Blogs from Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia, Asia - page 24

Our train was 2 hours late leaving Jakarta, if we'd have known we could have had an extra hour in bed! The train journey was ok, we got water and a meal included but half way through the journey it started raining and of all the seats the leaky carriage roof could have leaked on it had to be Donna's, so she spent half the journey sat forward on the edge of her seat, making Neil feel incredibly uncomfortable and uneasy! So we arrived into Yogyakarta (or Yogya as the locals call it) to rain...pouring rain. We looked like drowned rats when we arrived into the hostel and had the manager scurrying after us with a mop! Yogya isn't the luckiest of cities having experienced earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami's in recent years owing in part, to ... read more

Tar vid dar Brita slutade och det hon inte skrivit om - Brunei. Efter mycket om och men kom jag till Brunei. Nar man reser tappar man kanslan for veckodagarna och jag insag alltfor sent, da mannen som salde batbiljetter berattade for mig, en halvtimme innan baten skulle fardas mot Brunei, att det var fullbokat. Vanta flera timmar pa buss istallet, byta till bat och sedan missa sista baten fran Labuan till Brunei med tio minuter. Det var helt klart vart allt trubbel. Har aldrig upplevt ett sadant vanligt stalle. Och var stor skillnad i arkitektur mot resten av det vi hittills sett. I den rika sultanens oljeland ser vanliga hus ut precis som ambassaderna. Sjalvklart fanns fattigare kvarter, men de kan inte jamforas mot de platskjul o sma bostader (ruckel) vi tidigare sett. Antar att ... read more

So, after enduring a 3 hour delay and another terrifying earthquake at the Padang Airport, we were saying goodbye to Sumatra and on our way to Java. Finally, after almost 4 months in Indonesia, we were going to see the heart of this wild country. We had just touched down in Jakarta about 2 months ago but never left the vicinity of the airport as we had a flight to Singapore the following day. We arrived, this time, in the evening, hopped in a taxi and were driven through the wide and busy streets to the main backpacker center; Jalan Jaksa. First we found a hotel, a DECENT hotel (one that wasn't visibly crawling with cockroaches or trannies), had some dinner and then fell right asleep. The next day we decided to wander about, catch a ... read more

Thursday 16th August After teary farewells at the airport I headed off on a British Airways flight. As Jess and her dad were on a separate flight to me that left at the same time, we met up at Changi airport in Singapore. It was quite daunting to head through the departure gate on my own but I think it meant I kept it together more, because I only had strangers around me. The flight was good but felt quite long, especially since my entertainment was working properly. The flight was one going to London, so all the meals were geared around that: at 5.30pm they served dinner, then switched the lights off at 6.30pm and switched them back on at 11pm to make us eat another meal. I had this lovely old guy sitting next ... read more

25 & 26 July 07 Kraton - The Story of Sri Sultan Hamengkubwono IX Today I and ck having a breakfast at road side stall. Each of us took 2 bowls of Mie Ayam and Baksu Ayam, 4000Rp each. Our destination were Kraton and Taman Sari. Kraton is a palace or traditional residence of Jogja Sultan. It was built in 1755, and it has been a cultural center right up to the present day. The Sultanate of Jogja was come from the Sultanate of Mataram. In 1755, the invader, the Dutch East India Company divided the Mataram into two, i.e Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat with Yogyakarta as the capital and the Sultanate of Surakarta Hadiningrat with Surakarta (Solo) as the capital. Sultan Hamengkubuwono I was the 1st Sultan in Jogja, while Pakubuwono III who was the ... read more