17/08: Indonesian Independence Day
I arrived Padang, Sumatra from out at sea on a boat trip the morning of August 17th, Indonesian Independence Day. I had planned my departure from Padang based on this, delaying my flight until the morning of the 19th. One of the first things we noticed on arrival to port was the 10m tall coconut tree that had been smoothed down from bottom to top with a criss-crossed support bolted into the pole about a meter from the top. A piece of wood was nailed up around the circumference of the 4 criss-crossed points making a ring from which presents are hung. When the pole was later set into the ground in a park next to our hotel, the height of the presents was a good 8-9 meters high, a deadly distance for a fall or mishap.
To keep it interesting, the pole is then greased down...yep, greased down with black slimey, oozey, nasty grease and then teams of about 10-12 men attempt to scale the pole. They do this in a climb on me and up over him, and then stand on him fashion, which usually resulted in a crumbling and sliding down of the whole group when the bottom guy couldn't take it anymore or the second or 3rd man up slipped and slided down the pole or off the shoulders of his support man. It would take a pyramid of 6 men to reach the top and when they did, the top man had to grab onto the criss-cross and pull himself up to rest on it because the applaus of the crowd would signal to the bottom man that he could release his cornerstone duties and all support mechanisms slid gracefully down the pole from their positions.
This would leave the summiteer alone and perched, allowed to pull down any 3 hanging presents from the stash. There were about 30 small boxes, bags, and trinkets hanging, but the last and final present, the Grand Prize, the want and desire of every Indo in Padang, was a bicycle, strapped to the pole above the criss-cross. I saw 2 of these pole climbing ceremonies go down, one in the morning for the kids and one in the afternoon for the adults, the kids one being half as tall, but both yielding bicycles as the ultimate prize. Who wouldn't want free transportation in this age of the price-soaring and dwindling dinosaur product.
Watching the Indos go after the pole over and over again for hours, occassionally reaching the top, then regreasing the pole for added difficulty, was just classic. There was quite a crowd gathered and cheering, eating and drinking, enjoying a complete day of rest and relaxation in a normally bustling city.
check the pics in the Indonesia - Island living album under images...classic.
To keep it interesting, the pole is then greased down...yep, greased down with black slimey, oozey, nasty grease and then teams of about 10-12 men attempt to scale the pole. They do this in a climb on me and up over him, and then stand on him fashion, which usually resulted in a crumbling and sliding down of the whole group when the bottom guy couldn't take it anymore or the second or 3rd man up slipped and slided down the pole or off the shoulders of his support man. It would take a pyramid of 6 men to reach the top and when they did, the top man had to grab onto the criss-cross and pull himself up to rest on it because the applaus of the crowd would signal to the bottom man that he could release his cornerstone duties and all support mechanisms slid gracefully down the pole from their positions.
This would leave the summiteer alone and perched, allowed to pull down any 3 hanging presents from the stash. There were about 30 small boxes, bags, and trinkets hanging, but the last and final present, the Grand Prize, the want and desire of every Indo in Padang, was a bicycle, strapped to the pole above the criss-cross. I saw 2 of these pole climbing ceremonies go down, one in the morning for the kids and one in the afternoon for the adults, the kids one being half as tall, but both yielding bicycles as the ultimate prize. Who wouldn't want free transportation in this age of the price-soaring and dwindling dinosaur product.
Watching the Indos go after the pole over and over again for hours, occassionally reaching the top, then regreasing the pole for added difficulty, was just classic. There was quite a crowd gathered and cheering, eating and drinking, enjoying a complete day of rest and relaxation in a normally bustling city.
check the pics in the Indonesia - Island living album under images...classic.
