Pussy Cat Paranoia

As the sun sets over Lake Poso in central Selawesi, Indonesia I begin to wonder how on earth I got here. The cracked road has slowed my pace to a crawl for most of the day. The zagged edges of the road surface cascades Pandemic the Magic bicycle as if she were a kayak in the rapids. This morning what started as a quick ride to The 12 level Saluopa waterfall then off to bottom of the lake has become a series of I think I may have finally lost my mind, there is no way this is really happening, sort of moments.

The map went missing days ago because at times I am a loser but from memory I don’t think the mountains really looked this big. I have been following the Lake Poso road for hours as it goes up and over hill after hill after hill like a triple scoop ice cream cone. And boy, oh boy the thought of eating a triple scoop ice cream cone has been keeping me entertained for hours.

This morning after a swim in the pool of the massive 12 level, double decker Saluopa waterfall, I carried on pedaling towards what was described as the village just over the hill. Hours of ice cream scoop hills later, the sun is setting and I am pushing Pandemic The Magic Bicycle through long muddy puddles the thickness of a babies first pooh. The lighting from the approaching rain storm continues to flash over head. The obese lightning stuffed cloud has been trapped over the eastern side of the sky since this afternoon, flashing away, banging its head on the padded cloudy wall again and again. The repetitive dusk atmosphere continues to illuminate the blackening sky and I am definitely pedaling into the loony bin.

Fire fly bugs flash bright enough to blur my night vision, sheet lighting echoes over the lake at a melting speed. Every 5 minutes or so in the impending darkness at dusk, I see eyes glittering on the side of the road. What on earth is that? Cat eyes? I strain my eyes to focus, yes, those are a cat’s yellow eyes. I may have driven myself crazy after all. Crazy? Yes, well, crazy only on a good day, I keep thinking to myself.

There are literally 100’s a cats, kittens and their kittens loitering in the darkness on the side of the road and they just stare at me as I fumble with my head lamp to attempt to brighten things up. I have become a tad concerned about the dogs lately. Some dogs are disastrous demons to anyone on a bicycle. The dogs on this lake road have on occasion mistaken my leg for a juicy BBQ chicken drumstick. However after an Emmy award winning, well delivered, don’t even think about it mister, the dogs have rapidly backed off.

Ok, back to the cats. I am now becoming more concerned about all the cats and my sanity. Am I hallucinating? Is it really possible for this many cats to be chilling out on the side of the road? After a few more hours I eventually pull into a small village and head towards The Victory Losmen (Hotel). The irony of the name did not go unnoticed. I roll Pandemic The Magic Bicycle into the room and under the bed is a cat. As I drift off to sleep, thinking there is no way that just happened, off in the distance, through the open window, I hear intense cat mating and a wild heavy meowing off in the distance.