After leaving Lake Toba at 7.30am we finally arrive at Sorake Beach, Lagundri Bay, Nias at 9.00pm; ferry, bus,plane and car. When you arrive in darkness you’re disorientated and don’t know what to expect....just wait till the morning...........It didn’t disappoint...tropical sunrise over coral reef, palm trees and surf breaking right in front........heaven. A few days surfing, eating and sleeping doesn’t hurt anyone!
It doesn’t take long to realise the locals are still doing it tough after two tsunamis and an earthquake. The resulting tourist down turn meaning many losmen are empty or still in ruins and not looking like they will be rebuilt in the near future. Over the next week we buy souvenirs (though we don’t really want them) and don’t bargain too hard for them. I exchange rupiah for useless Thai, Malaysian and Singapore currencies and $2 worth of Aussie coins and an American $1.00, the locals happy to have even the small amount of money this gives them.
We buy fish straight off the beach as the boats come in and have it cooked in different restaurants..Paying a little bit extra as a donation in kind. Some confusion when we were bargaining one day saw us nearly buy 1 large and 6 small fish for 30,000rp ($3.50), when we only wanted the large one for a generous 20,000rp ($2.20). Help in interpreting from another fisherman saw a rapid change in negotiation and we walk back with our fish in a bag and leave behind a happy fish monger.
In this village a huge stone wall stands outside the kings house. It’s about 2.2 m high and the village boys train hard to jump it. Traditionally it proved their strength and would be used to solve problems.... if you can jump it your village is correct, if not....you lose! If you can jump it you can become a warrior and you are ready for marriage. For a donation to the village a young man shows how it is done. Dressed in traditional costume, a prayer to the gods and a few stretches then he is ready. A 20m run up to a launch rock, then up and over landing on the stone courtyard. ...........easy.
We enter the Kings House and marvel at the construction, the size of the timbers and the amount of then. Upstairs is a large meeting/ living room with a cathedral ceiling that is a maze of support timbers that seem to go on endlessly. A large drum for calling the villagers hangs from the rafters, carved like a canon. Carvings on the wall denoting where the King and Queen sit also show external influences (umbrellas and Christian and Muslim looking icons incorporated), as does a pictorial carving of a Chinese trading boat.
Sitting on an elevated platform above row of large single slabs (1.8x1.5m) is the 5th generation descendant, we talk with him about the house and he explains that three families still live in a rear section and village celebrations still occur in the main hall. Above him, hanging on hooks, are pig jaws from the house opening ceremony. Over a hundred line the room......it must have been a big party.
The village life shows a few modern touches; satellite dishes on grass rooves and colourbond making a longer lasting replacement for the natural alternative. Washed clothes are placed on every useable surface; ancient megalith, tin roof and lines stretched to poles in the courtyard. Access to the village is via a large staircase preventing vehicles from entering, giving a old world feel to village life.
Farm produce is used locally and a new friend “Steven” delivers a large bunch of small, sweet bananas and a pineapple we pay him better than market prices....Good for me, good for you...........Other people think he’s ripping them off, but you only pay what your happy to at the time. If you find out later you paid 4x too much is it his problem? They live a life of bartering and can convince you of anything. He says “I like you papa you know our situation and pay fair, end of deal”.
Steven comes by most days and sits and talks and jokes, he can be our middle man for anything we want, a small commission is all he would get. He never pushes a sale or service, only suggests. One day he sells me another pineapple and I exchange a few foreign coins for a small amount, did I also want a T-shirt, “No thanks” I tell him. He then asks for a loan of some money as he has a sick son, I lend him 100000rp ($12) and he leaves immediately. I don’t see him for two days and we hear of the death of a boy from the village. No one at the beach can explain how or anything in detail. I’m a little bit concerned and try to find out where Steven is, but no news until he turns up at the beach.
It wasn’t his son but a nephew, 7yrs old, who had red marks on his leg and hip. He noticed them when out walking with his father and told him they hurt. Two visits to the local medicine man but no improvement, then to hospital overnight, but unsure of any diagnoses. They could not afford treatment or they could not do anything so they sent him home. Another visit to the medicine man and he died 3 days after the first signs of the problem. A tragedy because of the lack of money/ lack of resources.............
Steven told us of the evil spirits present in this part of Nias, he couldn’t translate to English but the word was either maling (thieves) or mala malaI (bad), and they would come if you weren’t careful. Especially at times when there was a sun shower, then everyone was quiet and didn’t speak. They came at other times and this is what had happened to the boy. He was bitten by them and that was why he had the large black marks on his death bed............ He was buried the next day, not waiting for distant relatives because of the circumstances of his death. All this happening in a village with 9 churches and a devout community of Christians.
We console with Steven and wonder if there was anything the tourist community could have done to help?........In reality the first we knew of anything was after he had died. They live with life and death on a daily basis. Three locals having died during our nine day stay on Nias.
I surf a lot and we walk the beaches in the afternoon then stay up late(9.30) talking and eating with other tourists and the locals, again asking for food cooked as they would eat it. Being a tourist here is great fun.
The 2005 earthquake raised the island half a metre and left two of the surf breaks to shallow except on really high tides. The perfectness of the main break fully compensating the lack of other waves.
On our last day we go to Steven’s village, about 500m behind the beach losmens. Its a totally different world. Newer housing of simple brick or timber construction, small family farms then at the top of the hill the traditional village. We are meet by a number of children jumping down from the courtyard onto a pile of sand, “photo, photo papa”, I take their photos and show then. Some follow as we walk down the length of the village. Outside one locked house is a 3yr old sleeping on a small megalith, awaiting the return of his parents from a day at work. The other villagers keep an eye out for the children during the day. Some of the houses are neat and painted or tiled others are ramshackle and in need of repair. A large pig is dragged from one house squealing as it is taken off to market. The neighbours all laughing at the ensuring drama that enfolded.
Stevens mother’s house is towards the end and is two stories. Inside is a front sitting room with a traditional chair, alter on the wall and photos; Pope, President and family. Behind is a central cooking fire and sleeping platform. Upstairs are two rooms, one for Stevens family and one for his brothers family. All the walls are blackened from the fire. No satellite TV, no mobile phone and no motor bike in this family. I feel they are not too well off as everyone else seems to have one or all of these things.
We meet his children and one is noticeably ill, Angela asks a few questions and he answers honestly. He knows there is a problem but cannot afford the medication. He loves the child but he can only pray that God will look after him.......
We return to the beach with a deeper understanding of their existence, a struggle day to day. And this is in one of the few villages which benefits from the income derived from tourists........ Rxx
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