Day 14 - Singapore to Yogyakarta: A Tale of Two Hemispheres

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Up, shower, toast and out. Off to Changi Airport to make our first ever foray into the southern hemisphere. Whilst at the airport she decided to buy herelf a new watch and I decided that I really had to replace my sunglasses as the sun was starting to hurt my eyes. We English and the sun, a dangerously painful combination. Obviously the one pair that actually fit my head were the more expensive ones.

This much shopping and we ended up being 2 of the last 3 people to board the aircraft. Something which vexed Elizabeth slightly.

Flight was done and over with in just over 2 hours and, with a brief glimpse of Mount Merapi (the one that erupted in October 2010) through the clouds, we touched down in Yogyakarta.

A $25 visa application awaited us on arrival, and could you pay for them on card? Nope. Luckily I had enough Singaporean dollars left over to pay for my visa and then go through security to a cash machine and then come back through to pay for hers. After all that it wasn't difficult to find out taxi driver as he was the only one left standing there holding sign with (a mis-spelled version of) my name on it.

The chaos that greeted us on the main road down to Yogyakarta was out of this world. An ocean of motorcycle helmets was all one could see no matter which window you looked out of. According to the driver you can start riding a scooter at the age of 8 in Indonesia. Imagine what the roads would be like back home if 8 year olds could ride scooters?

The hotel itself was very nice and we decided to head out for a walk along Malioboro - the main shopping street that leads down to the palace. The offers to go look at a very special, one-day only art gallery were very tempting but somehow I just couldn't find the word 'yes' in my vocabulary.

The market was the usual hive of activity, full of very slow walking ladies and guys staring at the white girl - it all amounted to a rather uneasy start to Indonesia for her but Lizzie eventually got used to the attention.

We ate at the Bedhot restaurant a few metres walk down the alley the hotel was on and it was obvious that it was located in some guide books somewhere as it very quickly got full of people - mainly of western origin, with a smattering of locals.

The crowded mature of the restaurant meant that people were having to wait for a table for a while so she beckoned over a pair of girls to come join us at our 4 seater table, an offer they happily accepted. They were both medical students from Mastraact in Holland (yes, more Dutch people) called Rene and Lianne. We ended up chatting and drinking all night (Lizzie thoroughly enjoying her rice wine cocktails) and were eventually kicked out of the restaurant at 22:30 as it had apparently already been closed for 15 minutes. A quick farewell and promise of a drink together in Doha on Sunday 21st, if our transfer times overlapped, and then off to bed.

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