A country of contrasting regions
For more on this trip please see Komodo and Flores Islands
I took a trip here for three weeks during the winter break of 2012. I can honestly say that I loved this country a lot as the food was terrific and so were the people. I covered a lot of ground in this time as the plane flights were as cheap as peanuts. My route looked something like this:
After a long plane flight from Cairo, I got into Cairo and then jumped another plane to Yogyakarta. I had so many things to do in the time I was here, that I had to get a guide. The guide I used turned out to be an awesome person and I would recommend him to anyone. His name is Supy and his website can be found here Yogyakarta Tours. He took me on literally more than I wanted to see. My main attraction was the Borobudr temples but he set me on an itinerary to do just about everything. We went to so many temples I have forgotten the names of them. One in particular I felt like the star attraction as everyone wanted to take pictures of me (my ten minutes of fame). We also went to a massive sulfur pit and went to nearby villages. Getting dressed up in the local garb to see an old tomb was definitely one of my favorite things to do. We also went to the fishmarket and handpicked our fish and had a restaurant prepare it for us by the beach……ok as you know pictures speak louder than words…
Next stop was Komodo as you can find it in the above island, but after that was Ubud. I went with my sister from Komodo to Ubud where I met some friends from work and had a good few days of going to the monkey forest, hanging around town and doing some outdoor activities. While I didnt get into the crazy parts of Bali, I did enjoy my time there. I did go for a night to Gili Islands for New Years, but unfortunately I got sick and had to stay in our hut the night. This was not fun at all….
Next I was off to Surabaya. Now why the hell would anyone want to go there? The reason I went there was to go a few hours away and see the famous volcano Mt. Bromo and the sunrise. As you can see it was beautiful. I probably stayed in the dodgiest hotel I have ever stayed in as it didn’t even have electricity, and the town was pretty much dead. But I only slept a few hours as I had to be up early for the sunrise over Bromo…Look at the pretty sunrise below
In Surabaya, I just did the normal tourist stuff like the zoo (didnt post many pics cuz the conditions were deplorable), went to to docks, a cigarette making factory, the war for independence museum, and an old submarine. I believe the highlight of this was walking through the markets and seeing the people at work. As many of you know me, I love going to places like this, as this is where you see the real people….it is fascinating…
Last stop was Jakarta. I did just a few real tourist things like the museum and going to where people meet to see shows etc. The mosque there is beautiful and rivals any of the best mosques I have ever seen:
The reason why I spent the time I did there was because I wanted to see how the poorer parts of town were. This is called the slums to many of us. It was actually an eye opening experience as I went to three different slums and the conditions were horrible. However what I must mention as even though the conditions were horrible, the people still were very happy and friendly. It was great to see the looks and the children’s faces as they played with some of my electronics. It was so eye opening that I went back the next day to see the kids play again and to teach them a class in their 10 by 5 foot school room. This I believe was one of the best experiences of the trip. If you are in Jakarta and would like to do this, please visit this website Hidden Jakarta.
Will I return? hmmmmmm i would bet on it as I still have many places to see on the islands, and incase you didnt know, there are a hell of a lot of islands….