Reflections

Day 302
I was up before 3 am and quickly finished packing. It was much easier to get a cab than I thought it would be. In no time I was at the airport. It was still closed but there were a lot of people around. It looked like most of them had come straight from the bar. When I did get on the flight I fell asleep instantly.

The last 29 days in Indonesia have been some of the best in my trip. Well, all except for the jungle mishap. The only reason I even did the trip was because I was a bit nervous about being on my own. I just didn't want to say it at the time. Indonesia is a place that I will definitely be returning to in the future.

The worst part of Indonesia was the garbage. No one recycles let alone uses a bin. It makes some of the most beautiful sites lose their appeal. I did find out that several NGO's are working on that so hopefully that will change in the future.

The best part was the people. They were friendly and chatty and over all just nice people. I did get a few odd questions though, one guy asked if Obama was the only black man in the US, another if everyone looks like me there.

I woke up when the plane touched down. Immigration back to Malaysia was a breeze and in no time I was at my hostel. As soon as my stuff was in the room I headed to the Thai Embassy. Since I arrived in Asia Thailand has changed it's visa rules. It used to be that you received 30 days upon arrival, now it is just 15. I'm just too tired after rushing around Indonesia to do it again. Getting a visa for Thailand will give me plenty of time to see the country. Unfortunately I got there just as the embassy was closing. A guy offered to sneak me in for 30 ringget but then he pulled the necessary paperwork out of his trunk. This felt really sketchy and I decided to just wait until the next day.

Afterwards I went back to my hotel and spent some time on the internet. When I got bored I headed to the mall for a movie. I don't like KL and I did all the things I had wanted to see here on my first trip through. This is really just killing time time.

When the movies were over I headed back and after showering I went up to the rooftop bar at the hostel. Not much was going on and soon I just went to sleep.

Out of Time

Day 301
It was time for me to head back to Kuta, this was my last day in Indonesia. Once I was packed I checked out and took my scariest motorbike ride yet to the bus station. In no time I was back in Kuta.

I went back to the same hotel I had been to before. After dumping my things I headed to the beach to repeat my days of doing nothing. When I was tired with that I picked up some food and headed to my room to watch bootlegs for the rest of the night. This was not the most interesting way to finish my time in Indonesia, but I had fun doing it!

Temples of Doom

Day 300
The day before I had tried to book a tour to several sites in the area. All they wanted to do was give me a very expensive car tour when I just needed a guy to drive me around on a motorbike. There are tons of guys asking if you need transportation and I asked one of them to take me to the temples. It was just some guy on the street though and I had no idea if he would actually show up. I was surprised when over breakfast he came into the hotel, he was not only there, but early. I got myself together and in no time I was out the door.

The first place we stopped at was Goa Gajah, the elephant cave. This was proberly a buddhist hermatage a few hundred years ago. It's not large, but the carvings on the entrance to the cave are quite good. My driver decided to try and play guide, but he didn't speak much English and I wasn't able to figure out what he was telling me.

Next up was Yeh Pulu. This was a small temple with some interesting carvings on the rock wall. There was an old woman who decided that she wanted to point things out to me and to bless me with holy water from the well. Her top wasn't properly buttoned and she was falling out. She then told me to take a picture of her. Luckily she clasped her hands to her chest and covered herself up. I really didn't want there to be nudity on this blog, although it appears that there is quite a bit of it in Bali. Perhaps she should get together with the naked man from the day before.

Our third stop was Pora Penataran Sahih. This was meant to be a 2000 year old drum. It wasn't that good. In fact, if my driver hadn't pointed it out to me I would have walked right past it. Lonely Planet called my fourth stop, Gunung Kawi, "an astonishing group of stone shrines cut into the cliffs." That person has clearly never been to Petra. It was nice and picturesque, but mostly because it was set in a scenic valley with a lot of rice terraces. There is a mystery about why it was built, but I wouldn't call anything about it astonishing.

The last stop of the day was the best. Tirta Empul is a holy spring and temple complex dating from 926. There were about a dozen people bathing in the holy water. The temple was the most ornate one that I had been to all day.

During the walk back to the parking lot my driver confesed to me that after spending 4 hours with me and all the attention I get he could understand how people constantly asking if you want a transfer could get annoying. Perhaps he will stop doing it then!

When I got back I was famished and pretty gross, it was a really hot and sticky day. I went for lunch though before showering and taking an accidental nap. When I woke up I went to a few internet cafe's and actually managed to upload some pictures. After a while this got boring though so I went for dinner. The heat had snapped all of my energy and I fell asleep sho rtly after returning to my hotel.

Asses of Fire

Day 299

Balinese culture is quite different from the rest of Indonesia. This is mostly due to religion. Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, however Bali is mostly Hindu. Ubud is the cultural center of Bali. I would have felt like I didn't do it justice if all I did was hang out at the beach.

I was picked up at my hotel at 8 am. Just minutes out of town we stopped at the most picturesque rice terrices that I have seen yet. There were two sides of it, only one having a look out. The family with the lookout used to get all of the money. The family on the otherside covered their fields in foil in protest. In the end the look out family decided to give them some of the money.

Our next stop was breakfast at a place overlooking a volcano. It was spectacular even if it was a bit cloudy. The banana pancakes weren't so bad either. I even liked the crazy looking spiky fruit that I had been putting off tryping.

Next up was a coffee plantation, this wasn't just any coffee though. Kuwak coffee was made here. Kuwaks are housecat sized wildcats that like coffee beans. After the beans pass through their digestive systems they are collected, washed and made into coffee. This is meant to be the best coffee in the world and is very expensive anywhere but here. I don't like coffee much myself, but I felt like it was my duty to try it. It was a bit granular, but other than that it was pretty good.

While at the coffee plantation we also had a fruit tasting. I liked the snakeskin fruit the best. We also learned that cows are kept as life insurance. Selling one can bring in about $9000, the same amount a funeral costs.

Next up was a bamboo weaving compound. The Balanese live in family compounds. Learning about this is much more interesting than learning about weaving. The Balanese live in an extended family situation. Each family has a walled compound. There are several small buildings inside, these consist of homes, workshops and even a temple. Our guide told us that his family was too poor to pay for education so he left home when he was 14 and went to Java. This was the first time he had been on a bus. He ended up working for a family in the morning and going to school in the afternoons. He had thought he was part of the family, but soon realized that he was little more than a slave. When he was finished highschool he took out a loan and worked at a hotel to pay for college. 17 years after he left Bal i he returned home. He has more brothers that our off studying, but there is no more room in the family compound and they are struggling to find a way to fit everyone in. Interestingly tv didn't come to Bali until 1981!

Besides weaving the family also raised chickens, some for cock fighting, pigs and ducks. The pigs were really cute.

By the time we had reached the compound we were riding bikes. Before our next stop a naked man went streaking across the street and waved to us. Our next stop was a wood working places. This is where all the cheezy tourist gifts are made as well as fake antiques to be sold to dummies. Next up was a temple that happened to be locked. Anyone can visit a temple as long as they are not unclean. Unclean people anyone with a recenlty and not yet burried family member, an open sore, or a woman on her period. The last one is annoying. I want to be culturaly sensitive, but if all I have is one chance to see something I won't let something that no one else can confirm stop me.

After a brief stop at a tree known as the rasta tree for its odd looking roots the ride got a bit hairy. It was almost all downhill and some of it was very downhill. The last part of the ride was optional and it was all incline, I opted to stay in the van. I was the only one at first, but one by one people began to drop out and join me in the van.

Lunch wasn't until almost 3 pm and I was famished. There were all sorts os Balanese foods to try. Duck, chicken, rice, curries and noodles. It was fabulous! The surrounding rice fields weren't too bad to look at either.

The last stop of the day was the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. This place if full of Balanese Macaques. There were about 300 here. People were feeding them bananas but I declined. I didn't want monkeys climbing on me. The other people in my group didn't mind though and I managed to get some good closeups.

After saying good bye and exchangeing info I headed back to my hotel. It was a bit of a walk and I was exhusted and in desperate need of a shower. When this was done I spent a couple of hours uploading photos before heading to the Jazz Cafe. This is apparently the only thing going on in town here. It's a pity I hadn't found it the night before. I spend the evening writing in my journal and listening to live music.

Even though the walk back to my hotel wasn't far it was rather hairy. There were a lot of dogs and they all wanted to bar very loudly at me. I was sure one of them would bite me, but they all kept their distance. I guess their bark was worse than their bite!

Hey, It's my Birthday!

Day 298

I could have continued doing nothing for another week, however my Indonesian visa was ticking away and I knew that there were some things I would be unhappy to miss. It was time to go. My biggest hesitation was that it was my birthday and I was headed to a place with no nightlife. The day time sites won out and at 9 am I was on a bus to Ubud.

Once in Ubud it took me about 5 minutes to find a place to stay. The price was right and was actually just as attractive as it was in the pictures. The only problem was there there wasn't a tv and I had more bootlegs to watch.

I spent the afternoon checking out the town. It was very small but there were loads of temples and a rather dirty fountain. Everything was surronded by rice paddies. There were offerings by the dozens outside each building. I learned later on that these were to keep the local volcano from erupting. Some rather cute monkeys had gotten into some of them. During my wanderings I also managed to book a tour for the next day and get a facial.

For diner that night I had crab cakes and a steak sandwich. It was pretty yummy. The best part of the day was talking to my parents. I've grown used to homesickness and missing everyone in the same way you get used to any daily annoyance. Homesickness is annoying, not the people, just to be clear. The holidays (I consider my birthday a holiday) have been a bit tougher and the emails from friends and chatting with my parents really helped.

After a bit more time on the internet I headed back to my hotel. There wasn't really anywhere else to go. This wasn't the best birthday ever, but it was a hell of a lot better than last years and I'm sure that the next one will be even better!

The Art of Nothing

January 1 and 2, 2009
Days 296 and 297
The next two days were spent basically the same way.

After sleeping in I went to find breakfast and ran into Austin from Yogo. He told me that he was leaving that evening (both times). When breakfast was over I went for a massage (different place) and bought some bootleg dvd's. I then dropped everything off at my hotel and headed for the beach.

The beach was only about 5 mintues away. I would intermentanly lay out and get in the water. When I grew hot/tired/bored I went to the 7-11 to get food for the evening. Back at my hotel I would wash the sea away and the spend the rest of the evening I watched tv. This was do nothing heaven!

Happy New Year!

Day 295

Owen, the Enlgish guy, had an early boat and said goodbye early. I was glad to have the room to myself. I was really tired though and couldn't even be bothered to wake up for my free breakfast.

When I did get up I went for breakfast at a place that served Western food. I also went for a massage. There are spas every three feet here and an hours massage is only about $5 and very affordable. I was slightly weirded out though when I realized that the woman giving me a massage had an awful lot of facial hair. It wasn't a woman.

When my massage was over I spend a few hours just wandering around and checking out the town. I saw the bomb memorial and lots of decorated alters and even bought some sovieners. When I went back to my hotel I rented a dvd player and some dvds from my hotel to kill the time until midnight. While I was walking back a little kid had some sort of claw mask toy and chased me with it until he managed to pinch my butt. His family members looked embarassed but I just laughed and took his picture with it.

Around 9 pm I decided to heard out. It was New Years after all. At the first bar I went to I met some nices Aussies. I ended up sending the rest of the evening with them. For midnight we headed out to the main square. There were some fireworks but it was all rather anti climatic for what I had expected. After midnight everyone went to a club but it wasn't really my scene so I headed back to my hotel to sleep. I couldn't believe that it was 2009, where in the world did 2008 go?

Before Sunrise

Day 294

My alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 3:30 am. Quickly I had myself dressed in the warmest clothes I owned and was ready to leave. After about a 30 minute drive through invisible terrain we parked and walked the last ten minutes or so to the top. I managed to get myself a good spot at the railing when someone randomly walked away.

A first light I began taking picture after picture. I figured the more I took the higher chance I would have of getting something really nice. In less than 30 minutes I took over 100 pictures. Digital cameras are the best. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Once the sun was up I tried to wait for the other people in my group, but every two seconds I was being asked to pose for a photo. 5 am is not my most photogenic time and eventually I just went down anyway to get away. I hadn't paid any attention to where the jeep was or what it looked liked. When I got to the end of the cars I hadn't recognized anyone and stood there for some time. I got bored after a while and I was really very cold. I walked back up a bit and quickly found the group that I was with.

I hadn't know it when I booked the tour but on the way back down we had a chance to climb up one of the craters. This is definitely a must do before breakfast. For about $6 you could ride a horse, but you would be lead by some guy and the horses looked really skinny, I just couldn't put money towards that. Due to this I walked. I really have no idea how I did this. I was tired and hungry and the terrain was a bit rough. The stairs were a bit thin and despite the fact that they were clearly divided into up and down lanes people were in the wrong one and getting angry when they couldn't get through. Up top the smell of sulfur made it hard to breath but the view was fantastic.

After everyone had eaten breakfast and paced we went back down the mountain. The driver had been in a horrible mood the day before but this somehow changed and he stopped on the way down for photo ops.

When I had booked these transfers I was told that I would be in an 8 seater van. The first part was and I was a bit surprized to see that the second part would be done by a big bus. The bus was about 1.5 hours late and when it did show up they had over sold it and I didn't have a seat. The bus was also beyond packed with five seats instead of the normal 4 seats in each row. After much discussion they decided to have a woman who wasn't going very far take a cab and for me to take her seat. These seats must have been made for 3 feet tall 50 pound pygmies. There is just no way a typical adult is meant to fit. The only saving grace was that I was so tired I could have slept through anything. I didn't wake until 3 hours into the trip when we stopped for food.

After a few hours it began to pour. I felt really bad for the people on motor bikes and push bikes, but even worse for the lateness of the bus. The rain had stopped by the time we reached the ferry. It was nice to have some space to myself. I fell asleep right away. After the ferry I opted to stay on to Despensar. I was a bit surprised and miffed when everyone got cabs to Ubud. I had wanted to share, but no one was going to Kuta.

Several of the cab drivers refused to take me to Kuta, they told me that all of the hotels were full. I refused to believe this and after some persistence found a guy who didn't rip me off too much. After wandering for about 30 minutes I was finding that all of the hotels were full. It was about 1 am when I met up with an English guy also looking for a room. We began to look together and eventually found a couple of Aussies to search with. We got lucky and managed to find two rooms, but I was sharing with the English guy. It sure beat being on the streets though.

The four of us decided to grab a beer and we walked out to the main street. On the way we ran into a couple who had a hold on one of our rooms but was late in claiming it. I felt a bit bad, but there were two of them and there is only one of me. If I get stuck for a night that would be really bad. The main street was a mess of prostitutes, drunks and beggars. I hadn't seen many adults or children begging in all of Indonesia and this really surprised me. At the second bar the bartender refused to give me my change and night stopped being fun. I went back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Road Trip

Day 293
I didn't get up early, there was no need. I would have preferred to though. At 11 am I was picked up by a mini van. I was there first and picked the seat I wanted. I was a bit miffed that they tried to make me move to the back in the middle so that some late comers could sit next to one another. I told them that I would get motion sick back there. I most likely would have too. As I had slept well the night before I had problems falling asleep and passed the time by listening to my ipod. The whole thing was really boring. Luckily there were stops every 2 or 3 hours to break it up.

By the time we got to the hotel it was almost 10pm. I had booked a standard room with an ensuite bathroom because it is really cold up the mountain where I was. They messed up the reservation and it took some arguing to get to what I had paid for. The driver who should have been helping me was really rude. In the end it all worked out though. After some dinner I fell into bed, sitting all day had been exhausting.

Temples Temples Everywhere

Day 292
When I met up with Jan he informed me that I would be joined by another person and that we would be going by car. I double checked that my price was the same and it was was. When I met up with Juliet a few minutes later I did feel a bit bad that she might have had to pay extra, but I couldn’t worry about that.

Some of the oldest human fossils have been found in the Solo area. Our first stop was the museum about them. Well, it was actually a bunch of replicas, but at least everything was behind glass so that people couldn’t touch it. The whole museum sort of resembled an elementary school project. It wasn’t really as interesting as I thought it would be. Jan did read anything we asked him to though.

Our next stop was up a long and very windy road to the Hindu Cetho Temple. This temple was meant to symbolize men. It was pretty fabulous. Jan was pretty knowledgeable about everything and told us the stories behind the stone carvings. Each entrance way looked like bookends and are set so that you can take an ultra touristy jumping shot. I tried it a few times but we were not able to time it right and I ended up looking liking I was doing some weird type of dance. I posed with some deity or another instead.

By the time we reached our next destination, the Shuh Temple, the fog had descended. It was hard to see more than a couple of feet in front of yourself. It wasn’t long until the rain started though. At first it was just a drizzle but after a few minutes it really began to pour.

This was the female temple. It was rather dirty. There was one part where women were meant to jump over a phallus to prove that they were virgins before getting married. On the surrounding walls there were giants eating humans carved into the walls. There was even one rather dirty headless statue just made for posing behind. Right when Jan was just into a rather long speech it really began to pour. Both Juliet and I were a bit tired and were kinda glad to get out of the explanation.

Before I went back to my hotel I picked up some snacks for my long bus ride the next day. I also managed to find an internet café that promised me speed. Wen I had gotten back and taken a shower I grabbed my things and headed out. I spent several hours uploading and just playing around before I left Around 1:30 I was too tired to go on and left.

It was the Javanese new year and the parade was meant to pass my hotel around 2am. It took me until almost half past to fight my way through the crowds and get back. The parade wasn’t close to passing and I couldn’t wait up any more. In the end I just went to sleep.

The Cottage is Alive and Well

Day 291

I was up before my alarm went off and went to grab my free breakfast. It was a bit odd as it was an omelet with rice inside of it. There was one tour that my hotel offered that I didn't think was over priced, a bike tour of local cottage industries. I wasn't alone for once and was joined by an Austrian couple. I was really worried that I would fall quite a bit behind because of how rarely I go bike riding, but it was the Austrian woman who had the most trouble.

The first place that we stopped at was a leather puppet factory. Apparently master puppeteers will give 8 hour shows solo and never once take a bathroom break. Before we got much further down the road the chain on my bike broke. Luckily we were still in town and it only took about 10 minutes to find someone to fix it before we were on our way again.

After crossing a thin river on a very flimsy looking boat we went to a place that made tofu. Oddly, most of the soy beans are imported from the states. They put the beans in a machine and it liquefies them. The liquid is then poured into molds. When it hardens it is cut and then put into water to stay fresh. No one was wearing masks or anything so it was kinda gross. Next up was the gong maker. This was pretty cool to watch. They would put the gong in the fire and then pull it out for a minute or two and about 3 guys would bang it into shape for about a minute before repeating the process. None of the guys were wearing shoes or even protective glasses. It was really pretty shocking.

Next up was an illegal moonshine place. This rice based liqueur was distilled twice to make it extra potent. I tried a sip but didn't like it at all. The Austrians said that it tasted a bit like schnapps. After photographing more livestock we went to an organic tofu maker. The soy beans were covered in a fungus that looked like spider webs and then wrapped in banana leaves and left to ferment over night. After watching how tofu is made I don't think that I will ever eat it again.

We stopped for a bit at a restaurant to rehydrate and cool off. The rain was coming though so we couldn't stay long. Right before getting back in town we went to a rice chip making place. I have been eating these like crazy but will do so no more. The rice patties have to dry out in the sun and are places on sheets. There were chickens running over them! We used to say in my family that chickens make lousy house pets, I think they just make lousy pets all together!

Our last stop was down some really tight alleys and I managed to ride right into a wall. Sometimes I really think that I should be living in a padded bubble. I was a bit annoyed to see more batik stuff but there was a group of school kids learning how to make it and they were cute, drawing Hello Kitty and other cartoons instead of the typical native patterns. They were all doing a much better job than I could have ever done.

The bike tour had be great and we made it back just as the rain started, what great timing . After eating and cleaning up I worked on the blog for some time. While I was on the way to dinner I ran into my guide for the next day. He asked if I would mind if there was another person in my group and if we went by car instead of motorbike. I said that I didn't mind that as long as the price was the same. He told me that it would be double, I told him I couldn't do that and that I didn't really think it was fair for him to change the contract like that. He didn't press the issue and I was left just a little irritated.

For dinner I had some nasi gudeg, a coconut based dish with jackfruit. It was fabulous. It's so strange, when I was in Singapore I couldn't find anything that I wanted to eat and now I love it all! When I was done dinner I headed back to my hotel and wrote in my journal before calling it a night.

Solo Can You Go?

Day 291
I wanted to mutiny against my alarm clock. Before coming to Indonesia I would go weeks without even looking at it. Now I'm glued to it. I did sleep in later than I intended, but I still made the 10 am train to Solo.

The pedicab drivers tried to overcharge me, but it didn't annoy me. I just pointed out to them that my guidebook listed the correct price and they gave it to me.

LP recommended one place above all the others and I got myself a room there. It was more expensive but offered warmish water and a free breakfast. It really wasn't that much more expensive but it was much nicer.

Solo has it's own sultan and I wanted to go and check out his Kraton. I got pretty lost but was still determined to walk there. Along the way a pedicab driver told me that if I didn't pay him for a ride he wouldn't be eating dinner. I still declined. At one point I walked through a field and took a picture of some goats. The locals were laughing at me and must of thought I was crazy, I just can't get over there being goats in the middle of a bit town. When I got to what I thought was the Kraton it turned out to be a mosque. I didn't go in but I sat in the courtyard and studied my map. A girl sitting nearby named Dewi offered to walk me to the Kraton. We chatted on the way and before parting we exchanged email addresses.

The Kraton was quite interesting, more so than in Yogo. I was put into a group tour and my guide spoke good English. The Solo and Yogo sultans are related way back and a friendly to this day. The structure was built in 1745 in the Dutch style with materials from all over Europe and Java. The current family is in it's thirteenth generation. The previous king had 36 children, the 11th king had 92! They must have been very busy!

The museum had a nice collection but it was not well taken care of. People were also touching all of the objects, even the guide! This included 1300 year old statuary. I wanted to scream at them! Most of the objects were ceremonial and the guide explained these in great detail. While the rest of my group was drinking from the wishing well I went to buy some bottled water. A woman in line in front of me struck up a conversation with me and then insisted on buying my water. I felt bad, but it was only about fifteen cents.

I managed to get a basic understanding of Indonesian history. The Dutch were here at some point and it wasn't until Japan occupied the country during WWII that they were gotten rid of. After WWII Indonesia became its own country.

When I was done with the museum I grabbed some gado-gado from a roadside stand. It was fabulous. While I was wandering back to my hotel I found some guys making flower signs. I have seen these everywhere commemorating every occasion but had not seen them being made. They were very nice and let me take a picture.

Back at my hotel I discovered that I had left my bar of laundry soap in Bukittinggi. This really annoyed me and I spent the walk to the supermarket chastising myself for not being more careful with my things. It was a brand new bar. I did need some other things though so at least I got the erends over with. Back at the hotel I washed my things and myself. For dinner I went to a nearby place and met a guide. There was a day trip that I had wanted to do but felt that it was really overpriced. He gave me a deal on that as well as on a trip to Mount Bromo and then onto Bali. It was a productive dinner.

Back at my hotel I spent a bit of time writing before calling it a night.

Alternative Merry Christmas

Day 289
Apparently going to sleep at 7 is a great way to wake up at 4 am. This wasn't a big deal though, the tour bus was picking me up at 5 and I had to get my act together.

I don't know if I slept or not but the 1.5 hour bus ride to Boroburdur seemed really short. Luckily I had my faux student id and was able to get in for less money, this was a shockingly expensive site compared to the costs of the rest of the country. While I was getting my ticket I met Americans Frank and Austin. They were also traveling alone and we decided to split a tour guide.

Boroburdur was built in the 9th century and is considered to be one of the great South East Asian monuments. It is a Buddhist temple that was covered by volcanic ash much like Pompeii in 1006. It was rediscovered by the British in 1814. In 1911 the first restoration was completed. In 1985 the structure was attached by terrorists. No one knows why. This is a Unesco world heritage site and most of the money to rebuild after the attacks came from American corporations. The 72 statues and 1500 narrative relief panels are mostly original. The reconstruction made it impossible to go inside and the structure is actually filled by a hill, there is no inside.

The structure has 10 levels. A long time ago Buddhist students would learn the stories one level at a time. When they had them memorized they could move up. The 10th level is nirvana and is inacessable as no one is perfect. The last three levels are covered in stupas that hold Buddha statues. In Indonesia Buddha is pictured as thin because they believe that life is hard, in China Buddha is fat because they believe that life is enjoyment.

Despite the pouring down rain I really enjoyed Borobudur. This was my first Buddhist temple. While at the top Austin, Frank and I were practically attached by a large group of kids who wanted pictures with us. I've gotten used to it but it sorta freaked Austin out. He did that the idea to get one with my camera though. Austin escaped and Frank and I looked for him for a bit before giving up. We ran into him just a few minutes later as we were on our way down to our free breakfast.

After a very boring stop at a silver factory we headed to Prambanan, I know that I slept this time. Prambanan was built around the same time as Borobudur and hidden by the same eruption. It had stopped raining at this point as well. Frank had been shuffled to a different tour so it was just Austin and me. We decided to not do a tour. Most of this Hindu temple was destroyed in a 2006 earthquake and many of the temples were closed. There wasn't anything in them anyway so it didn't really matter. The impressive bits were on the outside. Prambanan was beautiful but we had seen it all before we knew it. We had even been stopped for a few photos again. We decided to grab some water and lunch before meeting the bus. Austin had coconut juice, it was so fresh that it was still in the coconut, all that was added was a straw!

Austin slept during the ride back and I chatted with an Argentinian guy who had spent some time in Myanmar. It's on my maybe list and I wanted to pick his brain.

Once we were back we decided to check out the ruins of the Water Castle. Not much is left and we ended up following a slightly pushy batik salesman to the refurbish pools. He tried hard to play the guilt card by telling us that there aren't any tourists and that he could give us a good price but we declined to buy anything. After walking back Austin left his ipod with me as he had forgot his charger (he's currently living in Thailand) and I charged it while I took a shower and took a bit of a break. We met again later on for dinner. Unfortunately Austin was headed to Jakarta and had to get the night train, I was on my own again. It was really nice having him around for the day because I got bothered a lot less with him there. We were actually able to get places at a normal speed!

I spent a few hours online while I was waiting to call my parents. I then had to try about 4 internet cafes before I could find one that skype actually worked in. It was great to talk to my parents and wish them a Merry Christmas. Home with my parents is the best way to spend the holiday, but today was a nice alternative when my first choice wasn't possible.

It's Merry Christmas

Day 288
I was in a complete haze when I got off the train at Yogjararta and just followed the crowd out of the station. I was sure that I could find a place on my own with the map in my guidebook and I walked past all of the pedicabs. This turned out to not be the case though and I gave in a got one. A few minutes later I was close to the random hotel I had picked in my guidebook. A guy just hanging around walked me there. He told me that it would be full due to the holiday. I was in such a haze I asked him what holiday. I've gotten used to showing and everything being closed due to some battle that no one really remembers or because Buddha stubbed his big toe on that day a long time ago. He looked at me oddly and then said that it was Merry Christmas. I kinda liked that, it assumed that everyone has a nice Christmas and not just a hope that they do.

The hotel that I picked did have space and I was allowed to go straight to my room despite the fact that it was 6 am. They guy who checked me in tried to sell me all sorts of tours but I told him the truth, I was too tired to think and if he would give me a pamphlet I would look it over after I had gotten a few hours of sleep. He did tell me that all the museums in town closed at 2 and that if I wanted to see them that day I should be sure to wake up in time. This I appreciated and I set my alarm before going to sleep.

After three hours I got up and took a shower. It was painful. I was still tired, but I did begin to feel slightly more human. For some reason I couldn't find the flyer that I was meant to look through over lunch. I was a bit bummed because there was a tour or two that I wanted to take. Luckily, as I was headed out, I found a different guy with the same company and was able to get a new flyer.

I then made an attempt to visit the Sultan's Palace, or Kraton. This was easier said than done. Part of the problem was fighting off the pedicab drivers and the rest of getting rid of random people who just wanted to talk. I was under a bit of a time constraint and whereas I normally would have been pretty friendly, I was really just getting annoyed that everyone was slowing me down so much. Everyone wanted to give me advice and ask what I thought of Indonesia and how long I had been in Yogo. No one even hinted at wanting anything from me. Well, some people wanted me to check out their batik art, but they were easy to defect. Eventually one guy walked me most of the way down and I was happy to arrive to have some privacy back.

This didn't last long, before I knew it I had a free guided tour. At the end he left before I could have even given him a tip. This was odd though because I didn't see very many other people walking around with a guide. The palace was a bit odd, it was in the Dutch style and seemed really out of place. There wasn't much there and the tour didn't take long. Basically Java has hereditary sultans that functioned as governors. The current one is the first to not have a harem and to not have a son to pass his tittle on to. For unknown reasons there were several chickens in cages. I just don't understand the livestock everywhere and feel compelled to take lots of pictures of it.

After the Kraton I was surprised that the guy who walked me down was still hanging out. He walked me back part way, to where his motorbike was parked and then was on his way without me trying to get rid of him. I ducked into a Dunkin Donuts so that I could read through my tour options. I would normally do these things on my own, but with limited time I am forced to take tours. When I had finished I went to the office and booked the one that I wanted.

I then headed to an internet cafe to try once again to upload some photos. This is really starting to get annoying. When I could take it no more I headed for dinner. I was still exhausted and simply went back to my hotel room. I was out by 7 pm.

Train Monster

Day 287 I was really tired when I woke up and tried to put off the action for as long as possible. I didn't want to miss the city though and soon forced myself to get my act together. I'm becoming convinced that no one in this country walks anywhere. Every time I step outside I have to practically argue my right to walk! When people ask if I have transportation I have begun to answer yes, if they ask where I point to my feet and keep going. If people ask me where I am headed I just answer that I'm on a walk.

My first stop was as massive tour in the sorta center of the city. I wanted to take an elevator up for the view. When I bought my ticket the guy told me that it was about an hour wait. I said no problem, I had a book to read. Almost 3 hours later I finally got on the elevator, it only held about 8 people. The top of the tower was teaming with school groups. It was really pretty miserable so I took my pictures and then got in line to go down. This was another fiasco. A teacher would wait in line and then when it was her turn she would pull 10 little kids who were not in line into the elevator. It took about 8 or 9 trips before I was able to force my way on. You would have thought that the NYC subway would have given me practice for this!

By the time I had gotten down it was after 2 pm and the museum I had wanted to see for the day was closed. I was irritated, but what can you do? I ended up at a nice place for lunch, it actually looked like it could have been in the city. The best part was the air conditioning. I didn't want to get too gross because there wasn't going to be any place for me to take a shower until the morning. When I was back in the area of my hotel I spent more time working on the blog in an internet cafe.

Around 7:30 I headed to the train station. I had gotten one of the last seats on the night train to Yogyarta. I had been told that it was first class and was looking forward to laying down. Only it wasn't a sleeper, I don't think that was even an option. The first class seats were really uncomfortable, I don't even want to know what the regular seats were like. I was also seated in front of a crazy child. She was singing and screaming and pulling the back of my seat constantly I shot her some dirty looks but nothing changed. I hardly got any sleep at all and arrive a very tired person.

Modern Life

Day 286
I was up early, way early, 3:30 am early. I had scheduled an airport transfer in advance thru my hotel. When I went to the lobby the guy who was meant to drive me was asleep. I set my bag down heavily and that woke him up. Drivers in Indonesia are crazy. They speed, they weave manically and the amount of traffic is shocking. On a good day it's worse than rush hour during the rain in Manhattan. I was leaving just 2 hours before my plane was to take off. I had been assured that due to the lack of traffic at that time that I wouldn't have any problems. What they didn't mention was that I would have the only driver in Indonesia that actually drove beneath the speed limit. I was rather nervous about making my flight and was glad to see that I did arrive about 1 hour 15 minutes before it took off.

I didn't really know why I was going to Jakarta. There wasn't anything all that interesting to see. I just sort of felt like I ought to visit the capital. My flight there was pretty much on time and not really worth mentioning. While I was waiting for my bus to the city center I saw something that I haven't seen in forever, I haven't even ever seen one of these in NYC. It was a Krispy Kream shop! I ran over and chanced missing my bus so that I could stuff myself with their gooey goodness. Life is good!

After heading to the backpacker area I grabbed some lunch. My foot was aching pretty badly so I just decided to call the day a loss. After spending some time on the internet I read for a while before growing board and grabbing a cap to the mall. I ended up seeing Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D. I don't know that I have ever seen a movie in 3-d before. It was pretty cool.

For some reason I had thought that getting a cab back would be easy as pie. It was 11pm though and the main mall exit was blocked off. I was directed to a hotel a few blocks away by mall security but somehow I got lost. I was getting a bit nervous about the whole thing. I don't know the city at all and it was very very dark. I ended up finding a random security guard of a parking lot and asked him to help me. He did and soon I had a cab and was on my way back to my hotel. It was raining when I got there but I was too tired to care, I was back and in one piece.

Small time Celebrity

Day 285

I had wanted to wake up early but I spent a bit too much time reading and overslept a bit. After breakfast and packing it was time to head back to Padang.

Conveniently outside of my hotel was a guy with a horse and buggy. This was one form of transportation that I had yet to utilize. He told me that the price was 4 and I agreed. In my guidebook it says that rides should cost around 5,000 and I figured he meant 4,000 by saying 4. When we got to the bus stop he told me that he wanted 40,000, not 4,000! I was about to just tell him too bad, he had said 4 and that was what he was going to get but I went ahead and gave him 10,000 anyway. It was something that I wanted to try and that was less than a dollar.

The minibus I jumped into left in about 15 minutes. I was stuck all the way in the back corner though and no amount of pleading could get the people in the middle seat to open the windows any further for me. It was a rather hot and uncomfortable ride. When we got into Pedang I was the last person on the bus. The driver asked if I would pay him extra to drive me to my hotel. The price he gave was fair and I quickly agreed. It might have been a few cents cheaper to get a local mini bus but the hassle of bargaining wasn't real ly worth it.

I had decided to go back to the first hotel I had stayed at here. It had a great location for seeing20the rest of the town. Luckily they had room for me. I also arranged airport transfer through them for the morning.

After some lunch I went to check out the sites. It was blazing hot and I kinda needed a break from the constant attention though. After walking around for about an hour I just went back to my hotel for a shower.

For dinner I went to a seaside restaurant, I had just missed the sunset though. A nearby family asked if their daughter could take a picture with me. I doubt that she was 2 and after I said yes she was in my lap before I knew it. Right away she started to howl. I didn't really blame her though, I'm not that child friendly and I think that kids can smell fear.

When I went to pay my bill the waiter mixed up 14 and 40 but we got it all figured out in the end. I grabbed a beer and wrote in my journal for a bit at a place right next to my hotel. I was a bit tired though and wanted to go to sleep early anyway, I had an early morning to look forward to.

Shades of Death Road (Weird NJ Readers will get it)

Day 284
I woke up extra early to wash some of my clothes and because I had to wander a bit for breakfast. The plan was to go to one of the Western backpacker places, but they were all closed. Instead I ended up at a Chinese place getting chicken portage at the waitress's suggestion. It doesn't sound like breakfast all all, but it was really very good.

Eddy met me at my hotel, it was just about 20 feet from his shop anyway. I felt more confident about getting on the bike this morning, but it didn't take long before my body began to ache again.

The first place we stopped at was a gorge just out of town. It was beautiful, but there was garbage everywhere, it really bothered me. Garbage is really an unfortunate theme for the day. Indonesians seem to have no concept of using a garbage bin.

After getting up a really steep hill we took a break at a scenic overlook. The next stop was lake Maninjau. Eddy said that this was no normal crater lake and that it was the most beautiful in Sumatra. I will have to take his word for it as my stupid foot prevented me from visiting Lake Toba as I had planned. A long time ago there was a family with 10 children, 9 boys and 1 girl. The parents died leaving them to fend for themselves. As the ancient Indonesians had a matriarchal society it was very important for the brothers to protect their one sister to pass on the family history. Their sister grew to be very beautiful and had many suitors. One of the suitors that she did not care for was very persistent. When she rejected him he spread really nasty rumors about her. The towns people wanted her family to leave. She said that she would prove her innocences by jumping off the top of the mountain, if nothing happened she was guilty, if something did happen she would be proved innocent. Her brothers knew that this would kill her but she insisted and they all insisted on following her. When they jumped the ground caved in and the lake was formed. I told you it wasn't a normal crater lake!

After a few more look out points we stopped by a brown sugar plantation. It was pretty interesting to see how it was made. I got to taste some to, it was teeth rottingly sweet.

The next stop was to go down to Lake Maninjau. To get there you have to take a super curvy road with 44 intense bends. Well, those are only the bends that get counted. There are lots of others, just not so curvy. Eddy stopped for me to take pictures along the way. The road was laced with rice patties and some monkeys in bits of jungle.

At lunch we took a nice long break which was good because I was exhausted and really achy. I had a massive fruit platter for lunch and that helped me get back some energy. The bill for both of us to have lunch was less than $2 and I paid again. The restaurant was right on the lake and really pretty.

When lunch was over we headed back up the windy road. It was a bit more scary this time because I thought I might fall off the back of the bike, but this never even came close to happening. not quite half way up we stopped to feed the monkeys some peanuts that I had picked up earlier. Well, Eddy fed the monkeys and I took pictures. The monkeys were rather lazy and if they missed the peanut when it was thrown to them they refused to go and look for it. A minute or two later I would hear some other monkeys fighting over it. One of the monkeys was missing an arm, but he was such a good catch that I didn't notice it until we were about to leave. The monkeys seemed just as scared of us as I was of them and kept their distance.

After driving through some more rice field we went looking for some bats. Apparently someone had been hunting in the area earlier and had scared them all away. Instead I got to see some of the end bit of the rice making process. Everything was very friendly and offered to let me help. I declined and just took a couple of photos.

We weren't far from Bukittinggi and lucked out by just missing the rain. I thanked Eddy as I paid him the last of what I owed him plus a tip. There had been some communication issues but he was a really fabulous guide. He was very friendly and seemed to really just want to make sure that I had a good time. Plus, he pulled over whenever I wanted to take a photo and I wanted lots! If anyone is reading this and planning to come to Indonesia I can pass on his information to you.

Once I had rested a bit and waited for the rain to pass I headed to a street side food stall. I finally had some proper and very cheap nasi goring, the national dish. I then spent a couple of painful hours on the internet.

As I hobbled back to my hotel people yelled out "Obama" to me. I had met a lot of people here but I don't think that I had met most of these people. I guess word had gotten around in this small town that I was here. I kinda stand out a bit in Indonesia. Back at my hotel I read a book about a time traveling Danish prostitute before falling asleep.

White on Rice

Day 283

I was up early and went down for a free breakfast after packing. I had hoped to catch a minibus up the hill to my new hotel, but none even came by. This was a bit weird, usually I have more than I can handle at once. I ended up huffing and puffing my way up it. Once up top I quickly checked in and dropped off my things. The place was only US $4.50 a night, much more affordable!

I was a few minutes late to meet Eddy, but he didn't seem to mind. He had a helmet for me as planned. I was nervous, but also a bit excited. Motorbikes are the main mode of transportation here. I have seen people carry huge loads on the and sometimes families of five will squeeze onto one. Most people don't even bother to wear helmets. I have met several people and have a Bootsnall friend who have been seriously injured when trying to drive motorbikes on their own. I knew that I could never do that, so hiring someone who could was the next best thing.

The first place that Eddy took me to was a modern long house that functions as a library. The view was fabulous but I really wanted out of town. Next up were some rice patties. Lots and lots of rice patties. They were quite beautiful. I think that the foggy day added to the mystique. Luckily the fog lifted enough for us to see down into a valley of more rice fields. It was also raining a bit at this point and we had to pull over to stay dry.

When the sun came out a bit we were back on the road and people began to come out to work in the fields. Some very friendly ladies let me take a picture of them and then asked if I would like to help a bit. I might have, just to say that I had, but I was still a bit shaky on my left foot and didn't want to get myself all muddy so early in the day. There were also some cute ducks that kept hiding in the rice stalks as soon as I pulled out my camera.

Our next stop was a coffee mill. There was a woman pounding away, but didn't feel comfortable taking a picture. I contented myself with a 100 year old waterwheel. Lunch was next on the list and we stopped at a locals only roadside stand. We ordered a ton of food and I tried almost everything besides the eel. I eat eel in sushi form, but these ones still had their eyes and teeth, eww! The food was really fabulous and cost lest than three dollars for the two of us so I treated, Eddy seemed surprised.

After lunch we stopped at a small town that had some ancient Sanskrit stones. They were right in the middle of a bunch of houses and there were chickens wandering around. It was a bit weird. We followed this with some traditional and highly carved long houses. The queens house was the best. Several women out front tried to sell me some really prickly looking fruits, I declined on the basis that I didn't know what it was or how to eat it. Eddy told me that as recently as his generation (he was just a couple of years older than me) boys would move at the age of 10 into the mosque because there wasn't enough space at home for the many children that everyone had. Now this has mostly changed.

We pulled over at a few more scenic areas before arriving at a lake. We spent some time relaxing (motorbikes hurt just as much as regular bikes after a while). There was a big sign on a tree and I asked what it said. Apparently teenagers used to come here to make out, this irritated the neighbors and the sign asked people to behave respectively.

I was getting pretty tired at this point and there was still one more stop, a weaving village. I could have done with out this, but I think Eddy probably got a commission if I bought anything. For the third or fourth time of the day we ran into a Malaysian tour group. I guess I was on the tourist trail even when I tried to be off of it!

The day had been fabulous and riding the motorbike was thrilling. Eddy was a wonderful guide. It really helped that as he had grown up in the area he knew a lot of people, this allowed me to get ph otos that not everyone gets. The kids were also pretty cute. They were constantly saying hello and asking my name. When I would ask for theirs in return they would giggle and blush. Most of them would run off but continue peaking at me from behind a corner.

I was really quite sore though when I got back. After picking up my laundry I went for some dinner. I tried to update my blog for a while but was foiled by slow internet. Eventually I just went back to my hotel and fell asleep.

Right Fit

Day 282
I got myself together before 7 and was ready for breakfast the minute that the hotel people were ready to feed me. I love free breakfast with my hotel! In no time I had taken two different mini buses to the big square where I could get the long distance mini bus. I was headed to a place called Bukittinggi. I thought I would sleep on the bus, but it was really too uncomfortable and I spent the time looking out of the window.

Once I got to Bukittinggi I had some problems finding a place to stay. I couldn't walk around with my things forever because of my foot and I ended up giving up and staying at a place that cost US $19 a night. That doesn't sound like a lot, but its the same amount that I have been spending per day here. I would, however, get hot water for a change.

While I was eating lunch a guide tried to sell me his services. I didn't really care for him but I did get a price range and he told me about a cheaper hotel. Whe n I had finished eating I headed up there and made a reservation for the following night. I also checked the tour prices there. This is the time when being one person kinda sucks. With the first guy I would have had to pay extra to go with just me and with the second people I couldn't go at all. As I was headed back down the hill I saw a small pink building with an advert for tours on it. I went in and met Eddy. His English wasn't great, but he was really enthusiastic and nice. He also cut me a nice deal for two days worth of a tour. The condition was that we would be going by motorbike. This scared me a bit, but it is the way that people get around here so I figured that I should try it at some point. He told me that he had an extra helmet and showed me his drivers license. Not that I know what an Indonesian drivers license looks like.

Bukittinggi is mostly known for the things around it, not in it. However, there was an nice market to check out. After wandering the stalls for some time I started to head back. Where ever I go in this country people (both men and women) want to chat. Everyone has someone who they know who once went to states or a distance relative in New York that they think I might know. I can't tell you how many times I've had to reply that it is a huge city with a whole lot of people in it. They also tell me how much they love Obama and how he came to Indonesia once. I don't really mind, but sometimes it gets a bit exhausting.

On the way back to my hotel I stopped at an internet cafe for a bit. It was beyond slow and after some time I just gave up. Back at my hotel room there was a few hours to wait before there would be hot water so I killed the time by reading. The last thing I did that night was venture to a nearby place for dinner. I had walked to much though and my foot was very angry with me. I ended up calling it an early night.