Stranded in Sumatra

Always follow your gut and speak your mind; your life depends on it.

Perfect waves, no crowds, sandy beaches, BBQs, beautiful countryside, and camping. This was the image I was give when offered to travel to Sumatra, Indonesia. Sounds too good to be true, trust me it is. I might have gotten some cool pictures from this trip which portray a state of happiness and contentment, but today I am going to share a the behind the scenes story of how my week in Sumatra really went down.

Disclaimer: the names of the people in this story have been changed to protect myself and those individuals, but all of the events are true based on my own perspective.

Sunset Bali, Indonesia

It all started in west coast of Bali, Indonesia where I was partaking in a surf camp. The staff was warm and inviting and all of the guides seemed very experienced and knowledgeable about surfing. Luis, one of the surf guides told me that next week him and some of his friends were going to Sumatra for a surf trip. I was instantly interested as he explained how they were going to camp out, have BBQs, and surf all day. To my surprise, right then and there he invited me to join them. I couldn’t believe it, it sounded too good to be true.

Within the next couple days he took me to buy a new surfboard to bring with me to Sumatra. As we weaved our way through Denpasar traffic, he said something that made my stomach turn.

“Gail, I decided to charge you 5,000,000 IDR (roughly $345 USD) for the whole trip. That’s for the BBQ, guiding, transportation, and for other camping equipment,” Luis yelled over his shoulder as I clenched my hands onto the back rails of the motorbike. It was until that moment that I started to get an uneasy feeling about the Sumatra surf trip. He wasn’t inviting me to come surf and camp with his friend, he was selling me a guided surf package. Deep down I had an uneasy feeling about the whole trip, but I had invested so much money switching flights in order to go. I felt obligated to go due to my financial decisions.

Finally the day we would fly to Sumatra came. The trip to Sumatra was the worst flying experience I had ever had. What could have been a three to four hour trip to Sumatra dragged out to 12 hours of travel and layovers. We spent a cold and uncomfortable night in the Jakarta airport and arrived sleep deprived and starving in Bengkulu.

Bengkulu was a small beach town in Sumatra who hasn’t seen many tourists. Bengkulu was like no town I had ever seen before in my life. The streets were ill paved with tiny colorful warungs and houses lining the side of the road. After we stopped to grab some food at a local place called Garasi we head to the motel. It was underwhelming to say the least. At this time Luis informed me that I be paying to share a room with the other tourist who had come on the trip. I was pissed to say the least, but I didn’t what to create tension and confrontation. Instead I made a sassy comment and rolled my eyes while handing over the money.

Cafe Garasi, Bengkulu

Luis and his friend Chase helped us unload our bags into the small windowless motel room and left. He had promised to pick us up later to check the surf and get dinner later in the day. During this time I learned that the other tourist I was sharing the room with, Jake, had paid Luis twice as much as I did in order to plan this trip to Sumatra. This is the moment I realized we had both been scammed. Despite how I felt and the advice my friend gave me over the phone to leave, I decided to stay and follow through with the plan out of fear of “stepping on people’s toes” and having confrontation. This would be the worst decision I made in this trip.

For the rest of the week I was left at the motel numerous times for hours with no means of transportation, sleep deprived, called racist names, stranded at a beach without food or water, stared at by creepy men while stranded on the beach, and hagged about money for every meal and night's accommodation. Through all of this I didn’t stand up for myself or express my feelings, until almost the last day.

Beaches in Bengkulu

We were in Kaur about to drive Kauri and it was two days before my morning flight to the Philippines. All of the emotions of fear, anger, betrayal, and anxiety exploded out of me and into Luis’s face. Words started to pour out of my mouth uncontrollably. He stood there shocked and unsure what to do or say as I yelled at him. I was on the verge of tears but held them in as I let emotions flow through my words.

Sunset Session Bengkulu

It was at that moment I decided to always express my opinion and emotions and not brush them under the carpet in fear of causing waves. There is a reason why we have these kind of feelings. They protect us and warn us of dangerous situations and people. I had always suppressed these thoughts and gut feelings so I wouldn’t create problems. Choosing to not speaking up and express yourself doesn’t prevent problems, it makes them worse.

Despite all of the terrible situations I endured on this trip, I am very happy and thankful for the experience. It taught me a lot about myself, others, and how to stand up for myself. I also learned that sometimes it's worth paying more more to get out of bad situations. Money isn’t everything, your safety and well-being is more important than a couple hundred dollars. Always follow your gut and speak your mind; your life depends on it.