Day # 7, Saturday, vulcano + marriage!

December 22nd, 2012

1/3 of the journey is now completed. It was a hot, sunny day and I was expecting a day at the pool. However, the driver from yesterday came at 10 and we left to do more activities. The breakfast is difficult to eat. Th food is really fancy, but there is very low “breakfast-factor”… None, to be more precise!

We headed for the Ullen Sentau museum, but on the way we passed the volcano that had an eruption in 2010. We made a stop and I wanted to do a short tour on the volcano. We did and also asked the driver if he wanted to join. He wanted and I think he had a good time as well!

When we arrived to the Ullen Sentalu museum, there were no photo allowed in the area. But in a building inside the fence there were a wedding and I used the 32X optical zoom camera to make some really good paparazzi photos from the distance! The singer was the only woman worth looking at…!

 

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Petrol was cheaper than in Sweden! 10.000 = $1 US, so, less than a half dollar per litre.
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Safety is yet not an invented word in the Indonesian vocabulary.

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The volcano. Interesting sign for the tourist site!

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All trees were ripped away during the eruption in 2010.

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We went on this REALLY bumpy jeep-ride on the volcano.

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Our driver, as we invited to come with us on the volcano, is speaking on the phone while watching the tree plants on the volcano.

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Bags of earth were everywhere.

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The singer. The only person worth looking at on this wedding!

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Mobile kitchen!

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Jessica is relaxing after a long day!

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The same monument as before, but now at dawn.

 

 

 

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Arjuna is the name! I spelled that wrong!

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In the evening we went to the “back packers district” in Yogyakarta. Took forever to get there, but I don’t think it was that far away. I stroke up a conversation with this guy and invited him to our table. He was a British fellow working as a teacher in Jakarta.  Jessica thought he was cute and we had a good time together!

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Breakfast at the hotel. Look really fancy, but the “breakfast factor” was not at all present and the lids was open and the food got cold.

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The good service! The fried egg at your choice!

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Photo for Facebook!

Day # 6, Friday, Borobudur

December 21st, 2012

I woke up again at 4 am. Watching TV at this hour is actually quite pleasant!

Cloudy day. Not so warm.

At 10 am we left to the famous Borobudur. It’s an old, ancient temple in the middle of humid forest. The temple was taken over by nature and discovered not so long time ago. OK, not last year, or so, but not so many years ago.

It’s 40 km from Yogakarta and it takes close to 2 hours to get there because traffic is no faster than 30-50 km/h and include many stops.

The area itself is a huge tourist trap. There are about one million things to by! However, many sell the same things. There are two entrances.  “International visitors” is a nice building with air condition and a slightly higher price than for locals. All “international visitors” had to wear the fabric. It was collected at exit. I thought it may was a souvenir…

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Huge monument in the middle of nowhere!

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100% tourist!! Never thought that would happen!! Haha!!

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Where is the hat?? No, it’s too hot!! Steaming!! Doesn’t show on photo, but it’s a jungle fever…!!

 

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Tourist trap!

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Snake fruits! Never seen before and they look like the skin of a snake! Really weird! But they were good.

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“Special price!! For you ONLY!!” ‘ 🙂

 

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Going to the museum of the volcano.

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Sign for a mosk, the Muslim church.

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Really good view from here. I got the impression that this view was from a mountain next to the volcano. It was never clear for me.

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Not so pleasant stay. We stayed here for awhile… but the rain was hanging in the air and we(??) were hungry… Yes, it was possible to look at the view, and then!? We had lunch at this top floor restaurant. Really boring and quite possible contaminated food… and a table with a great view!!

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We continued to these towers. Another world heritage.

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“Eye contact contest”. Jessica never understood why I made a photo of strangers… But me and the woman in red had this “I look in your eyes and smile” just one minute earlier on the staircase just behind her…! 🙂 I was surprised when she turned around and I got this photo! Thank you!

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“Thank you for coming, we hope you enjoyed the stay and now we surprise you with 500 meters of unbelievable attractive souvenirs.”

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In the evening, we went to this anarchistic back-packer restaurant… to eat.

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The romantic couple next to us. What a lovely date!!! Friends in the phone are more important than the person in front of you… Haha!!

Day # 5, Thursday, walking in Yogyakarta

December 20th, 2012

I couldn’t sleep at night but I was still rested the next day. Maybe vacation is good for me? 🙂

Super breakfast was served! I would say, even better than the one in Jakarta, at Aston. But why do they leave the lids to the heated pans open? Food does get cold also in a warm country like Indonesia!

I made IRL study of traffic and had relaxing 15 minutes at the pool. I forced myself to an hour of pool time. I need the sun! I went back to the mall and got the glasses. I would have died if I had such glasses, Lacoste brand,  when I was younger! Now I don’t care. Maybe because I don’t see the glasses myself… only through the glass!

I went into this small and narrow path of small stores where they sold many different kind of fabrics. Here I thought I was robbed because some smaller money was missing. I worried all afternoon because of that and also thought, it was strange my phone was still in my pocket. It later turned out I had put the money in a different pocket!

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View from the room! Well… I didn’t stay here to look at this view!

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This is some kind of famous monument and according to the hotel “top 5 must see” it’s worth looking at, I later found out. It’s a 1:15 minute walk from the hotel…

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In case of fire, really impressive! Indonesians know “how to”! Sometimes…!

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Pooltime.

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Public transportation.

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Here I was robbed and it took away all the fun for the rest of the afternoon… Until I found the money in another pocket… Aahhh!! (I know… I have so much money it’s difficult to keep track of all! Haha!)

 

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Me and Jessica, friend / guide, having lunch in a restaurant owned by the son of the king or something. Not at all fancy in any way. I had the last cold beer, the local Bintang beer served in a cold glass. The guests arriving after us left because they had no more beer… (Crazy staff! Why didn’t they just go and get some somewhere??)

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Journey highlights: In the mall, pupils performed and they were so good!! I dances so much and I absolutely loved it! One of the most fun moments on the journey!

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Day #4, Wednesday, leaving Jakarta, to Yogyakarta

December 19th, 2012

Slept until 9. Woke up by staff asking about if I had any laundry.

I asked if I could leave some clothes at the hotel and pick them up three weeks later. It was fine, I did, but later, they throw away my clothes and I had compensation for this, 1 million rupha = $100 US. (But I didn’t know that at the time, of-course!!)

I got one hour in the sun. Must work on the tan… Even if I’m dark, I still must start soft!

This day I was going to Yougakarta. I had my first experience of this “eye contact moment”. When you meet a person, look in the eye… and just smile!! It also happen later in on the journey.

In the evening, I was looking for new glasses. Yogyakarta is little more soft and calm than Jakarta. Not so hectic.

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Aston Pluit, Jakarta

 

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Arriving to Yogyakarta, photos from the air.

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Enjoying java at Java!! The second hotel, Arjuna.

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View from the restaurant. At first, I thought Indonesians were very well organized to park the motorbikes in nice rows. I later learned that people simply “adopt” part of public infrastructure as their own property and make a business of it… So, this is a “private” parking on a public pathway! Creative, indeed!! These creative businesses are *everywhere*!

 

Day #3, Tuesday, fail to soft in Jakarta

December 18th, 2012

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For me, it’s very interesting to watch traffic. Instead of running around and look in many places, you stay in one place and all traffic surrounds you. Indonesia contain many interesting ingredients in this field! Some good, other quite confusing and many quite dangerous…!

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I spend the second day in Jakarta to visit Sogo. It’s big and famous (??) shopping mall for every person who dress nice and have money to spend. So, basically not for every one…

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They have “heavy” security, but I think the staff are so tired and bored of the work so to bring a bomb would be very easy… One entrance is unattended, I later found out.

Day #2 Monday, arrival to Jakarta

December 17th, 2012

The second day of this journey was a short day, flying east. Take off at 00:40, arriving to Singapore at around 17:00, local time.

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Ships outside Singapore.

Hotel #1, Aston Pluit, Jakarta.

View from the room. The pool is located on the 6:th floor next to the dining area. Very convenient if you want coffee, beer or something to eat while resting at the pool. I manage to use the Wi-Fi from my room, but the entire hotel use the same password and you can just pick any network with good connection.

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Day #1, Sunday, train X2000 + flight 1 + 2

December 16th, 2012

Had breakfast at 8 with my friend from work and his wife. All preparing for the Big Journey! It was much snow and I took the car the 800 meters to his house. He was offering me to drive me to the train station later. Lovely!!

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The train was late for departure, about 20 minutes. But in Kastrup, Copenhagen, (image) we arrived on time at 13:10. The plane was leaving at 18:00 so… I had to wait! The waiting is usually a difficult part for me. This trip contained a lot of waiting and none were difficult. Except the last day.

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15:15 Time to check in.

18:00 Leaving Denmark for the 3 hour flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

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Indonesia

December 15th, 2012

That’s it! All is finish and I’m ready to go!

My mistakes so far:

  1. Next time, buy the ticket to Singapore and plan the journey from there.
  2. I manage to buy the ticket from Garuda (local airline carrier) from a British subcontractor… It turned out to be 2 or 3 times more expensive!
  3. I bought 8 GB card to the under water camera instead of 16 GB. I think 16 GB will give more room for video.
  4. I booked the last hotel too late for no obvious reason and the price were much higher.

That’s about it! I think I did many things right! I just love the stand as I bought, the camera for underwater photos and many other things! I so much look forward to read in the Lonely Planet guide about Indonesia and visit these places…!!