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Published: November 11th 2009
Our second month in Indonesia was spent in Bali, Lombok and Java. We first flew to Kuala Lumpur to renew our Indonesian visa, and buy a new camera!
We then headed to Denpasar in Bali, and decided to go to the popular Kuta Beach in the south west. It's a favourite party beach area for Australians - and is packed full of bars, restaurants, fast food chains, shopping and surfing!
After having been fairly isolated for the past month, it was a shock to the system being in Kuta. Suddenly we were surrounded by Westerners and junk food! It felt strange, but familiar at the same time.
After a couple of days we made our way to Ubud - a mountain town closer to the centre of Bali. The town itself is old, chic and stylish - filled with one-off boutiques selling gorgeous furniture, jewelery and clothes. The restaurants are all original and the food was delicious. It was full of nice resorts and spas. It's got an eclectic mix of people, most of which are Europeans. We hired a moped and found that just a short drive from the town of Ubud, we were surrounded by
stunning tiered rice fields, forests, mountains, and some towering volcanoes.
Most people in the countryside and small villages around Ubud live in 'Balinese compounds' - beautiful old walled courtyards, with temples and houses inside. On a daily basis the women of the village carry offerings on their heads, to be placed at the temples for the Gods. The women dress in colourful traditional dresses with flowers in their hair. As we drove through the villages at dusk, we saw all of the local people washing naked in the streams and rivers - men, women and children - and they weren't in the slightest bit bashful. We were surprised given that it's a Hindu island. The Balinese do seem to have a lovely free spirit about them.
After almost a week, we left Ubud, and headed by ferry to Lombok (the island to the east of Bali). The ferry crossing took 4 hours, but we had to wait another 3 hours to get into the harbour! We drove to the south western peninsular, and found a really nice guest house over the road from the beach. The scenery was stunning - long sandy bays with deserted islands in the
distance. It was very untouched. A forgotten corner.....well, for now at least. We spent a couple of days relaxing, and exploring the area by moped. On one day, we hired a boat and went on a snorkel trip to 3 uninhabited islands with a couple that we'd met. The coral was pretty, and there were lots of small tropical fish.
After a relaxing few days, we drove along the west coast, up to the 'Gili Islands' - 3 beautiful islands just off the north west coast. The smallest of the islands is Gili Aire, which is the quietest and most remote. The middle island is Gili Meno, which is nicknamed the 'honeymoon island' - luxury remote resorts. We chose to stay on Gili Trawangan, the largest of the islands, with a good choice of hotels, restaurants and bars. We found a nice cheap guest house and settled in there for a week. The beach was idyllic, with clear water and powder soft sand. On our first snorkel we saw a giant turtle feeding on coral just off the shore. The fish were great too, and we saw shoals of mackerel, groupa and tuna. We even saw moray eels!
We spent our time relaxing on the beach, snorkeling and eating good food. We made friends with a lovely Dutch couple (Mariska and Niels) and spent lots of time chatting to them. There was a great beach cinema too, so we caught up on all the latest films.
After a week on the beach, we flew to Jogjakarta in Java. We checked into a really artistic guest house - where the owner had painted each room with turtles, waves and underwater worlds. Jogjakarta is Java's old capital (prior to it being moved to the now capital Jakarta). It's a busy place, with nice people and a real buzz about it. The main high street is full of clothes shops, souvenirs and food stalls. It's a traditional looking town, with lots of horse and carts, and peddle rickshaws. However, there seems to be a movement into the modern world, with lots of shopping malls springing up, and fast food chains. The middle class seem to be enjoying their new 'cappuccino lifestyle'.
On our first day in Jogjakarta, we walked through the hussle and bussle, along the main high street, and on to the Sultan's Palace. The Palace is still
occupied by the Sultan, and is used for special occasions and ceremonies. Jogjakarta has special rules and is allowed to make quite a few of its own decisions, without too much interference from the government of Java. We arrived at the Palace and were given a free guided tour. We soon realised that the Palace is in need of a lick of paint! It's not quite the palatial home of the Sultan that we were expecting to see. Hundreds of years ago, it was probably beautiful, but now it looks a little uncared for.
In the afternoon, we went to a Batik gallery - a traditional form of painting in Jogjakarta. It's created by painting on cotton or silk canvases. Hot wax is used to draw the outline, the canvas is then wholly dipped into a pot of paint - the paint covers everything except the wax. Colours are blended as the canvas is dipped into different pots of coloured paint, with wax applied to prevent certain colours from mixing or changing. The process is repeated again and again, with colours being built up. At the end, the canvas is washed and boiled, removing all wax, but keeping the
colour underneath. The true colours can only really be seen and appreciated, when the canvas is held up to the light. It's a very long process, but the colours that form at the end are outstanding. We bought a Batik which had taken 3 weeks to create.
Our second day in Jogjakarta was a temple and volcano tour! Fortunately we were the only ones on the bus tour, so ended up having a car and driver all to ourselves. We started our day at the 9th century Buddhist temple of Borobudur - a spectacular temple displaying tiered stupas (bell shaped stone statues). Stone Buddhas sit inside most of the stupas, watching out over the countryside. The entrance fee was 15,000 rupiahs ($1.5) for locals and 120,000 rupiahs ($12) for foreigners (Westerners). All Westerners were separated out and asked to pay at a nicely constructed glass office. Once inside the glass office, Westerners were given complimentary teas and coffees, and separate 'cleaner' toilets. It wasn't a nice feeling being segregated.
The temple is set in acres of gardens. As we approached, we decided to walk around the lower level of the temple first. As soon as we did, we
were bombarded by young school children - all wanting to speak English with us, and take our photos!! There were hundreds of children there, each in groups of half a dozen, with each group being given the task of interviewing Westerners for a school project. So as to practice their English, the children had lists of questions, and eagerly asked us about our hobbies, favourite places in Indonesia and favourite Indonesian foods. They scribbled down all of the answers, and then asked to have their picture taken with us. As soon as we turned the corner, a new group asked to interview us and take our photo. This happened again, and again, and again. At one point, we had about 30 children all in separate groups waiting in line to interview us. Some of the older children had tape recorders instead of pens and pads. They were all very sweet!
The temple was beautiful, with carvings on the walls, showing the 'path to enlightenment'. There were about 6 levels each with carvings, statues and Buddhist images. At the top stood a giant stupa, surrounded by smaller stupas and Buddhas. It overlooked smoky countryside and forests.
After finally managing to escape from the children, we left and went to Marapi volcano. Unfortunately though, it was shielded by cloud, so we didn't manage to see it.
We then went to Prambanan - a Hindu temple built in the 9th century. Again, we were charged more than the locals - 10 times more! The complex is made up of several temples, each worshiping a Hindu God - with Shiva's being one of the best in the world. Unfortunately there was an earthquake in 2006, which destroyed a lot of the temples - leaving piles of rubble in their place. Quite a few are still standing, but it's not as easy to walk around.
Our last and final day was left for strolling around the town, and sampling some of the lovely local restaurants in Jogjakarta. As we walked through the food stalls, we saw a variety of weird and wonderful foods - the strangest being a bowl of deep fried bats - they were displaying their sharp teeth with a devilish look.
As we strolled around, it dawned on us that our 6 months in Asia were coming to an end. We've had so many wonderful experiences and met so many fantastic people.
It's a continent full of diversity. We've had a magical time being part of the many wonderful beliefs, cultures, sights, smells and tastes. It has really become a part of us, and we'll really miss it.
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lol and steve
non-member comment
6 months!
wow 6 months gone by already - you seem to be having such wonderful experiences and thank you soooo much for sharing them with us - hope the next 6 months go as well for you - keep blogging x x x x love to you you both from us both x