Where are the mountains?

Place: Gambir Train Station, Jakarta. It was Hari Raya, and the city was hibernating.

Each moment had been dipped in tedium and stretched out to eternity. There was absolutely no sign of liveliness, and even the slightest clatter from any activity immediately got sucked into vacuity that reigned the place. I had to endure a wait of more than two hours to catch my train; but I was excited. I was going to Bandung - a sweet cozy city nestled in mountains buzzing with young college going crowd. More excited I was about the train journey which, as I had read online, offered rewarding views of mountains!

I love mountains and I love winters. Ironically I live in a place where the highest point has an altitude of barely 165 meters, and where people celebrate Christmas in shorts.

Coming back to Jakarta, the train finally arrives and I jump in immediately. It takes another fifty minutes before the engine finally starts chugging. The train at last trudges past the dead platform and I prepare myself for the sparkling majestic views of grand mountain peaks that are soon to arrive. The journey is three hours long.

Fifteen minutes into the journey

It's still Jakarta. I see buildings, roads and roofs of low-lying houses.

Twenty five minutes into the journey

Slums of Jakarta.

I am getting impatient now, thirty precious minutes have passed and there's still no sign of any mountain or even a hill. I doze off. When I wake up, the slums are gone. But still no mountains.

I see a few people, cattle, chicken and other mundane stuff. I am losing hope now.

I see more people, more cattle, more chicken.

Tree stumps, naked children, rubbers tubes ... goats ... dogs ..... pigs...

PIGS AHOY!

The sight of those porcine creatures reminds me of my friends. I start missing them.

More than an hour has passed now, and I am cursing the person who praised the majestic views you get to see traveling from Jakarta to Bandung in a train. Much to my envy, the lady sitting beside me is sleeping like a log. Four rows ahead of me is a bunch of guys from Chongqing in China. Each of them is sleeping like a log. Outside, sitting in the shade is a cow masticating lazily with its eyelids draping upper half of its eyes and its face wearing a stark look of apathy. I bet the cow is more excited than I am.

Two hours have passed now. I can't wait to get off the train and run like a randy horse in the streets of Bandung. Finally I see a faint outline of an elevated landmass far away. Woohoo ... mountains! They start getting bigger as the train approaches them. They aren't majestic as such but it's nice watching them assume a distinct shape against a dusky background. I take a few pics and then sit excitedly close to the  window getting ready to appreciate the view outside. The mountains are so close now. And then all of a sudden the entire world blacks out. Boom. Some kids start hooting as the train passes through the tunnel.

It must have been a long tunnel. I don't remember when I dozed off again, but when I wake up there is no tunnel and no mountains. Nevertheless the train is moving at a high altitude and the weather has become slightly cooler.

The train is only a few minutes away from Bandung. The quotidian details of outskirts of a city start appearing again. Looking thoughtlessly at the view outside, I zone out after a while as I start thinking where my career and my life are going.

PIGS AHOY!!

Reality hits me, and I miss my friends again as I look at those swines wallowing happily in dirt.

The train finally drags to a stop at Bandung. I jump off and scuttle towards the exit. Once I am out I realize I have absolutely no plan or information about where to go or what to do. I drink two bottles of water, find a spot to sit and read a little about Bandung on Kindle. After fifteen minutes, I have narrowed down to two places to visit. I approach a lady sitting behind a counter and ask her more details about each place. I decide to go Jalan Dago. I walk out of the place.

[PS: Bandung is indeed a lovely buzzing city and a good weekend getaway. I also went to a lesser known crater lake called Kawah Putih which was also totally worth it. But the overgrowing concern about my career and frustrations of a lonely life got the better of me due to which I couldn't enjoy this trip too much.]