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Published: August 30th 2007
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I know, we’re like English buses, you don’t here from us for months and then two blogs in just over a week you lucky people- we’ve got a lot of catching up to do!
We were a little sorry to leave the stunning Sumatran jungle for hot and heaving Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital - it’s where the vast majority of Indos live and where all the money is. The city itself, from what little we saw was actually a lot nicer than people had made out but being there for only one night we really couldn’t make much of a judgment.
We met up with a Danish couple we’d traveled with in Sumatra, Kat and Troles, and headed straight out to Yogjakarta, Jakarta’s more intimate and funky brother. We took the night train which was, hmm, an experience, try being offered everything under the sun by local sellers for the entire journey, yes all night, “tea, coffee, screwdrivers?! Pop Mei" (like pot noodles but actually a bit nicer) but seriously do you I really look like I want one at 2am? The highlight though had to be the two pairs of transvestites that play the spoons at 7am to wake
you up before you arrive and for money I guess.
For the first time since on our trip we encountered peak season, the locals are on holiday and what no haggling... no beds even?!
An early morning sunrise trip to Borobudur was a pleasant surprise and actually wouldn’t have looked to out of place at Angkor Wat. A 9th Century Buddhist monument comprised of wedding cake layers, decorated with thousands of Buddhas and topped with dozens of Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa (or bells as I like to call them). Check out the ‘Where’s Wally’ (or Paul) picture for something to do if you’re bored at work!
The visual highlight of the trip would have to be Mount Bromo, East Java, not quite the highest but the most famous in Java and well worth the successive sunrise trips in the freezing cold, and I don’t do cold anymore! Only in Indonesia would they let you set off at 4am in the dark, without a guide and walk across the salt plains through mist, relying only on the sparse scattering of white stones that are meant to guide you to the bottom of the volcano - think
American Werewolf in London! Somehow, we made it in time to climb the steep steps, whilst being choked with think sulphur clouds which Bromo kindly spews out constantly, to stand on the edge of the volcano, flattened through previous explosions and enjoy the heady rewards of watching the sunrise over what I can only begin to try to explain as looking down at the earth from heaven, being on the edge of the world, inside a film set and over the swamps of Lord of the Rings. The photos can only begin to sum this experience up...
Never ones to stay somewhere too long, it was a hop, skip and a jump through Bali and Lombok and a 24 hr bus/ferry/bus/ferry ride to the beautiful if very far, Flores (Portuguese for flowers). What you soon come to realise with Flores is that it takes a hell of a long time to get anywhere due to its mountainous landscape and poor roads, in return the Island gives breathtaking views, a peak into traditional Indo life and hundreds of children who run after you whether you’re on foot on in a car who shout hello mister (sometimes they’ve mastered Mrs). They
Where's Wally
I was called wally once upon-a-time really do find tourists intriguing, you get stared at lots and it’s hard to get a moment to yourself as the people are so keen to talk to you, hear about Western culture (many could just get as far as David Beckham) and try to practice English.
The most famous tourist attraction in Flores is Kelimutu; three coloured crater lakes fed by a volcanic gas source, resulting in highly acid water. The coloured lakes change colours on an irregular basis, from bright red through green and blue due to the mineral content and oxidisation?! When we were there they were turquoise, chocolate brown and black, scientific huh?!
A fisher boat trip from the main port town of Labuanbajo brought us to Rinca, one of two places in the world where we were lucky enough to see a handful of Komodo Dragons. The largest living species of lizard, growing up to three metres in length- ready for the Wikipedia science; “This great length is attributed to island gigantism, as there are no carnivorous mammals to fill the niche in the islands that they live on, and the Komodo dragon's low metabolic rate.” Hence we saw two buffalos unsteady on
their feet after being bitten on their hinds by dragons a few days ago, it would take them up to three weeks to die after the bite injected them with bacteria and the dragons then get to enjoy a very big meal. In fact just a few weeks previous a young local boy had been killed after being caught short in the woods, attacked and being a lot smaller than a buffalo would have died and then feasted on in a matter of minutes!
Enjoy you’re lunch…
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rushby
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dragon v buffalo
love the randomness of the photos. Is that woman making the worlds smallest bikini top? hope its not hers errgh. Recently i too have been suffering from this islands gigantism, few more pal mei and few less full english might sort me out. Anyway enough from me, good to hear from you. All looks ace and marginally better than a wet september saturday at darlo. have fun