The Wombat is Containerized

We finally got news that it was possible to ship the car on the boat leaving the 25th from Indrawan, our shipping agent. MC tried to arrange so that we could have everything done today- so that we could jump on the plane tommorow. He thought it was all possible, so we packed up our gear, had a quick (last?) Nasi Goreng, and hopped in the car. The shipping company was in East Jakarta, and the traffic was terrible, so it was going to take us a while to get there!

We stopped at a shopping mall to pick up some cash, as we couldn’t pay by Visa for the shipping. MC found the new series of ‘Weeds’ and ‘Entourage’ for 5 dollars, a litlle Christmas gift. We failed on the cash mission, the ATMs all had a limit on the amount you could take out, and we needed big moolah!

We finally made it near the Aeroswan shipping office, and called Indrawan come to our meeting spot. He shows up with his associate in a sleek BMW, and we followed him to the container depot. There, we had a highcube container waiting, all ready with a little ramp so that we can drive the car up and into.

It was actually surprising, how smooth everything went. The wombat fit exactly inside the container(almost too close!) and soon enough we had our bags out and disconnected the battery( I guess for safety). The guys got working on the car, latching it down, and we gave them our papers.

Then Indrawan told us that we had to wait until 9 p.m. to see a customs agent. As it was only 6 o’clock, he kindly agreed to go for a ride while we wait the 3 hours. We went to a mall, got out all the cash we needed, and went to Pizza Hut for supper! It was yum-yum. And before we knew it, Indrawan paid for dinner!

Back at the container yard, we learned that the customs agent decided he didn’t need to inspect the container after all. Maybe he had a sudden insight and decided we were trustworthy, or he ogt lazy. The only problem was that we needed to get our carnet stamped. So down to the port we went! We got everything done without much hassle, but by now it was past 10 p.m. and we definitely ready for bed. Mr. Indrawan even drove us to a couple of hotels before we found one that had a room! What a day!

JD