TRAVEL NOTES
The road
eventually emerged from the river valley and we found ourselves
on the plains, among sights which would soon become familiar.
Pad' fields, some newly planted and a brilliant emerald green
in colour, others reduced to stubble following the harvest, stretched
far into the distance, studded with mountain shaped stacks of
rice straw leaning at odd angles. Smoke from burning sugar cane
fields hung on the horizon. Traffic increased, along with the
variety of transport. Convoys of school children on bicycles
alternated with colourful becak and horse drawn dokar. Slowest
of all were the enormous carts piled high with agricultural produce,
pulled by teams of plodding oxen. We soon developed a good method
of photographing these assorted vehicles and their loads, by
passing them and parking nonchalantly 100 metres up the road
Pretending to be admiring the scenery, we would suddenly turn
the cameras on our unsuspecting victims as they approached.
One trophy which we were determined not to leave without was
a painted straw hat from Ponorogo. Unlike the usual Javanese
wide brimmed variety, which acts as protection against rain and
sun, the Ponorogo hat is bucket shaped and looks more like an
inverted flower pot.
Our main reason for travelling to Ponorogo was to witness a performance
of the reog mask dance. We had heard that a performance was scheduled
for around this time, but were not sure as to exactly when or
where it was taking place. As we were approaching the town, however,
we were attracted by some large, shining gongs hanging up outside
a small shop by the side of the road. After some bargaining we
ended up buying three of the instruments at a very reasonable
price. Despite the fact that they were made from re- cycled oil
drums, the resonance they produced was remarkably good.
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