Thursday 28 July
Yesterday I was surprised when I saw Carrefour and 2 branches of the Commonwealth Bank in Medan. Also i booked a load of flights; trying to decide what to do in the coming months was driving me crazy, too many choices. SO I just made some decisions and locked them in; feel more relaxed now!
I met Ben and Jenny for dinner at a night stall and we had ice cream in MacDonalds.
Last night a big storm came through. My room was on the top floor, with corrugated iron for a roof. So when the rain and thunder and lightning started about 10pm it was very noisy, no chance of sleeping. So I went down to the front porch to be sociable and watched the road turn into a river.
When I went back up to bed, rain had come in from the far end of the room, flooding the small corridor that leads to the bathroom, it was up to my ankles. And the water had flowed down to where my stuff was, somehow it didn't quite reach my bag before I got everything off the floor. I have stayed in some dingy places in my time, and with the never-been-cleaned toilet, the grey brick bathroom walls and the flooded bedroom floor, this was another such place. But you get what you pay for and it was fine! The storm must have been quite something because there were pictures of it on the front of this morning's paper.
I checked out and got a becak (motorbike and sidecar) to the airport. The check-in desk reminded me of the ticket counters at train stations in Inida: it was a free-for-all with two or three people checking in at the counter at the same time; I had to stand my ground and push a bit to keep my place in the non-existent queue, nobody pays attention to the faded yellow line.
The flight from Medan to Jakarta, in Java, was good, not sure why they put the only non-Indonesian speaker next to the emergency exit - if someone shouted 'open the door' or 'close the door' in an emergency, I wouldn't have known the difference. In the pocket behind the seat in front of me was an Invocation card which has Protestant, Catholic, Islamic and Hindu prayers related to the safe arrival of the plane. Possibly any local who already had their doubts about the white guy being in charge of the emergency exit, would have been even more perturbed to see me reading all the prayers!
It was easy to get the shuttle bus from Jakarta airport through the city and bright neon lights to Gambir station. From there it was a sweaty 15 minute walk to the hostel area of Jalan Jaksa, where I found a dorm bed. I walked half an hour to Pasar Senen station to get a ticket for Saturday. Along the way the locals called out 'hi mister' and we had some banter and they gave me helpful directions. At the ticket office the girls were quite shy and giggly to be serving a white guy (although there are plenty of us about) and their male boss asked me what I thought about one of them; I just said 'she's better than you', and they laughed.
Back at Jalan Jaksa there were plenty of travellers around, and locals outside the bars watching Indonesia beat Turkmenistan 4-3 in a world cup qualifier.
Friday 29 July
Back to Pasar Senen to get a ticket for Tamara, then on the way to Gambir I stumbled upon a small village within the city. I felt a little intrusive since I was walking through narrow alleyways right outside people's houses but the locals smiled.
I got the commuter train 1.5 hours to Bogor. The trains are clean and efficient and have come from Japan; they still have signage in Japanese. Bogor feels like a small country town. I had bobur (rice porridge with prawn crackers) for late breakfast and then went to the Botanical Gardens, which cover a large area in the centre of town. I saw the back of the Istana Bogor (palace) and deer behind the fence. The gardens and lawn were nice but it was mainly trees and felt more like a park. The orchid garden had some flowering orchids but it was a bit underwhelming. Still, I wandered around for a few hours and saw the cacti in the mexican garden.
I fell asleep on the train on the way back. As it was getting dark I walked along to the National Monument which is a huge obelisk surrounded by a park, which was peaceful with young people and families hanging around. I hadn't expected to like Jakarta but it's ok and the people are welcoming.
As with most 'losmen' (cheap hostel, often family-run), the shower does not work and there is a 'mandi' instead. Water is stored in a brick water tank (sometimes tiled!) and a small plastic bucket, normally with a handle, is provided to pour the cold water over the body; it's refreshing but it can be tricky trying to apply water and soap at the same time. Plus a little dance is often necessary at the same time so that the mozzies can't hang on and bite your ankles.
Had dinner with Tamara and a girl who was just off the plane from Europe; you can tell she has only just arrived because she looks so clean!
Saturday 30 July
Up at 5:30 and we got a tuk-tuk to the station and on to the train, 8 hours to Yogjakarta (Yogya). It was pretty comfortable and not too smoky. As we went along there was an almost constant barrage of hawkers; for sale were many types of snacks and drinks, belts, combs and nail clippers, massage instruments, toys, plastic jewellery, maps etc etc, as well as buskers and beggars. It was a bit like a theatrical performance.
Yogya is a popular stop on the backpacker trail and is a base for visiting the surrounding area. After checking in to the nice hostel, I went for a walk. The town was busy and there are many motorbikes. Off a side street there was a small concert in a courtyard. I think local community members had been given half an hour each to perform. There were guys there dressed as native Americans, very elaborate dresses.
Later I headed out to the traditional Javanese music concert that I had heard about. There was a large stage with many instruments and it was like a drive-thru, cos most of the audience were still sitting on their motorbike to watch the performance. It was a shadow puppet story, with one guy controlling the puppets and narrating the story with the musicians accompanying him. The story goes for 7 hours so there were quite a few quite times; the female singers took this opportunity to eat the tea and snacks that were brought to them and to check for text messages! For some reason the audience was mainly male. It wasn't touristy or cheesy, it seemed to be very sincere and it was great to witness some culture; I really enjoyed it.
On my way back the town was still throbbing with nighttime activity. A group of teenagers sat with their cool bikes upside down, resting on saddle and handlebars; I asked them why and they showed me that the bikes don't have a stand, because the idea is that the bike is as light as possible. The coloured bikes looked cool, lined up and upside down. On the next corner was another small concert, a punk band who were pretty good and they had a crazy old dude trying to join in. I wouldn't have expected a punk concert in Indonesia. As in India, the locals don't really applaud when a song finishes, which is a shame.
Back at the courtyard there was a ska band playing, and then a reggae band played and the singer sang Bob Marley songs in English and had a great voice and all the band mates were dancing down the front, as was a guy in a skeleton suit, it was great fun. I was pretty tired so left before the end but was very impressed that their were 3 live, free, music events on in the same night, all of good quality. A great night out!
Sunday 31 July
Last night for dinner I had vegetables soaked in chilli and garlic, I shouldn't have eaten it, I had a feeling it might be too much; from 4am this morning my stomach rebelled and it was all very unpleasant. 12 hours later I think I am ok now. I did manage to change hostel, shave and do my blog.
Yesterday I was surprised when I saw Carrefour and 2 branches of the Commonwealth Bank in Medan. Also i booked a load of flights; trying to decide what to do in the coming months was driving me crazy, too many choices. SO I just made some decisions and locked them in; feel more relaxed now!
I met Ben and Jenny for dinner at a night stall and we had ice cream in MacDonalds.
Last night a big storm came through. My room was on the top floor, with corrugated iron for a roof. So when the rain and thunder and lightning started about 10pm it was very noisy, no chance of sleeping. So I went down to the front porch to be sociable and watched the road turn into a river.
When I went back up to bed, rain had come in from the far end of the room, flooding the small corridor that leads to the bathroom, it was up to my ankles. And the water had flowed down to where my stuff was, somehow it didn't quite reach my bag before I got everything off the floor. I have stayed in some dingy places in my time, and with the never-been-cleaned toilet, the grey brick bathroom walls and the flooded bedroom floor, this was another such place. But you get what you pay for and it was fine! The storm must have been quite something because there were pictures of it on the front of this morning's paper.
I checked out and got a becak (motorbike and sidecar) to the airport. The check-in desk reminded me of the ticket counters at train stations in Inida: it was a free-for-all with two or three people checking in at the counter at the same time; I had to stand my ground and push a bit to keep my place in the non-existent queue, nobody pays attention to the faded yellow line.
The flight from Medan to Jakarta, in Java, was good, not sure why they put the only non-Indonesian speaker next to the emergency exit - if someone shouted 'open the door' or 'close the door' in an emergency, I wouldn't have known the difference. In the pocket behind the seat in front of me was an Invocation card which has Protestant, Catholic, Islamic and Hindu prayers related to the safe arrival of the plane. Possibly any local who already had their doubts about the white guy being in charge of the emergency exit, would have been even more perturbed to see me reading all the prayers!
It was easy to get the shuttle bus from Jakarta airport through the city and bright neon lights to Gambir station. From there it was a sweaty 15 minute walk to the hostel area of Jalan Jaksa, where I found a dorm bed. I walked half an hour to Pasar Senen station to get a ticket for Saturday. Along the way the locals called out 'hi mister' and we had some banter and they gave me helpful directions. At the ticket office the girls were quite shy and giggly to be serving a white guy (although there are plenty of us about) and their male boss asked me what I thought about one of them; I just said 'she's better than you', and they laughed.
Back at Jalan Jaksa there were plenty of travellers around, and locals outside the bars watching Indonesia beat Turkmenistan 4-3 in a world cup qualifier.
Friday 29 July
Back to Pasar Senen to get a ticket for Tamara, then on the way to Gambir I stumbled upon a small village within the city. I felt a little intrusive since I was walking through narrow alleyways right outside people's houses but the locals smiled.
I got the commuter train 1.5 hours to Bogor. The trains are clean and efficient and have come from Japan; they still have signage in Japanese. Bogor feels like a small country town. I had bobur (rice porridge with prawn crackers) for late breakfast and then went to the Botanical Gardens, which cover a large area in the centre of town. I saw the back of the Istana Bogor (palace) and deer behind the fence. The gardens and lawn were nice but it was mainly trees and felt more like a park. The orchid garden had some flowering orchids but it was a bit underwhelming. Still, I wandered around for a few hours and saw the cacti in the mexican garden.
I fell asleep on the train on the way back. As it was getting dark I walked along to the National Monument which is a huge obelisk surrounded by a park, which was peaceful with young people and families hanging around. I hadn't expected to like Jakarta but it's ok and the people are welcoming.
As with most 'losmen' (cheap hostel, often family-run), the shower does not work and there is a 'mandi' instead. Water is stored in a brick water tank (sometimes tiled!) and a small plastic bucket, normally with a handle, is provided to pour the cold water over the body; it's refreshing but it can be tricky trying to apply water and soap at the same time. Plus a little dance is often necessary at the same time so that the mozzies can't hang on and bite your ankles.
Had dinner with Tamara and a girl who was just off the plane from Europe; you can tell she has only just arrived because she looks so clean!
Saturday 30 July
Up at 5:30 and we got a tuk-tuk to the station and on to the train, 8 hours to Yogjakarta (Yogya). It was pretty comfortable and not too smoky. As we went along there was an almost constant barrage of hawkers; for sale were many types of snacks and drinks, belts, combs and nail clippers, massage instruments, toys, plastic jewellery, maps etc etc, as well as buskers and beggars. It was a bit like a theatrical performance.
Yogya is a popular stop on the backpacker trail and is a base for visiting the surrounding area. After checking in to the nice hostel, I went for a walk. The town was busy and there are many motorbikes. Off a side street there was a small concert in a courtyard. I think local community members had been given half an hour each to perform. There were guys there dressed as native Americans, very elaborate dresses.
Later I headed out to the traditional Javanese music concert that I had heard about. There was a large stage with many instruments and it was like a drive-thru, cos most of the audience were still sitting on their motorbike to watch the performance. It was a shadow puppet story, with one guy controlling the puppets and narrating the story with the musicians accompanying him. The story goes for 7 hours so there were quite a few quite times; the female singers took this opportunity to eat the tea and snacks that were brought to them and to check for text messages! For some reason the audience was mainly male. It wasn't touristy or cheesy, it seemed to be very sincere and it was great to witness some culture; I really enjoyed it.
On my way back the town was still throbbing with nighttime activity. A group of teenagers sat with their cool bikes upside down, resting on saddle and handlebars; I asked them why and they showed me that the bikes don't have a stand, because the idea is that the bike is as light as possible. The coloured bikes looked cool, lined up and upside down. On the next corner was another small concert, a punk band who were pretty good and they had a crazy old dude trying to join in. I wouldn't have expected a punk concert in Indonesia. As in India, the locals don't really applaud when a song finishes, which is a shame.
Back at the courtyard there was a ska band playing, and then a reggae band played and the singer sang Bob Marley songs in English and had a great voice and all the band mates were dancing down the front, as was a guy in a skeleton suit, it was great fun. I was pretty tired so left before the end but was very impressed that their were 3 live, free, music events on in the same night, all of good quality. A great night out!
Sunday 31 July
Last night for dinner I had vegetables soaked in chilli and garlic, I shouldn't have eaten it, I had a feeling it might be too much; from 4am this morning my stomach rebelled and it was all very unpleasant. 12 hours later I think I am ok now. I did manage to change hostel, shave and do my blog.
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