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Published: March 25th 2012
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Our flight from Medan to Jogjakarta (aka Yogyakarta, Yogya, or Jogja – the “y” is pronounced like “j”) was eventful for one reason, Durian fruit. It was also a milestone for me as it was my first time South of the Equator! You might wonder why a fruit (Durian) would make a flight eventful – it is because Durian is banned from airplanes in a few countries in Asia. Why? Because Durian fruit smells so awful that describing it is probably an injustice, but I will do my best. Durian smells like all the stench of a 100 pound propane tank compressed into a TicTac sized bottle, then the super potent stench was injected into your nose with the addition of the following: five day old gym socks, vomit, and open sewer. AND THE LOCALS EAT THIS FRUIT! In fact, it is somewhat of a delicacy as it is rather pricey compared to all of the other fruits readily available in this part of the world. When we got on the plane and sat down we smelled this foul smell, unsure what it was. Then, I believe the fruit was put up in the overhead bin and the smell was not
Amy and I at Borobodur
You had to wear a sarong as noticeable throughout the flight – a few whiffs here and there. Upon landing, the owner of the fruit pulled it out of the overhead bin and the entire plane absolutely reeked of Durian. Both Amy and I were breathing through a piece of clothing and the stench was unrelenting. Not until we got five feet out the airplane door did we get a breath of fresh air.
At this point I should probably admit that we did try this fruit a few days later. However, we tried it within a pastry because I’m not sure I could actually get myself to try a bite with the full stench of the fresh fruit just being cut. How did it taste? It kind of tasted like the smell, but the taste was severely muted compared to the smell so I did not immediately gag when I put it in my mouth. I would not buy another pastry with Durian, but it was something to experience.
Jogjakarta is the art and culture capital of Indonesia, so they like to claim. It boasts a few universities and has a rather large student population. In fact, twice while
we were Jogja we were able to witness student protests, which from what we could tell appeared to be about land reform. Most tourists, including us, stop at Jogja to see Borobodur and Prambanan.
Borobodur is the largest Buddhist Stupa in the world - according to our guidebook. It is also the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. Prior to visiting I expected Borobodur to be carved into the side of a mountain. This expectation was set from photos I have seen of the statues and how the background was depicted. Upon our arrival it was quickly apparent that I was misguided. Borobodur is essentially a large temple, similar to many of the other temples we have visited. It is rather large but not overly imposing and certainly nowhere near the scale of the Taj Mahal or the entirety of Angkor. The scenery from the top is wonderful, there are three volcanoes, of which you can only see their base as they are active volcanoes and the tops are constantly surrounded by clouds. There was a group of Buddhists chanting and walking around the complex – some of them seemingly learning from a monk. Perhaps visiting Borobodur
Sewu Temple
Look closely I am standing in the middle of the door way. at the beginning of our adventures would have made it more impressive.
Prambanan is the largest Hindu complex in Java and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. It consists of a few temples with Prambanan temple being the most popular and most visited by tourists and locals. The temples at Prambanan are all similarly shaped to the temples at Angkor and Prambanan temple itself is somewhat similar to Angkor Wat. The real jewel here is the seldom visited Sewu Temple at the back of the Prambanan complex. It is close to the Prambanan Temple in size, however since it is a twenty minute walk no one visits it. Amy and I explored the temple for 30 minutes before we saw anyone, which is in stark contrast to the hundreds of people at Prambanan Temple. Also, Sewu Temple has not been restored much compared to Prambanan Temple so we were able to see the temple as it has been for centuries. It is really rare that while visiting these ancient temples that you get an opportunity to have a temple to yourself in its original state – it was probably the highlight of the Jogja area for
me.
After a few days in Jogja we headed for Bali, the “Australian Cancun” is probably a good definition for Bali. From our search for hotels we knew that Bali was going to be priced higher than the rest of Indonesia. After our flight landed at 11pm we were greeted by the high prices immediately – a taxi quote for 7km (4 miles) to our hotel was $20 – ridiculous! In Jogja we had just paid $4 for 10km (6 miles) on a metered taxi. As we got further out the airport the prices came down and eventually we found someone for $6 – still steep for a four mile ride, but walking really wasn’t an option.
Our base for a few days was the Kuta-Legian-Seminyak beach area, which is the famous Bali beach area and we had images of Vietnam beaches in our head. As we walked to the beach for a morning run we were greeted by a beach that was average at best. This beach is the “best” beach in Bali and it was full of sea weed and plastic garbage – what a disappointment! We headed out on our run
Butterfly
Butterfly at Borobodur and about half way through I was stopped by an Aussie who warned me about a Cobra that I was about to run in front of. The Cobra had washed into the Ocean from the previous night rains and he was just at the end of the crashing waves trying to make it to safe sand. It was my first time seeing a Cobra and I’m actually glad he was in rough shape so that the chances of a strike were nearly impossible. That was the highlight of the beach!
A day before we left Jogja for Bali we learned about Nyepi, the Balinese New Year which is a day of silence. During Nyepi the streets are completely empty, lights are not to be turned on, and noise is to be kept to a minimum. Tourists are NOT exempt. This year, Nyepi was to fall on March 23
rd, just a day after we landed in Bali. Shops started closing down the day before around mid-afternoon and some would stay closed for 2-3 days. As I write this blog Amy and I are confined to our hotel, which has shut doors and a skeleton crew of staff. The
Prambanan Temple
Prambanan Complex main temple television does not work – all channels are blacked out. I’m told the internet works, but we have to pay for it and have yet to buy a wireless card to test it. It is really an interesting occurrence and certainly the first time I have experienced something like it.
After Nyepi we found a way to get to Ubud without much of a problem. Ubud is the “spiritual” area of Bali and is filled with yoga and meditation. It also has a lot of art and crafts available. Bargaining is a skill and it should be honed before coming here. We were originally quoted something for 650,000 Rupiah in the market and by the time we were walking away it was down to 80,000! We had previously bought a similar item so we were just curious about the price to know how good of a deal we got on it – we were in the ball park of the 80,000 so we were okay with our purchase. I encourage people to purchase things when they feel they are getting a good value – it all depends on how much value each person puts on a particular
Sewu Temple
Part of Sewu Temple that has yet to be redone. object. The beginning and ending price just shows how flexible pricing on some things can be and the original price quoted may not mean it is out of your price range.
Another day in Ubud and we are targeting to go to the East coast of Bali – the Amed area. We will see about transportation tomorrow and maybe we will be back on the beach (hopefully better than the previous Bali beach)!
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