Pjoter and Anna : Amazing Backpackers!

Hi. Today was a very super day for me, it's unexpected and it was really fun!

Today was the day I went to Malang to have my English Olympiad presented by Brawijaya University. I traveled with my English teacher, Mrs. Titik. We went there by train. I woke up very early in the morning, and we went to Yogyakarta at half past five a.m. We arrived at the station at half past six, which the train, Malioboro Express, was scheduled to go at half past seven. Then Mrs. Titik had her breakfast at the station, and we were on time for our train.

We got the second carriage in the economy class, in the 17A and B seats. And tadaa! We sat beside two Holland backpackers. Actually, it was Mrs. Titik who asked to switch position because she couldn't have the train moving backward. It appeared that the woman was also the same, and it ended out with this arrangement : Mrs. Titik and the woman sat together facing me and the man. Then we started to talk about a lot of things, they shared about their trips all along the world. They had been in Australia, Thailand, Europe(of course, they are holland!), and so many more. Oh I almost forgot, they were Anna and Pjoter. Later we found out that Pjoter is the Russian term of Peter. Awesome!

We were really having fun in the train, we talked like 4 hours nonstop, Pjoter and Anna asked a lot about Indonesia, and I was very proud to explain it to them. Pjoter also shared a lot of things about entrepreneur, because he is one of it. He has a studio there in Holland, and he is developing a traveling apps for the backpackers. Amazing! I loved how Pjoter thinks about life.

Sometimes you just have to be dare to dream and have ideas. Strange idea is not always bad idea, and when you fall like six times, there should be a seventh get ups.

They were so nice and expressive. They told us a lot of their Australia trip, their Thailand experiences, and also Europe's good places. They had been traveling around Yogyakarta for 5 days, and now were heading to Malang to the Bromo mountain. They will then continue their journey to Bali and Lombok. I really envied them to have such a free life and could travel anywhere just with their backpacks.

Pjoter also showed me how to play a game named Risk. It is a board game where we have territorial countries and we can enlarge our territory by adding troops and attacking another players. It goes with dice, and it is really a matter of luck. Pjoter played it when we started to be out of topics for conversation, then Anna started to type their journal, Australia Trip Journal. Amazing isn't it? I think I will have mine too someday. And about the game, it's really a good strategic game, I think I'm going to download it later. Thank you Pjoter!

Mrs. Titik told them that I am going to have competition the day after, then they offered some help with the interview. They asked me a lot about my studies and school. I was a little bit nervous, because I was never good talking to foreigners (even with own friends) spontaneously in English. I tried, and what a relief, I think that I got my skills improved, at least my confidence. They were really nice.

We arrived in Malang at 4pm. It was raining. But it stopped when we reached the station. What a relief! Then we were picked up by the alumni, and we were going to the Kampung Warna Warni (Colorful Village?) It is colorful, of course because it is the name, it is painted by so many different colors even to the roof top. Anna and Pjoter were with us too. And just for the first time in forever for them, tourists or foreigners didn’t have to pay. It was us, the locals, who had to pay, it was two thousands rupiah for a person.

 

We really had a wonderful time together, Pjoter and Anna! It was really nice to know you guys. I hope you good luck with your journey, your trips, and good luck for the apps you guys are planning to make too. Thank you for this wonderful day! I can’t wait to see you again!