Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 511

We left Bukkittinggi early morning on a bus down to Bandarlampung, which we was expecting to take 24 hours. The first few hours went relatively quickly, but as the day went on the journey started to drag. We was the only two white people on the bus which was overcrowded with locals sitting on plastic crates along the middle aisle of the bus. The illegal logging was evident along the whole journey and it made the landscape look really barren at times. Slept quite well during the night travel but woke up at around 5am to find that we'd broken down at a garage, as one of the wheel bearings had gone. After 3 hours waiting for a new bearing to be delivered we eventually got back on the road. We were quite optimistic that we ... read more

..if that ferry boat hadn't been a month ago you may have feared me dead. but its ok...we did arrive in Padangbai...an equivalently squalid port town. and luckily we had a full ride ticket that got us onto a van back to kuta. a vastly different kuta from the one we had just spent the past 10 days in. we followed a crumpled business card from a bunch of rowdy kiwi's we met back in Lombok all the way to the Bali Dwipa Hotel on Poppies II. which i am now sure is home to some of Kuta's most highly paid and saught after prostitutes...both men and women... the room was to the usual standard, it did however have its own unique feature, the instant bath aka. the drain that doesn't drain. nothing like showering in ... read more

I've rejoined mainstream backpackers for the time being. The mountain bike and the surfboard are waiting for me half way across Sumbawa Island; in Empang at Pak Am's house. My left knee couldn't continue. Very very frustrated, but with no choice I continued by bus to Bima. I ended up hanging out in that "town" for 3 days on the misinformation that a boat was going to leave for Kupang, Timor. I started to get very grouchy as I had to deal again with bemos, ojeks, tiny buses and all other indecent forms of transportation in a country that started to seem to me to be designed to be inconvenient. ... bus stations are always far from the center, cheap bemos turn into expensive taxis when tourists show up and everyone can tell you when the ... read more

January 23, 2008 is a special day for Hindu Balinese community, as they celebrate Galungan Day. The Hindu celebrates Galungan day every six months. Galungan Day held on Wednesday and will be followed by Kuningan Day on the Saturday. This 11-day holy period is based on ancient harvest festival. Barong dance held house to house on Galungan Day. I’m very interested to know what the Hindu do on Galungan day. And I was looking for information, which Pura (Hindu’s place for praying) allows tourist visits. I heard about a big Pura which allows tourist visits called Pura Jagatnatha in Denpasar, but I still look for another alternative. Luckily Adit, my colleague, knows my interest and invites me to come to the Pura which located on his village. Most Balinese who lives in the city are came ... read more

Jakarta ist keine klassische Touristendestination. Es ist ein riesiges Moloch, eine Metropole ohne Zentrum, Stadtplanung oder großartigen Sehenswürdigkeiten. Und dennoch blieb ich fast eine Woche hier und hatte eine großartige Zeit. Das Travellerviertel Jakartas ist die Jalan Jaksa, hier gibt es günstige Old School Absteigen, Travellercafés und Bars. Da Jakarta aber eben keine touristische Stadt ist machen Backpacker hier nur einen kleinen Teil der Klientel aus. Der Rest besteht aus Bar Girls, Lady Boys, Pädophilen, Sextouristen, schwarzafrikanischen Drogendealern, Homosexuellen...aber auch Jakartas 'Rich Kids' und Expats schätzen Jaksa, da hier jeder offen seinen Neigungen nachgehen kann : es ist ein hedonistischer 'Anything Goes' Ort, wo die Unterwelt, arglose Touristen und verwestlichte Einheimische die Nacht zum Tag machen. Ich empfand diese Mischung als sehr spannend und knüpfte zah... read more