From Java Script to Java, Indonesia

This was the real moment when my adventure really began, Kuala Lumpur was the warm up, the breaking me in gently, this is the moment when I added a new country to my portfolio and get a new visa in my passport.

I flew into Indonesia into Yogyakarta on Java Island.  I had thought about Jakarta but was put off by not great reports of the place I'd read online.  Yogyakarta is home (or near home) of one of the great temples of Asia, the Borobudur Temple. 

When I arrived many taxi drivers were trying to win business from me and take me on the short journey into town.  A local I'd been speaking with had told me where the public bus left from and obviously a cheaper option.  Around an hour and half later and 18p lighter in the pocket I arrived at my chosen destination (8 miles from the airport).  All the locals on the bus were very friendly and found it a novelty that a westerner had decided to take this route into town.

My £13 a night hotel was great, a bargain in fact.  My £1 Nasi Goreng (fried rice with chicken prawns, vegetables and anything else left over in the fridge with a fried egg on top) meal was great too, as was the £1.70 for an oversized (650ml) bottle of beer.  I instantly thought that me and Indonesia were going to get along fine.

The following day I had a look around town, it is just my luck that some sort of political demonstration was going on.  Basically it was hundreds of youths revving motorbikes, menacingly wearing bandanas over their faces and carrying huge flags with either swords or guns on them, others were wielding black painted batons.  It really was quite intimidating.  I only dared take a picture once the main mob had passed and it was the kids at the rear.

Trust me it was more menacing than it looks here

I had a quick jaunt into the Sultans Palace which was about correctly priced at 61p (66p if you wanted to take photos) and a couple of markets.  I booked myself on a tour to Borobudur Temple for the next morning, somehow they managed to persuade me that it is best at sunrise and was therefore a 03:45 start.  As you would expect with such an early start I got myself an early night, wrong! I got chatting in a bar and one beer led to another and before I knew it, it was late.

The sunrise over the temple was imaginatively sold to me as I could hardly see either the sun or the temple as the photo below shows.



First sighting of the sunrise, the temple is on the hill in the middle of the picture

Inside the temple it was great and got better and better the higher up you climbed.  A load of school kids spoilt it a little as they were running around and making noise.  One of the kids politely asked for a selfie with me which I obliged, seconds later they all wanted one!


Borobudur Temple

The next day another early start this time for a train to Surabuya (5+ hours).  Little of note goes down in Surabuya but it was memorable by seriously challenging Columbo, Mumbai and Cape Town as the hottest place I've ever been.  A brief 'dry' overnight stop and it was back on the on the train to Banyuwangi (6.5 hours).

The house I was staying at here was well cheap, in fact I got overcharged but didn't complain at the £6.06 per night especially as they picked me up from the train station and dropped me off at the ferry port.

The main reason to stay in Banyuwangi was to go up the Ijen Crater (an 'active' volcano that had a minor eruption a few days earlier).  This was another 'do before daylight' attraction, this time a 02:00 start.  The hike up the volcano was tough especially as my group were all 20 something's and believed in been the fastest up to the top.  I just about kept up, puffing and panting.  We then scrambled down inside the volcano still just by torchlight. 

As we approached the bottom of the crater, sulphur was spewing out and we needed to put on gas masks.  The volcano produces a blue flame (one of only two in the world - the other been in Iceland) which we just got to see before daylight made it invisible.  Once it became light it was fairly impressive (if not a little dangerous) where we had come from, to be honest I don't think I would have done it if I could see where I was going!



Gas mask selfie



Ijen Crater back from the top

That was my time on Java, next stop Bali, after 3 successive dry days I was ready for a beer and meeting up and watching cricket in a bar with a couple of  Barmy Army legends I wasn't to be disappointed....