Blogs from Pangandaran, Java, Indonesia, Asia - page 2

The place we were actually heading for was called Pangandaran, however Cas called it by the above name and it has stuck. We hit the breakfast buffet at 6.00am and filled our boots, plus we took a bag of stuff for the train such as banana bread, toast and muffins. My first fluff up of the trip in terms of travel. I'd booked us on a train, however that particular train left yesterday; I'd got my dates muddled up. Fortunately there was a cheap option and we were off at 7.20 on our 4 1/2 hour train ride. The conductor was accompanied by two armed guards. Makes you wonder... The skies were full of big white clouds as we headed east and south towards the coast. Half of the population is engaged in agriculture and we ... read more

My plane landed safely in Cijulang on a tiny runway carved out of the jungle. I had nothing planned except to survive the flight and figured I would be able to find my way to Pangandaran from there (about an hour drive away). So I asked the guys who worked there about a cab or a local bus and they just said no and laughed. Lucky for me though, they let me ride along in the van that belonged to the airline that was taking packages and the pilots on to Pangandaran for a small fee. Score! The guy driving the van dropped me off at this awesome beach bar - I had a beer and chatted with the owner who also owned a guest house (hostel). I took a room there and dropped off my ... read more

Today, we should leave Jakarta, and after two travelling days, we should visit Pangandaran. The last travel day, is not a long day, where we will go by the train through the country side of Java. Then, a shirt bus drive would bring us to Pangandaran, which I will continue in the next blogpost. The day started with a little small trouble. The breakfast at 6 was good, and we should leave with the bus at 7. At least, that was the plan. In our hotel, we had 3 groups of our travel organisation, and somehow they changed the busses, including the bus drivers. And, our travel leader Bob had missed his alarm, so he was a little bit too late. Some members of the group did not saw him by the breakfast, and it was ... read more

17 mars 8h45AM. J'attend depuis déjà 3/4 d'heure l'arrivée de mon mini-bus climatisé. Je suis au restaurant de l'hôtel Bladok à Yogyakarta, impatient de partir pour ce long sept heures de route pour Pangandaran. "Bladok always last pick up" que me dit la serveuse au visage bouffi qui tente de m'encourager. Au même moment, une longue barbichette entre en se tournant vers moi. "Pangandaran" qu'il me lance. Et bien voilà! Il ne fallait que le call de la serveuse pour que mon transport se pointe. Je prend donc place dans le mini-bus alors qu'il ne s'y trouve qu'une indonésienne grassouillette qui a manqué le train. Mais c'est que ça explique en rien le retard de mon lift ça. Bah. On se lance enfin sur la route: c'est tout ce qui compte à présent. Peu de temps ... read more

Nach dem ganzen Großstadtlärm fahren wir über holprige Straßen irgendwo in die Walachei, wo es nichts weiter gibt als einen langen Strand, Sonne und ein paar Wellen. Von einem kleinen Dorf geht es mit einem Motorroller kilometerweit quer durch den Wald und über eine kleine, unter unserem Gewicht ächzende aber beruhigend sanft hin und her schwingende Bambusbrücke in ein noch kleineres und schön langweiliges Dorf, bestehend aus ein paar Fischerhütten, Restaurants und kleinen Pensionen. Das verspricht uns Entspannung pur. Von unserem Zimmer haben wir einen Blick über die Bucht, in welche sanfte Wellen einlaufen. Ein idealer Punkt, um surfen zu lernen. Wir mieten uns ein paar Bretter und einen gut durchtrainierten und dunkelbraun gebrannten Lehrer, der unter wachsamen Augen auch Sarah das Surfen beibringen darf. Nach wenigen Versuchen klappt es auch schon ganz gut, sich bis ... read more