"That'll be the day"
So after leaving Australia via the northern airport of Darwin I headed to Bali. I was going to be visiting 4 of the main islands that make up the Indonesian Archipelago (yes, i have been reading too much lonely planet to be using that word). The islands were Bali, Lombok, Java and Sumatra. As a quick information dump, Sumatra is the largest and in the North(about the size of France), Lombok the smallest and in the south with bali above lombok and java above Bali (but below Sumatra). Once again look at the map if that didn't quite scan. Sumatra is very sparsely populated while Bali is the tourism powerhouse of Indonesia. Java sits the in the middle of the two of them with most of the commercial money and the capital city Jakarta, while Lombok sits at the bottom looking pretty.
I spent the first day of my trip on the beach in Kuta which is the main tourist area of Bali. I hated it and really started to wonder what I was doing there. So much so that i left straight away onto the Gilli islands famed for their amazing snorkeling and diving. I spent a few days there in the amazing scenery before wondering again what I was doing there. Gilli islands were amazing and great fun but I had come to Indonesia for some experience, and the only experience I was getting there was how stupid I was to not use enough sun screen so I headed to Lombok.... for a day. My under preparedness for the whole trip left me with little sense of timing about how long each leg of my journey was going to take so I headed back to Bali where I visited Ubud the cultural centre of the island where everyman is an artist and all are trying to sell you something (which is the same as everywhere else on the islands, but ill go into that later). From there I went to the volcanoes in the north Gunung Batur, then back to Kuta for a day so I could get the overnight bus to Probolinggo on the island of Java. Here I went up another Volcano and then took a train to Yogyakarta which is the cultural/temple centre of the country. After spending some time there (and climbing another volcano) I went to Jakarta for a couple of days before flying to Padang in the west of Sumatra, visiting a town called Bukittingi and then getting an overnight bus to Danau Toba which is where I spent a few days before heading up to the Indonesian Jungle in Bukit Lawang. Here I shared some time with the wild Orangotangs before heading to the city sprawl that is Medan which is where I am now, and that my friends was the quickest I could sum up where I've been. After that I think it's time for a couple of fun facts.
*Fun Fact!: The Indonesian word for 'Water' is 'Air'*
*Fun Fact!: The computer wanted to auto correct Yogyakarta to Kayak*
"Streetlights, People woahhaaaa!"
A wise woman (Laura Hastings) once said, "make sure you speak to the locals, not just other tourists". This had been a problem in Australia, it has not been a problem however in Indonesia. The people of Indonesia are on the whole a good bunch, but its amazing how much they vary across the islands as you would expect I guess. The one thing that struck me when I first got to Kuta, and was one of the reasons I left straight away, was because I wasn't prepared for the lies and the amount of effort they will take to get money off you. After coming from Australia where you could talk to anyone at the hotel or in tourist information and they would help you out, this was a stark contrast. The hotels are reluctant to tell you about the public transport so you will instead book a tourist bus or taxi through them. Everyone gets commission, everyones out to take your money. It took a lot of getting used to, not taking what people said as red but the lies tended to wear a bit. As Ive headed north to the less touristy islands it has got easier and most people are trying to help you out rather than make money off of you. But they're are a great group of people apart from that. Alot ask where you're from and take it as an opportunity to talk to a westerner. Alot of kids and students come up to me and ask "what are you doing here?" Traveling around and seeing your country is always a very confusing answer for them, but anyone whos learning English will always talk to you. I lost my hat on this trip so far, along with many other things, so had to buy a new one. The guy gave me the standard "special price" but as long as I stayed and talked to him for while which was great. Its annoying how some people just see you as money, especially after they all saw the royal wedding, they think that's me, they think Ive got that money. It was genuinely hard work trying to explain to one guy that I can only stay here if I live like a local, something which I'm sure he didn't get. There are some who are wiser, such as Jambor. Jambor is a dude. We met him in Borobudur. He knew the difference between package and backpacker tourism and had a great conversation with him where we learnt about some of the problems the locals face. He offered us a ride in his side car. We went to negotiate a price but he said "whatever makes you happy, makes me happy".
*Fun Fact!: The Indonesian word for 'Hello' is 'Hello'*
"Not talkin' bout the Money Money Money"
So the money here is called the Rupiah and you get about 14100 to 1 pound, although now its down to about 13880. If theres one thing i have learned from this trip, its my 14 times table. There are many street kitchens which is where I buy most of my dinner, which I get for between 10-15000 Rp. Most of the time things are really cheap if you want them to be but i have to be really careful to avoid the tourist tax. As i said before, they're always after whats in your pocket. I took a 10 hour train ride half the distance of the island of Java and it cost me around 2pounds. Incidentally it was one of the best journeys Ive had, talking to lots of the locals on the train including Rachmat who is a doctor, who ill talk more about later. Rachmat gets a salary as an A&E doctor of 2,000,000Rp/month (4.70 pounds/day)
*Fun Fact!: On the 1000 Rp note is a picture of a man holding a machete!*
"I fell into a burning ring of fire"
One thing I hadn't anticipated would be such a big part of my trip is volcanoes and so far I've climbed/visited 3. Batur was in Bali, a great sunrise with eggs cooked from the heat of the mountain. Merappi was intense, it erupted in November 2010 and killed hundreds of people in the town on Kinerhjo. You could feel the destruction it had caused. But by far the best was Bromo. I was there on a rainy misty day and went with 2 people I met there. The landscape was hard to take in but Bromo was something else. Ive had 3 standout amazing experiences from this trip so far; Skydiving over the beach was one, this was the second . We climbed up the rain soaked ash to the rim of the crater which you could hear from about 2/3 km away. Looking over the edge into the roaring abyss below was just phenomenal. You could feel the power and the might of the earth below, ready to explode at any minute (luckily it didn't). It was just... amazing. Jordi and Olga who I was with had been travelling for 1 year and they said that it was even a highlight of their trip. Truly the definition of awesome
."Doctor Doctor, give me the news"
So one of the many benefits of being on the train and talking to Rachmat the doctor was that I could talk to him about many of the problems that Indonesia faces health wise. I was keen to ask him about malaria because I'm taking some drugs to prevent infection, but was it as bad as the NHS made it out to be? The answer was a clear yes. He treats people every day who are suffering from malaria, a lot are OK but some are not. A lot of travellers here don't take any medication seeing the long term effects of any drug outweighing the risk. I on the other hand am glad that I'm taking stuff. Smoking is a big problem here, everyone smokes and also laugh at you when you refuse their offering. You can smoke on buses and everywhere in public so its a bit like the old days back home, except for here people gob on the street which isn't great. Lets lighten up with another fun fact.
*Fun Fact!: Barak Obama lived in Jakarta for 4 years and speaks fluent Indonesian.*
"Its only Words, and words are all I have"
I remember talking to Jamie Munson before I left for my trip and him asking what language they spoke in Indonesia. I confessed that I didn't know and we decided in the end that I couldn't speak it anyway so it didn't really matter. Bahasa indonesian is actually a very simple language to learn and I think I've done quite well over the month. It uses the letters A-Z and feels very much like another European language. Infact it was introduced by the Dutch (Indo used to be a dutch colony) so is quite easy. Theres not really tenses in the same way that we have at home. The word for child is Anak, and the word for children is just Anak repeated twice. Similarly Jalan means road while repeating it means walking. I think in the process of learning the language ive discovered the best international language which im going to test out in every country. It has not failed to get a laugh yet. When they ask in English if I speak Indonesian, I reply "Tidak", meaning no. Genuinely this has got a laugh every time. No fun fact here I'm afraid, that was all fun.
"You've got to hold and give but do it at the right time"
If they don't speak English, and you don't speak Indonesian, there is one language that is international. That is the language of football. There is always something in common with most men similar age to me which strikes up common ground which is the premier league. Most of them recoil in awe when i try to explain that I used to live in Manchester and could see old Trafford from my university.
So ive explained 2 of my stand out experiences, skydiving and climbing mount Bromo, and this is my third.
I rocked up to the Monas in the capital city Jakarta around 4.45 hoping to get in before it shut at 5. The Monas is the national monument which is in the centre of the city standing proudly 137 metres above ground with a flame at the top symbolic of Indonesia's eternal struggle against repression and everlasting independence. Standing by the gate observing the view to take it in, one of the people who had shouted at me to tell me it was closed came over and started talking asking "do you play football". I answered with my usual " very badly" but that didn't matter. He was a security guard at the Monas, and they were playing a 5 a side game and were one short, would i like to join? Of course I would! So we went over to the concrete inside the perimeter fence to play. Pointing out that i only had flip flops the goalkeeper immediately removed his shoes and gave them to me. So there I was playing an hours worth of football in the Indonesian dusk under the national monument with some of the workers. One of them, Herrman was particularly awesome, passing me the ball all of the time and even had the grace to call me a good player. These lads were so cool and I had the best time, they even let me take the penalty (which i tucked away into the bottom left thank you very much). To put it in perspective its like the workers of Big Ben knocking off at 5, having a game of footy on the houses of Parliament lawn and then inviting you into play. We all got together for the obligatory team photo.
So good.
"That's me in the corner, That's me in the spotlight"
So Indonesia is a land of many religions. In Bali they're mainly Hindu but the majority of the islands are Islamic. So much so that in the north part of Sumatra (near to where I am now) they operate sharia law where adultery is punishable by public stoning. Its one of those countries that's gone through many generations of different religions. There are areas in the west of Sumatra where the missionaries came to and are still mainly christian. All of this leads to alot of mosques and temples. 2 of the best were in Java, the Hindu temples of Prambanan and the Buddhist temple of Borobudur. They were spectacular with Borobudur measuring up at 118m square. As far as mosques are concerned, the biggest one is the one in the capital Jakarta which can hold over 200,000 people during Ramadan. One thing that I'm not used to yet is the call to prayer. Every morning around 4/4.30 before sunrise the mosques let out this cry all across the country to wake up the followers for morning prayer. IT wakes everyone else up as well. I went to the effort of recording the one in Bogor, a town 2 hours south of Jakarta famed for its immense botanical gardens. Be warned you may need to adjust your volume.It should be noted that the din in the background is just the many other mosques.
*Fun Fact!: Although it is still a very poor country, it has the 18th highest GDP in the world of $593 Billion/year*
"Food glorious food"
The staple food here is rice (nasi) and especially fried. Every food outlet will offer you Nasi Goreng which is fried rice. Mie Goreng is fried noodle which is also eatern regulaly. One thing that I love about here is the fruit, tropical fruit like the pineapple is perfect and so so good. Most of the food ive been eating is the local food from the street kitchen. Every day around 4.30pm they set up tarpaulin roofs and temporary seating at the side of the road and cook up all sorts of good stuff using gas canisters. The cheapest ive eatern was a Nasi goreng (which often comes with an egg on top) for 50p. Truly the way to live cheaply in Indonesia. One man on the lake of Danau Toba also offered me some dog (which i turned down) which he cooks every Sunday for the locals. One dog to buy for food costs about 12.50GBP... I know this for a fact because I asked. Ive eatern only Indonesian food but i did have a western binge and indulge myself in a mc flurry yesterday which was really very good.
I cant believe you've made it this far! really well done, there's only a few more sub heading to go so, stick with it i promise.
On your marks, get set, GO!"
The transport here is really good, a Bemo is the method of choice int he city and is like the back of a small van with benches, usually the different colour bemos mean a different route, they cost maybe 20p for a journey around the city. Trains were cheap and really public buses were too.A 4 hour trip costing me 1.50GBP. One of the main environmental problems here is that like many Asian cities, everyone drives a motor bike, choking the city on its own exhaust, this is a great way to get about but really is a problem, though they cant see it. Ojeks and Bejaks take you around the city, ojeks being human powered bikes and bejaks the motorbikes.
*Fun Fact!: Petrol for 1L costs about 30pence.*
"The flower said I wish I was a tree"
The nature that they have here is awesome, but I get the feeling that they don't appreciate it as maybe they should. The Sumatran jungle is home to many animals including rhino, elephant and tigers. I was lucky enough to do a 2 day trek into the rain forest which truly lived up to its wet name, to see the orangutans. Its a vicious cycle, without the tourist money, they cant look after the land, but the impact of the tourists is helping destroy it. Morality aside for one moment it was awesome, I was trekking with some ace people which helped, but seeing the orangs in the wild was just awesome.
Do you know what Im going to leave it there, theres so much I could talk about, and go on on forever about the people Ive met, things Ive seen and some great experiences with only a few negative ones. I feel like ive given the people a bad name at the start of this post, but they are great. I think I might write something else in the next few days about Indonesia and post it as well. But this is a great country, like many other countries it has its many problems, both social and environmental, but its great. If I am fortunate enough int he future I would love to come back here and experience the islands of papua, flores and kalimantan. It would take you a while to get bored here.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this, its been a long time coming, I meant to write something every week and its ended up all being in one big mind dump. Now im off to Laos through Thailand, so ill be spending the next 3 days on trains to get up to chaing mai. I was going to get a flight but this is cheaper way of doing it, and hopefully I should see some of the thai countryside on the way through. So that's it, another update soon, maybe a special one in a couple of days but no promises.
Oh and well done if you got any of the following:
That'll be the day that I die - Buddy Holly
Don't stop believin' - Journey
Price Tag - Jessie J
Ring of fire - Johnny Cash
Bad case of loving you - Robert Palmer
Words - Boyzone
World in motion - New order feat. John Barnes
Losing my religion - REM
Food Glourious food - Oliver
Bycycle race - Queen
Tree Hugger - Kimya Dawson.
Selamat Tinggal
Mark
"You've got to hold and give but do it at the right time"
If they don't speak English, and you don't speak Indonesian, there is one language that is international. That is the language of football. There is always something in common with most men similar age to me which strikes up common ground which is the premier league. Most of them recoil in awe when i try to explain that I used to live in Manchester and could see old Trafford from my university.
So ive explained 2 of my stand out experiences, skydiving and climbing mount Bromo, and this is my third.
I rocked up to the Monas in the capital city Jakarta around 4.45 hoping to get in before it shut at 5. The Monas is the national monument which is in the centre of the city standing proudly 137 metres above ground with a flame at the top symbolic of Indonesia's eternal struggle against repression and everlasting independence. Standing by the gate observing the view to take it in, one of the people who had shouted at me to tell me it was closed came over and started talking asking "do you play football". I answered with my usual " very badly" but that didn't matter. He was a security guard at the Monas, and they were playing a 5 a side game and were one short, would i like to join? Of course I would! So we went over to the concrete inside the perimeter fence to play. Pointing out that i only had flip flops the goalkeeper immediately removed his shoes and gave them to me. So there I was playing an hours worth of football in the Indonesian dusk under the national monument with some of the workers. One of them, Herrman was particularly awesome, passing me the ball all of the time and even had the grace to call me a good player. These lads were so cool and I had the best time, they even let me take the penalty (which i tucked away into the bottom left thank you very much). To put it in perspective its like the workers of Big Ben knocking off at 5, having a game of footy on the houses of Parliament lawn and then inviting you into play. We all got together for the obligatory team photo.
So good.
"That's me in the corner, That's me in the spotlight"
So Indonesia is a land of many religions. In Bali they're mainly Hindu but the majority of the islands are Islamic. So much so that in the north part of Sumatra (near to where I am now) they operate sharia law where adultery is punishable by public stoning. Its one of those countries that's gone through many generations of different religions. There are areas in the west of Sumatra where the missionaries came to and are still mainly christian. All of this leads to alot of mosques and temples. 2 of the best were in Java, the Hindu temples of Prambanan and the Buddhist temple of Borobudur. They were spectacular with Borobudur measuring up at 118m square. As far as mosques are concerned, the biggest one is the one in the capital Jakarta which can hold over 200,000 people during Ramadan. One thing that I'm not used to yet is the call to prayer. Every morning around 4/4.30 before sunrise the mosques let out this cry all across the country to wake up the followers for morning prayer. IT wakes everyone else up as well. I went to the effort of recording the one in Bogor, a town 2 hours south of Jakarta famed for its immense botanical gardens. Be warned you may need to adjust your volume.It should be noted that the din in the background is just the many other mosques.
*Fun Fact!: Although it is still a very poor country, it has the 18th highest GDP in the world of $593 Billion/year*
"Food glorious food"
The staple food here is rice (nasi) and especially fried. Every food outlet will offer you Nasi Goreng which is fried rice. Mie Goreng is fried noodle which is also eatern regulaly. One thing that I love about here is the fruit, tropical fruit like the pineapple is perfect and so so good. Most of the food ive been eating is the local food from the street kitchen. Every day around 4.30pm they set up tarpaulin roofs and temporary seating at the side of the road and cook up all sorts of good stuff using gas canisters. The cheapest ive eatern was a Nasi goreng (which often comes with an egg on top) for 50p. Truly the way to live cheaply in Indonesia. One man on the lake of Danau Toba also offered me some dog (which i turned down) which he cooks every Sunday for the locals. One dog to buy for food costs about 12.50GBP... I know this for a fact because I asked. Ive eatern only Indonesian food but i did have a western binge and indulge myself in a mc flurry yesterday which was really very good.
I cant believe you've made it this far! really well done, there's only a few more sub heading to go so, stick with it i promise.
On your marks, get set, GO!"
The transport here is really good, a Bemo is the method of choice int he city and is like the back of a small van with benches, usually the different colour bemos mean a different route, they cost maybe 20p for a journey around the city. Trains were cheap and really public buses were too.A 4 hour trip costing me 1.50GBP. One of the main environmental problems here is that like many Asian cities, everyone drives a motor bike, choking the city on its own exhaust, this is a great way to get about but really is a problem, though they cant see it. Ojeks and Bejaks take you around the city, ojeks being human powered bikes and bejaks the motorbikes.
*Fun Fact!: Petrol for 1L costs about 30pence.*
"The flower said I wish I was a tree"
The nature that they have here is awesome, but I get the feeling that they don't appreciate it as maybe they should. The Sumatran jungle is home to many animals including rhino, elephant and tigers. I was lucky enough to do a 2 day trek into the rain forest which truly lived up to its wet name, to see the orangutans. Its a vicious cycle, without the tourist money, they cant look after the land, but the impact of the tourists is helping destroy it. Morality aside for one moment it was awesome, I was trekking with some ace people which helped, but seeing the orangs in the wild was just awesome.
Do you know what Im going to leave it there, theres so much I could talk about, and go on on forever about the people Ive met, things Ive seen and some great experiences with only a few negative ones. I feel like ive given the people a bad name at the start of this post, but they are great. I think I might write something else in the next few days about Indonesia and post it as well. But this is a great country, like many other countries it has its many problems, both social and environmental, but its great. If I am fortunate enough int he future I would love to come back here and experience the islands of papua, flores and kalimantan. It would take you a while to get bored here.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this, its been a long time coming, I meant to write something every week and its ended up all being in one big mind dump. Now im off to Laos through Thailand, so ill be spending the next 3 days on trains to get up to chaing mai. I was going to get a flight but this is cheaper way of doing it, and hopefully I should see some of the thai countryside on the way through. So that's it, another update soon, maybe a special one in a couple of days but no promises.
Oh and well done if you got any of the following:
That'll be the day that I die - Buddy Holly
Don't stop believin' - Journey
Price Tag - Jessie J
Ring of fire - Johnny Cash
Bad case of loving you - Robert Palmer
Words - Boyzone
World in motion - New order feat. John Barnes
Losing my religion - REM
Food Glourious food - Oliver
Bycycle race - Queen
Tree Hugger - Kimya Dawson.
Selamat Tinggal
Mark
