My two-hour trip from Medan to Seberaya was one of the most memorable of my life. When I arrived at the bus station, I was a little confused how the system worked. Do I buy a ticket? Do I have to wait in line? There just seemed to be a mass of people roaming about with no apparant order or purpose, but with a definite sense of jumpiness and anxiety. I soon found out why. The colorful buses showed up every half hour or so, and its important that you're not napping when they do. I was busy talking to a older man when the first one showed up. I finished my conversation politely and moved toward the bus, only to realize that it was already being swarmed by about 3 times more people than it could hold. I finally got to the door of the bus, only to realize it was far too packed full of humanity for me to squeeze my way inside. A self-appointed director asked if I wanted to ride on top of the bus. It sounded fun to me, but I declined when I realized what my parents would say if they knew I did. Despite my refusal, a good 10 or more young men climbed up on top to enjoy the ride from the second deck.After another 30 minute wait, a new bus showed up. This time I was ready - but too polite. I let several old ladies go in front of me, only to have one of them later yell at me and push me out of the bus when I tried to get in. The scene was crazy. Well over 100 people were pushing and shoving to try and enter the same bus (that holds maybe 35 tops). Indonesians prefer to make their lines wide rather than long. One mother opened a bus window from the outside and started throwing her young kids in through the window so that they could save her a seat. People climbed over top of each other trying to get a seat. Being the confused American only led to scowls, not an empty seat. I retreated and waited til the next bus came along.
Fortunately the third bus was a charm. I was one of the last people on, and ended up sitting on my bag in the aisle, wedged between the two seats on either side. The curvy, narrow, and steep road up into the mountains was taken at full speed, and our bus often passed other cars on blind curves, only to barely miss the oncoming macro-sized truck that was screaming down the road. In Indonesia you don't need Worlds of Fun or 6-Flags for thrill-rides. Just take an 80 cent bus ride for 2 hours and you have all the thrills you need for a few days.
