Mellow Malang

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We were rudely woken up at 6 am by our alarm clock (what's one of them!??) and it felt really strange getting out of bed early! Our cyclo driver who was waiting outside had a tough 2km ride to get us to the train station in time and he didn't make the best start by taking us to the BUS station instead of the TRAIN station, still we made it.

We decided to try our first Executive train which was by far the best standard of transport to date in Indonesia. Big comfy reclining seats, tinted windows, air con, free snacks and waitress service!! not bad for a couple of quid each.

The first leg of our journey was 5 hours and dropped us in Surabaya 3 hours north of Malang. We didn't know if there were any connecting trains but we soon found out. Sure enough we had to wait 4 hours for the next one, which was the crappy Ekonomi train. It was so hot and to make matters worse coming from a ice cool train to an enclosed platform that felt like an oven. We kept ourselves amused by helping street sellers sell some newspapers and experimenting with various Indonesian phrases from our guidebook on locals.

We eventually arrived in Malang 10 hours later and for some reason looked at 12 different guesthouses but most were either full, filthy or looked like Bangkok prison cells. We took the best of the bunch but it still had nuclear warfare smells coming from the bathroom and an ants nest in the corner.

With little energy left we we took a stroll to find some food which wasn't easy as it was late. We tried a few local street stalls but none looked that appealing, until we noticed a cool little coffee shop serving late food. We sat, ordered and waited for the food to arrive.. but when it did Michelle tucked in and the veggie noodles were not so veggie with the added Chicken! We headed back in need of our bed.. but on the way stumbled across a banner hanging off a 24 hr off license advertising brand new luxury rooms for a tenner!! we had a look and .. WOW!!! these little hubs were just 1 month old and everything was NEW. Wooden floors, cable tv, free internet in the room, sprung beds with clean white linen and the bathroom looked seal proof from insects so no dodging cockroaches while trying to pee.

We moved the rooms next day.

The following morning we found out that Man Utd had lost to Barcelona in the Champions league final (Message for brother from Lee - hahahahahahahahahahah!!!).

Malang has a really chilled feel to it. A river runs through the northern part of town and property's hang off the steep hill leading up to the centre. Locals seem much more relaxed, laid back and friendly towards westerners. We spent a couple of days wondering around town not doing much. We found a decent place to eat that seemed extremely popular with locals and always had a waiter/waitress who could speak a little English so we could clarify NO MEAT... even CHICKEN.

On our fourth day we headed for the weekly show that takes place, glass eating horses?! I know who would of thought, but with a recent lack of entertainment we needed to see something. It was not to be. Turned out that the show was not taking place that morning. We did however find ourselves in a bird market which smelt bad so we quickly passed through.

That night we went for a meal in a historic building that had a big hall and lots of ancient stuff hanging off the walls. We sat in true Indonesian style on the floor and soon realised a singer on the stage at the front pumping out some cheesy love songs. When we ordered our food the waiter asked where we were from and soon enough the singer was giving a big up to Liverpool and dedicated a John Lennon number to us... proceeded by everyone clapping while looking over???

We enjoyed Malang but again felt there was not much to do. Some drastic action is needed as so far Java has been rather lame on action adventures. So, in true crazy sporadic like fashion we consulted our guidebook found the nearest mountain and head for mount Bromo tomorrow.

See you up there!

Lee and Michelle

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Comments

[Louise]

Hope you are both doing well? Can't wait to see you matey!! Lots of Love Looby Lou xxx