Going to Town

After dried fruit production finished at the home industry, the ladies that work at the small factory decided to take a trip to town.  Although I didn't realize it at the time, this seems to be a BIG Deal!  And as I thought about it more and more it made sense, these people mainly live off of what they grow in the fields.  If they have needs outside of what can be grown on the farm or made in the home, the small stores within the village can probably provide it.  None of them own a car, but most have a motorcycle that could make the trip to town.  Even if they went to town what would they do, any shopping would probably be too expensive, maybe just driving around to see the sites.  It was still unclear to me exactly where we were going to in the city of Kediri the morning of our departure, but I was in to learn and have some fun!

Left: Waiting on our ride to head to town....What is
that ride?.....Above: Yup, that's a truck!  We're
taking a truck to town.  Load up!

Right: While the wives and kids squeezed into the back (that's right none of the husbands joined the trip), I was saved a seat in the front (Above)

Above: The drive to Kediri is only about fifteen
minutes on a motorcycle, but maybe took closer to
thirty minutes in the truck to reach our destination.
Right: What was that destination?  As I was about to
find out, we arrived at a small theme/fun park....
Let's take a look!

Left: Small boats for kids and families to ride around the small pond with a bridge in the background.  The magnificent tree is what caught my eye!
Above: Not too many adults swimming here, but the kids pool was packed!

A few animals, mostly birds, were also found inside.  Above:  I could use some help on identify this unique feather friend.
Right: This turkey looks a bit confused as he's hanging out near the kasuari bird's cage, which is native to West Papua.

Finding a shady spot - these small deer were quite relaxed as  a few visitors walked by.

Above: This young man from our group decided to do some
singing on stage with the young performer on his left.  They
sang a couple of songs in the local language.  I got on stage to
record the event, but was quickly asked if I'd like to dance, to
which I quickly responded "no thanks."
Right: On lookers, with the stage in front.

Above: Towards early afternoon, the mothers took a seat while the kids continued to play...
Below: The kids use a smaller version of the becek to pedal one another around.  Bigger versions are used in the streets of Indonesia to get people around town.

Before piling back into the truck to head home, we snapped
a picture together.  It was about mid-afternoon, I'd guess
many of the women had chores to attend to once they
got home.

Stepping outside of the fun park, there was this long
fruit stand on the side of the road in Kediri.  Some
people like to joke that while there are only the dry
rainy seasons in Indonesia, they actually have many
seasons - fruit seasons that is. ;)