Indonesia

INDONESIA 

19/09/18 to 18/10/18

JAKARTA

Leaving from East Midlands airport on 19th September 2018, it took almost 48 hours to reach Jakarta - four flights each with self-transfer and layovers between five and eight hours. Safe to say I was knackered. In fact I spent the whole first day in bed, an amazing 13 hour sleep; though this was also in response to the immense culture shock, which honestly left me quite fearful of going outside again after entering the hotel room... As the last flight was landing, I noticed immediately how unusual the airport buildings looked and wondered whether I might be in for a shock. I absolutely was. Leaving the airport, I entered the humidity to negotiate a price for a taxi. I got in and soon began negotiating in my mind how likely I was to die in the insane traffic. I don't know why they have lane markings in the road because everybody pretty much ignores them (note: if attempting to cross the road, allow a good 15 minutes). I also forgot to apply DEET before reaching the hotel, a mistake which the mozzy's immediately punished me for, leaving bites all over my arms and legs.

It took another day to re-pack my bags ready for day-to-day traveling (as opposed to how they were packed for the planes), as well as to figure out where I was going and how to get there. Then I really just wandered the local district for a while and saw the National Monument, which was unplanned but just happened to be near the hotel.

National Monument, Jakarta

A couple of nights passed and I was still far from adjusting to the culture. I took my bags and headed for the train station on foot - a needlessly ambitious walk had I summoned the courage to board a public bus, but this wasn't going to happen just yet. With all signage at the station printed in Indonesian, my fears surrounding the difficulty of getting about were realised, but I took a gamble on the guy in the ticket booth speaking English and it paid off, he was very helpful in explaining which platform to go to. (That's something worth noting - how friendly the Indonesian people are in general. Many times throughout my time here people would approach me and ask where I was from and how I was, with no intention to sell me anything. I'd answer "England" and they'd be like "cool bro", before riding away on their bike.) So on to Bandung...

BANDUNG

Incredible scenery while looking out the window of the train. Rice fields, mountains on the horizon, just beautiful. The style of the buildings didn't change outside of Jakarta though - corrugated iron and rusty metal poles are the main construction components - which made me realise that my 'escape' to Bandung was somewhat futile and I'd have to just crack on with adjusting to the culture. Not that all of the culture can be found within the 'architecture', but it's a good indication of the vast overall difference to back home.

As soon as I arrived in Bandung, I met Yaya - a local taxi driver who was so friendly that my English mentality had me wondering if he was being 'too friendly'. There was ultimately no reason for concern though. He dropped me at the hotel and arranged to take me to a few local tourist spots a couple of days later - he would drive me round all day for Rp500,000 which is about £25. A bargain when you consider that a taxi back from a night out in Derby can cost more. Almost everything is super cheap across Java. The train to Bandung, which was I think about a six hour journey, cost only £5. I spent my first full day here just wandering around solo; going to the local zoo (£2) as well as 'Upside Down World' which is a place full of furniture and objects stuck to the ceiling, such that they can take pictures of you that when flipped look like you're defying gravity.

I also checked out the local guitar shop to satisfy my craving to play a few riffs (albeit to the quite obvious disapproval of the staff who very much wanted me to make a purchase), as well as the big shopping centre in which I tried an Indonesian dish consisting of vegetables, pineapple and surprisingly spicey chicken. It was quite nice but took its toll on my bowels, as for the remainder of my time in Bandung I was plagued by a constant need to shit - this really wasn't ideal in a country where hovering over a hole in the ground and wiping with your left-hand are commonplace practises. Fortunately I always managed to contain the beast until a western style toilet was in sight. I was certainly put off trying any more of the local cuisine, which in turn led to a three-week binge on any western food I could find. Primarily burgers, pizza and greasy bologneise. Even for this the prices remain cheap, if you ignore the ultimate price of sitting here on the plane writing this and feeling my now very tight t-shirt struggling to contain these buldging flab rolls. While contending with almost incessant diarrhoea, I was also met by an onslaught of cockroaches in my hotel room - I don't think I've ever seen one before, but all four of these were creepy fast bastards, basically spiders with a shell.

As promised, Yaya picked me up on the second day and took me to first see the 'white crater'. With the lack of clear English being spoken or tourist information boards, I struggled to understand what this place was, I inferred that it was a volcano crater - wearing an oxygen mask and leaving within 15 minutes were visitation requirements and it was noticeably more difficult to breathe - yet it was full of water, like a lake up high in a mountain - not lava. Pretty cool, whatever it was.

He then drove me to the tea fields, a huge area where I met with local tea farmers who to my understanding supplied all of Java with various types/flavours of tea. Finally, Yaya introduced me to his boss, Sandi, who runs a travel agency throughout Java. This was super helpful as he helped arrange my travel beyond Bandung and into Yogyakarta, as well as later to Mount Bromo and ultimately to the harbour to cross into Bali.

JOGJA

So after a 9 hour train to Yogyakarta, I was greeted by Cecit as arranged - another local taxi driver. I soon learnt that, throughout Indonesia, Yogyakarta is much more commonly referred to as 'Jogja'. I don't understand this abbreviation, surely 'Yogya' would make more sense - you don't abbreviate 'Nottingham' to 'Jottjing'. Cecit took me to the Royal Palace, which to be honest was quite underwhelming, as well as to a clothing factory where you could see the process of dying the fabrics and imprinting patterns. I really liked this and thought the workers were really talented, but there was then immense pressure to make a relatively expensive purchase in their adjacent shop (I didn't cave). I was then taken to a place where they make 'batik' art, I was so impressed by this that I did actually purchase a piece. It's basically a process of putting wax onto the material in the areas where the artist doesn't want to apply colour yet, applying colour to the surroundings, removing the wax, then colouring the remainder. At least that was my understanding. Finally that day was a place where they make these type of flat puppets which I can't remember the name of, but were full of symbolic spiritual meaning and are popular throughout Indonesia (I'm not sure with which religion, in spite of being told at the time. There's a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist influence in Jogja). Again, lots of pressure to buy and by this point I twigged that my driver was on commission from these places - I just couldn't get away without buying this puppet I'll never use nor remember the symbolism of. The intention was to also visit a place where they make silver jewellery, but Cecit instead drove me to his family's cafe/bar, where I met his father, who was a bit of a character to say the least. Within ten minutes of meeting me, he'd not only told me that he conducts fights between cobras and kills them such that he can drink their blood - "Indonesian viagra" - but also checked whether or not I was single, such that he could offer his sister to me in marriage. Fortunately she wasn't actually there, else I'm not sure whether I'd have ever been able to leave Jogja. 

I had planned to see Borobudur temple and did so during sunrise, an amazing sight. But the temple itself, while super old and impressive, was lacking because no information surrounding its history and meaning was made available, so after walking round it for a bit I soon found myself leaving again.

Amazing view from the top of Borobudur temple

Cecit then took me to Merapi volcano, where I learnt how a big eruption some time during the last decade led to many locals fleeing or dying. The tour up the volcano in a jeep was provided by a local resident, who showed me things like melted clocks and TV remotes in the nearby homes - evidence of the surprisingly massive devastation that a volcanic eruption causes. I also saw a bunker that had been built beforehand, but was unsuccessful in stopping people from perishing. This was very sad, I was genuinely shocked and felt terrible for the guy, who told me how he'd lost friends and relatives. I asked whether he intended to stay in the area and to my surprise he told me he was really happy and would never want to leave - I found it amazing that he was so content in spite of living in such a dangerous place.

The route where lava flowed from Merapi volcano

I'd also planned to see the Prembanan temple complex and did so, but again was disappointed due to the lack of information boards and my consequent inability to really get a full understanding of the place. Basically a number of separate temple buildings each containing at least one statue of a Hindu god. They're architecturally outstanding and I'd still recommend visiting here.  Finally, I watched sunset at Ratu Boko, another place that's difficult to understand the historical or cultural significance of unless you do your own independent research beforehand, which I had not and it was therefore quite lacking for me. But the sunset was nice.

Ratu Boko

MOUNT BROMO

Sandi then arranged for my transport to see Mount Bromo, which involved another nine hour train to Probolinggo, as well as a three hour taxi to Bromo. This was probably the highlight of my time in Indonesia, I was absolutely gobsmacked while I watched the sun come up and reveal both the volcanoes and the surrounding mist. A stunning view that simply cannot be fully appreciated from just a photograph - I was actually saying "wow" out loud to myself several times. Highly recommended.

BALI

I was taken on the long car journey to the harbour and crossed on a ferry into Bali, followed by another really long journey on a public coach down into Denpasar. This was the first and only time I felt any concern for my safety, as I happened to be left with a seat next to an intoxicated local who pestered me and was clearly trying intimidation tactics while asking me for money. I refused and he was ultimately kicked off the bus for being too drunk, much to my delight.  When I got to the hotel, a bit of Googling uncovered a driver called Yoki, who for between Rp500,000 and Rp700,000 (£25-£35) per day took me around lots of places I wanted to see in Bali.  He was an unusually happy person and just so happened to play guitar and love metal, so I showed him Architects and asked "do you like?" - to which he answered "I very very like".  The first place I visited was Garadu Wisnu Kencana cultural park, where a couple of absolutely megalithic statues can be found (I mean like, beyond massive), as well as regular shows in the theatre which consist of Indonesian music and dancing. 

Yoki then took me to Balangan beach, which I'd heard was one of the best beaches in Bali and I certainly enjoyed it because in one of the bars I met Mo, who was working there to support his family in Sulawesi and had an acoustic guitar in hand.  He explained that he'd only be learning to play for a year but his main instrument was percussion, I think it was a conga drum but quite embarassingly I don't actually know.  About 30 minutes later we had a half decent cover of Akon's "Lonely" down.  I never did see Mo again, which is a shame because we had a really good conversation about life, positive mentality and that kind of thing - I could tell he was quite spiritual and philosophical like me.

The day before all this I'd been eating fish on the beach and somehow felt it crack my tooth - I now realise this was perhaps a filling that came out, which at the time of writing this has still not been sorted, because when I did visit the dentist after going to Balangan he said he could not see a 'crack' as I had described and instead issued some medicine for healing gum ulcers. This did actually help numb the pain, but I do keep getting occasional pain in various teeth throughout my mouth, which leads me to thinking that it could be the cheap tobacco here causing damage (note: if you're a smoker from England, do not waste your time buying even the most expensive cigarattes here - they're only up to about £1 for sixteen, which seems like an incredible bargain until you discover that they taste like shit and cause a sore throat after just a few days of smoking them. The tobacco I'd eventually found in an old market in Jogja is definitely a lot better tasting in spite of still being super cheap at about £1 per 40g).

The next day - which was my birthday - I visited Tanah Lot. This isn't worth the trip, don't bother. It's a small temple that you can't really see, up on a hill that you can't really get to. Plus it's swarming with tourists like me who are presumably thinking something similar. Again, no notice boards to inform you of any historical, political or religious significance - I assume it does have a lot of this though. Beautiful views over the sea from up high, too. 

I'd say that the above paragraph is almost exactly true of Ulutwata temple as well, except that you can get right up to it, but then not enter.

Suluban beach/cave is quite incredible to wander through. There isn't much to do except swim and admire the rock formations, so I'm sitting on the fence as to whether or not this place is recommended, but it's some amazing scenery. My opinions are somewhat tainted by being a solo traveller, maybe this place is better if you've someone to share the experience with. Worth being aware there are a billion steps to reach it as well. Ultimately it was pretty cool going through a little cave on a beach - you can imagine it as the setting for a scene in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Monkey Forest at Ubud is worth a quick visit, smaller than expected but there are quite a lot of the little fella's just swinging about and you can watch them being fed. They come up so close to you. I sat down on a wall with my backpack on and I was surprised that, in this monkey's attempts to check my bag for food, she knew to open the bag using the zips (as opposed to, say, tearing it apart).

I think my two highlights in Bali were seeing the Twin Lakes up in the north, as well as Tukad Cepung waterfall. These both offer absolutely incredible views. Note that you should ideally wear sandles when visiting the waterfall as you need to walk through the shallow but rocky river to reach it; I did not have this information made privvy to me and didn't want to drench my walking boots, so the soles of my feet paid for it. I didn't mind much though, being barefooted added to the sense of adventure and I felt almost at one with nature as I walked through this stunning place.  (Further note: Bear Grylls got nothing on me.)

I did also visit Goa Gajah cave ("Elephant cave"), the temples at Lake Beratan, Besakih temple, as well as another temple complex of which I can't remember the name. Frankly, I was absolutely 'templewhelmed' - once you've seen some temples, you've very much seen some temples. They don't differ too much. This isn't a particularly inspiring realisation as I still have several more countries to visit in SE Asia each with plenty of temples that I've planned to see. The best here was probably Besakih, this is the "mother" Muslim temple throughout SE Asia, which I took to mean the biggest and it was made a lot better by having a personal tour guide to explain the history to me (the oldest temple in the complex dates to about 900AD). He also showed me how to do a Muslim prayer, which involved having rice painted on my forehead and inserting leaves behind my ears. He suggested I try and meditate - I have tried this several times in recent years but always struggle with it and once again failed here.

GILI ISLANDS

I crossed the harbour towards the Gili islands and first went to Gili Meno, the smallest of the three. This is the kind of place you picture in your mind when you imagine a tropical paradise island and I was blown away by the views, particularly standing on the south side of the island where you can see Gili Air to the left, Gili T to the right, and the hills over on Lombok in front, all from one periphiral to the other. 

The whole width of Gili Air can be seen from the east side of Gili Meno

I'm not confident around water. Having always suffered from manboob syndrome I don't remember a time when I wasn't body concious. Equally, my ability to tred water and thus swim in anything deeper than shoulder-height is non existent. As I began to realise that all of the activities on these islands involved going into the sea (snorkeling, for example), I was left only with the options of eating and drinking on land and I quickly became bored. I did walk around the perimeter of Meno, hence finding the incredible view from the south side, so that was well worth it and in fact I was taking it all in so much that this walk which should take one hour took me four. Plus actually I went out on one of the snorkelling trips and just stayed in the boat, which had a glass bottom and a few turtles passed by underneath. It was on this boat that I met Jane, a middle aged woman who was also from England and there by herself. She was one of those divorcees who're very eager to tell you multiple times that they're divorced, and how they're divorced, that they got a divorce, and that they used to be married.  I think she was looking for some kind of island toyboy because after this she kept on finding me in the bar and making idol smalltalk which I could not be bothered to engage in. I was too busy playing pool every five seconds and drinking endless white russians, cockcocted by the legends that are Andre and Pian in Kuta Kuta bar (also known as 'Tipsy Turtle') on the east of the island.

Anyway, I really did want to go into the water, but didn't want to take off my t-shirt and swim, so instead decided to wander in just a few paces where it was still super shallow, just covering my feet. A bold move by this newly bald man. They say fortune favours the brave, but I was flooded with misfortune when an unusually large wave hit the shore and went right up to my waist - drenching my shorts and my camera inside of them. Camera broken.

I got a boat transfer to Gili T which is supposed to be a party island and I'm sure it is if you go in a group, stay in a hostel and/or visit during the peak season, but none of these applied to me. I went with knackeredness and had carried that feeling of immense boredom from Meno across the sea. It wasn't alleviated, I really just sat in my room watching YouTube videos, feeling a bit down and stressy about the upcoming flight to Cambodia. Now into the fourth week of my traveling I began wondering if I'd bitten off more than I could chew, with another six countries still ahead of me. Plus, the high fat foods I'd been scoffing for weeks really weren't doing my mood nor physical appearance any good.


I got a boat back to Bali a couple of days before my flight, just to be sure I'd be back near the airport in time (note: ask three different people what time a boat is leaving and you'll get three different answers).  I think Indonesia is an incredible place, plus it's super cheap and the people are much friendler in general than people back home.  Quite a lot of this is written a little negatively, but it's largely meant either in jest or to highlight the honest reality of being an introverted solo traveler.  Best piece of advice - stop reading and go find out for yourself!

~ MM