Gusset Nightmares
Pangandaran, Indonesia
Whilst travelling the well-known route from Bali through Indonesia, after a wild time in Yogyakata, my boyfriend and I needed some R’n’R and stopped off in a small coastal town 400ks from Jakarta, called Pangandaran.
In Pangandaran, we stayed at this wicked hostel called Delta Gecko Village, where we had a great room with mezzanine floor, open air bathroom, and stilted bed. Pangandaran itself was a friendly place, fantastic beaches with a mad and bad surf. Travellers were warned of the dangerous rips, and only weeks before, a young backpacker had died swimming off the east coast known for its treacherous ocean. Still, there was loads to do around the area, and a couple of days’ stay quickly turned into a week.
We canoed through the Green Canyon and spotted huge croc-like monitor lizards. We hired bikes and cycled along the miles of beautiful coastline, stopping for bottles of Bintang and an Indonesian delicacy, Kentang Goreng (chips!). Whilst we were in this glorious part of the world, after a heady night of arak and sprite, sitting around the beach campfire with the local lads who were singing “knock knock knocking on Kevin’s door” that famed Clapton favourite. We didn’t have the heart to correct them, and even now we still sing their version.
We got back to our room, discarded all clothes and fell into a deep, arak-attacked sleep. In the morning, I dragged myself to go for breakfast, and spotted my abandoned clothes from the night before. As I picked up my knickers, I noticed that they had a hole ‘chewed’ right through the gusset! Rats had got into our room and ‘eaten’ the gusset out of yesterday’s pants! My boyfriend thought this was the funniest thing he had ever seen and ran joyfully to tell our friends what had happened. Embarrassed and repulsed in equal parts, the rest of my day was taunted with shouts of ‘Gusset Girl’ and renditions of UB40’s ‘there’s a rat in my knickers what am I gonna do!’
Still, Pangandaran has great memories for me, if a little embarrassing. I definitely recommend a visit, just lock up your pants!
