Pacitan and Malang

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From Yogyakarta we took a bus to Pacitan. Pacitan is a fairly small city near the coast of the Java Sea. Our original plan was to stay at a place called Happy Bay Beach Bungalows. From what we had read it was a great little guesthouse that had bungalows you could stay in on the beach. When we got there, it turned out it was closed down. Our bus driver was nice enough to take us to another place he knew nearby. It looked nice enough but was full (of surfers). The owner of the surfshop guesthouse suggested a couple of other places to our bus driver and he was able to find one of them not too far away and even made sure they had a room available before he left. Hotel Rajiwali was our new home! the beach was a 3 minute walk away, we got a complimentary breakfast and we had successfully got away from the busy streets of Yogyakarta for a few days of down time.

We honestly didn't do too much in Pacitan except walk around and lay on the beach. Our hotel let us borrow a couple of bikes to go into town and arrange our next bus. The main bus station didn't have any routes going to Malang but luckily when the gentlemen trying to help us out figured out where we wanted to go, there was a travel bus office just half a block away. It was kind of difficult making the arrangements with the two girls running the office because I don't think they spoke a word of english. But we got through it and everyone was on the same page! The next day, we were heading out at 9am and expected the bus ride to be about 6 hours.

Both of the bus rides into and out of Pacitan were absolutely gorgeous. The mountains of Java are covered in trees and farmland. People live all amongst the mountain; everywhere from having a roadside shop, warung or gas staion to living on the edge of a cliff. There was a river/gorge that we seemed to follow and we didn't get any pictures but it was definitely beautiful enough that I don't think we will be forgetting the scenery any time soon.

We arrived in Malang about 8 hours after our bus ride began. It really wasn't too bad of a ride because there was so much to look at. The only unfortunate thing is that it gets dark around 5:30 here so once we were settled into our next destination I wasn't really comfortable exploring too much. We found a great little palce to eat not far from our Hotel (Hotel Emma) and then ended up heading over to a pool hall for a few hours. (I have to thank Tyler for talking me in to getting out and doing something, it was really fun talking with a few locals and not sitting in our stuffy hotel room all night)

Malang quickly became our favourite place so far :) The people are great, it is easy to get around and it's not too hot! Our first day, we walked over to the bird market which was really fun. I felt bad for all of the animals locked up in cages but it was fun looking at all the different types of birds and other animals (owls, fruit bats, cats, puppies, bunnies, parrots, guinea pigs etc.). We couldn't spend all day there though because we weren't overly pleased with Hotel Emma and wanted to find a new place to stay for the remainder of our time in Malang. That's when we found Kompong Tourist.

Kompong Tourist is on top of Hotel Helios. We basically got to stay on a rooftop patio for a few days. While they have dorm beds, we opted to stay in one of the gazeebos. It was really amazing! It seems that everything here is made from bamboo or some kind of wood.

Our next adventure is going to be beyond exciting!! Don't read any further if you don't want to be uber jealous!

We met these two great Dutch girls and the four of us are going to go on a four day trek to see Mount Bromo, Mount Ijen (both active volcanos) and Sukamade Beach (in a national park where different species of turtles come every night to lay their eggs). Along the way, there are lots of waterfalls and other great scenery. We have hired a private four-wheel drive vehicle to get us around. All of our accomodations are included and most of the meals.

Suggestion: Google "Mount Bromo", "Mount Ijen" and "Sukamade Beach"!! Google Images, Wikipedia and Wikitravel have lots of information.

That means we will be far from any wifi for the next few days. At the end of our trip we get dropped off at the ferry to Bali. We will write again once we have settled in there!

Have an awesome weekend :) We sure will!!!!

xoxo Ty+Becs

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