Bouncing into Banjarmasin

I literally bounced into Banjarmasin--to know how, keep reading to learn about my worst airline experience of all time.

So, Bromo was worth it, even though you saw tourists at their worst: pushing and shoving to get the best spot for photos, etc. There were actually Indonesian tourists there as well--something you don't often think about--people in lesser developed countries visiting their own tourist sites. In fact, the most crowded time to go see UNESCO World Heritage sites Borobodur and Prambanan in Yogya is when Indonesia has a school holiday.

Got back down to Probolingo in plenty of time, and walked the block to the bus station to get to Surabaya. As expected, I got the usual hooting and hollering from the various touts. The first guy to do it shouted "Bromo, Bromo," to which I responded "Surabaya, Surabaya" and the guy actually started laughing. From then on I just said random answers to touts asking me where I was going--"New York" for example.

And that's when I outsmarted the scammer. I asked the police officer "air con, Surabaya?" and he directed me to the same office that "helped" me the previous day. This time, there was a different guy working the desk, and so when I asked him about the price, he told me 50,000 for two by two seating and air con. I called him out on his bs and told him I had boarded a nonstop, air con bus with 2x2 seating from Surabaya that cost me 20,000. He then says, "oh, that is a different company." He continued to try to "upgrade me" to the 50,000 bus, but I wasn't buying it, so he told me to wait for him. I waited for about five minutes before I realized that this was the same spiel that the other guy had done. So, I just started walking towards the bus parking lot, and stopped by another information desk with a lady who was actually helpful and told me just to keep walking and to not speak to anyone, and that the first bus in line is the one I want. I walk to the bus in question, get on and it was 2x2 with air con and going nonstop to Surabaya. I ended up paying 25,000 for the ticket, but that didn't bother me as the Indonesians around me were paying the exact same amount.

The guy at the travel agency in Yogya recommended that I book my flight out of Surabaya to Banjarmasin after 4:00. Well, this time, after my bus got into Surabaya at noon, I got to the airport at 1230pm. My flight wasn't departing until 630pm. I would have tried to change flights, but I was actually getting a non-taxi airport pickup, and there were no internet terminals in the Surabaya airport. So, I was basically stuck there, and twiddled my thumbs for a bit, since I had my bag, and really couldn't get into the city to explore. I did make reservations for returning, but those may be about to change, so they might as well be worthless.

If I had had access to the internet, I would have changed flights and probably avoided my worst airline experience of all time.

I was flying Lion Air. I was trying to avoid them, but there wasn't another option from Surabaya to Banjarmasin after 4pm, and the daily flight to Banjarmasin on the airline I wanted to fly, Mandala, doesn't leave until 345pm, which meant wasting a day in Surabaya.

I am finally able to get out of the large roofed outdoor arcade that comprises Surabaya's waiting area (actually kind of nice, to be honest)--unlike European and North American airports, in Indonesia, you have to go through security and be ticketed just to get to the baggage check in counters, so much of the waiting with friends and family is done pre-security.

Check in for my flight opens, and I head to the desk. I am one of the first ones there, but am forced to wait for a good 15 minutes to get processed. Why? Because the guy at the head of line, two people in front of me, was literally checking six trolleys worth of baggage--for one person. I watched them weigh the bags, and by the time they were finished, this one guy was checking about 250 kg (over 500 pounds) worth of items in something like 30 different suitcases or boxes. This is not an isolated incident--Indonesians tend to carry a lot of stuff when they travel, and they make Americans look like light packers in comparison.

That was my first clue that I wasn't going to be flying your typical run of the mill airline. Lion Air flies boeings, but it might as well be an air bus, since the inflight and preflight experience is pretty similar--crowded and chaotic. I check my bag, and have about 2.5 more hours to wait, some of which is spent being admired by several little kids shocked to see a white guy in Indonesia.

The one adage that tends to hold true in Indonesia is that of "there is no limit to how chaotic a situation can be." Rather than have a main security checkpoint with several metal detectors, Surabaya has one for every two "gates," gates being in quotation because they don't necessarily use the jetway all the time.

My flight is called to the gate area, and that's when I realize that due to a combination of a pair of delayed flights, some 8 different flights are going out of these two gates--and all are telling their passengers to head to the gate area. The concepts of a "single file line" or "personal space" don't exist in Indonesia, so you have passengers from 8 different flights pushing and shoving their way to the one metal detector and xray machine.

I make it through, and by now its dark. Unfortunately, that means I can clearly see the lightning flashing overhead.

I have seen Lion Air flights board before, and was generally aware of the procedure. I wasn't aware, though, that at certain airports, like Surabaya, they don't even bother announcing that the flight is boarding. I was looking out the window and then looked towards the gate and saw that my flight was classified as "final boarding." Excuse me? When did they start boarding to begin with? I'm not the only one who didn't hear a boarding announcement either.

In hindsight, I should have never gotten on the plane.

Lion Air advertises that it is getting 180 brand new, factory fresh Boeing 737-900s. Unfortunately, the plane I was boarding wasn't one of those--it was a 20 year old older model 737-400 registered PK LIR. The flight attendants were pretty, but the cabin wasn't exactly in great shape.

When we were ready for pushback, the flight attendant struggled to close the door, and actually had to be helped. I considered demanding to be let off the plane right then and there--the last thing you want to see is that a flight attendant can't perform one of her required functions. We can barely hear the safety announcement, and I am sitting in the exit row, and beginning to freak out--spending the night in Surabaya started to sound really appealing.

We start our take off run and I can feel the plane bounce about, as it wasn't the smoothest of rides down the runway. We get off, and I am having a panic attack, especially as we begin to hit some turbulence.

How jittery was I? When a little girl sneezed, I was genuinely scared that something was wrong with the plane.

Fortunately its only an hour flight, and by then I have memorized all the prayers on the invocation card conveniently provided in the seatback in front of me. I wanted to cover all my bases in case something really did go wrong.

We head in for landing, and just as I start to think thank god the flight is over, I quickly realized that it isn't over until we are actually on the ground, and that the most recent Indonesian aviation accident occurred whilst landing.

Something feels kind of off as we near the ground, and the left landing gear lands hard on the ground, and the plane bounces back up and then the right side hits hard, and the plane starts to veer off the runway. I emit an audible "ahhhh." Just when I've prepared myself to actually operate the emergency exit, the pilot regains control and we safely finish our landing roll. Every bone in my body is shaking, and on my way out I politely ask the flight attendant "crosswind?" Her response, "oh yes, sorry about that." I was tempted to say, "well, sorry I'm never going to use your airline again," but decided against it.

Its great that the airline is adding new planes, but they are also adding new pilots. I have a feeling my flight was just captained by one of them.

Fortunately, I'm safe, and have been at the school for two days, and am looking into extending my visit by another day (if I hadn't already bought my return tickets, it would actually be cheaper to do so, but as it is would only cost 30 bucks more, which is just about the amount I'm saving since I'm not paying for housing--and the housing I have is actually nicer than some of the places I've paid to stay in).