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Published: July 15th 2005
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The National Monument - Dusk
The National Monument in the centre of Jakarta was the biggest architectural extravagence of dictator Soekarno's rule. These people had just been to the top of the 132m tower. We went to Jakarta... it was rubbish.
That's possibly a little unfair; like all big SE Asian cities it was hot and crowded and smelly and fast and really just a bit too much when you've been on a plane for million hours and don't quite know what day it is. We stayed in Jarkarta for two nights and then, on the advice of a Welsh school teacher (why not!?), jumped on the train to Bogor. Bogor's main attraction (apart from not being Jakarta) is it's botanical gardens. They're very pleasant and thanks to Bogor's altitude that bit cooler than the capital. We spent a couple of days in the town with a visit to the gardens just about our most strenuous activity.
Indonesia doesn't have very many Western tourists about at the moment. Whatever the reason Elaine and I seem to be quite the novelty: in the botanical gardens we were followed around by not one but two crowds of children. They really were quite sweet. One group seemed to be involved in some sort of ceremony (possibly a nursery-school graduation) and were dressed as what I can only describe as teletubbies.
Before we left Bogor we
Orchid
This was taken in the Orchid House in the botanical gardens in Bogor. decided to see the Wayang Golek factory. The what?!! Wayang Golek is a type of puppetry practiced in Java: it's based on Hindi stories, flying heroes and evil baddies and that sort of thing. As any traveller will tell you the Lonely Planet is your bible. However, I must relate with heavy heart, that the Lonely Planet failed us. We tried to follow the map to the Wayang Golek factory and ended up in what looked suspiocioulsy like a shanty town. It took us long enough to get into the hotch-potch collection of little houses and snakey alleys and even when we did there was no Wayang Golek factory to be found. We came out the other side and over a swing bridge to the other side of a river. Here things looked more civilised but we were no less lost. We decided it was time to ask for help. We did and the locals rolled about laughing(!). A young man in a baseball jacket guided us back through the maze from which we had just come and as he did so I wondered on the integrity of our ad-hoc guide: was he a nice bloke, or was he about
Our Fans
We met these little 'tellytubbies' outside orchid house in the botanical gardens. I showed them the picture on the camera and they thought it was hilarious! to rob us, or knife us? We had no idea, and our Indonesian was too bad for us too ask him. Finally we found the 'factory'. It was house and small one at that. However the little man inside looked exactly as a puppet maker should. Old, with thick glasses - if he'd have had an Italian accent I think I may have started glancing around for Pinnochio. Pak Danse (Pak means old man - he didn't look more than 60... though he may have been anywhere between 40 and 400) was not only a nice chap but also extremely talented. Despite having lost a good deal of his sight at one point (fortunately a kind Dutch man paid for him to have an operation in Jakarta) he continued his craft using his sense of touch.
After Bogor, which although quieter than Jakarta had more than its fair share of traffic, we headed for Cisarua ('Chis-a-ru-a') in the Puncak 'Punchak') Pass. Much of Bogor's said traffic is the Angkots - small green minibuses that zip around the town on a set route (very handy... if you know where they go!). The Puncak is a high-altitude road through the highlands
I'm a Real Boy!
This is Pak Danse; the Wayang Golek puppet maker. of West Java. It's much cooler than the lowlands and also a fair bit wetter. We took a trip to the nearby tea plantation (took us a while to find the tea pickers... but they were there!) which was very nice. And wet. We were astonished to find, at the entrance to the plantation a KFC (wtf!). I think they like KFC here, either that or KFC desperately wants to be liked here. We also climbed a volcano (at least some of it!). We took a guide up Gunung Gede, on the other side of the Puncak, a great big (2958m - tall innit?!) inactive volcano. We got to the hot springs (about one hour from the summit) and sadly had to turn back becuase the weather was dangerous at the top - sneaky things volcanos! We did however get to cook noodles with the hot spring water! :-) At urm.. lots of metres up we passed some young Indonesian walkers who asked to have a picture taken with us seemingly just because we're white.
After leaving Cisarua we caught a bus to Bandung (not a particularly nice town by all accounts) and then a nine and a half hour train to Yogyakarta ('Jogjakarta'). We finally checked into a lovely place (Kopo Hostel) at 4am. It has little rooms on the pool side and at 1 pound 50p a night each it's a bargain. In fact to be fair Indonesia is a bit of a bargain. The train journey yesterday was about 300 miles, we travalled first class - our only trial being the exceptionally chilly A/C - and paid 7 pound 50p. Nasi Goreng (essentially special fried rice with egg) on the station platform was about 60p :-)
This morning we caught up on the sleep last night journey stole from us and this afternoon generally lazed around the pool. Tomorrow we're exploring Yogyakarta and the next day we're seeing one of the biggest sights in Indonesia: Borobudur temple (think Angkor Wat on a budget).
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Dave the Temp Wood
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Lucky luck y b*****d
Sounds like yer having a great time mate. Your very indepth detailed diary brings back memories from past travels there. Enjoy your travels mate and keep in touch. All the Best Dave PS Shellie says hi (unfortunately she is back workin at AKW)