After an easy flight, we made it from Sumatra to the island of Java. We landed in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta just after one in the morning. Our original plan was to wait in the airport until five o'clock (which we were previously assured that we could), when the ticket booths were to open, and then move on from there. However, our plans were shattered at about two o'clock, when we were informed by security that the airport was in fact closing. We were more than welcome to wait outside, but with Jakarta being one of the scarier cities in the entire world, we decided it best to go to a hotel for the night. As soon as we stepped out, taxi drivers were on us like flies to butter. The first man who tried to take us brought us away from the taxi stands and out toward the parking lot (we have heard of many people getting mugged by taxi drivers in Jakarta) so as soon as we saw this we turned back the other way. We went to a “metered” taxi, and got grossly overcharged, but at three o'clock in the morning, a polite mugging is always better than an aggressive one.
We arrived at the hotel at three, only to find that there were no more rooms available, but we were welcome to wait in the lobby for a few hours. We ordered some tea and food to pass the time and to stay awake, but as soon as it arrived, they miraculously had an available room. It was now almost three-thirty, and the only catch was that we had to be out of the room by 8am, as they had guests arriving there (but we still had to pay the full price for less than 5 hours!)
When eight o'clock arrived (and it arrived much too quickly) we were up and on our way to the train station (we didn't want to spend one minute longer in Jakarta than we had to). We caught the express train (which somehow still was cockroach infested) and were on our way to Yogjakarta. After a nine hour train ride (in which we saw a great deal of Java) we arrived in Yogjakarta. We quickly found a place to put our bags, and got things sorted out for our time in the city.
At five o'clock the next morning, we were being ushered out of our hotel and into a minibus, where we, along with another couple (from Holland), were heading out to see one of the ancient wonders of the world. We arrived at the ancient temple of Borobudur and were amazed at what we saw. A huge multi-tiered ancient temple stood before us. It was quite a sight to see, and we spent a good two hours wandering around the area and listening to our guide tell us about it. It was quite amazing to see!! Although we were at this ancient wonder, it was amusing to see all of the people come up to us and ask to get a picture with us. Here we were at one of the wonders of the ancient world, and people wanted to take our picture! Crazy!
From Borobudur, we made our way to the ruins of Prambanan. These ruins (similar to, yet we hear less impressive than, those at Angkor Wat) were a spectacular sight to see. Although an earthquake roared it's way through Yogja last year (on Jono's birthday no less) they still left quite an impression on us.
In the afternoon, we made our way to the “Kraton”, which is the the Sultan's current Palace. When we arrived there, we were saddened to learn that the palace was closed to the public for the day, so we couldn't get inside. The bright side, however, was that the old palace was open to the public. We wandered around the sights and found our way to the sultan's bedroom (i.e. “Pleasure Chamber”), to his private bathing pool, his mosque, as well as into several tunnels (one of which stretched 27 kilometers underground to the ocean).
The next day we bade Yogja farewell and once again boarded a minibus to another of Java's highlights, the mighty Mount Bromo. This was referred to as Java's “Bad Boy” which was a series of several volcanoes rising out of an arid plateau. After a nine hour drive and a few hours sleep, we dragged our weary sorry excuses for bodies up at 3:30am and loaded into the jeep to catch the sunrise over Mount Bromo. Despite the unearthly hour, we had our breath once again taken away by the beautiful sunrise as well as the continuous plumes of smoke that erupted from the two main volcanoes. It was truly amazing! Once we had absorbed the sunrise and were feeling the blood rushing back through our veins (who thought Indonesia could be so darn cold!) we were taken to the base of the volcano and we began our ascent. We climbed the several hundred eroding stairs and stood literally at the edge of the crater where there was a constant plume of white smoke curling it's way up from a crack in the earth. On our way down, we gave in to the constant nagging of the locals trying to earn their living and we rented (for Amanda) a four legged transport down the mountain. We took one last look at the mighty Mount Bromo, loaded ourselves back into the jeep and prepared ourselves for the 10 hour trip toward the edge of the island of Java. A whirlwind of adventure with little time for sleep, the island of Java was a worthwhile stop on our Indonesian itinerary.
After an easy flight, we made it from Sumatra to the island of Java. We landed in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta just after one in the morning. Our original plan was to wait in the airport until five o'clock (which we were previously assured that we could), when the ticket booths were to open, and then move on from there. However, our plans were shattered at about two o'clock, when we were informed by security that the airport was in fact closing. We were more than welcome to wait outside, but with Jakarta being one of the scarier cities in the entire world, we decided it best to go to a hotel for the night. As soon as we stepped out, taxi drivers were on us like flies to butter. The first man who tried to take us brought us away from the taxi stands and out toward the parking lot (we have heard of many people getting mugged by taxi drivers in Jakarta) so as soon as we saw this we turned back the other way. We went to a “metered” taxi, and got grossly overcharged, but at three o'clock in the morning, a polite mugging is always better than an aggressive one.
We arrived at the hotel at three, only to find that there were no more rooms available, but we were welcome to wait in the lobby for a few hours. We ordered some tea and food to pass the time and to stay awake, but as soon as it arrived, they miraculously had an available room. It was now almost three-thirty, and the only catch was that we had to be out of the room by 8am, as they had guests arriving there (but we still had to pay the full price for less than 5 hours!)
When eight o'clock arrived (and it arrived much too quickly) we were up and on our way to the train station (we didn't want to spend one minute longer in Jakarta than we had to). We caught the express train (which somehow still was cockroach infested) and were on our way to Yogjakarta. After a nine hour train ride (in which we saw a great deal of Java) we arrived in Yogjakarta. We quickly found a place to put our bags, and got things sorted out for our time in the city.
At five o'clock the next morning, we were being ushered out of our hotel and into a minibus, where we, along with another couple (from Holland), were heading out to see one of the ancient wonders of the world. We arrived at the ancient temple of Borobudur and were amazed at what we saw. A huge multi-tiered ancient temple stood before us. It was quite a sight to see, and we spent a good two hours wandering around the area and listening to our guide tell us about it. It was quite amazing to see!! Although we were at this ancient wonder, it was amusing to see all of the people come up to us and ask to get a picture with us. Here we were at one of the wonders of the ancient world, and people wanted to take our picture! Crazy!
From Borobudur, we made our way to the ruins of Prambanan. These ruins (similar to, yet we hear less impressive than, those at Angkor Wat) were a spectacular sight to see. Although an earthquake roared it's way through Yogja last year (on Jono's birthday no less) they still left quite an impression on us.
In the afternoon, we made our way to the “Kraton”, which is the the Sultan's current Palace. When we arrived there, we were saddened to learn that the palace was closed to the public for the day, so we couldn't get inside. The bright side, however, was that the old palace was open to the public. We wandered around the sights and found our way to the sultan's bedroom (i.e. “Pleasure Chamber”), to his private bathing pool, his mosque, as well as into several tunnels (one of which stretched 27 kilometers underground to the ocean).
The next day we bade Yogja farewell and once again boarded a minibus to another of Java's highlights, the mighty Mount Bromo. This was referred to as Java's “Bad Boy” which was a series of several volcanoes rising out of an arid plateau. After a nine hour drive and a few hours sleep, we dragged our weary sorry excuses for bodies up at 3:30am and loaded into the jeep to catch the sunrise over Mount Bromo. Despite the unearthly hour, we had our breath once again taken away by the beautiful sunrise as well as the continuous plumes of smoke that erupted from the two main volcanoes. It was truly amazing! Once we had absorbed the sunrise and were feeling the blood rushing back through our veins (who thought Indonesia could be so darn cold!) we were taken to the base of the volcano and we began our ascent. We climbed the several hundred eroding stairs and stood literally at the edge of the crater where there was a constant plume of white smoke curling it's way up from a crack in the earth. On our way down, we gave in to the constant nagging of the locals trying to earn their living and we rented (for Amanda) a four legged transport down the mountain. We took one last look at the mighty Mount Bromo, loaded ourselves back into the jeep and prepared ourselves for the 10 hour trip toward the edge of the island of Java. A whirlwind of adventure with little time for sleep, the island of Java was a worthwhile stop on our Indonesian itinerary.
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