Bromo and Borobudur, as promised:

We have been in Jakarta for about a day now, and I think we're both ready to leave! Other than the yummy homemade fries the little restaurant down the way makes and the cool music the guy at the internet cafe plays, we haven't really felt comfortable here and don't feel very bad about spending so little time getting to know the place!

We often support the Muslim countries that get a bad rap from certain governments, and Indonesia is no exception to the rule. The people here are beautiful and tolerant and they have a gorgeous country that everyone who gets a chance should visit. However, there are always some hardliners in the world who make beautiful places a little more scary than is necessary, and most of the hardliners in Indonesia seem to live in Jakarta. Not that we've had a hard time with anything; just the reaction some people have had to me (probably because I'm wearing shorts) has been a bit unsettling. I try to be sensitive to the culture, but there is no way I can wear jeans in Jakarta. It is so, so hot here! Side note* If every other woman in Jakarta was dressed so conservatively, I would be too, out of respect. But lots of women wear more revealing clothes than me!

As always, though, the vast majority of people are kind and smiling. None of our stuff (knock on wood) has been stolen, which we hear is the normal sort of annoyance here. But then, we heard that about Yogyakarta, too and had no problem. We heard that about Bali too, but they just scammed us there. No real harm done!

So this morning we went to the Tourist Information Centre to have them call and make sure our boat to Sumatra exists (apparently, sometimes they don't) and everything seems to be running smoothly. After that, we went to the National Museum. I must say, I wasn't too psyched about the idea. Someone told us to go to the museum in Yogyakarta, too, and all that was there were a bunch of dioramas documenting the communist takeover after WWII. Lonely Planet said this was a good museum, though, so we walked through the crazy traffic and got there just in time for a (*free*) English guide of the premises.

This is a great museum, with lots of artifacts, a knowledgable staff and really cool exhibits (like the entire room devoted to stuff found on shipwrecks). I also liked the exhibit of the different houses found over the archipelago. So interesting and creative! We spent a few hours at the museum and then went back downtown for lunch. After coming across some mean looking politicos who were very not happy to see me in my shorts and pink sunglasses, we changed direction and went to a "fast food" indian place for lunch. Yummy grub.

Then, because we are finally in a city with stuff that is slightly familiar to us, we went to the cinema and watched a terrible movie (they only had two choices and neither were great). Maybe the selection will be better in Kuala Lumpur; our next urban stopover. Stay tuned!


Bromo:



View from the horse I took back. I think he was as tired as I was, and I spared him the walk up the hill...



Bromo's belching, stinky gut (so much sulphur; my throat burned).









Borobudur:

Kickin' It in Djodja

Well, we've been in Yogyakarta (or as the locals call it, Djodjakarta) for about four days now and feel completely at home! People in the street back off when you say "no, thank you", everywhere you go people are smiling at you, we are staying at an extremely clean guesthouse for approximately five dollars a night, and we're meeting lots of cool fellow backpackers from around the world. We're quite sad to be leaving such a beautiful city full of such kind people. The locals tell us we won't find the same situation in Jakarta, where we are heading tomorrow.

When we first arrived in Djodja, we were extremely on guard and were wary of anyone trying to help us in any way... after all, that's how we kept getting screwed over in Bali! Looking back on our cool behaviour the night we arrived, I feel a little bit bad because the people in this city don't want your money. Indeed, Yogyakarta is a city renowned for it's intellectualism and rich cultural Batik heritage. Many people here have regular jobs, and almost everyone speaks English. When they see a foreigner walking down the street, they just want to meet you and find out where you're from and, most often, they want to know what we think of their city, which they are extremely proud of.

At the moment a presidential election is underway and you can feel the apprehension everywhere. People are afraid of what will happen on election day. Indonesia is still a very new democratic state and not everyone is convinced that a handover will happen smoothly and ethically. I love asking new Indonesian acquaintances which of the 36 political hopefuls they support and why. Everyone in Djodja reeeeeally loves their Sultan, and who he supports, they tend to support. They know he has their best interests in mind. It's so interesting.

When a language barrier comes into play, mere hand gestures and big smiles really make a difference. The other day we were walking down a side street after buying some batik art at an art school. As we passed by a man wearing a tee shirt bearing the slogan of the most popular political party, we heard him say something that sounded like "snake". We stopped and gave him a quizzical look and once again he said, "snake" and pointed to a bucket in the road. Sure enough, inside the bucket was a medium sized python. I was like, woah.

"Can I touch it?", I motioned.

He nodded his head.

"Biting?", I motioned.

He shook his head and smiled.

So I patted the python on the head and took a picture. Then I pointed to the political slogan on his shirt and, because this particular party cares more for the poor, gave him the thumbs up sign. Then he said, "Wait, big snake". Then he proceeded to take this HUGE python from a box and, without a word, put it around my neck. Then, of course, Pat had a turn as well, and they kept showing us the different coloured pythons they had lying around. They didn't want anything from us, they simply wanted to see our expressions when they brought out the snakes- they had a great time showing them off! I should mention that, in Java, they enjoy a nice python curry every now and then. However, after my experience with such a beautiful reptile I would never consider trying the delicacy. I've always liked snakes.

When we were looking for the art school in the first place, a kind soul at the Djodja museum told us the general direction in which to go. He said, "Don't worry, if you get lost, just ask anyone to help you and they will. We like to help foreigners here".

Well, we made it as far as his directions led and, taking his advice, asked the first guy we saw on the street to help us.

"Of course! Please come with me. I am just going home and my house is right next to the art centre".

On the way to the art centre, our new friend informed us (rather excitedly) that he was, in fact, on his way back from the hospital as his wife had just given birth to his first child, a son. He was beaming as we congratulated him profusely. He told us about how they chose names for a new baby in Java. All members of the family write down a name they like and put it in a hat, then, as our friend said "It is fair" when they pick the names.

He asked me if I would like to contribute a name for his baby and I was slightly taken aback- what an honour! He had known me for a whole five minutes and he genuinely wanted me to pick a name for his child. I said, "OK, I pick Ian. That is my father's name". I told him how to spell it, and we arrived at the art centre, and he went off on his way to tell his family the great news. So there ya go, Dad. There may be a little boy in Java named after you.

We went to the great Buddhist temple, Borobudur, today. It is the largest remnant of what was once a major religion in Indonesia, during the times of trade with the Chinese empire. It was extremely beautiful. I think Patrick's and my favourite thing about temples is not so much the construction, even though all temples are beautifully and painstakingly well done and we certainly appreciate their aesthetic beauty, but the fact that every temple we see is set in some of the most beautiful scenery one could lay their eyes on. This was no exception, with great smoking volcanoes looming in the background and mist shrouded palm forests in the foreground. The next post will only be pictures from Gunung Bromo and Borobudur. Until then, much love! Off to Jakarta tomorrow!




Typical Indonesian restaurant; you pick what you want and pay as you go. Usually, the food is cooked in the morning and sits around all day. I haven't tried it yet (I hear it is safer in Sumatra).



Pat and the python.


My initial reaction to the snakey. You could feel his very powerful muscles- I wouldn't want to be caught in a squeeze with one of these guys!



The first python that was pointed out to us. Small guy!



Those red flags are all in support of the political party that supposedly cares more for the poor. The leader is a woman, so obvs I'm down with this one winning, too!


Batik print everywhere! I got a cute little dress for less than four bucks.


The main market area on Malioboro Street.


Lots of food stalls with yummy smelling (and, if they're selling durian fruit, not so yummy smelling) food.



The main mode of public transport.


Lots of food, as is with every market!

Gunung Bromo, or "Where The Bleep are the Bleeping Steps"

I won't lie to you: we have had an interesting past few days.

It all began as we said goodbye to Bali and entered the most heavily populated island in the world- Java, baby! On Friday night we took the 6 PM bus (which arrived promptly at 7:15) from Lovina, in northern Bali- our destination being Probolinggo, which is the main place to catch a ride to where we really wanted to go- Gunung Bromo.

Bromo is a rather small, highly active volcano in East Java. Our plan was to begin our ascent around 4 AM to catch the supposed amazing sunrise over the barren, moon like plains surrounding the volcano. Also, climbing an active volcano sounded cool.

So off we went on our very long bus journey through Bali and into Java. Our bus took it's time getting through Bali, stopping every so often to pick up a new passenger, or to pick up a package, and once we even stopped so the driver could get out and get blessed at a small Hindu temple while the passengers watched and waited... patiently. "No worries, this is Bali time", as we had been told numerous times throughout the week.

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Gilimanuk at around 10 PM where we waited some more, this time for the ferry to arrive. We were, however, the first in line and got on the boat within 20 minutes. As the ferry was filled to capacity I looked around, wondering how many buses the boat was truly meant to hold. I guess it could hold as much as was necessary. I was a bit worried about our situation, but I held my breath and we made a smooth crossing in about half an hour. Welcome to Java!

Suddenly we were not on Bali time anymore, and the driver revved the engine and plowed through the (twisting and turning) roads of Java. He drove like an absolute maniac, and I was extremely fearful for my life. Apparently, though, looking around at my fellow passengers and even looking at Patrick resting peacefully, I was the only afraid person on the bus.

We stopped somewhere around midnight and Pat and I gathered our things, thinking this was Probolinggo, but a nice young lady informed us that this was just a pitstop to eat. We paid a bit more for this bus and what we got was: a reclining seat (including reclining foot rest), air conditioning and our dinner. I guess this was dinner. Pat got out to eat, but it was around midnight at this time and I wanted to try and sleep before attempting to climb Bromo so I stayed in the bus.

After another two hours of crazy driving, we finally arrived in Probolinggo. Can you say sketchy? It was the middle of the night and instead of dropping us at the bus station, they dropped us outside a travel agency so they could get our business. We were angry. We were pretty tired of Balinese people always omitting certain information so that we would give them more money than was really necessary, and this was our breaking point. The man at the agency said that it was too late at night for us to get a local bus to Bromo and we would have to pay for a chartered van or simply stay the night in Probolinggo. We never planned on staying an extra night; we just wanted to climb Bromo and leave, so we had no choice but to pay extra for a charter.

After an extremely sketchy experience with our first driver, who drove about 100 meters, stopped, left the van running and simply left us without saying anything, we got another (sober) driver to take us to Bromo. It took about an hour of going through winding mountain roads to get there, and when we did, it was actually cold outside! A nice surprise.

We found a nice guy to keep our bags safe at a hotel close to the Bromo starting point, and we set off at about 3:30 AM, thinking we were veery ahead of the game and would be waiting for the sun to rise on top of the volcano. In true Indonesian fashion, every single person there wanted to be our tour guide. We could see what we thought was Bromo in the distance and saw no need for a guide, so we politely refused everyone. We put on some jeans and a local pointed down an extremely sketchy hill and told us that was the way to Bromo. He was lying, as we found out later, walking back on a lovely paved road. But at the time, in the darkness, we had to take his word for it, so we set off down to steep and slippery slope ( in my birkenstocks, no less) and wondered if we would ever be on a decent path.

Eventually we made it down the hill and all around us was what looked like the surface of the moon- black sand, a random boulder here and there, and in the not too far away distance loomed (what we though was) Bromo, a large cone shaped mountain. We made our way across the plain in the darkness, more certain than ever that we were on the right track and still had plenty of time. Nothing could possibly go wrong- I mean, Bromo is right in front of us! There is nothing in our way! We were excited to be in such an eerily quiet, dark place with nobody badgering us.

When we got to the mountain, we thought the stairs would be easily accessed and were surprised to see... no stairs at all. Hmm. Did anyone tell us where the stairs were? No. The only thing we knew from Lonely Planet was to follow the white stone markers... which were nowhere to be seen. We knew we were in the right place. So where were the effing stairs?! Pat dragged me all along the mountain as I got crankier and crankier. There was no way the stairs, if they even existed, would be so inaccessible. Finally I told him I wasn't going any further. I hadn't eaten since 3 PM the previous afternoon and I had gotten no sleep on the bus. I was going to sit in the mud and wait for the sun to rise.

Suddenly we heard voices. We listened carefully. Were they speaking.... English? Yes! Other trekkers! They must know where we are; they can help us! As they got closer I shouted a greeting. It turned out to be two American girls who were just as lost as we were. No hope. Finally, we decided to walk back to where we started. The sun began to light up the night sky. At last we could see where we were going. That's when the realization hit us.

"There is supposed to be a small Hindu temple in front of the volcano", Pat said.

"Oh, we saw that on our way!", one of the girls said.

Then we saw the volcano. It wasn't the mountain we had been walking around for hours, it was behind the mountain we had been walking around for hours. I felt like crying. It was completely invisible in the night sky and we couldn't even see the mass amount of smoke coming from it's core. And, of course, in plain sight, there were the stairs.

So we sorta missed the sunrise, but in the early morning light the whole landscape was extremely beautiful. We went on to climb the volcano, and then we had a nice breakfast with our new American friends, who just so happened to be going in the same direction as us, so we all went back to Probolinggo together where we got "ekonomi" train tickets (about 50 cents a ticket) to the main hub of Surabaya (second largest city on Java next to Jakarta).

This was the scariest and most fun train ride of my life. The train was about to fall apart and it really sped to Surabaya. On the other hand, we were the main attraction on the train. Everyone practised their English with us and laughed hysterically at Patrick when he bumped his head on the ceiling. An elderly man invited Pat and I to his home the next time we were in his area. He said he would cook me a proper dinner. A woman got some tempeh (Indonesian fried tofu) and smiled with delight as she gave it to us to eat. She was even more delighted when we ate the whole thing. A man with his young son stared with interest at my mp3 player, and a man from Sumatra had a listen on Pat's Ipod. The Javanese people have been nothing short of wonderful to us ever since we left Probolinggo. They are beautiful, giving and hospitable. This is true Islamic behaviour; it is nothing like the information you get from travel warnings. I love Java!

When we arrived in Surabaya we bought some "bisnis" class tickets to Yogyakarta, which would be our home for the next few days. Bisnis class means a guaranteed seat, less people, and ceiling fans (1.60 a ticket). It is not in the least bit fancy, but it was very nice to have a seat for the five hour journey to Yogya. We arrived around 10 PM, tired and dusty, and found a place to rest our heads. Our days here are filled with encounters with extremely honest and kind souls. My faith in Indonesian people has been restored.

Dolphin Watching in Lovina

In light of my last post, I would like to say that I went to the doctor today and he gave me some xanax. Which has been nothing short of wonderful. Actually, I was worried to go to the doctor here because everyone's always going on about the "level of healthcare", yadda yadda yadda. The doctor was almost exactly the same as my doctor back home. He did a physical test and then confessed to me that even he suffers from hypochondria. Apparently, when he is alone with his thoughts, he is obsessed that something is wrong with his heart and compulsively checks his pulse. It's kinda funny that I had to come all the way across the world, to a third world country, to find a doctor who understands me. Interesting!

Anyway, this morning (after spending a *free* night at a guesthouse because we used their transport since arriving in Bali) at 6 AM, we stumbled out of our little room to go to the beach and meet a man who said he would take us dolphin watching for a few hours. When we arrived we met our sole boatmate, a Swiss girl named Sandra, which also happened to be the name of our boat. Again, interesting, no?

The guy took us out in Lovina Bay and immediately we could see that we were not the only tourists up early to catch a glimpse of the little rascals. There must have been twenty dolphin watching boats in the harbour, so our guy told us to wait patiently and we would soon have the place to ourselves. We watched with interest as he led a long string with a bell attached to the end of it into the water. I thought maybe it was a way to call the dolphins... yes, I'm lame. Actually, it was a fishing line, and it had about 30 or 40 hooks attached to it. We cruised around in the boat for maybe five minutes, and he stopped and excitedly pulled his line in, one hook at a time. He got a pretty good catch- all herring!

When more of the boats cleared out and headed for home, he took us out a little further into the harbour. Not five minutes later we saw the first of the dolphins! They were all jumping and doing crazy flips and having a great time! I would have been pleased with this alone, but by the end of the hour our boat was literally surrounded by an enormous amount of dolphins. It was a beautiful morning!

After dolphin watching, things got a little strange. He took us to a beautiful place in the water where it was clear all the way down to the bottom with hundreds of beautiful, colourful fish and said we could snorkel if we wanted. Pat and I didn't know that snorkeling was included in the deal, but Sandra seemed to be in the know, and she was a little confused that we didn't know anything about it. Oh well, if he is offering snorkeling, no problem. It was a beautiful spot so we jumped in the water (it was sooo warm) and even fed the fish little pieces of bread. They were totally unafraid of us and the entire time they would brush past my arm or leg and freak me out a bit.

After the snorkeling, he took us home and told us we owed him 10 bucks for snorkeling. Um... I don't think so! We got angry at him and told him he tricked us. Which he did. By the end of the day, he was still trying to get us back in his boat. We ignored him. Way to ruin a perfect morning, buddy.




They look so pretty in the early morning light!



Show off.



They were surrounding us.


Beautiful Lovina as seen from the harbour.



Where we went snorkeling.

In Lovina... Goodbye Ubud!

Well, I guess for everyone, traveling has it's ups and it's downs, and it's been a bad couple of days for me. I am still reveling in the lush beauty that is Bali, but at the moment it is difficult for me to think about anything but home, and how, at home, I don't have to worry about getting sick from fruit or mosquitoes.

Yes, readers, I am a self professed (not to mention clinical!) hypochondriac. I have always had OCD, but never really worried about my health until I moved to Korea. About a year ago, around Christmastime, I had a sudden panic attack about my situation. What if I get in an accident before I can go home and see my family again? What if I have some hidden cancer or neurological disease lying dormant just waiting to rear it's ugly head? What if I have to go through all kinds of horrible medical procedures while away from home? What if I never make it home?

It became an obsession, first taking the form of ALS, and when I didn't feel so twitchy (also, after seeing the movie PS: I Love You) I became thoroughly convinced that I had a brain tumour. Indeed, I would get a headache every day after seeing the movie and I was actually certain that I had one, and that every Korean doctor I would see was having trouble with the language barrier. That was not a good time for me, and I'm not even sure how I managed to get through it without chickening out and going home. I guess it helped that I met Patrick and suddenly wasn't alone anymore. Yoga also helped. But it never really goes away. I'm always worrying about some part of my body.

Sooo, travelling with this affliction (let's call it an affliction) isn't the easiest thing in the world. Especially in Southeast Asia, where, it seems, illness is just waiting for you to come visit. The last few days have been very difficult for me and it's all Patrick can do to try and talk some sense into me. All I want to do is see a doctor every day. Also, I simply want to cut and run home when the anxiety is bad. But then I think about all the planning and excitement that I've put into this trip and how I need to follow through with it and that keeps me somewhat afloat. I just hate having to deal with all this anxiety, and even if I got reassurance from a doctor every day, it still would not make the anxiety go away. And, indeed, simply beng anxious all the time makes me 100 times more sick than I would be without anxiety. Headaches, nausea, trembling- everything is associated with anxiety. Which also kind of sucks, because what if, for once, it isn't simply anxiety? There's never any way to tell, and the uncertainty of my situation makes me all the more worried.

Sorry, no happy stories today- although we had a great time at our cooking class yesterday and I will certainly post pictures soon. Don't worry, I just needed to vent. More tomorrow :) xo

Me Against the Monkeys

We left the Gilis veeery early yesterday morning and it was a beautiful day to travel! First we got a rickety boat to take us to Lombok, then we caught a bus which took us over winding (and slightly terrifying) coastal mountain roads to the resort town of Senggigi. Just off the beach in Senggigi was our lovely boat, just waiting to feed us breakfast and get us safely back to Bali.

So our plan has been to start in Ubud, where the main cultural attractions are, and then head north to the laid back beach villages of Lovina... also well known for their volcanic black sand beaches. We will head to Lovina on Wednesday morning, and for now we are living up the Balinese cultural life in Ubud.

When we arrived in Ubud yesterday afternoon, a kind man asked if we would like to stay at "his" guesthouse while in Ubud. The price was right, so we agreed. He said he would take us there, one by one, on the back of his motorbike. Well... ok. I told Pat I would go first and wait for him at the guesthouse. The guy took me to a guesthouse, found out they were full, put me back on his bike, took me to another guesthouse, found out they were full, at which point I was angry and told him to take me back to Patrick. OK, he said, but on the way back, he stopped by another guesthouse, which was not full... which, in fact, was beautiful. Which, from the outside, looks more like a Hindu temple than a guesthouse. My anger slowly subsided. Pat and I got a beautiful, big room in the garden for roughly 8 bucks a night, and we are served banana pancakes every morning on our veranda. Thanks, motorbike guy.

So, this morning we made our way to the Sacred Monkey Forest, which is about a five minute walk from our guesthouse. These "Sacred Monkeys" are Balinese Macaques and they flourish in the forest to the south of the town. There are Balinese caretakers who are always watching out for the monkeys and they are really great. The monkeys themselves are little kleptomanics. At first I thought they were cute, but by the end of our walk I was ready to strangle them. They left Patrick completely alone, but for some reason, my hair, glasses and handbag were a huge attraction to them! Not to mention I bought a bunch of bananas to feed them, but the little buggers attacked me and stole the whole bunch. Jerks.

Actually, I had a great time. They were really cute and the way they playfully attacked me was pretty funny to everyone in the vicinity... including me, of course! Here are some pictures of the little criminals.




It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times...


Pat! They're after my bananas! (I didn't actually think they would climb up my body and take the bananas by force...)



I thought this monkey wanted to be my friend, but he just wanted my glasses.


Trying to get the bananas back. A lost cause.


Get offa me.


Oh God. There are too many!


After catching wind of his sinister plan to take my glasses.



Yeah, no problem. I'll cart you around.

Snorkeling from a Glass Bottom Boat! Lovely.

On the way back to Gili Trawangan


Lunch stop on Gili Air


O Hai.


Who's that gorgeous girl? She looks like a mermaid.



Now that I have my boyfriend back from the Scuba Divers, we were able to enjoy some lovely snorkeling time around the three Gili Islands today- something I had been wanting to do all week, but didn't want to do it without Pat. Why? Easy: because I am afraid of deep water. It just creeps me out.

However, even before coming here I had heard about the opportunities to swim with the sea turtles and I was damn certain that I would get some ample sea turtle time during our week long stay (yes, it's sad, we are leaving the Gilis tomorrow and going to Bali for a week).

So yesterday I asked our wonderful innkeeper, Tommy (note* yesterday I asked him his Balinese name and it was several words long with complicated syllables, so we will stick with Tommy), who is 28 but looks about 14, who has a girlfriend in Sulawesi, who calls him an astonishing amount of times a day, often yelling at him to call her more often, and they have been together for a year but they only saw each other for four days while he was visiting his uncle in Sulawesi... am I off track here? Oh yes.

So I asked Tommy to recommend a good boat to take us out snorkeling for the day and boy, did he deliver. We woke up the morning, ate our banana pancakes with coconut syrup (yum), and Tommy took us to a group of local men and gave us our ticket (a day long trip for about 7 bucks). We thought we would be the only people to show up, but several more people came before we left... all Austrians!

First they took us to a spot on Gili Trawangan, which was terrifying for me as the water was quite deep and I knew there were sharks ("harmless") around somewhere. Once I got into the groove, though, it was quite peaceful and not at all scary! I saw some nice fish, but my vision was impaired due to the fact that I couldn't have my glasses on and snorkel at the same time.

Next, we went to "Turtle Point", which was even deeper than the first place! Gah. The guide took us out to where the turtles were known to hang out and "we" saw two of them. I mean, I saw two blobs that I was told were turtles. Sigh. This was on the next island, Gili Meno. Less touristy and quite a nice island!

Finally, we hit my favourite spot of all! We went to the last island, and the closest Gili to Lombok, Gili Air. The water was so clear and beautiful, I could see right to the bottom, and it was teeming with beautiful, tropical fish. To hell with the sea turtles! I jumped right in and could have stayed there all day, just watching the fish dance around. They were so cool! It was great.

Our guides dropped us off on Gili Air where I had some Indonesian fried rice (nasi goreng) and we hung out in a bamboo hut until it was time to go home. Lovely day. Now, we are going to have those delicious fish n chips one last time before we leave bright and early tomorrow... I'm so sad to leave this gorgeous place, but I'm sure Bali will be exciting. Stay tuned!