another day of survey and exploration. I like the above photo, even though it's very washed out, because it feels as bright and hot as it really was the moment Phil took it.

Nadia and I take a little morning walk along the shore in peace and quiet. We learned a good deal, and even managed to have fun on our field trip. We've got 3 more planned for this upcoming month, so keep your eyes peeled for more posts about our travels.