I participated in a unilateral exercise called Cope West with the Indonesian Air Force. We bonded with their C-130 unit & took them along for some amazing low level flying, as well as dropping high altitude paratroopers. Got to spend a night in Okinawa & gas-up in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Unfortunately, we didn't break there.
It's rare moments like these that I realize I have an awesome job.
Just one in a dozen waterfalls
Jungle covered ridge lines
Coast line & fishing houses
Small villages. Watched 50 kids pour out of this school house as our formation flew over. Pretty awesome.
Pristine rice patties & a wave from a farmer
Shangri-la
Lakes & Mountains
This photo just reminded me of a scene out of a vietnam war flick
Dodging thunderstorms on the approach
Jakarta
New friends
Force Protection forces us into 5-star hotels. Rough life.
The sad thing is that I never had any true Indonesian food for fear of it's repercussions. I did, however, have an awesome homemade-style hamburger, turkish seasoned lamb shank and a smorgasbord of delicious seafood. Also gallons of the local bir Bin Tang.
I like to imagine the road as a jar with the cars as rocks and the scooters as sand. A red light is like shaking the jar. The scooters weave in an out of the grid locked traffic to find themselves in the number one pole position. Lanes don't seem to exist. I can't count on either hand how many times we were head on with opposing traffic.
The initial approach into Jakarta was surprisingly dark for such a huge city. Barely any sky glow. Very dimly lit streets. It's like the city was built in the middle of the jungle. Tons of trees & polluted waterways. People are always sitting. Cats have no tails. Children hang out in the median of busy intersections. An 8 year old girl comes up to your Taksi window playing a small guitar. Taksi's cost only $3 to go anywhere. 100 feet away from the five star hotel is someone's shack of a house.
Sweet hat. Street meat vendors.
6th largest metropolitan in the world. 11th largest city proper.
Monas National Monument. We were a bit nervous & paranoid when a random middle eastern man asked to take a photo with us. After a politely agreeing, he signaled to his friends and suddenly a dozen people formed in the frame. Little did we realize that we were rock stars that day and had at least 10 groups of folks requesting photos with us and our blonde hair.
Istiqlal Mosque (1978) & the dutch Jakarta Cathedral (1901)
The 3rd largest mosque in the world behind Mecca & Medina. 200,000 worshipper capacity.
Minaret & prayer floor facing Qibla. Each square is fits one person.
Crossing the Equator
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