Jakarta to Yogyakarta

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Little did we know, flying from Singapore on such high would make the descent into Jakarta a turbulent spiral...

Jakarta. A 'city of hustle and bustle, a multicultural hub of lifestyles'. Our experience would prove this idea incorrect. We were hurled upon by a dozen people offering their services to us as soon as we stepped through the gates. We knew to look for Blue Bird Taxi, and when one approached me claiming to be Blue Bird the overwhelmed desperation and naivety I evidentially reeked of, grasped the opportunity. Subsequently we were more than ripped off and the Blue Bird charade was unveiled (He quite literally removed his guise)! 5 minutes into the journey I saw us pass the hotel, but fell into the ruse of 'the stranger knows best...!' We went off the beaten track, through what felt like the outback shacks of Jakarta. Despite the casual collision with numerous motorcycles, horses, chickens and occasional pedestrian, this was an insightful way to see Jakarta. We'd been previously advised to 'leave Jakarta as soon as you arrive'. We now know why. We arrived in hotel that felt like the middle of nowhere, but the sound of the busy traffic was still there. We weren't allowed to check in for a few hours and our plan of a day trip to Bogor was thwarted, so we were left to linger in the not-so-safe, not-so-close to anything hotel. We had our accustomed 'nap' after 2 nights of no sleep and later ventured to dinner. The ideal of an English menu seems very much a distant dream in Indonesia, so we've become experts at guessing by picture, or a word that could bare some English resemblance. After getting over the distress of what looked like a disheveled, scolded part of a foreign bird on my plate the food wasn't bad!!



We took an early flight to Yogyakarta the next day and did a tour of Prambanan and Borobudur. This was awesome and made the hours of driving worth it! We were however treated as celebrities (for wrong or right reasons I'm still not sure). Flocks of Indonesian locals and tourists followed us in the hope of a conversation or photographs. It was difficult to refuse when being surrounded by a dozen people on the rickety rackety steps of the temples. To exit Borobudur we had to take an extended walk through the entire market walled streets. The constant repetition of 'my elephant cheap cheap' rung alarm bells of my previous Angkor Wat experience. I'm not sure how many times I had to say no to these basted elephant statues and numerous helicopters on strings, but it made an interesting a somewhat humorous walk!!



Our hotel in Yogyakarta has been fairly nice. We have a pool, which has been great (although the first day it was green and tricky to see through, not that it stopped me). The room is a windowless cell and the bathroom has an interesting outdoor element to it which makes each toilet experience interesting (fighting the lizards for the toilet, the ant armies and mosquito brigade). We took a trip to Marliboro street (the supposed tourist hub). In my excitement to meet other travellers I think we spotted a mere handful of scattered european couples in-between our photos shoots with Indonesian locals. We went to Marliboro for food stalls/restaurants and shamefully only found a Pizza Hut....it had to be done!!!



We're now re-packing ready for our 12hour plus minibus to Mount Bromo tomorrow. The plan is Brmoo, Ijen, BALI!!! Unfortunately we've been in a whirlwind of ups and downs, disappointment and bloody jetlag. But that's it for now. The fun stuff is a mere sleep away!!



Bali. Onto bigger, better and brighter things 😊

xxx

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