Indonesia. Our first destination on the final leg of our travels. The first stop on our six week exploration of (some of) South East Asia.
I was a little apprehensive about Asia. I was ready for it to be very different and I had heard a lot of mixed reviews, but I don't think I could have ever prepared for some of the differences I was about to face...although you will be relieved to hear that I do have many bras and chocolate on hand just in case I suffer the same fate as Bridget.
We landed in Bali, Denpasar, in the evening. The flight was okay, slightly delayed but nothing huge, thank goodness (no one likes a delay). We flew with 'AirAsia' who were very good, not dissimilar from dear old 'Easyjet' to be honest - we lacked leg room, paid for an over priced, terrible excuse for coffee and got our personal space invaded from all angles.
Upon arrival we had to queue to pay for our visas which was actually much more straight forward and speedy then we had heard it would be. It was there we found Max, who was fresh (that is a lie, none of us could be described as 'fresh') off his London flight - it was great to all be reunited again and to gain an extra brain/pair of hands/map reader/lookout/navigator/researcher/planner etc.
The taxi to our hostel was our first real experience of Bali. All we had been warned about was the taxis so we went with the only legitimate taxi 'company' at the airport and agreed a price with them beforehand. I can't say I was much help in the taxi process as I was too busy still reeling from having just withdrawn 800,000Rp from an ATM - I honestly felt like a millionaire until I got a quick currency lesson from Max and realised that I had actually just withdrawn £40.00... my illusions of grandeur were very enjoyable while they lasted.
It is so hard to describe what it is like coming into somewhere like Bali from somewhere like Australia. All I can say is that in Bali and most of the places we visited in Indonesia, everyone is prepared to be anything you need them to be... at a price of course. People will drive you places, they'll carry your bags, they will point you in the right direction but there is no telling who they are or whether they can be trusted or how much it will cost you! We learnt very quickly that you have to trust your gut and sadly you have to beware of everyone, it is a different world.
Our taxi driver was quite the character. He didn't speak English and appeared to not really know where our hostel was.. after tellling him it was called 'Papaya Backpackers' we proceeded to just follow him around whilst he asked his fellow cab drivers for directions, muttering and laughing at the word 'Papaya' everytime! I was slightly concerned as to where we would end up... but thank goodness for Max's google maps enabling us to direct our taxi driver (who was still chuckling to himself) safely to our hostel.
We were up very early the next day to catch a bus to the harbour in Bali to get a boat over to the Gilli Islands.
This was my first proper insight into Indonesian driving.
Lydia and I reluctantly rode in the front and despite the numerous dangerous things I have done whilst travelling so far ... this was the closest to the bright, white light I thought I would get.
There are no rules on the roads of Indonesia. Cars fly between lanes, looping in and out of each other at crazy speeds. There are mopeds absolutely everywhere, they surround the cars and intertwine among the queues of traffic. People don't stop at red lights or zebra crossings (I discovered that the 'nearly-died' way)... it is the definition of crazy! Having flown from Australia, it was incredibly surreal to be sitting in the front of a bus, dodging mopeds, tearing through red lights and driving up the wrong side of the road... looking out the window to see no pavements or shops or anything that was remotely familiar - this really did feel like travelling and I have never longed for a straight vodka more.
They say that your first time in Asia is a wake up call for all your senses. You smell amazing new smells, you see crazy things, hear the noises of the hustle and bustle and taste flavours that you just can't create at home. Within a few days I can say that this is very true, Asia is a different world to ours but a very magical one.
We arrived at the harbour to complete pandemonium. So many buses of dazed tourists were arriving and parking on top of each other on the narrowest dirt track. Immediately your bag is taken from you, thrown (yes actually lobbed) into a cart. It was at this point I wept a little for my bottle of moisturiser that had definitely now exploded among all my belongings. Within seconds we were surrounded by touts wanting to sell us drinks and food and, if we were neither hungry or thirsty, a sacred gold coin...
One of the strangest things about any tour or activity you book in Indonesia is that no one seems to have an office. The company we booked our boat with consisted of two men, sitting at a desk in a cafe across the street from where the buses were dumping tourists. Interestingly, the owner of the cafe was shouting at them in Indonesian. I don't even know what the agreement was or if there was one at all, but her cafe was rammed and not with hungry diners... (probably explains her shouting)
Bedazzled and bewildered we were loaded onto one of the 'fast boats' to Gilli Tarawan or Gilli T. We had no idea how long the boat would take or how extremely hot it would be at 9am, so when we excitedly clambered up to sit on the roof of the boat and enjoy the journey, we didn't know that we would be crawling off it, sweaty, dehydrated and sun burnt... such a rookie error by us.
When the boat pulled into Gilli T, we watched (a little horrified) as our bags were thrown onto the sand, narrowly missing the sea. At this point I accepted that my moisturiser AND shampoo had definitely exploded over my toothpaste which had probably also been destroyed and my conditioner was most likely now conditioning my pyjamas.
A man from our hostel greeted us at the boat and led the way, through the sandy streets of the island; dodging horses, chickens and cats with strange little crooked tails, up some scary looking alley ways and past some houses that all looked the same until finally we reached our hostel 'Le Grand Gilli Backpackers'...
From first impressions I didn't know what to think. The exterior was made up of lots of old wooden doors and windows frames all nailed together to form a wall.. quirky. The inside was nice and we were greeted by a very friendly guy on reception who immediately welcomed us.
It is always a little bit of a shock when you arrive in a new place for the first time but this hostel, I don't think I could ever have been ready for... the room was for six people but the beds were crammed into a space that should only really accomodate one bunk bed. There were no ladders, it was literally an assault course to get up into the top bunks... which we all had by the way. I can't easily describe it to you but you just have to trust me on this one guys! We were also unfortunately blessed (cursed) with the most irritating English girl who was conveniently dating the other English boy also sleeping in our room. There is something very irritating about being woken up at 1am by a girl whining to a boy about how she can't go out because she feels 'naked' in her outfit ... it took all of my self control not to lean down from my bunk and say 'of course you feel naked, you are wearing hotpants and a bra and quite frankly, lets be honest, you have no intention of changing and you know it so please hurry up and go out before I change into my hotpants and bra and you really have a reason to whinge.'
Gilli T itself is a beautiful place. A tiny island that you can walk around in about an hour and a half. The sea is clear and turquoise and the sand is white. The streets are always busy, horses and carts flying up and down them, no cars or mopeds which makes a welcome change from the cities. Tiny stalls selling food and drink and dozens of restaurants and bars line the seafront.
We only had a few days here so we crammed all we could into that time. We had many amazing meals, the food was really great and you can choose from Indonesian traditional dishes to Western foods. Compared to Australia, the food was so cheap. It was such a nice surprise and a blessing to our bank balances.
One evening we took a walk to watch the sunset on the island which was stunning, as you can imagine, and had a lovely meal, weirdly in an Irish bar ... everywhere has an Irish bar!
Our main day on the island was spent snorkeling. For 100,000Rp which is about £5 you can go out all day on a boat and snorkel with one of the locals in the waters surrounding all three islands. We saw amazing corals, lots of fish and the ultimate highlight, a turtle! He was massive and swam right underneath us - it was amazing!
Gilli Air was our second island destination which unfortunately meant another boat trip. Again we were crammed onto a tiny boat. All health and safety went overboard (pardon the pun), probably along with a few unsuspecting tourists and the odd sunhat.
When we arrived on Gilli Air we thankfully stumbled upon an advert for a homestay that looked like absolute luxury and it was. We did have to splash out a bit but after the traumas of the last few days (I forgot to mention that I managed to swallow and nearly choke on my hair clip whilst in the sea - it was nearly the end I tell you) we thoroughly needed a good nights sleep and a good shower, honestly, we smelt bad.
The next day we were crammed back onto a boat to Bali and were picked up by bus to make the journey to Ubud.
We absolutely fell in love with this place.
We stayed in the modest, but pleasant, Jati Homestay which was perfectly located on one of the main roads and within walking distance of all the main attractions and restaurants.
We explored a lot of Ubud and the surrounding area, with special thanks to the wonderful Lina who had looked after us since Kuta.
We visited the monkey forest and temples which were amazing. The monkeys are a little hit and miss though, they do occasionally jump on you or run off with peoples belongings - it was a nervous walk at times.
One of the unexpected highlights was a trip to the Agung Rai Museum of Art which was so beautiful. It was located within stunning grounds and rice fields and I discovered my inner art lover - I feel galleries will be visited more at home.
Lunchtime was spent at an absolute hidden gem of a restaurant which over looked the rice fields. Unfortuntaley it rained but we still ate a delicous Indonesian lunch and drank from a coconut, which is what you should do in Indonesia right?!
After lunch we visited the place where they make the famous Luwak coffee or 'pooh coffee'...yes guys, this coffee is made from the pooh of the Luwak and it is very famous in Indonesia. We were told we had to try it and after getting involved and roasting the beans ourselves, we felt obliged to give it a taste. I am not really a coffee drinker myself (hot chocolate all the way) but I did think it was nice... I think.
Our last destination was the Tampak Siring Holy Spring Water Temple in east Ubud. It was our first proper visit to a temple and we were lucky to have a guided tour and learn all about the Hinduist beliefs and where the water was said to have come from.
Max went one step further and went into the water to perform the cleansing ritual that was said to aid in restoring ones balance. Our tour guide was most distressed that Lydia hadn't gone in too as apparently she was now unbalanced... he did also ask where my boyfriend was to which I jokingly replied 'Prince Harry is a very busy man' and he actually believed that I was going out with him.. which I didn't feel neccesary to explain, so just did the mature thing and played along with it.
I had many highlights from our first temple experience. I very much enjoyed watching Max rock the sarong, although little did I know we would see this rocked many, many more times and often not even a temple in sight! (Ha - just kidding Kirbs). I also enjoyed realising that we accidentally tipped our tour guide 100,000Rp which is a bloody big tip. It was swiftly noted that we had been advised '15Rp' as a tip, not '50Rp' and certainly not 100 ...oops.
When our time in Ubud was up, we travelled back to Kuta to spend our last night in Bali. A bus was due to pick us up the next day to take us on the 10 hour, overnight drive to Mount Bromo.
The bus journey was one of the most interesting journeys I have ever been on... we were the first to be picked up and to be fair the bus was very nice; air conditioning, spacious and comfortable.
As we began to drive through the crazy streets of Kuta, a little television screen appeared from the roof and on came an Indonesian music channel... that then played and played and played for the most part of our 10 hour journey. We were uunfortunately seated directly underneath the speakers and after a few failed attempts to communicate to the driver that it was too loud, we gave up and consequently were driven a little crazy by the repetition of the same songs and same high pitched instrumentals. (There was an attempt to unscrew the speakers with our bare hands at one point)...
Our journey was supposed to include a meal, so when we pulled up at a tiny backstreet building and were handed a box with a bread roll and some water, we thought that was dinner and I physically kissed the packet of oreos I had shoved into my bag earlier that day. It was only until much later into our journey, when we pulled up at a tiny mini indoor market style building, that we realised what dinner was...
We were the only Westerners on the bus and everyone else knew the drill.
We sheepishly followed our fellow travellers indoors and saw that they were queuing up to be served rice and chicken from a little guy behind a counter. Being English and having weak stomachs, we decided it was safer to not eat. I mean who wants a dodgy stomach on a 5 hour bus trip with a driver who speaks no English and Indonesian music blasting into your ears... certainly not me. We didn't want to be rude though so Max went up and got a plate of rice. It was only after a few minutes we realised we were getting some very questionable looks and people were laughing at us.. we still don't really know why, maybe they thought we were so weird sharing a tiny bowl of plain rice?! I guess that is pretty weird.
The bus arrived at the ferry late that evening. What an experience the ferry was. I have never seen such organised chaos in my whole life! It wasn't a case of neatly parking so that everyone can safely get off... it was a case of how many of these bad boys can we cram into this ferry (that already looks like it may be sinking).
We wondered up to the top deck, greeted by a lot of stares and odd looks (probably because I actually looked like death and had oreo in my teeth). Everyone sat on benches facing a tv screen that was playing our favourite Indonesian tunes, I was so glad that it had only been 10 minutes that I had had to go without them... definitely considered jumping off the boat - Indonesian Justin Bieber is just as bad as the real one.
Thankfully we survived the ferry and got back on the bus for sleep. We must have fallen asleep quickly because all I can remember is hearing 'BROMOOO' and the three of us (who had all collapsed in a kind of pile of jumpers and scarves on top of Lydia) sat bolt up right, half awake but mostly dead, scrambling to get our stuff together and get out the bus.
It was 5am and we were quickly moved into a tiny little office just off the side of the road and invited to sit down by a very friendly man. I quickly learnt how clever this guy was, seeking out backpackers who have had very little sleep and selling them his tour of Bromo. Our brains were not functioning, we couldn't count to ten on our fingers let alone absorb anything he was saying. Thankfully Max had a rough idea on how much we should pay for a tour of Mount Bromo, so we departed with 450,000Rp, politely declined his offer of tea and coffee and were bundled back onto another bus, up the mountain and to our hotel on Mount Bromo.
It is safe to say that we immediately went to bed and slept and were all normally functioning humans again that afternoon. Unfortunately it did nothing but rain for the rest of the day, torrential rain. We ended up wrapping up (we were not used to the cold having just come from Kuta) and parking ourselves in the hotel restaurant... all day... eating... drinking... running up a bill of 500,000Rp (whoops!)
The next morning was all action. Our alarms went off at 3am as we were due to climb Mount Bromo and watch the sunrise. At 3.30am a tiny little local man, wrapped in a woollen poncho, knocked on our door to tell us our jeep was ready. Poor guy was greeted to my bedazzled, make up free, puffy eyed face, with a backdrop of a half dressed Max and a Lydia with a half straight head of hair looking equally as confused and disorientated as me.
The early wake up was completely worth it though. The jeep took us up to the lookout point where we stood and watched the sun rise behind the volcano. It was truly stunning.
We then drove down to the foot of the volcano itself, where we had to climb many, many, many steps to reach the top. It was an amazing site. You could look straight down into the active volcano, feeling the heat and smelling the strong sulfur rising in the smoke that was engulfing everyone.
We met some beautiful children who wanted a photo with me. I thought they meant could I take one of them at first but was amazed to discover they wanted one of me (I did feel like Beyonce, I won't lie about it)... little did we know that this was just the beginning though.
To continue with our running 'bus' theme, we hopped back on a bus when we returned from Bromo. It took us down to the local village of Probalingo where we changed to a bus heading to Yogyakarta. Now, this journey was a whole different experience...
Armed with a packet of crisps, a packet of TimTams and a packet of wafer biscuits between all three of us, we began our second 10 hour journey across Indonesia.
We were relieved to discover that the driving in Java was just as mental as the driving in Bali.
It wasn't quite as luxurious as our first bus. We had a surf board underneath our feet and chairs that responded to every bump in the road by hurling us forward and squeaking (that wasn't at all annoying).
As the hours crawled by and the air conditioning got warmer and warmer, we began to fear the worst... a short stop at a strange roadside restaurant, some dodgy noodles, a few near miss road collisions and many, many tears later we were dumped in the city center in Yogyakarta.
We managed to find a taxi to take us to our hotel and it was a beaut of a place! It was so nice to stay in a normal building, with normal people and have cooked eggs for breakfast - winning! (Small things)
Our last few days in Indonesia were spent in Yogyakarta and we managed to cram a ridiculous amount into that short time.
We visited the Sultans Palace which was a short taxi ride from our hotel. We had a guided tour for the small price of 30,000Rp and it was actually really good! The guy was a bit of a legend and I could tell he was a bit nerdy, throwing all these facts at us. I learnt a lot about the Sultans and the Palace ... I can't tell you all about it now but trust me, I've got it down.
We were taken to a small alleyway to visit a local man that handmade the traditional 'batik' clothing. At first, we thought he was just a really lovely man who was incredibly welcoming and sweet but when our tour guide left us, the hard selling started and we realised we had been stitched up... we basically resorted to the mature and grown up approach of ... running away.
The rest of our afternoon was spent wondering the streets of the city and trying to find the Water Palace. To cut a long story short we completely failed and instead, wound up stuck in a tiny village being chased by a group of three to five years olds on bikes - honestly, it is the truth.
On our second day in Yogyakarta we spent 450,000Rp on hiring a driver. It sounds extravagant, but really, its the norm in Yogyakarta and the only way you can really get around to see everything outside the city.
For the second time that week our alarms sounded at 3am and we headed off to watch another beautiful sunrise. This time we watched from Borobudur temple. It was absolutely stunning, watching the sun from behind the volcano in the distance, slowly fill the temple with light. The temple itself is an incredible building, high up and wonderfully remote. It did set us back 380,000Rp each but it was worth it completely. We also got tea and coffee in the temple grounds, which was much needed as we were all pretty out of it by 9am...
On route to our next stop I tried, with the help of Maxs iphone and google translate, to ask the driver if we could get a Macdonalds... I am not sure what he understood and judging by his brisk 'no' I am not sure it went down too well.
Our next destination was one of my personal highlights of our whole Indonesia trip and arguably one of the most dangerous (staring death in the face is a common theme throughout my travels so far)...
We drove about an hour to the base of the Merapi Volcano. This is a very much active volcano and last erupted in November 2010 causing devastating damage to the houses and villages situated on the grounds surrounding it. We were dropped off at a basecamp full of old school jeeps. We paid 300,000Rp for the 'short' tour which lasted a couple of hours.
Our driver was an absolute hero! He took us everywhere and knew all the best photo spots. We got to explore a tiny museum full of the remnants of the last eruption - it was quite scary to see the damage a volcano can do.
The actual jeep ride itself was quite an experience. Lydia and I held on for our dear lives as we were flung around in the back... on an empty stomach and 3am wake up it is not an ideal activity but we did laugh a lot.
We actually drove scarily close to the volcano itself, which although spectacular to see so close, was very scary... especially after our driver told us that it seems to erupt every 4 years and the most recent pattern has been 2006 and 2010 ... even I worked out that bit of maths quickly and was quite keen for us to whack the jeep in reverse and start driving away from the scary volcano.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the tour was being able to stop in the bunker where the locals hide out during an eruption. It was a really freaky experience to stand inside; a tiny stone room with nothing but a stone seating area and a toilet. Two giant, thick doors stood between the inside and outside and the overall capacity was nearly 100 people. It was easy to imagine the fear that must have been felt waiting in there for anything up to 24 hours whilst an eruption is happening. Sadly we were told of how lava actually made it into the bunker during the 2006 eruption and people were killed.
It was amazing though, to see that, despite the obvious and extreme danger that surrounded these people, it was there home and despite of the devastation, they lived on and made the best of their lives there - in spite of the potential for disaster and even death.
The final two stops were visiting the two other major temples in Yogyakarta; Prambanan and Ratu Boko Palace.
Ratu Boko Palace was probably the most dissapointing for us. We had to pay quite a large amount to get into it, I think around 160,000Rp and there wasn't a great deal to see. The building that remains is set in a very picturesque location, however in comparison to the other temples and palaces it just didn't have the same grandeur.
Prambanan however really did. It is an absolutely huge building; a large temple surrounded by lots of smaller replicas. It definitely was a site worth seeing and the general atmosphere surrounding it was really pleasant. In spite of being within the vicinity of such a magnificent site, it eventually became clear that the real attraction that day was ... us.
I have never experienced anything like it. It all began with one group of Indonesian school children asking if they could have their picture taken with us (something we had experienced before on the odd occasion) but in time, we realised that we were being followed by flocks of school children who were slowly creeping up to us, to ask, in their best English, if they could have a photo with us - it was honestly so surreal. I had to suppress my inner Beyonce once again and resist the desire to act like a total diva (and possibly break into my best hairbrush performance of single ladies).. eventually, we turned to the crowds of children, cautiously following us around and asked if they all wanted to be in a photo and that is how we got the a-mazing photo you can see in the next post. Hands down my favourite photo capturing an incredible moment. They were so happy and so grateful - it was incredibly humbling but surreal all at the same time.
Indonesia was a pretty magical two weeks. There were ups and downs and a big adjustment was made to a whole new way of life but I think that made it even more rewarding. I can honestly it is a beautiful place and the people are lovely. They are so hard working, more alive and alert at 4am then we ever were and so friendly - they just want to say hello and wave and it is so nice.
Next stop Singapore...
Stay tuned folks... not long to go!
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