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Published: April 12th 2010
My flight to Jakarta was funny I was the only English person on the flight with no other speaking English apart from the studdess. The emergency crash procedure was not repeated in English either which was a realisation that I was far away from home. The imagration cards were in English though which was'nt helpful to the rest of the people on the plane. As soon as one Indonesian waved her card and pen at me to assist her I seem to have a queue of people wanting me to complete their cards for them intrusting me with their passports, I should have charged commission.
As I entered the arrivals hall I was bombarded with taxi man, the only thing they could say was taxi and after an hour of it I found myself loosing my manners. I decided to wait for Britt and Dan's flight to come in as they were only 3hrs behind me and it made sense to share the cab fare. As I waited I realised how difficult Jakarta was going to be to travel, as soon as you leave the airport there are no more signs translated in English and no one speaks Englay! The
In the cave with the bats
As long as they stayed out of my hair3 hr wait was testing I was watched by everyone as I was the only white person there.
When I saw Britt and Dan come through the doors I can say I was relieved! once in the taxi heading to the hotel the first thing the cabby did was lock the doors, I know now that it was for our own saftey, every time we stopped a beggar ran up to the window banging their hands on the windows in a way where you could not ignore them no matter how much you tried.
The children at the traffic lights were pulling on my heart strings until we started moving and she ran into the trees laughing, her sad expression was removed as soon as she saw I was not looking, this is when I said to myself I need to harden up. They are not in school because people give them money so I'm not contributing anyway. We were all disliking Jakarta and we had'nt even got out the cab, there are more bikes then cars here 80% bikes in fact, they drive like crazy people. Just as we were discussing there non exsistant driving skills a
train ride scenery
pretty Indonesian countryside bike came at us from the left and smashed into us! it was ok, he just picked his bike up and pushed it to one side, it looked a bit bent though. After the taxi driver checked out his car we were soon on our way again, I think we were more shaken than those directly invovled.
Finally we got to the hotel, I was sharing with someone new and she has already arrived. I got out of the lift and found the room, the door was opened with a warm welcome. Her name was Abi and she was English and I later found out she only lives 20 minutes from Claire bear in Oxford so it was not surprising to find out that she was great company. After meeting a few more peeps, Debi, nutty Alan and Maman our guide we headed out to eat. You do not want to to be walking around here on your own even in the day, Maman said even the nice people here would not hesitate in mugging you, they are good people but they are subjected to such poverty that their families are starving and they feel they have no other
choice. I assume that is the same reason for the prostitution hear too. It is worse than anywhere else I have seen. we were eating our dinner and poor Daniel couldnt even finish his meal or go to the toliet without being harrassed, as for Alan I will get to him a bit later.
It was an early start the next day as we were heading to Mamans home town Pangandaran so it was going to be a long travel day. A train to Bandung, it was not very pleasent had a man smoking all the way. I was relieved to get off the train so I could breath. After experiencing numerous windy roads in a mini van we finally arrived at our hotel. It was really nice, our room had a balcony backing off onto the road that ran along the beach. Flying foxes flew over head around 6pm every night to search for food. We had our first supper at the hotel where Maman was teaching us some Indonesian lingo then it was a early night for me.
I woke up having the best sleep, wish I could say the same for Dan and Britt, they
cave
porkypins had a pretty bad rat experience! It wouldnt leave them alone all night chewing on anything it could find, they couldnt even catch it it was so quick, Brit was not impressed, I did try to sympathise, I dont think she apreciated my comical humour on this one though he he!
After breakfast Britt, Abi and I went to find Dan at the beach as he got up early to go and learn some Indonesian surfing. We seemed like the only people there, the streets were dead no one anywhere apart from the stall sellers and when we found the beach there were only locals swimming fully clothed in the sea. Not a place to be sunning yourself in your bikkini. The beach was not to good either volcanic grey sand filled with rubbish, the locals followed you everywhere to so we decided to head back. On the way I bought a blue dress from a stall for 2 pounds, it was a horrible dress but my 2 pounds would have fed his family for a week so I was happy to spend it. I wore this dress once, this dress was bought in Indonesia and will stay in
seafood buffet
red snapper my fav! Indonesia!
Wanted to catch a bit of sun before it started to rain again so found a nice spot by the pool and ordered a beer and some chips. Abi ordered a tuna sandwich which was mostly filled with mayo, I dont think she enjoyed it by the look on her face. Britt and Dan dissappeared for some internet action.
That afternoon we were heading out to the national park our guide was called Doctor Do Little and I soon realised why he seemed to be able to talk to almost every animal calling them out of their holes. We walked passing the ruins of homes that were destroyed by the tsunami and the burrial grounds of those lost, it was so sad. We were told that this is why there are no tourists, people are still to scared to visit which is a shame as this place has so much to offer. Maman later told us that day he was there the very day the tsunami hit, he was going to head to the beach with his friends to do some surfing but decided to have a sleep and would join them a bit later, he woke
cookery lesson
making rice crackers with the locals, hot hot hot! up to the devostation, he lost many friends that day and families were wiped out. Him and his family decided not to live near the beach and moved inland, he still feels saddness visiting the beach today but says he still smiles that he still has life. Makes you put life into perspective.
Once we arrived at the national park we fed the deer and monkies before entering the jungle. We did some scorpion fishing. risky business! this involved a piece of bate and some string that you placed in suspious holes in the ground. I was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time again, dont stand behind your guide while he is fishing for scorpions! he flew a scorpion over his head and it landed on my feet I jumped so high. I did get this on video and watching it back it was hilarious, sorry guys I bloody deleted it by accident so I cant show it to you, however I do have a photo with the scorpion in my mouth!
After some trekking, we were taken into a cave where all I had to rely on to see was my little touch that
puppet masters house
Brit and dan that was a great show thanks was running out of battery. There were bats flying over head, I was walking hoping I didnt get them flying at me, had visions of the scene from the goonies where she had bats flying in her hair. Doctor Dolittle I will call him DD for short told us to turn our touches off and stand very still to be carefull not to make a sound. Moments later feeling the uneasiness of my friends I started to hear movement around my feet, and then something on my feet! it was bloody daniel who decided to sit on the floor, you couldnt see your hand in front of your face, he always manages to make me jump. Just as I asked him why he was sitting on the floor DD asked us to turn our touches back on, Daniel soon stood up seeing porking pins around us munching on fruit that DD had used to encourage then to come out from hiding, they were pretty big, not something I expected to see there, it was pretty cool. We eventually saw light and exited the cave onto Monkey beach and just as you would expect it was homed by losts of monkies.
We had fun feeding them and taking pictures, DD taught Daniel how to defend hisself againist them, defending his teritory, this is a good skill to learn if you ever find yourself surrounded by long tailed macaques, they will grab your bags or anything you are carrying, the Malays call them cheeky monkies, that they are. Had a brief incounter with a monitor lizard, I was sure it was hunting us, this one was bigger than me, felt safe with DD though, I am sure he would of been happy to restle it.
Soon after leaving the beach DD mentioned rain and that we should find another cave to rest in until it passed, minutes later the hevens opened, we ran to a nearby shelter and even though we were also sheltered by trees nothing was gonna keep us dry. It went all dark, thunder and lightening soon followed, I have not seen rain like it, the paths that we were treading just minutes before were already looking like steady streams. Nutty Alan decided to take his shirt off and stand in it to shower, DD shouted watch the scorpions they move in the rain, I was wearing flip
mummy and baby
Had lots of fun on monkey beach flops so I was not looking forward to walking through the water as DD said scorpions swim along the path in these conditions, for anyone else to get stung by a scorpion is probably minimal but for me there is every possability!
After a great day with DD we all headed to the sea front for a seafood buffet. We had red snapper, prawns, sqid, scollops, anything you wanted they had. Watching them prep the fish was really cool, the fish was hours old, you cannot really get fish much fresher than that. 1hr later we had platters of seasoned fish, rice, fresh vegtables, it was an amazing meal, and so cheap paying around 5-6 pounds ahead. I went to bed very happy that night.
Brit was not in a very good mood this morning, another incounter and no sleep with her fury friend, this time it nicked her smarties and eat them under her bed he he, I'm still finding this very amusing of course. Soon after breakie we headed to the morning fish market watching the locals buy their daily fish off the fisherman that had been up long before sunrise, it was good to watch
rice fields
I walked through these for about 10 minutes and was so hot, those poor women that work out there all day. them haggle, the smell was a morning wake up call though.
After a shot drive through the villages and on the outscarts of town we stopped at a puppet masters house, where he sowed us how he makes his puppets and performs his puppet shows to passers by, I had to buy one and send it home. I purchased my own Rama, he"s like the Indonesion version of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. After we left the house DD found a giant spider and thought it would be fun placing it on our shoulders and Abi's hair, Daniel had fun trying to climb a coconut tree, bless, how high did you get Dan?
Next stop Green Canyon, a canoe ride down river, they called it Green Canyon because the water is pure green in colour but unfortunately we were in the rainy season and it was more like brown Canyon, but it was pretty all the same. as we were floating along enjoying the wildlife we took a turn to find two lady tourists taking snap shots of themseleves topless on the rocks, their poor paddler he didnt know where to look, if you know anything about Indonesion
culture this is not a good thing to do here, if you show your shoulders or knees you stood out let alone get your boobs out posing for pictures. They were not pretty either wobbley bits flying out everywhere.
When we returned to our van Maman was waiting for us, we filled him in on the unpleasentries and he laughed out load shouting Shu Shu's. This means boobs in Indonesian if you hadnt guessed already. Soon after the two naked women now fully clothed, thank god ! approached us bulges and all asking for a lift, it was classic beause everyone all at the same time started to shout Shu Shu, they had no idea what was going on, dont you love private jokes.
After a little more driving we stopped at a local village, it was filled with life, ladies making rice crackers which I could'nt help having a quick go at and palm suger was being made boiling on a big giant wok, tasted good. the rain started again this is when we visited the bamboo bridge. Could'nt hang around to long as the rain was heavy, had just enough time to run onto it and
first time
My first baby coconut, lovely x take a pic, it was pretty high up there, great views though even without the sunshine.
On our way back we stopped off at DD home where he showed us his pets. He didnt have the normal dog or cat but giant turtles and porkypins. The construction of thier home was remarkable, deep pools and an outdoor shelter made out of an old boat that was damaged by the tsunami. He also had baby chicks and chickens that he cotes out of their cages bretending he was digging up worms for them, they just followed him around with his shuvel.
Nutty Alan, I cannot help calling him this and for people who were with me will know why, he insisted on pulling over and purchasing a bottle of rice wine, Alan I can confirm is an alcoholic buy the way. Rice wine is so strong so I was sure he would be drunk for dinner which would bring some amusing stories to the night, Alan loved telling jokes and stories, none of them ever really made sense but they were funny never the less. had a nice meal out that night, a restrarant ran by a swiss lady.
Did'nt have to walk back that night Maman gave me a lift on the back of his motorbike, nice. I am sure Britt and Dan were gonna have a 3rd night with their new roomie, go rat go.
Another traveling day, train ride to Yogyakarta, the train pulled up while our bags were pilled high on the platform. Once the train stopped there was what can i say fluid pouring onto the tracks onto our bags just by the stairs we needed to climb. We soon realised this was not just rain water it was someone going for a wee, wee everywhere, all travellers know not to go in between stops! after rescuing our bags we hopped on the train, the smell was gut renching, I was gagging all the way to my seat, Britt was laughing at me but my gagging motions were uncontrolable. Our seats were right by the toilet, Britt and I were spraying anything we could find to try and remove the smell, there was no getting away from it, all the way to Yogjakarta.
We finally arrived at our hotel Grand Rosela, did you get that Daniel? and met our local guide Lupor,
and what a pleassure! Went to Jazz bar for dinner, It is always raining here. Had a little outing to the local market, batik everywhere for sale, this is where we got taught how to beg. The begging lady, we saw her all the time, digging her little hand into your side in a cupped hand gesture, bottom lip and all. Britt your interpretation is spot on love. Back to the pool for a quick dip, I missed dinner this night to try and catch up on some blogage, used Daniels laptop at the hotel, there was no going back for me from this point, I am buying a bloody computer, no more sweety internet cafes for me.
It was a 3am start, boxed breakfast, ow the boxed breakfast! I cant even remember now what it's contents was but it was not edable by any means, no breakie for me! text my mum on the way to watch the sunrise as I thought of her and wanted her to know I was thinking of her. No one told me we had a steep climb to view this sunrise and when I mean steep I was on my hands and
knees, it was the only way to stop me from falling backwards, it took me a while to recover when i reached the top, Lupor laughing at my non existant fittness level. As we waited we soon come to realise the clouds had taken over and there was no sunrise to see this morning, a 3am start, no breakfast and a hard climb for clouds, but I was still smiling, what did I have to complain about absolutely nothing, still another great experience. on the way down we picked fruit from the trees and enjoyed eating nature.
By 9am we were hungry and all we could think about was the big golden arches, I havent craved crap food since the start of my trip and I had resisted many western foods that were on offer but this morning I had to give in, Macie D's it was, Quarter pounder with cheese and chips at 9am for me please! After filling our bellies we headed to Borobudur temple, one of the seven wonders of the world and I was not disappointed. It is the biggest Buddist temple in the world. At the top of the three terraces 72 large Buddha
sit, it is believed to be good luck to reach inside to touch the fingers or foot and make a wish, I squezzed my eyes shut so tight and made a wish, I do hope it comes true. The view from this temple was amazing, I loved it and was grateful I had the chance to visit it.
On the way back to the hotel Britt was asleep with beggers tapping on the window at her head when stopping at lights, they had no hope waking her up. Britt and Dan offered to take me to the market to get me a computer yipee, they were of great help, thanks guys, I love it. After my purchase dunken doughnuts were on the menu, you guys are addicted! After returning back to my room I had some lazy time watching Hook on TV, first English TV in a while, early night for me after my 3am start, slept like a baby.
Heading to Seloliman today early start as always, public bus for 5hrs and then stopped for some food. Meatball soup? was this meat I wasnt to sure, I could'nt bring myself to swallow it, no lunch for me.
After a few more hours on a bus we arrived at the eviromental education centre located on the edge of tropical forest on the slopes of Penanggungen mountain east Java. Britt and I shared a little hut at the bottom of a hill looking over the mountains, wow. We were only staying here for one night so all I wanted to do was recover from our jorney and relax. Our bathroom was outside, showering in nature, it was fun until i realised there was a frog showering with me, I think it was more scared of me to be honest after screaming like a big girl! We had a lovely meal, local organic produce, healthy eating has never tasted so good. Britt and I had an interesting night, bugs screaming and tapping from every window, Daniel was that you? Britt you make funny noises in your sleep by the way. After a morning of chilling out the next day we were driving to Mount Bromo! sooooooo excited!
I didnt know that on this part of my trip I was going to be scared for my life, Daniel, thanks for trying to comfort me but I know you were shitting
yourself too! we were getting higher and higher up the mountain it was night at this point and raining, all the driver had was his dingy headlights on his banged up 4x4 that Maman, Dan and I were sharing. Every car that squezzed passed us driving back down the mountain were telling us to turn round to go back, I asked Maman what they were shouting and he said landslide, there were landslides ahead. Landslides on one side and sheer drops on the other great! Maman asked the driver to carry on passing the mountain boys who were trying to assist passers by. Maman was telling me we may have to miss Mount Bromo out and continue onto Lovina! I crossed all my fingers and toes as this was something I really did'nt want to miss, and it worked! we got through, just enough gap for our 4x4 to pass the earth on the floor, thank you mountain boys! they did a great job clearing a path for us. We finally got to our hotel, it was so bizzarr, strange decor. Even though they used bright colours on the walls and had lots of lighting it still seemed really dark,
and cold!! thermals, jackets, two pairs of socks and my hat were soon in use, Britt being an Ozzie was'nt handling the cold so well so I let her use my hat. I shared a room with Abi, we both got our mummies out, I was sure there were bed bugs here, mulit coloured bed linen, couldnt tell if it was clean but it did'nt feel clean. All our clothes were damp and cold, not the best place to stay but it was only for one night.
We were heading to dinner and I had forgot my wallet so we went back into the room to get it. As I opened the door there was a man sitting in the chair in the corner of the room, I screamed so loud!!! Abi jumped out of her skin and screamed. My eyes always decieve me, it was my bag on the chair there was no man there at all. It was dark and spooky in there to my defence, sorry Ab's for scaring you, another funny moment. Dinner was nice, Alan was drunk again telling his usual stories. We all went to bed that night leaving Alan playing on an
Borobudor
In the moment old set of drums, you could hear him from your room, ALAN!!!!!
3.30am and a jeep ride to witness one of the most spectacular and unforgettable sunrise's in Asia. From the edge of the outer crater the panorama of volcanoes stretches out before you all the way to Mount Semaru the highest and most active volcano in Java. What can I say it was amazing, heading to the viewpoint there were locals offering fur coats for hire, I took my chances with the cold but there were points where I thought of that fur coat, it was sooo coold! Just before a glipes of colour was seen in the dark sky there was excitment circulating the gathering crowd. Colours soon came from no where, pinks, reds , purples, then bright orange and finally the sun appeared. It really was beautiful. The views of the volcanoes made me excited for our trip to the rim later that morning,It was now day. headed back down to one of the local tents, it was great sitting round a pit fire warming up with a hot milo. Milo!!! yummy!!!! I am now an official milo addict.
After the sunrise we cross the
cooking lesson
herbal medicine sea of sand to climb the steps up the cone of Mount Bromo. There was a 40 minute walk to the steps, you could hire a pony to take you up but I was determind to climb all the way until I could'nt deal with the constant ask of you want pony! I blame them that I took that pony the rest of the way! and you Abi!!! seeing you trotting off just made the climb seem even harder. We did however have those steps to climb! it was so worth it. Never did I think I would ever have the oppotunity to look straight into a active volcano standing on it's rim, wow!!
From here I knew I had to say goodbye to Indonesia, the world issues travel warnings for this part of the world, the warning that I would give is that it is DANGEROUSLY BEAUTIFUL! I loved every minute, thanks Maman x
After breakfast, a bus and a train ride we were on a ferry travelling to the tranquil North coast of Bali, Lovina baby! the locals were very excited having white people on the ferry with them, more picture requests, he even called his
wife so I could talk to her on the phone not that she spoke any English just lots of hello's and giggling.
When arriving at our hotel there was a black out so we were getting ready with candle light, had a great room though when I eventually managed to see it. There are many blackouts in Bali as I later discovered. After dinner we headed to the Poco bar for some cocktails and a dance, how many cocktails did we have? before I knew it we were all in the pool at the hotel, Britt managed to chuck me in, she has amazing stength for a size 6 super model! there was a torch light coming up the path, security guard, he didnt ask us to leave but to keep the noise down, it was 2am in the morning and we had already upset a girl who's room was next to the pool area. Alan asked her for a lighter and she chucked it at his head. OMG Alan went crazy, Brit, Abi and Maman scarppered off leaving me and Dan hiding in a bush. I will not repeat what he was shouting but it went something like
this "F--- you you mother----er "repeatedly! woke up the next morning with confirmation that Alan is truly a crazy Philapino!
Had a relaxing day at the pool and went for a pedicure while Abi enjoyed a waxing! this invovled cold wax and a kitchen spactular, poor Abi. My pedicure took nearly 3 bloody hours??????? my feet were not that bad. More Thia food yum yum.
Happy Birthday to you! it was Brit's Birthday. Went to the hot springs, very smelly, it was more of a bath for the locals than the tropical hot springs I was imagining, Had lunch on the beach and went to the pool for some rays but as soon as I got comfy on my sunbed the rain started AGAIN! Met Brit and Daniel on Maman's balcony, he had the whole top floor to himself, the stars were amazing. Gave Brit her prezzie from me I hope she liked it. Maman and Daniel wore their party wigs while we had our party necklaces on. Brit had a big chocolate cake after dinner, we helped her eat it of course. Back to the Poco bar for more cocktails.The band played Happy Birthday to Britt Bali
style while she had to down a glass of flamming ? not sure what was in that glass but it was down hill from there. Brit spent the rest of the evening in the ladies to put it politely and had to go back to the hotel to pass out. Hope you had a unforgettable night sweetie, he he.
Abi and I went to the local club Pacha, we were the only one's in there apart from these 2 guys we spoke to for about 10 minutes, they were right idiots, prefered to go to bed than to waste my time so we did just that.
Travelled through Tirtagangga stopping for lunch, a tourist got bitten by a dog with rabies here a few days before and was in a critical condition so I was on my guard. We visited the water palace, very pretty. After a few more hours we arrived in Ubud, great for shopping, pedicures and waxing this time they used hot wax and a kitchen knife, not sure if this was any better, same same but different? First night we went to see the Balinese dance, hard to follow but great to watch. After
they set light to dried up coconut shells and danced through the fire. Maman told us not to sit in the front row because they throw fire at you with their feet, I thought he was joking, I had my feet on my chair by the end of it and the man that was dancing did'nt seem to bright after either.
Our last night in Ubud we came across a bar that had the most strangest people, funky dancing and weird facial expressions, maybe there was a Balinese social substance that I was unaware of going around. Alan was drunk again ordering drinks without being able to pay and scaring the waitresses. He seemed to think every women was up for some Alan time, he had massege with a happy ending I think on every stop during our trip. It was our final night, headed to Kuta with Brit and Dan the next morning after saying our goodbyes, Maman we love you, you were great, shu shu!x
Brit and Dan had booked a few nights in the Bounty hotel before heading back to Brisbane and offered for me to crash in their room for the night, thanks guys!
grabbed some beach action and a beer. During dinner there was a black out luckily the cheif had already cooked our meals. Had a walk round town, visited the Bali bombing momument and grabbed a few drinks at the Via La Pia bar opposite. Went back to the room and watched a scary movie about a serial killer and went to sleep. It was'nt the big night out that we hoped for in Kuta, I just didnt feel it. Kuta is not for me so even though I was sad that I was saying goodbye to my new found friends I was happy I was leaving and moving on to more exciting things, I knew I was travelling alone from here but I was so excited about Borneo I didnt care. I can't believe after years of talking about Borneo I was actually finally on my way.
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abi
non-member comment
Great times
Such amazing adventures in Indonesia! Great times! x x