mon day 52

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So leaving Jakarta today and heading east to a city called Bandung I caught a Tuk Tuk to the train station. Brought a first class ticket for roughly £7 I sat and waited for the 10.15 train. Getting a nice seat and heading off, the conductor - consisting of 3 people - 1st man dressed like a general in the navy, the 2nd a smartly dressed man with a clipboard and the 3rd a man who looked like a police officer! ( all they needed was a south American indian and they could have done the ymca!) going through slums on the way out of Jakarta we then passed some beautiful landscapes - volcanos and valleys, rivers and layered rice fields with them being harvested. 3hrs later and arriving at Bandung before having chance to pick up my bag a porter came and threw it on his back! Jumping down about a metre from the train onto the platform I followed him towards tourist information, where there must of been about 8 men all pointing me in the direction of someone that would take me to my hotel. What I thought would be a taxi was an executive taxi - with the porter also asking for money for carrying my bag! Not being happy I refused to pay as i never asked for my bag to be carried - he never gave me the chance to even carry my own bag! Driving off towards the hotel I was being offered one tour after another by the driver - all with hugely inflated prices. I didn't sign up for any as knowing I could do them cheaper if I wanted. The hotel was quite far out of town which was disappointing but was in lovely surroundings and the manager being the only one who spoke English was friendly and helpful. After unpacking I headed off towards the local shopping area where I wandered up and down got my bearings and had some dinner. Just before dark I walked back and relaxed for the evening and watched some tv! Haven't seen any for 52 days, so thought I was allowed!

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