Travelogue Indonesia 2000 kim chee

Travelogue Bali-Bangkok

Bali, May 2000

May 10 - arrived in Bali about 2:30 pm. Small but hectic airport. The money exchange counters are right where you claim your luggage so no worry there. Don't be fooled by the men who grab your luggage and show you where to change money...they jut want a tip for the 30 sec walk to the exit. We picked the first place we found in LP. The Adus Family Guesthouse. 45,000rp per room. Fan/cold shower. Clean rooms. Headed for the beach at Legion. Not to many people around. Clear water and very warm. Felt great after 20 hours on a plane. Met Franco, the older Italian man who wanted pictures with all the pretty ladies. He was a charmer. (We actually ran into Franco again in Jakarta) No crowds at the beach..what a relief. Walked from Legion to Kuta and back later that night. Lots of begging goes on here. I had one mother send her son after me wanting the Coke in my hand. Kuta/Legion seems very touristy. Looking forward to heading inland.

May 11 - Had nice breakfast in Legion. Found a driver to take us to Ubud for about $3 US dollars. Headed for Ubud around noon. Hit Mas on the way to Ubud. Known for the woodcarving, I had to buy some masks. Stayed at Bendi's 2 in Ubud. Great accommodations. We had a small house w/2 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms,fans, hot shower & kitchenette for 100,000rp. (about $12.50US) With breakfast included! Bendi's also had a great restaurant. Excellent Tuna Sate & Banana Pancakes. Walked around Ubud's main area. Some great buys here and lots of instruments. Ate dinner at a local restaurant then went to the Kecak Dance "Monkey Chant".

May 12 - Woke up to some thick black coffee this morning from Bendi's. Had some excellent banana pancakes then started around Ubud. Found so many interesting shops around town. Came across a Gamelon instrument shop and played some of the instruments. To bad I am not rich. I would have loved to purchase a few!!! Had a light lunch after shopping then headed for the monkey forest. It is a nice walk for the price (3000rp or about .33 US) Jungle/rainforest setting with monkeys everywhere. There are a few temples within and some beautiful paths to take. After all the shopping, we had to lighten our load. We found a shipping service to the US. It's not cheap!! My package is taking 3 months to arrive. Later that night we went to the Barong & Keris Dance. It was great. Incredible music and dance. The gamelon is brilliant to watch. I highly recommend seeing this performance. Ate grilled tuna for dinner at Bendi's then turned in for the night. Tomorrow Proboliggo on Java.

Java Indonesia 2000

May 13 -
Woke up early, 6:30, this morning. Found cheap transport into Denpasar this morning so we can catch a bus to Proboliggo Java. When we arrived at the bus station in Denpasar, we were mobbed by people wanting to sell us bus tickets. It was a madhouse. We held our ground and got tickets all the way to Proboliggo including ferry crossing and dinner for 30000rp (US $3.75) Air-Conditioned bus ride. Anytime the bus stops, vendors board and try to sell their goods. All kinds of prepared food and newspapers. Bali's countryside is beautiful. Stacked rice fields and mountains with lush vegetation. The ferry trip was only about 35 minutes. It was overcast for us so the views were clouded. Boarded the bus again and we were in Java. Another few hours and we stopped for dinner. The food was served to us table by table. Some sort of beef noodle soup I later found out was Bakso. It was good. It was 8pm before we reached Proboliggo. When we exited the bus there was a guy waiting to arrange transportation to Cemaro Lawang for the Mt Bromo climb. We ended up staying at the Lava Lodge (50000rp)so far the transportation part has been easy.

May 14 -
Gunung Bromo - Java...Woke up at 4:30am and started toward the rim. It was pitch black and we weren't sure of the right way to go. We followed some locals with horses and soon found ourselves on the sea of sand. By the time we reached the upward slopes toward the top, the sun was coming up. There is a set of stairs leading up the final portion of Bromo. The smell of sulfur and smoke is intense. It is worth it to just cover your nose & mouth, and go all the way to the top. The chance to peer down into a smoking volcano does not happen often. After a while we walked back to town and had banana pancakes for breakfast again. Took a minivan back down to Proboliggo and waited for the bus to Yogyakarta. The ride down the mountain was breathtaking. Lush, and with perfectly placed rice fields on the mountain side. While waiting for the bus, we were entertained by a few children. The bus stop was actually the home of the people running the stop. We had to use their mandi several times. Mitch mistakenly entered their home instead of walking around to the mandi. That really got the children giggling. To top it off, Mitch returned from the bathroom (unknowingly) with his fly down. This got everyone rolling again. This was to be a long bus ride, about 9 hours. Even though the bus had ac, it wasn't much. Just warm recycled air blowing down on you. I didn't mind though, I was loving every minute of it. We had to pay another 20000rp when we got on the bus. At first we thought we were being had. Finally we understood it as some sort of tax. We noticed a bus worker getting money from the other passengers too. We then figured out what it was for. Along the way the bus occasionally would get stopped by crude hand made road blocks through some towns. The driver would throw money in a bucket and the Bus would pass. We figured, there goes our tax. Encountered another roadside stop dinner, included in the price of the ticket. Again a good meal. Chicken & rice with a spicy sauce. Driving here is crazy. The bus just pushes everyone else out of their way. The driving is done on the left, but most of the time I spent on the right side passing or making the vehicles ahead veer off the road so we can get by. Kind of scary at first but I soon got used to it. It is all in the adventure and I figure the driver isn't trying to kill himself. Next stop Yogyakarta...

May 15 -
Yogyakarta Java...Staying at the Bladok Loseman. Great room with a balcony overlooking the street. Excellent restaurant as well. Yogyakarta is a very busy city. Lots of traffic and motorcycles. Food carts and tuk tuk's all around. Went to the Sultan's Palace to begin our day. The Sultan still lives on the premises. Some very nicely dressed guards around complete with Kris knives tucked along their backs. Borabudur was the next stop. The largest Buddhist monument in SE Asia built around 800 AD. If you walk a certain way around each level of the climb to the top, the pictures depict a story. The second temple we visited was just unearthed about 30 years ago by a local farmer. We were the only people there. We had the place to ourselves. Lunch was next on the agenda. Our driver took us to a small place across from Prambanan Temple. I had a great plate of fried noodles. The sauce was excellent. Prambanan was incredible. The carvings and statues were involved. Went to get Ramayana tickets for that evening. By the time we returned to the room, it was time to head back out. The Ramayana was good but not as good as the Balinese dances had been. Had some soup back at the hotel and hung out on the balcony watching the nightly activities on our street.

May 16 -
Yogyakarta...Woke up and watched the bird keeper on the roof next door for a while. After breakfast went to the markets. First we hit the Batik market, which we found a bit overpriced but still neat. Next, the open air flea market. Lots of t-shirts and used clothing. Saw my first site of fried earthworms today. Walked back toward the room through the many venders, food stalls, & traffic. Had a good lunch then coffee. Just relaxed until our train to Jakarta tonight...

May 17 -
Overnight train from Yogyakarta to Jakarta on Java. Not too bad of a train ride. I tried to sleep most of the way. The seats were pretty comfy. Almost like larger bus seats. It had ac and a meal was served early in the morning. Walked from the train station in Jakarta to Jalan Jaksa st. Looking for a cheap flight to KL or Singapore. We are unable to find a flight till tomorrow so we find a room on the same street. Jakarta was sort of noisy and dirty. The room was way overpriced for what it was. At least it was only for one day and had a/c. Took a taxi out to Dreamland. A sort of amusement complex on the coast. We really couldn't find anything there, except a deceased woman but that is another story, so we headed back to the room. For dinner, we ate at a restaurant known for it's Sate. I had a grilled squid dish which was excellent. Remember Franco from Bali? We ran into him again tonight. He was trying to get to the airport. He kissed our hands and was off. There were some Mosques nearby so we knew we might be awakened during the night by the calling to prayer. Before bed I stayed out on the balcony and watched the bats fly all about some fruit tree next to me.

Transit Jakarta-Malaysia-Krabi Thailand 2000

May 18 -
Early breakfast and we were off to the Jakarta airport heading for KL Malaysia. We flew Merpati and were strangely put in First Class. It was a great flight. The views as we flew over part of Sumatra were beautiful. Once in KL we find a quick bus to the train station. Hopefully to continue our journey northward. We miss the last train ride to Penang by 15 minutes. What luck! Looks like a stay over in Kuala Lumpur for the night. Found a room next-door to the train station that all 4 of us could stay in. Had a last minute dinner at the A&W fast food place downstairs then went to bed. 7:30 am train tomorrow.

May 19 -
Early train to Penang Malaysia, 7:30am. 10 hour train ride for $30. Not too bad. A/C and tv w/movies playing. No food served on these trains, but at some stations venders board and sell their goods. The potato puff things are quite tasty. The Malaysian countryside is beautiful. Mountains, lush green hills, mosques in the landscape, amazing. We even saw monkeys wild in the trees. As we neared Penang the scenery changed a bit. Coastal. The water was so clear that when we went over a bridge, I could see 2 jellyfish in the water below. Upon arriving, we found that again we had missed the last train. This time to Hat Yai, Thailand. As always though, we found a driver within minutes to take us all the way across the Thai border to Hat Yai. This was a good move! When it came time to cross the borders, our driver just took our passports and handled everything. We didn't even leave the car or have our luggage searched. The driver even went so far as to secretly hand money to a guard at one check point. We were in Hat Yai within 3 hours of leaving Penang. Again, no more transportation available tonight. Wait till morning. And again, we find someone to take us all the way to Krabi that night. Finding transportation is so easy over here. This time we are in a minivan with 2 Thai women and the driver. We all end up nodding off on the haul to Krabi. It had gotten dark quick and the moving since 6:30 had caught up with us. It took about 5 hours to get to Krabi and by the time we arrived at Ao Nang Beach, all the places to stay were closed. Luckily we found a place where the owner was playing pool. He gave us a room for all 4 for us for 100Baht $3. The music was blaring from the pool room below but we all slept.

Krabi, Ao Nang Beach Thailand 2000

May 20 - 23 ...
Woke up early and found another place to stay in Ao Nang. Nice room with ac, cable tv, hot shower, and balcony. All of us in 1 room again. Off to the beach. The beaches are amazing here. Limestone jetting out into the surf and islands all around. There is hardly anyone here. It's like we have the place to ourselves. The water is so warm. Spent about 4 hours on the beach today and will pay dearly for it. Mitch & Brian swam around a cove today. They found a deserted beach area, a snake, and a lizard. The current gave them trouble swimming back so never try it alone. Had a great meal that night and was also able to catch up on some Internet activity. Slept in the next morning and realized that I had gotten a bit too much sun the day before. I opted to stay in while the others went over to Raileh Beach. I enjoyed the afternoon with Muay Thai boxing and CNN. I did see a brief segment on Burn, a thai rock band, which later made me pick up the tape. Another good meal that night. The food is good all over here!! Today we went on a longboat ride out to some islands. I was still a little burned so I couldn't snorkel which sort of sucked! I enjoyed the trip none the less. The ride was great, the islands beautiful, the water inviting, the weather ideal. It was the perfect time. Tomorrow we board a bus for Bangkok. What a change it will be from here. The next morning I spent walking around AO Nang. I ended up at the Internet place. No luck though, the connections were down. Our taxi to Krabi town was a canopy covered truck. It was a nice ride. We only waited at the bus area for 30 minutes before our bus arrived. A huge double-decker ac bus. I ended up with the very front seat on the top level, which was very cool. The drivers here are so tame compared to Indonesia. It got dark quick and we weren't even to Surant Thani. We went through some police checkpoints throughout the night but they all just waved the buses through. Should arrive in Bangkok about 6:30 am...Bangkok Cont