A taste of Java

Salamat Siang and Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a terrific holiday!

After the Gilis I spent 2 long days traveling from Lombok back to Bali and then I took a plane to Surabaya followed by a bus to Solo and when no accomodation could be found there, a train to Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta or Jogja for short). Jogja, like Solo was completely packed with Javanese people on holiday (mostly from Jakarta) for New Years, but luckily I was able to find a room. Traveling in Java is very different from Bali and the Gilis. Far fewer peaople speak English and Westerners are definitely few and far between. It was cool because I have felt like I have gotten to see some of the "real life" Indonesian people, but it has also posed some challenges. Women traveling alone attract a LOT of attention. Most of it is harmless, but you literally can't walk 10 feet without hearing the cries of "hello miss (or missus or mister)" and "where are you going?" "where are you from?", and of course "do you need transport?". Today I was stopped by a group of Muslim women who had me pose in pictures with each of them. When I was hanging out with other travelers, the attention decreased about 90%. Like I said, interesting.

So Jogja. I didn't love Jogja. It was totally packed with people and many of the sits were closed while I was there due to the Muslim New Year (Dec 29 this year). The Water Palace was pretty cool. Oh and everyone there is trying to get you to buy batik and most people who come up and speak English and pretend to be your new best friend are trying to get you into a batik shop (the only official one, or my family's, etc). I met a erally nice Indonesian man named Ibnu who took me out to the beach on his scooter to see the tradtional New Year celebration. Unfortunately it was canceled due to rain, but we got to see some of the chanting and puppet performances on the way. The highlight of my time in Java came when I was in Jogja. I took a day trip to Borobordur. We left at 5 AM so we got to Borobordur at 6 AM before the crowds. Borobordur is a Hindu temple complex that was built between 750 and 850 AD and was abandoned shortly after completion. Volcanic eruptions covered the temples but they were discovered and restored and now rank with Angkor Wat as one of the most amazing temple ruins in SE Asia. The temple complex is surrounded by volcanoes and thick forest. It is truly amazing to see. We also went to the temples at Prambanan, but after Borobordur, they were anticlimactic.

On New Years eve day I took a train to Jakarta. I arrived in the early evening and met a Dutch couple, Valter and Kari at dinner. The three of us joined the thousands of Jakartans heading to the National Monument for New Years. We arrived at 11:30 (after weaving through more people, buses, and motorbikes than can comfortably fit on one roadway) and waited for the excitement at midnight. We were quite surprised when midnight came and went and nothing happened. No fireworks (save for some families lit), no cheering, no acknowledgement whatsoever. We yelled Happy New Year and all but that was it. About 12:30 most people startde to leave so we went back to our hotel area and went to a bar and watched Indonesian teens butcher American and Dutch pop songs (Indonesia was a Dutch colony until the 1950's). I've been here in Jakarta for 2 days since New Years and have walked much of the city and took a day trip to the botanical gardens in Bogor. Tomorrow I head to Malaysia.

I have posted all of my Indonesia pictures. It took forever (slow connection) so I have not had time to caption them. Sorry there are so many, but I am using Picasa as my backup for photos. At a later date the plan is to delete a bunch and/or put together a highlights album. Here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Indonesia#