Advertisement
Published: September 23rd 2009
“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do - especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” - William Least Heat Moon
Here are a few random facts I didn't know about Indonesia before arriving that I think are interesting: 1) They execute drug smugglers here. KILL! DEAD! GAME OVER, MAN! A nice, friendly sign at the airport is there to remind you just in case you forgot. Ammi and I would have to make sure nobody put anything into our bags right before we cross a border. This is how many episodes of “Locked Up Abroad” start. 2) Barack Obama grew up in Jakarta from the age of six to ten. Many smiling Indonesians are very proud of that fact. 3) Indonesia contains 17,508 islands with 54,716 km of coastline. How many hammocks does that equal? 4) There are over 2,000 illegal radio and television stations on the air, probably with 75%!o(MISSING)f them playing a Bob Marley song at any given time. Apparently Bob is one of those constants
of the universe. In fact we have a theory that if life exists on other planets the first radio signal we will hear will we blaring “I Shot The Sheriff.” 5) Indonesia seems to be a hot spot for natural and man-made disasters. The island of Sumatra was the epicenter for the 2004 earthquake that caused the huge tsunami that devastated much of Asia. Likewise, Jakarta and Bali seem to be repeatedly used for target practice by terrorist bombers. Just a week before we arrived a hotel in Jakarta was bombed. So at the very least Indonesia sounded like it wouldn't be boring. OK, lesson over, kids. Don't worry, there won't be a test at the end.
Our flight from Istanbul took us first to Qatar in the United Arab Emirates. I noticed from the plane's GPS navigation system on the back of the seat in front of me that we made a huge detour to avoid flying over Iraq. Well that was thoughtful. 😊 I noticed in the airport that everyone; rich, poor, man, or woman was walking around without shoes on. At first glance it seems like a backwards thing to do but later we realized that
it's considered rude to wear shoes indoors. After a while in Southeast Asia it seemed strange to me to walk into a store without first taking off my shoes. The next flight was overnight to Singapore. I woke up somewhere over India with the realization that we were now more than halfway around the world. Were we 14 hours ahead or 10 hours behind? I chose to say 14 hours ahead as it sounded further away and thus worthy of a bigger traveler merit badge in my mind. Flying over the island of Java it reminded me a lot of South America; dense vegetation and random piles of trash. There were, however, a few differences; the sun reflected off the water from the numerous rice patties, exotic kites flew over the ground seemingly flown by no one, and hordes of motorcycles sped about like ants on crack.
Trying to get our visa on arrival proved somewhat challenging. Pretty much every countries' entry requirements state that they require proof of having an onward plane ticket before allowing you to enter. They want to make sure that you don't decide to stay forever and become a burden on the country's resources.
No country we've ever been to had ever actually asked for an onward ticket (except for Brazil, but we knew that in advance), so we were momentarily stunned when the lady at the visa counter asked to see our onward ticket and we had none, not even a forged one like we had for Brazil. We've always bought transportation as we go, and didn't know the exact date we'd be leaving. Ammi, ever the smooth talker said: “It's an E-ticket. The reservation is on my email. The internet cafe's printer wasn't working.” The lady seemed confused, as if it was all gibberish, but said: “OK, next time you come Indonesia you have ticket in hand, if not very bad, very very bad!” I thought again of the punishment for drug trafficking and wondered what 'very bad' could mean.
Our first couple of days we spent in the capital, Jakarta, Barrack's old stomping ground. It really is nothing more than a huge, steaming, dirty pile of a city with motor bikes whizzing in every direction. There's not much for the tourist. We found that after seeing a few giant dirty rats scurrying about that in order to maintain our sanity
we started calling them 'pointy kitties.' “Another pointy kitty just ran under our table!” “Ohh, how cute!” We soon discovered on a bus ride that the basic philosophy of drivers here is “In Shallah” (I know that can't be spelled right) which means 'God willing', which in their minds means the chances of surviving a car wreck is up to God, wearing a seat belt or driving safe does nothing to improve your chances, so why not drive like a maniac? Knowing this philosophy didn't seem to help the white knuckled tourists in the back of the bus, however. We spent our time in Jakarta finding a guidebook and buying some cheap knock-off clothing. Pretty much anything that can be knocked-off is. I think our guidebook was printed on xeroxed paper. It's funny to see authentic looking shoes with “ADEDAS” or “NIKEE” printed on the side, or looking closely at Rolexes and realizing the small dials are just painted on. Ammi bought some knock-off crocks that I call Crock Offs. “100% genuine, real, authentic, hand-made reproduction quality, my friend!” I don't mind buying knock-off quality, but I refuse to pay more than what the real one is worth. We were
however enthusiastic about the cheap energy drinks. Apparently the original Red Bull came from SE Asia—man do I wish I had that million dollar idea!—but here instead of the $2-3 they cost at home they are a whopping $0.16! If it wasn't for the ever-present smell of garbage. I'd of thought we were killed in a bus crash and went to heaven.
Another thing I was beginning to notice that I continue to see throughout Southeast Asia is the fact that sometimes there seems to be something not quite right about some of the women. For example: some of them are taller than other women. They have unusually large hands. Their Adam's Apple moves when they talk. Have you guessed it? Apparently Southeast Asia is thee place to go for sex-reassignment surgery without having to go through all the red tape. Whether this was a personal choice or if they were force into the prostitution market because of poverty we never did find out. We also heard rumors of vast numbers of children forced into prostitution but never saw anything of that nature. For more info check out
End Child Prostitution and Trafficking It was time to make our way to Yogyakarta
by train. Ammi stood on the train platform from what we assumed was a safe distance. When a train came whizzing through without stopping a semi-naked, dirty, barefoot kid leaped off the back of the train at 40 miles per hour and in an obviously practiced ninja-like move somersaulted three times before skidding to a stop, barely missing Ammi by inches. “Hey Am, I know how we can save money on transportation!” Even though (or because of the fact that) we bought business class tickets we were constantly woken up during the entire overnight ride by sellers hocking their various wares. People would sing songs, juggle, or squirt pine-scented air freshener under the seats and demand a tip, and then more people would get on and they'd repeat the same things. There was such a high concentration of pine scent in the air that after a while I wished we could go back to the rat crap smell of before. We were so tired when we finally arrived. We always make the same mistake of taking overnight transportation thinking that we're saving money by not having to pay for a hotel, but we are always so tired and sore afterwards
that we sleep the whole next day anyways, and this was no exception.
Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta, or Jogja as the locals call it) is more or less the cultural heart of Java. There are many different temples, dances, and arts that permeate the city. It's a good thing too because I was beginning to think the only culture Indonesia had was mopeds and knock-offs. You certainly couldn't beat how cheap it is though. We decided to see the Ramayana Ballet in the shadow of the famous Prambanan Temple. The dance was interesting, with many different animal costumes and things being lit on fire, but if you don't keep the pamphlet that tells you the story it's hard to know what's going on. Without it you're thinking: “There's something about a love triangle between a woman, a monkey, and the village chief, or something.” I hear a longer version of the same ballet is performed in India over a 24 hour period. Yikes!
Another fun thing we did was taking a Batik course. Batik is basically artistic tie-die on cloth, and sellers on the street try to get tourists to pay outrageous sums of money for 'originals.' We figured,
why not do it ourselves? The process of making batik is as follows: 1) Draw your sketch onto cloth with pencil. 2) Dip your bamboo and copper pen into the boiling hot bees wax and try to neatly draw over your sketch marks. 3) Sling profanities as the beeswax spills onto your clean clothes, dribbles painfully down your arm, and splashes the wrong part of your drawing. (It's especially fun trying to get bees wax out of leg hair. AGGHH!!). 😞 4) Watch with dismay as the teacher dyes the 'blue' parts of your art pink or some equally uncool color. 5) Try not to think about how hungry and sore you are when the teacher tells you the coat of wax you spent three hours painstakingly applying was only the first of many. 6) Curse yourself for picking such an ambitious and intricate drawing and wish you had chosen a simpler one. 7) Cut as many corners as you can just to get done faster, no longer caring what the finished product looks like. 8) Smile as you hold up your ugly art in front of the camera, shove it unceremoniously into your backpack, then get something to eat.
I may have exaggerated just a little, it really was fun and I'd recommend it.
Next stop: Bali. 😱
***TIPS FOR TRAVELERS***
Don't listen to random people who approach you in the street and tell you there's an "official government-run batik school having a special art show for one day only--aren't you lucky!" It's just his brother's/uncle's/neighbor's shop. That being said it, Indonesia is one place where it can be kinda interesting to sit and talk with touts. They aren't terribly pushy--as touts go that is--and generally nice enough to have a friendly chat with overall. If you do decided to take a look, you will find that the pieces on sell are really quite nice but--be warned--the pieces they are showing you are usually not originals but mass productions, like prints of famous paintings but on cloth instead of paper. If you do see something you like, bargin for it and keep in mind that in reality it is probably only worth $3-8. Claiming to be for an Eastern European country helps the bargining process immensely.
Despite what Lonely Planet says the Kranton is really not worth seeing unless there's a show going on. There were a couple of dressed up mannequins and rosters in cages. 😞
Beware of strangers who offer to guide you around for free, and then won't leave you alone. We had to duck down a small alley to lose one.
Motorized rickshaws are sometimes cheaper than human powered variety if you are going a further distance and they certainly are much more exhilarating (or terrifying, depending on your point of view)! Make sure to bargin and have the price agreed upon before accepting a ride.
It's easy to get to Prambanan Temple and the Ramayana Ballet on your own. It's is cheaper and a little nicer that way because you get there before the crowd and can have your pick of seats. Take the public bus that stops right in front of the tourist office on Jl Malioboro--just ask the guy on the platform to show you the right bus to get on. The bus stop is actually just past the Prambanan Temple itself, just head back down the road the bus took--it's a five minute walk. Don't forget to arrange transport back though, the public bus stops running before the ballet is over. The best
place to buy tickets and arrange transport is through the tourist office itself.
We do recommend taking a batik course. Just remember to keep your design simple or you will be there until the wee hours of the morning, cursing every sore muscle in your aching body. The course we took was through Losmen Setia Kawan. Better yet consider staying there, they are a good value with a nice breakfast and the décor is stunning. Book ahead! This place filling up fast, especially in high season. They have a website you can take a look at www.bedhots.com but you'll need to send an email to make a reservation, bedhots@hotmail.com.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.391s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 17; qc: 85; dbt: 0.1339s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
Sydney
non-member comment
gifts for our parents
I found out when I was home that mommy really wants a kitty, but please don't even think of bringing her back one of the pointy kind. Did you find Dad a good knock off rolex?