Earthquake

On the 5th I reluctantly leave Bukit Tinggi. My visa runs out on the 10th and it at least is 400 km to Dumai from where I wish to take a ferry to Malacca. As this ferry leaves at 8:00AM I have to be there the nineth and to not feel rushed I have to leave. First the road predominatly goes down and I can race with the minibusses, but not far after Payakumbu the road goes up. After a delicious descent, racing a black Honda car all the way down, it becomes tough. The hills are very short and steep, 200 m steep down and right after up. This drains my power especially with the sun blistering the road. When I am at a restaurant to drink some tea to rest I am invited to put my bike on a truck and go with them for the next 40 km. I am very happy with the invitation and hunp on. The big cement truck is probably slower than my bike, but I at least do not have to cycle. After an hour we are surprised by a big bang only to discover that one of the tyres is blown. The delay is an hour, but I am not in a hurry, so who cares? I spend the night in Bankinang, from where I leave early the next morning. Around noon I take a rest in a palmoil plantation, when the earth starts shaking. I check if I am not under a coconut tree and wait till the earth settles down again.
I have been told that the next town with a hotel is Duri. This is still a considerable amount of km away so I do not hang around to long. Against usual practise I continue cycling when the night falls, because I expect Duri to come in sight any moment. The last km are hard, because I no longer can see the potholes, but without many problems I manage to reach Duri. When I walk through the streets to search for fruit and dinner, I am invited by a girl to visit her house and some of her friends. Having nothing better to do I join her. It is not after 5 minutes she tells me I smell bad. She of course is right, but I am surprised she tells me. I tell her I just had a shower, but the combination of heat and dirty clothes do not improve my body odour. I am still welcome to her friends houses, but they keep their distance, which does not stop them to have me invited to marry some girls. After travelling a while I am now pretty much accustomed to these questions and I can politely decline.