Learn to Surf 4: Lydia

Lydia, a British citizen, came to Krui unintentionally. She flew from Malaysia to Jakarta with the intention to tour Indonesia. First, she planned to do Sumatra. She took a bus from Jakarta to Sumatra, but unfortunately, she was stranded in Bandarlampung. A local man in Bandarlampung told her that she was too late for the bus to Padang, and offered her a drive to Krui instead. Lydia didn’t know much about Krui, but a glance at the map. However, she took it a deal when the man showed her his car, and hit the road to Krui right away.

“The driver seemed not to know Krui either. I think he never been to Krui before. He pulled off and asked the local for directions,” she said. “He took his son with him, who kept sleeping all the way from Bandarlampung to Krui. I wonder why he took him along.”

“For a companion,” I replied.

I guessed it is true that the driver might not have been to Krui before. He agreed to drive her to Krui for that lower than usual price because he himself wanted to see Krui. He killed two birds with one stone; he could come to Krui, and he got some money. Smart.

Arriving in Krui in the evening, Lydia felt a bit disappointed. A long way to ride, and she felt like being screw by the driver. “Did I pay too much?” she asked. “Not really, because there was only you in the car,” I replied.

And when the morning came, she didn’t know what to do. She sat in the lobby of the hotel reading a book.

“The manager of the hotel offers you a free ride around Krui if you like,” I said to her.

Yes, the manager of the hotel is a very kind person. He likes to offer the new comers who stay at his hotel a free ride with his car whenever he has time. Whenever he gets a newbie staying in his hotel, he offers them a free ride around. If you come to Krui, and you don’t know how to get around, or you don’t have any idea what to do yet, you’d better stay in his hotel. He will be glad to help you. And if he has free time, he will surely offer you a ride, too.

“Yeah? I don’t mind chartering,” she replied, turning her head, raising her eyebrows above her reading glasses. She looked interested. Her face glows. It looked like a silver lining in a cloud.

But an offer is an offer. Once you offer something for free, you offer it for free. You cannot change your mind just because she agrees to pay.

And so we hit the road to take a look around. First, we went to Karang Nyimbur where the surf camps are.

“This is about the end of season,” I said. “The number of surfers drops down, and the surfs are smaller. By the way, do you surf?”

“No,” she replied. “I wonder if someone can teach me how to surf.”

“It’s easy,” I said. “We will find someone who can teach you how to surf.”

In Karang Nyimbur, we stopped at Albert’s hut which sells surfing gears, but unfortunately, Albert wasn’t available. The manager called him, asking whether he could let a surf board for rent and teach someone to surf for the day.

“OK. But I cannot teach someone to surf at Karang Nyimbur. I can do it in town instead. Karang Nyimbur surfs are not just suitable for learning,” he said.

And so we drove back to town to meet Albert.

It took us quite a while to get to Krui town surfs because we stopped at Mandiri Beach to take a look and have something to eat.

“I don’t mind later,” Lydia said. So we enjoyed the time and took some fresh air for a while. It was a regular work day, but there were some people coming with cars and a bus to the beach. Judging from the numbers of their cars, they must have been from far away.

We arrived at Krui surfs at about two o’clock. Albert has been waiting for us by the beach with two surf boards resting at his bike. 

So as not two waste more time, he grabbed Lydia from us and went straight away to the beach breaks where people usually take their surf lessons. Lydia didn’t even change her dress. She was not ready to surf, really.

Lydia seemed to have a time of her life. She enjoyed the surf lesson very much. I could hear her screaming and hooting hysterically whenever she got a ride on her board. The surf lesson seemed to change her mood drastically, as she never looked that happy since the morning. They stayed in the water until evening.

“How was the surf?,” I asked later at the night.

“It’s fun,” he said. “We will do it again tomorrow.”