As usual, in celebrating Happy 'Ied Mubarak, I and my family do a long journey to visit families and relatives. We called this with 'mudik'. But, this year, the journey (mudik) is the longest and the most tiring one, at least for me.

From Jakarta to Pekalongan
If at the previous years, I drove from Kudus to Batang (Pekalongan), then Pekalongan to Surabaya; this year, i have to start my journey from Jakarta (my office). I started my journey from Jakarta by bus. The first stop was Batang (Pekalongan) where my parents-in-law live. I took Dewi Sri bus from Pulogadung, the inter-city terminal of Jakarta. Usually, it takes about 7 (seven) hours to go to Pekalongan from Jakarta by Bus. But unfortunately, it was a thursday, just two days before the 'Ied day, when the road was so busy. The cars, buses, and other vehicles are standing bumper to bumper for the heavy traffic jam. The traffic jam itself started as the bus get out from the Cikampek Toll road. The traffic jam is so heavily, when finally i arrived at Batang at 05.00 AM on the next day (Friday), while i got on the bus at 11.00 AM the thursday. So, it took about 17 hours, instead of the usual 7 hours trip.

 

From Pekalongan to Kudus
After visiting my parents in law, and taking a rest for 2 days, i went to Kudus with my family on sunday afternoon. The plan was to get to Kudus, taking a rest for a night, and start to another trip to Surabaya (6 hours journey) by our old car -the Toyota Corolla DX year 1981 made- on the monday morning. As planned, we finally started our journey at 6.30 AM monday, at arrived at Surabaya at 12.00 PM the same day.

From Surabaya to Kudus
After visiting families and relatives at Surabaya, finally we back home to Kudus on Thursday. The trip started from 08.00 AM to 14.00 PM. The road was not crowded at all, so we could get home safely, and fast. Unfortunately, since our car's air conditioning (AC) was not running properly, i got sick immediately when we got home. May be, i experienced a dehidration (losing ion for many sweat). Alhamdulillah, i got recovered soon, after totally a full-night rest on bed. I feel better now, although still have a little headache.

Get Ready for Jakarta
Today (friday), I plan to get a bus ticket to Jakarta, for Saturday night journey. Hopefully, i will be totally fresh again by tomorrow, so that i could get into Jakarta to start work in a good shape, the next monday. The journey from Kudus to Jakarta is approximately about 10 hours by night bus.

Yes, this is a tiring journey, but it is worthy that i could visit my big-families members, since i could not visit them often as i work out of town (Jakarta), while my families live in Surabaya. Finally, I thank to Allah, that finally i could get home safely, and get ready for Jakarta. Thanks to my family also, and to my old-car, the Blueish Toyota Corolla DX, for it goes smoothly.