While visiting the Borobudur the year 2015 turned to 2016. Want to read more about how nothing that day went as planned? Click here.
Yogyakarta and Borobudur
Category: Photos
Jakarta & Lombok
Bali
For more about the adventures in Bali, read this post!
The magic of Bali
I went to Bali a few weeks ago and the thing that keeps haunting me is that I am not done there, at all. I need to go back, many times. Or one long time. Or several long times. The point is, I want to go back.
I went there this December with my brother and his girlfriend. We arrived with the fast boat from Lombok and as soon as we got off the boat, people were bothering us and showing us all the items they had for sale. Food, mostly. Welcome to Bali. We waited for our bags to be unloaded and when they were we looked for our shuttle bus to Ubud. We found it quickly and even as we were inside the bus, they kept showing up with products.
And here is where it gets really funny. Because you would think, that when you buy something, they will be happy and stop bothering you. BUT NO!
I bought a packet with some pineapple and watermelon, because… well, because why not? I love fruit. But instead of selling it to me with a smile, she tried to sell me two, or even more. And when I didn’t want that, she listed some of the other products I could buy. “Da da Ibu”.
The drive to Ubud was nice and when we arrived, we got dropped off in the parking lot of a supermarket. Our accommodation was 3 kilometers from there, and I wasn’t in the mood to walk with my backpack. I figured we could just hail a taxi. But apparently, that is not how things go around Ubud. There were no regular taxi’s driving around, I didn’t see any ojeks (motorbikes with drivers). So I was a bit confused. I called Blue Bird and when I finally got the right number for Ubud, they told me it would take 30 minutes before we could get a taxi, because they had to come from Denpasar. I was surprised, because why would there not be any Blue Birds in Ubud. Later, I learned that the local government (or King of Ubud, or Sultan, or just the Mayor, whatever) is keeping them out of the city. There are a lot of local taxi’s and otherwise they would be out of business. We found out later that Uber is active there, so that saved us some money in the upcoming days.
Anyway, we decided to walk, because when we asked what the price would be to take us 3 kilometers to the north and the guy replied with a price that was way way way way too expensive, we went off. And on the way, a lot of people asked us if we needed a taxi. We kept saying, yes, but for this and this price and after five minutes we found somebody who would at least take us for a sort of reasonable price (and that reasonable price already went up a lot since we arrived and had to forget about the regular prices for a taxi).
‘Ok, wait here!’ the guy said. ‘I will be right back!’
So he disappeared around a corner, and came back a few minutes later with a car. We were hysterical, because it was all so shady, but it seemed the most normal thing in the world there.
When we got to our destination, our host brought us to the villa we rented for three days. The pictures where beautiful, but you never know…
We had to walk along a path through some bushes and along rice fields (we even crossed a small stream), but when we finally arrived, the view was amazing. We were right next to a rice field, the villa was everything you could imagine and when our host started cutting up some fresh mango and pulled out three bottles of water from the refrigerator, we never wanted to leave.
In Ubud, we did some of the touristic activities that one must have done in Ubud. We went to the Royal Palace, we went to the Art market (which is just a huge place where you can haggle and buy souvenirs, don’t let them fool you with a fancy name) and we went to the Monkey Forest.
Surprisingly, I had so much fun at the market. I did not plan on buying a lot of souvenirs and I knew this meant some serious discipline, but when I got there and I started haggling in Indonesian, impressing the seller and myself, I just had the best time. I bargained for sarongs and small statues and all the other things one wants to buy there. And not just for me, but also for my brothers girlfriend (my brother did not suffer from MSD – a.k.a. Mad Shopping Disease).
The highlight was when I wanted to buy this small wood carved statue of a monkey sitting on some books. I had seen it in several places already.
So, I decided to just ask what the price was. He said IDR 600.000. Uhhh. No. And so the game begins.
I finally got it for IDR 300.000 which I thought was a pretty good deal (20 euros). But what made my day came next. He told me, in Indonesian (so just the fact that I understood made me smile with pride), that for tourists he would normally start with one million rupiah, but because I spoke Bahasa Indonesia, he started at a lower price.
Well, if that doesn’t make a person smile, I don’t know what does. (Although maybe this) 
We had some plans to do a yoga class and a cooking class in Ubud, but we didn’t do it in the end. So when I go back to Bali I will spend at least two more weeks in Ubud. I want to eat at all the vegan restaurants, do a cooking class, go on a yoga retreat, rent a motorbike and explore… And many other things.
On our last day in Ubud, our host drove us around the island a little bit. We went to a coffee plantation where we had a small tasting, we saw a huge mountain, we went to a very popular rice field (which made it all the more unattractive) and we went to this amazing waterfall (where the stairs made me realize I am not exercising enough). It was a great day where we got to see some of the island of Bali and in the end the driver dropped us in Denpasar, where we were spending the next two days.
On the first day in Denpasar (Seminyak, to be exact) we walked along the beach. I found a seashell (yay) and we had a very expensive lunch in one of the beachside restaurants. We figured we would check out the central square (sort of) after that, but there was not much to do and all the tourists made us kind of crazy, so we went back home for a dip in our private pool and to relax.
I also want to share a joke that the waiter at the restaurant made. When we were finished and were about to leave, we asked the waiter where the toilet was. And before I continue, let me just stress that the restaurant was very fancy and expensive. And he just flat out told me that they did not have a toilet. He looked so serious and then told us that we could go outside and around the corner. I think I may have had an annoyed look on my face, because toilets in Indonesia are always so much trouble and I saw it coming. But then he started laughing and told me he was joking. And I totally saw the humor in it because it was very funny and playing into one of the worst fears of their customers, no doubt.
At the end of the afternoon we wanted to go to Tanah Lot to see the sunset. It’s supposed to be amazing there. We got a taxi at five o’clock, but didn’t realize there is only one way that leads in that direction… and it was full of cars. People use that road to go home after work and it leads to a different area of the city.
As you may guess, this story ends with a sadly missed sunset. We arrived there when it was already almost dark and by the time we reached the view… There was nothing left to see.
The next morning we went to the DMZ, where they had 3D trick art which made for some amazing pictures. It was raining very badly that day and after the museum it was time for me to say goodbye to my big brother and his girlfriend and go back to Jakarta.
When I went back to the airport by Uber I felt pretty awesome. My Uber driver was very nice (offered himself up if I ever need a boyfriend in Indonesia) and at the airport I sat and ate some lunch/dinner by myself and I was walking around the airport like I knew the place. Security was a breeze, because by now I know what to do there (and they are just not as secure here as what I am used to) and watching everybody else struggle really made me feel good about myself.
It gave me a great ego boost for my upcoming travels and I look forward to that every day. But for now, I will enjoy more of Indonesia and I am already writing a list of what I have to do here when (not if, when) I come back at one point in the future.
For more pictures, click here.
Wow. Just… Wow.
This time, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Just kidding, I will write a blog about this past weekend later.
Daily life in Jakarta
The morning starts the same every day: with the horrific sound of my alarm clock and me snoozing at least three times. Next, I get up. I go into my bathroom and if I am unlucky, there is no water. I don’t know how this happens, but I have spent two mornings rather cranky because I could not take a shower. But, as the positive person I am, I choose to be grateful for all the other days I do have water.
I live in a “kost” which is a boarding house. I have a room with ac, a double bed (heaven) and a private bathroom. The boarding house is run by four or five amazing women who spend all day working. The service in a place like this is amazing: let me give you some examples.
They clean my room, every day. In the beginning they also made my bed, but I didn’t like this because I had to arrange the pillows every time, so with the help of my colleagues I wrote them a note, telling them I loved the service, but if they please could leave the bed as is (did I mention they don’t speak any English?) Anyway, they clean. All the rubbish I collect in a day, I put in a bin outside. Also, every day they will wash four pieces of clothing for me – by hand. And there are about 30 rooms in the place, so you do the math.
After I am showered and ready, I get my clean clothes from the hallway and walk out the door. When I am out of the front gate, I make my way to work. I walk, and it takes me about 25 minutes. In the time here that I wasn’t able to walk anywhere, let alone walk 25 minutes to work, I went to work with a grab-bike. It is this amazing application, where you enter where you are and where you want to go, and what do you know, next thing a motorbike driver shows up at your location and takes you to said location. All for the sweet low price of 15.000 rupiah (1 euro. Let me repeat: 1 euro!!!). It may be needless to say I use this a lot. It is so much quicker than a taxi. The only downside for a bule (foreigner) like me is the fact that they usually call you to verify your booking and check to see where you are. The drivers often don’t speak English either, so this occasionally causes some confusion. Sometimes I answer the phone and all they say is: ‘sebentar ya?’
Okelah pak. And I hang up. This, I can do. If they ask me where I am, I can also still answer. But any follow-up questions cause major confusion on my side and I have to look for someone to take the phone and explain to the driver where he has to go. If I am with a friend I just let them answer the phone right away, which is much easier. Although, one time when a guy answered the phone for me, the driver was a bit surprised when I showed up.
The first thing I do in the office is have some breakfast. When I first got to this neighbourhood, I used to go to the supermarket and buy a lot of mangos, sometimes pineapple or watermelon. I would get up in the morning, cut everything up and eat it. But the longer I was here, the later I wanted to get up. So the next step was cutting everything up, putting it in plastic containers, and taking it with me to work. But during the time I couldn’t walk, the supermarket was a challenge I wasn’t ready for, and because of the one-way traffic the driver arrived at my office from the other side of the building, taking a different route. And on the way there, we passed like three different fruit carts! The fruit is already cut in pieces and even cheaper than in the supermarket! So now, every morning, I walk to work with a small detour, and I buy fruit. The price, you may ask? IDR 3.000 per piece. I usually buy six, so I pay delapan belas ribu rupiah (18.000 rupiah). Oh my god, you are so fast with comparing it to the Grab-bike ride! Indeed, it is a little bit more than a euro.
The workday differs. Usually we all hang out in the office, do some work. Sometimes the concentration is gone for a while, and then there is a lot of talking and laughing. If the internet doesn’t work, we have to resort to other measures, such as playing a game (werewolves/mafia, for instance).
During lunch, we have three options. Well, there are more options, but these are the three we use often. We can eith
er go next door, where I always get gado-gado, which is so good there! We can also go to
RNI (I don’t know what it stands for), which is a bit of a longer walk (5 minutes instead of 2). We go there often because of the chicken guy. I won’t elaborate on that. And lastly there is the third floor of our building, when we get sick of these two options. But sometimes we also go somewhere further away. To a mall nearby, for instance. Usually I don’t pay more than 15.000 rupiah for lunch (do you see a pattern?)
The food here is great. So great. I may have mentioned this before, so I will just say this: the food here is great. Sangat enak sekali!
In the middle of the afternoon, around three, the smell of fried deliciousness penetrates the office doors and with great enthusiasm we walk to the other side of the hallway to buy gorengan. It is food that is fried and there are a lot of variations. It is a great mid-day snack and tastes so good. The guy always jokes by replacing the word thousand with million when talking about prices, which causes a few giggles. It is a great distraction from the workday and because he is not here everyday, it is always a nice surprise.
After work, I go to a nearby hotel that is on the way to my house, where I do some exercise in the gym or I swim (in the pool). Afterwards I go into the sauna and relax. And I am revived after a shower and ready for the evening.
I usually get some food in my neighbourhood, either at a food court, or at one of the many warteg (small restaurants, kind of buffet style). I always get it to go, because I cannot let go of my habit to eat while watching a tv-show. And I’m sure you already guessed it. The food: never more than 15.000 rupiah (1 euro).
On some nights, I don’t go home, but I eat with friends and hang out somewhere. A couple of times I went to the cinema here. The caramel popcorn is to die for and the velvet class is totally worth the money. See the picture below. Even for a bed like this, you pay less than a cinema in The Expensive West.
Conclusion, short and sweet: Indonesia is fantastic, money is worth so much here and it is all great. I wish I could tell you more about all my disappointments, to make this blog more juicy. But I am (not) sorry to say, there are none.
A lake, another lake and natural springs
The alarm went off at 4.15 this past Saturday. That just seems inhumane, does it not? However, excitement turned out to be an effective method to getting out of bed and after a shower, I ordered my Grab-bike – the driver arrived surprisingly quickly – and went to the meeting point, from where the trip would start!
On this Saturday in November, I had planned to visit Kawah Putih, a lake located on a volcano. I went with an organized tour and the program also included some other sites. Needless to say, but I am going to anyway, I was psyched to finally get out of the city and see more of Indonesia.
While I sat and waited for my friend to arrive and join me, I enjoyed the relative silence that the morning in Jakarta brought, and was watching a girl next to me with fascination, who was slaying mosquitoes like a pro. Once we boarded the bus and took off, I was happily surprised to be able to doze off for at least an hour and a half. Even after that I was in a blissful state of half-unconsciousness, until we reached Bandung.
There I looked out the window and took in all the hustle and bustle of this city. The area where we drove was very different from Jakarta. From the main street you could see the lush green fields and there were no buildings higher than two stories, maybe three. After a while we ended up on the small mountain roads where honking before turning a corner is a must. The views were already incredible, but hard to photograph from a moving bus.
Once we arrived at Kawah Putih, we took a small shuttle bus to the main site. Before going here I read some information on the internet and there were also some signs around the area, all saying the same thing. The smell of sulfer will be insufferable and you cannot stay near the lake for longer than 15 minutes, in case the heavy smell effects you. While we were driving in the area, I kept waiting for the smell to hit. When we were on a small hill near the lake, I carefully sniffed the air and when I was standing next to the lake, I was simply confused about what the fuss was about. There was no sulfer smell, whatsoever. It almost distracted me from the natural beauty, but then I came to a conclusion. Being a touristic site like this, I am guessing they don’t want people crowding the place. So, if everyone can only stay for 15 minutes, they will leave quickly and the amount of people at the scene of the beauty will be minimized. It is either that, or for some reason the smell was just absent for the day. There were people selling masks to cover your nose and mouth, and I politely declined. Doing so in Indonesian resulted in a few gasps of surprise, which is always good for some giggles. I still don’t really understand the use of these masks, especially in this situation. It does not keep out smell. And breathing in the sulfer never killed anyone… right?
The entrance
Even though people were around to take a picture of me, I could not help myself and took a selfie too.
After we walked around, took some pictures, watched a wedding couple get there pictures taken and sat around for half an hour because we did not need all of the allocated time, we continued our trip. The shuttle bus took us back, we had some lunch and waited for the bus to continue our journey. While I was sitting near the bus, some of the other participants of the trip turned out to speak English very well and struck up conversation. They had been to Amsterdam and they told me something about their trip to the Keukenhof, where I have never been myself. We discussed how strange it is that you don’t take the time to see the sights in your own country, but when you are abroad, you want to see everything. It strengthened my resolve to also start discovering more of The Netherlands. When I will be there for a longer time. In like, a year or so. So maybe it is more of a long term plan.
After Kawah Putih, we continued to another place called Situ Patenggan, a big lake. We needed to pay an extra entrance fee here, which turned out not so positive for me. First of all, it was a little strange for everyone that they had to pay an extra IDR 20.000, and that it was not included in the price for the organized trip. But my disadvantage was a bit bigger, because the price for foreigners was not IDR 20.000, but a whopping IDR 185.000. That set me back a bit, and when we got to the lake I was a tad disappointed. It was just a lake and really not that special after the amazing Kawah Putih. They wanted to go for a boat ride, but while we were walking that way, one of the locals started talking to me and telling me about a location nearby, where it was supposedly really special, called Kawah Rengganis. There were natural springs, and some of them were heated naturally up to 100 degrees Celsius. He showed me a few pictures, and though I was a bit hesitant, I really wanted to let him take me there. I was a bit worried about the price, but he told me the entrance fee was only IDR 30.000. Then I quickly discussed with my friend about what his fee would have to be, and he said I could give him whatever I wanted. My cash funds were running a little low, but I decided to go with him and see what I thought the private tour was worth.
Still took the time to take a picture at the lake though
So. I hopped on the back of his motorbike. This part was nothing new for me and even though maybe going off with a stranger should have caused some nervousness on my part, I was surprisingly calm. That is, until we hit the small mountain roads, varying from cobblestone roads to dirt-roads and there was a lot of wobbling involved. I told him ‘hati-hati’ (be careful) a few times, but he just smiled and gave a little more gas.
We arrived safe and sound, of course, and despite the nagging fear that took hold of me if I looked too closely at how close to the ledge we drove and how far we would fall were that that to happen, I took in the view and could only feel extremely satisfied that I took him up on his offer. We drove past some beautiful tea plantations and we hadn’t even arrived at our destination yet.
When we did, I finally got something I was waiting for all day. A sulfer smell. Now here was a place that is undiscovered by so many and there was nobody there, except for locals. It really gives you a kick when you go off the beaten path and see something new. There were a lot of different springs and the place was really humid. The fact that it started raining didn’t help, but also did nothing to spoil the adventure. Although, it did make walking a bit difficult. The guy hopped from stone to stone and was a few meters in front of me at all times. Sometimes he would wait and a couple of times he would just look back and laugh. Out loud. He grew up there, so of course he was used to the tricky paths, so I just smiled and told him I was nowhere near as fast as him. Although I am sure he already noticed and was thinking something along the lines of “really, Captain Obvious?”
He’s bigger! Faster! And stronger too!
He’s the first member of the DK crew!
Or at least that is what I was thinking when I saw this statue.
We walked around a bit, took some pictures and I even put a bunch of mud on my arms en rinsed it with the water from the spring. I had a small conversation with a few local guys who were hanging out there and I could not help myself from wondering about how different their lives must be from mine. After a while we went back, because I could not be late for the bus that would continue on. The way back was even scarier, because instead of uphill, we went downhill and because of the rain, now the stones were wet and slippery. HATI freaking HATI.
We made it down alive and he dropped me off at the place where we started, unharmed and a few experiences richer. I gave him IDR 50.000, which was all I could spare. I only had 14.000 rupiah left to get some dinner later on. I am still not sure if he was happy with the amount or not, but I guess that is his occupational hazard.
We were supposed to go strawberry picking afterwards, but because of the rain we all decided it would be better to head back to Jakarta. I really didn’t feel like I was missing out, because the strawberries here taste nothing like the strawberries in The Netherlands.
While driving to Jakarta, I looked back on a great day of exploring. And looking forward to many more.
Things I noticed about Indonesian people
I have been here for a little over two months, and in this time I have gotten to know a bit more about the Indonesian culture, about the people and the way things work around here. Time to review a couple of things that I learned.
Disclaimer: This does not apply to all Indonesians and there are of course exceptions.
They are so very friendly. Yesterday I was at the food court where I could be considered a regular. After my standard order (nasi goreng) I made some Indonesian small talk with the lady who owns the place (which consists of her talking, me nodding/smiling and giving one-word answers). But because of all the smiling the conversations are actually very pleasant! As she was eating, I was wishing her a good dinner (selamat makan ibu!) and she offered me some of what she was eating. After checking there was no meat or fish, I said okay, and she put some in a plastic bag for me to take home. When my food was ready and I asked how much I had to pay, she just told me the amount for the nasi goreng. She owns a place that sells food, yet she gave me some of her home cooked food for free. And did I mention all the smiling? Like I said: friendly.
There is an exception to this (what appears to be a) rule, however. As soon as they get on a motorbike and start participating in the traffic, they become selfish and the friendliness is nowhere to be found. Luckily, you can always use the magical hand, when walking around in the streets. Because nobody would stop at zebra crossings, everyone just crosses anywhere. You get on the street, and put up your hand like you would if you would try to stop a car. Then you just walk. I have done this a lot of times, sometimes without using the magical hand, and I have not been hit. It’s always a bit of a yolo moment, but if you wait until there are no more cars coming before you cross the street, you will be there forever.
People in Indonesia can create a job out of anything. There are people on the street, directing the traffic (and trust me, the traffic does not have any use for being directed), they help you find parking spots, they can sell everything on the street.
An example: in the office where I work, there is this guy that comes to visit almost every day to sell us some gorengan (fried stuff). He just goes by the office to sell some of his home made food, and makes a ton of money (and a ton is actually not a lot in Indonesia).
An even better example: there are a few roads in Jakarta that can only be used if there are three or more people (tiga orang atau lebih) in the car (see picture above). This is supposed to make the road less crowded, allowing people who carpool to pass quicker. However, before you reach these roads, along the side of the road you will find a lot of people, who you can pay a few rupiah to hop into your car, and they will get out after the road ends. This way, even if you are just one, you can pay some people to be your fake companions and still use this road!
Indonesian people could be described as a little lazy. They walk slowly, at least, compared to my western tempo. They go everywhere by motor bike, taxi or bus, as long as there is no walking involved. But I also realized that this creates a lot of jobs, which is very necessary in a country with so many inhabitants. People who don’t want to walk create a need for drivers. Being too lazy to cook creates work for people such as the gorengan guy. In the foodcourts of malls, people don’t clear their own table (which is how we would do it in Europe), but they leave it there. Someone else will come and clean the table and voilà, another job is created. They don’t have machines to sell tickets for the bus. We tend to try to replace everything that used to involve human contact with a machin
e, because it is supposed to be cost-effective. Here, they need the jobs. And I am guessing the wages aren’t that high, so possibly it is even cheaper.
Indonesian people are very proud of their country, even though there is also usually something to complain about. They want to tell me everything and most of them know all about their own history and the current events. As a person who chooses not to read the news paper, I noticed this immediately. They know where everything comes from. They have so many provinces and every place has their own signature dish, a dance (or several), songs, clothes, houses… It almost seems too much to remember, and yet… they all know.
Another thing… even though they can at times be more polite than direct, often I find them very honest. If you ask them what they are doing this weekend, it is not uncommon to hear someone shamelessly admit that they will sleep all weekend. While in Europe, if you don’t have exciting plans, parties to visit or people to meet, well… let’s just say you are not the definition of cool.
The people I have met also sing. Just because they are happy, or because they can. I have looked up with some confusion when I would hear somebody singing out loud in The Netherlands, but here it is very common. And not just when under influence. And it doesn’t matter what you sing, either. I have heard somebody sing “I like big butts” with a straight face and an angelic voice.
Most of the people living here don’t seem to have an environmental bone in their body. When driving on the street, if there is something in the car that you don’t need anymore… No worries. Just throw it out the window! But also, if you are not in a car and just walking around, you can also still toss it. There is a lot of trash 
everywhere. Plastic is used for everything. I have a huge collection of plastic bags in my drawer which I try to re-use as trash bags, but even I have had to throw some away (not on the street, mind you).
Finally, I noticed that nobody does organized chaos better than Indonesians. The traffic jams look like they will never ever get solved, but somehow they do. In the foodcourts everybody is shouting at each other, ordering from different people… And yet it works. You get your food, there is hardly any trouble and the hardworking peo
ple get payed.
This seems to be the way things work here. From the outside, it looks like chaos. But there is certainly a system in place. Just because we don’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Sunny's Travels 