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Published: November 25th 2009
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We took the 20 minute ferry from Bali to Java early in the morning. Even though the islands are so close distance-wise they seem very different in many aspects. Bali is mostly Hindu, whereas Java is mostly Muslim. We learned later on that Java used to be Hindu then Buddhist and now is Muslim. The people of Java take on the religion of their Sultan and most of them have elements of all three religions. The people of Bali were warm and friendly but on Java there were a lot of people who scam tourists and aren't as welcoming.
We arrived late afternoon to Probolinggo, a town near Mt. Bromo, a volcano which we were going to climb the next morning. We paid for a shuttle to Cemora Lewang, the town nearest to Mt. Bromo where we would sleep before the hike. We boarded the shuttle but it didn't go. We waited and waited...two hours passed and it was now 7:30pm. We started to ask the other people what was going on. Here, the shuttles only left when they were full...15 passengers...we only had 5. Basically, it wouldn't be leaving that night and we would miss the sunrise hike up
the volcano. Fortunately, Ian bargained with the driver and it only took 12 dollars to make that shuttle move!!
We woke up at 4 AM to start the climb up Mt. Bromo. It was pitch black and there was no moon. We had our headlamps but it was hard to see the trail. We couldn't figure out which way to go and then Ian said "there's trash on the ground here so this must be the trail." We continued on the "trail" until we heard loud whistles and a man on a horse beckoning us back. Apparently, that was NOT the trail and the man took us the correct way. We were able to reach the summit by sunrise and endured the disgusting smell of the sulfur coming out in steam clouds from the volcano.
When we got back we took a nap and then got ready to head out of town. The problem was we were the only tourists left in Cemora Lewang. There were no more shuttles that day and it was only 10:30 AM (unless 13 other people miraculously showed up). We hired two guys on motor scooters and back to Probolinggo we went. We
were taking an overnight bus to Yogyakarta and Rachel was getting antsy because the bus wasn't there. That is when a local told us about the one hour time difference between Bali and Java. Whoops! and then it sunk in...our 4 AM wake-up that morning had really been 3 AM! That's why it was too dark to see the trail!
The first day of Yogyakarta we went to a local market which had stalls and stalls of foods and crafts and clothes. Then we went to a Batik shop. Batik is the local art here. It involves using special tools to put wax on cloth and then using different color dyes. In the end it creates colorful paintings.
The next day we went to Borobudur, a Buddhist Temple from around 900 AD. It took one hundred years to make it. It has Hindu and Buddhist elements in it. It has three sections: hell, earth, and heaven. It is divided into many levels with intricate carvings in the stone telling the story of Buddha and holding 505 Buddha statues, all with an identical face.
Then we went to Prambanan, a Hindu Temple. This complex once consisted of 232
Temples, however due to earthquakes, there are only 7 standing currently. As you can see from the picture of us there are piles of stone behind us that they need to re-build to bring the Temple back to it's original form. Due to a lack of funding, it is unlikely to ever be completely restored.
The next day we visited the royal palace where the Sultan still lives with his wife and five daughters. He is allowed to take other wives but he has decided not to and he is not going to have any more children either. We went to see the traditional dance of the Sultan and it was the most boring thing either of us has ever witnessed. We are open and respectful to other cultures, but for an hour the woman dancer in the picture just did a series of head nods. Then the man waved his cloth from side to side. It was very slow and pretty much the entire audience walked out on them.
We then traveled to Jakarta the capital of Indonesia. Jakarta is a really big city with 17 million people. There are constant traffic jams and American institutions (Starbucks,
Pizza Hut, etc.) We are looking forward to leaving Java to head to Borneo.
We hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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Noni
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving Rachel and Ian! Thanks for the updates and pics... wow, so interesting! You know how much I love dance and culture, but even I would have left after an hour of head nods! LOL... take care and have fun. We miss you!