Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 7

Don't stand on the dew until the sun reaches its highest… ~ Indonesian Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling north (then southeast) from Pangandaran to Yogyakarta– by road and rail. A violent thunderstorm had erupted the previous evening and continued throughout the night, only subsiding around 5am. Each thunderclap shook the hotel, as if a bomb had exploded just above our room. Luckily, we could anticipate each thunderclap. We left the curtains to our room open, and the night sky would turn white with each flash of sheet lightning – then the thunder would explode a few seconds later. We settled in Sunrise Beach Hotel’s large airy breakfast area around 7am and enjoyed a substantial breakfast, as we would not be stopping for a meal until dinner. I enjoyed cornflakes, yoghurt, fresh pineapple, fresh dragon ... read more

The sea becomes the shore, the shore becomes the sea… ~ Indonesian Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling east (then southwest) from Jakarta to Pangandaran– by rail and road. I woke at 5:30am, prepared our packs and headed down to Yello Harmoni Hotel’s breakfast room at 6:30am. After hydrating with hot tea, I opted for a simple breakfast (cornflakes and sultanas), as it was a little too early for a hearty affair. After reluctantly checking out of the comfortable, quirky and very welcoming Yello Harmoni Hotel, we jumped into a taxi and crawled through Jakarta’s narrow and busy roads to the bustling Gambir Train Station. We grabbed our tickets, boarded our train, settled in our assigned seats and left Jakarta just after 9am. There was a lot of well-kept foliage along the initial section of ... read more

Asking questions is the only way to learn… ~ Indonesian Proverb HE SAID... Today we were arriving in the bustling city of Jakarta. We touched down at Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Jakarta around 6:45pm. We’d been travelling for hours, but the flight from Sydney to Jakarta comprised less than eight of those. It was a smooth flight and we felt great on arrival. Unfortunately, it was a slow journey through customs. We’d pre-prepared and printed our visas, thinking it would allow us a seamless path through the formalities, but nothing could have been further from the truth. ‘Snail pace’ is my best descriptive term. We even managed to select the slowest moving line, so we were the very last people from our flight to clear customs. It took the best part of an hour. It ... read more

Where there is a will, there is a path… ~ Indonesian Proverb Selamat people! We are absolutely thrilled to be embarking on a new adventure… to Indonesia. The archipelago of Indonesia is composed of about 17,500 islands, and it’s estimated that roughly 10,500 of these are inhabited. We’ll be visiting two of them – Java and Bali. Indonesia has sufficient islands to fill several lifetimes of travel exploration… but sadly, we had to restrict our choice to just two. Given the time and budget we have, we chose to start with the two most accessible islands, and the ones that will probably give us the best sense of the country in a short space of time. The last time Ren visited these two islands was in the late ‘90s and early ‘20s respectively, and it will ... read more

Imagine, we have been living in Bali since September/October...times fly isn't it! Rainy season start here around November and is over normally in early April. This is very different for example with Bangkok, where the rainy season is going from early may till end of November. I've lived 20 years in Asia, so can admit that rainy season is more than an habit by now. The rainy season in Bali is actually pretty nice with most rain occurring during the night...while we are deep in bed! Till, travelling around during the rainy season is not the best...so we waited April patiently. As you may imagine, this doesn't mean there is no travelling. I was in South Africa and Congo in March, plus Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok in early April! Amed is 75kms from home....by road this ... read more