RTW Nomad - Part II

The overnight train from Yogyakarta to Jakarta was better than I expected. I was comfortable and since the seat next to me was empty I was able to sleep well most of the ride.

I arrived to Jakarta about three hours later than expected which was very dissapointing because it didn't give me enough time to take the three hour bus to see Krakatua. So I went to the backpacker' street which is pretty pathetic. It's small, full of bad hotels and restaurants. I got a prison cell (hotel room) for $10 that at least had a bathroom in the room but only with cold water. Compared to Bali and other places en Java the quality of food here sucks, the bars are sad, and the hotels are awful.

I tried to find a group tour to Krakatua the next days but found out that there are no group tours and I could do it for $250 for one day including a private car/driver to Carita Beach and a private Boat to the volcano. Well, Krakatua wasn't worth $250, so I decided to take the next two days to rest and read a book.

I should have toured Jakarta but I hate the capital cities of developing countries. I hate the traffic, pollution, chaos, people trying to scam travellers, and there's nothing that I wanted to see in Jakarta. So I moved to a nicer hotel this morning and rested and took some time to upload photos to the blog.

I am happy to leave this city tomorrow. My next stop will be a short visit to Brunei for a couple of days and from there I will be taking a ferry to Sabah (Malasyan Borneo)

The overnight shuttle ride from Bali to Probolingo was horrible. We were supposed to leave at 5:00 PM but didn’t leave until 7:00 PM. The seats were not cushioned and the AC wasn’t working, so after a ten hours drive in an excessively curved road and the driver passing every car that was in front of him, we were really tired when we arrived to Probolingo. We arrived at 4:00 AM and there was only one tour agency open to book our shuttle and hotel to Mt. Bromo which was our final destination. We were extremely tired and knew we were a little overcharged but we didn’t care. All we wanted was to take a warm shower and take a nap.

Mt. Bromo was one hour away from Probolingo. The drive was very nice going up mountains and through the farmlands. The hotel was simple but had amazing views of Mt. Bromo and good/cheap food. After resting in the morning we walked around through the villages and farmlands and relaxed since the next morning we had to wake up at 3:30 AM to be picked up by a Jeep to drive us to the lookout point to see the sunrise from Mt. Bromo and to a caldera where smoke was coming from.

From Mt. Bromo, we took another shuttle to Yogyakarta. This ride was even worse. It was supposed to be eight hours long but traffic was bad and we had two flat tires so the ride extended to twelve hours long. We arrived to Yogyakarta at 11:30 PM and got the first hotel we found. The next day we woke up early to change hotels and run some errands. In the afternoon we went to the Kraton (the old city) and saw the palace where the first sultans used to leave. We went to a lot of shops and got two Batik paintings and more masks.

Today, we woke up early again to visit Borobodur, a beautiful Buddhist temple from the 9th century and Prambanan, a Hindu temple.

Today, I feel sad because is the last day Bill and I spend together until I go back to US in 3-5 months. I am taking an overnight train to Jakarta and from Jakarta a bus to Carita Beach to see Krakatau. Bill is taking a flight to Bangkok where he will be for three days before going back to US.

Indonesia has been a beautiful country, my favorite things so far are the food, the welcoming people, the art and the volcanoes. The temples are nice but after seeing Angkor in Cambodia last year, nothing will exceed the beauty and magnitude of those temples. I wished I had more time in Indonesia and that I had more time to relax instead of waking up every day from 3:00 to 5:00 AM and taking overnight buses and trains but it’s the only way to see the major sights that Bali and Java have to offer.

It's Friday and Bill and I are taking a 10-hour overnight shuttle bus from Kuta (Bali) to Surabaya (Java) in two hours. We enjoyed Bali very much, the locals were very friendly and the food was very good and cheap (my lunch was 4 fish kabobs with chips and steamed vegetables for $1.50 and a shrimp/avocado cocktail for $.90)

Since we only had 6 days in Bali, we spent one day in Kuta which is very touristic but good for shopping. Three days in Ubud relaxing, trekking and doing cultural things like going to a cremation and going to art shops. The other two days we just hired a driver/guide to take us to the major sights in the island.

We also went to Monkey Forest, a place in the center of Ubud that has four groups of monkeys for a total of about 350. The forest is beautiful and it has some temples and it's easy to spend hours playing with the monkeys.

In Ubud, Bill went rafting and I got a $100 spa package for 4 hours that included a traditional Balinese massage, a facial, an avocado hair treatment, a papaya body scrub and a nice bath with rose petals and different oils, it was absolutely wonderful. We also went to Monkey Forest, a place with some temples and as you can probably guess lots of monkeys that can be fun but very tricky (there's 350 monkeys).

We also climbed Mt. Batur, the second highest mountain in Bali (about 1,700 meters). It was a short trek, only two hours but Bill and I quickly realized how out of shape we are. We started the climb at 4:00 AM and summited at 6:00 AM to see the sunrise. Mt. Batur is a volcano so we trekked around and saw the different calderas from different eruptions. It was a really beautiful place and it's a great warm up for Mt. Kinabalu which I hope to summit in two weeks.

Bill arrived to meet me in Kuta (Bali) on Sunday. We celebrate our trip to Bali and splurged going to a fancy dinner, we went to a Cuban restaurant (that had Aussie burgers, mexican dishes, pizza and pasta, Balinese food but no Cuban food... unless you count mojitos as food ) We ordered a $16 seafood platter for two that included grilled red snapper, mahimahi, yellow fin tuna, 8 jumbo shrimp and grilled vegetables with three dipping sauces, it was one of the best meals I have had during my travels around the world.

The food is amazing and really cheap, last night I had a great dessert, some minty strawberries with caramelized orange peels and some whipped cream... the best dessert I have had in a long time. Even a plate of pasta carbonara for $2 is really good. I am also enjoying natural juices, avocado/orange and papaya/pineapple/lime.

On Monday we hired a driver/guide with a car to take us sightseeing on the central part of the island, this was $25 per person including transportation, guide and entrance fees. We went to some Hindu temples: Besakih, the court of justice and the elephant cave. We also went to a Barong dance show, that tells a story about a war between good and bad spirits.

Today is Tuesday and we are in a small town called Ubud which is know as the cultural center of Bali. This is a great place to buy crafts (I love Balinese masks so I hope to find a couple that I like for a good price), clothing, paintings, etc. We are staying at a great place for only $15 a night including breakfast. It's a nice simple room with a balcony and a view of rice terraces. We have a pool, a restaurants and a large garden to walk around.

In the afternoon we were very lucky to see a Balinese cremation. Here a cremation is a festivity, everyone is invited and there's music, offerings and food. For Hindus, a cremation is an occasion for joy and not for mourning, the burning of the corpses represents liberation of the soul so that it can attain the higher worlds and be free for reincarnation into better beings.

We were at the cremation for about three hours. Basically, people from the village meet at a Hindu temple for a ceremony. As a non-Hindu I wasn't allowed in the temple so I waited outside. Outside there is a large throne that is going to be used to transport the body to the cremation site and a large bull made of wood and cloth that will serve as the funeral pyre. There is also a parade of people with offerings that include food, flowers and incenses.

To walk two blocks carrying the large bull takes about 1.5 hours as people spin this massive bull and throne. It takes about 30-40 men to transport the throne with the body and 30-40 more to transport the bull. Once both throne and bull arrive to the cremation site the body is put into the bull (funeral pyre) and is burned.

So after 25 hours of travel I finally arrived to Bali. I arrived to my hotel at 4 pm with enough energy to take a shower and go to sleep. After 12 hours of sleep, I woke up at 4 am to read a book and waited until 8:00 am for the hotel's restaurant to open and have breakfast.

I haven't really done anything yet but I love being here. I feel so free again. I love tropical places, the vegetation, the blue skies, tropical rains, cats roaming free, a fresh pineaple/papaya/banana juice with breakfast, the weather, not using blankets at night... everything is wonderful.... except for mosquitos.

I am staying in Kuta, the most touristic town of Bali (it's just like Waikiki in Oahu). It seems pretty fun but I am glad that I am going to be here only one day and then I will me moving to the central part of the island.

I love travelling, it's like if I was made for this. I adapt so easily and I love being on the road. I also love not thinking about errands, paperwork, work, grocery lists, bills, etc. It's wonderful.