Java in Java

In between volcano treks, we stayed the night at a local coffee plantation. The above picture is the village where all the plantation workers lived. They were in such a remote area in the mountains that there really were no other options for employment. It took us almost 5 hours to get there in an SUV, these people only had their feet.

Looking out both windows on our drive there, all you could see was bright green jungle. Wherever the trees parted was where coffee was growing. We found these people out working and thought they were picking coffee beans. Turns out they don't do that until the beans turn red which happens twice a year.


When the beans are ready, they are hand-picked and carried to the factory where they will be dried on big concrete slabs under the sun.


While the men are in charge of planting and harvesting, the women of the village all work in this room. They sit at long tables for 8 hours a day sorting coffee beans. The good beans go in bags, the bad ones are tossed out.


It might seem like a boring job but these ladies were busy chatting away while listening to pop music. I shot some video of it because it really is funny to see their hands moving to the beat of the song. You can watch it by clicking here.

As I was taking pictures, I felt something bounce off my back. Thinking it was just a bug, I continued shooting. Then I felt it hit my head. I turned around just in time to see a lady chucking coffee beans at me to get my attention.

When I went over to her, she pointed at my camera and smiled a wide grin. I took her picture and then she motioned for me to show it to her. She loved seeing herself on my camera's screen. Sure enough- her giggles broke the dam.

I was soon being hit by dozens of coffee beans. Everyone in the place wanted to have their picture taken! Of course I had to oblige since they seemed to be enjoying it so much.

It's hard to imagine being so happy in such an isolated place. You live with the same people you work with. Day after day it's the same thing. Being here reminded me of how lucky I am to be an American with choices about my future.

Speaking of future... before we set off on our hike, Anais and I had breakfast at the plantation. Our choices were a rice dish or a sandwich. I opted for a sandwich although I almost wished I didn't.

As I was unwrapping it I noticed these little brown pieces on the edge of the bread. Anais almost hurled as she thought it was mice droppings. I thought the mystery pieces of brown looked familiar but couldn't place them until I took the top slice of bread off.

I got a sandwich that consisted of butter and chocolate sprinkles!! With no other options, I ate it. Tasted OK believe it or not, however, I probably would never fix one for myself.

This wasn't the only oddity about our accommodations. Our "room" aka dorm was hilarious. The plantation marketed itself as a mountain resort. The slug in our bathroom proved otherwise. That's right- a big ol' fat slimy slug slowly made his way down to our toilet during the night.

We also had no hot water or shower and our sink was held up by one piece of bamboo. I figured that one out after I leaned on it and it almost fell out of the wall. The destroyer strikes again!

There was nothing we could do but laugh as we crawled into our single beds with arctic penguin bedding (WTF?).

Needless to say, we were roughing it, but the truly rough part of our journey wouldn't start until the next day....