Becpowell's travel blogs:
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Reggae MC
Entry 4 of 7 | show all | print this entry |
Day 149 - As we arrived at 4:20am, no hotel was open, so Joe let me wait in the minibus until dawn, when I set about trying to find a room. This wasn't easy as, being the high season, most were full, and those that weren't full could only spare a room after midday. I needed sleep now. Luckily, one restaurant was open at 6am and so I had a massive breakfast of fried rice and fresh fruit and eventually came across Sakura hotel, which had a reasonable room for 85,000IDR. Got a becak the 100 metres to the hotel from where I left me bag (!) and Muji the driver even carrid my bag to my room for me - I must have looked half dead!
After two near sleepless nights I slept over 16 hours, with a few hours break in the middle for some noodle soup.
Day 150 - Woke up bright and early, but still irritable at 6am and after frequenting my breakfast restaurant and enjoying their Indonesian radio, went into the centre of town. The main street, Jl Malioboro was lining up with street stalls and warungs (food stalls). By the time I'd reached the kraton (Sultans palace) I was entirely fed up with people hassling me.
In front of the kraton is a big dusty square which was full off school children in tracksuits, doing sport. I walked around the little streets of the outer kraton, which used to be full of canals, pools and palaces but is now jam packed with little houses and shops. I walked through pasar ngasem, which is a market of alleyways selling little songbirds and was taken alog some small alleyway, around the back of someones house to the remains of the water palace, which sits on top of a small hill in the iddle of the city. The water palace (taman sari) was built by a Portugese architect in the 18th Century but has since suffered from war and an earthquake, resulting in only the present ruinson the hill. The panoramic view from the top of Yogja is beautiful, especially in the morning sun, and I got 30 minutes peace and quiet sat on the top with my mp3 player.
It didn't last long though as when I came down an old man adopted me to show me the features of the water palace that have been restored. With the area so built up with houses and no sign posts, it would have been impossible for me to find them on my own - that's if I even knew they existed. So actually I was glad of a guide, who was actually a cleaner in the sultans palace 4 days a week. I saw the underground mosque (the former sultan was muslim), swimming pool complex and meditation house and all were interesting for the combination of hindu and muslim features in the architecture representing the holistic society in Indonesia then, and now. I also saw inside a batik gallery, which had some wonderful artwork made by the lengthy and skillful process using wax and dye, and also saw inside a leather puppet workshop. The leather puppets are still used in cultural performances, but the skill involved in making them from buffalo skin and painting them is amazing - they are so intricate.
The kraton itself was a little disappointing. It was nice to see the halls and where the current sultan still resides, but it was basically a big museum dedicated to the former sultan and mostly in bahasar Indonesia. Walking back towards Sosrowijayan area and my hotel, I got increasingly irritated by the hawkers and becak drivers - I even had one man follow round the central market asking me questions which got no response!
That evening I went to see the Ramayana Ballet, which is very famous and has been around a a tale for centuries. It was set in an open air theatre with Prambanan temple in the background. 17km out of town, Prambanan is an ancient hindu monument built in the 9th Century and has scenes of the Ramayana carved on it's main temple. The set was therefore quite impressive with these temples lit up in the background. I am very glad I paid the 25,000 IDR extra to upgrade from first class seats as it meant I got a cushion - the cheaper ticket holders had to endure over 2 hours sat on a stone bench! The ballet was brilliant - the costumes and dancing were beautiful and quite different to the Balinese dance I saw at Ubud. The story was told really well, with the use of bow and arrows and everything. The most dramatic part was when one of the characters set fire to the palace...literally - the whole place was ablaze! The entire time I had an Indonesian family yakking behind me, but knowing this is the way it is in Indonesia, decided there was no use fighting it and it was better to ignore them - at least there was no dialogue to listen to. However, more than halfway through, a large coffee morning of Indonesians came in and sat next to me - they were so loud that all the other tourists were angrily sssshhhing them, but to no avail. Well they came for a cultural experience and that's exactly what they got!
Day 151 - Managed to find the public bus on Jl Malioboro which would take me halfway to Borobudur. It took over an hour to reach Jombor (being a circular route it therefore only took the Lonely Planets stated 20 minutes to get back) and at Jombor changed buses for the final leg of the trip. As we waited to leave the station, a couple of buskers boarded the bus to play a tune and once we'd set off, the ticket man charged me 15000IDR for the trip - which is a rip off! Of course, I had no idea how much it should cost to travel that route and foolishly paid it!
Borobudur was worth the effort of the mornings travelling, as it is a magnificant buddhist temple, comparable to Angkor Wat and built in the 9th Century as was Pramabanan. The style is unique with a number of square galleries and 3 circular bases on top covered in latticed stupa, with one main stupa on top. The temple is wonderfully preserved and the carvings of buddhist teachings and buddha statues were brilliant. The structure looked enormous amongst its green surroundings and there was a decent view from the top too.
I fought off the touts and grabbed some nasi goreng before getting a becak to the two smaller temples a few kilometres from Borobudur. Pawon temple was very cute and on the way to Mendut temple the becak driver had to get off and push me up a hill. Feeling uncomfortable sat there like Lady Muck as this poor man struggles I got out and walked with him - kind of defeats the object of hiring him. When I had finished at the temple I waited on the side of the road for a public bus to pass to Jombor and after waiting so long, almost missed it as I went over to give a horse (from horse and trap they use for public transport) a mento - to which his master forbid me to!
Paid the driver less this time, but still to much I'm sure! Back at Jl Malioboro I chartered Karnos - the fattest becak driver I have ever seen, but also one of the loveliest - to take me to the village of Kota Gede, 5km from the centre, which is a hub of silver shops known for their excellent fine filligree work. On the way back Karnos dropped me at a souvenir shop so he could have a rest!
Had some yum baked potatoes for dinner with a heart attack of cheese on top and struggled to digest it... seems I may not be able to resume my old dairy consumer days when I return home!
Day 152 - Caught the local bus direct to Prambanan and arrived nice and early before the crowds. The complex looks as magnificant in the day as it did at night during the ballet. Sadly, the temples were damaged in 2006 due to an earthquake and are still unsafe. You therefore cannot walk right up next to the temples but have to stay behind a fence. I thought this would detract from the experience but didn't at all, as the temples look their best from a distance when you can see the entire structure, plus it meant no ugly tourists got in your photos! The three main temples were dedicated to the Gods Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma and surrounded by many, now floored, shrines.
Most tourists only look around the main temple area, but I walked further in the park to see two more hindu structures and a really magnificant buddhist temple right at the far end. It was a nice walk and the park was full of deer, with Merapi volcano smoking in the background. The temples were not easy to spot from the main area and so easily missed by most people.
I was back in town by lunchtime and spent a few hours trying to sort out my travel to Lombok. Although I have enjoyed seeing the sights in Yogja and seeing some of Java, I am fed up of big cities, pollution and hassling locals, and am really keen to get some peace and quiet on a beach, and have a good rest before venturing into cold New Zealand. Feeling burnt out from all the travelling, bus-ing it to Lombok did not appeal so am getting a flight from Surabaya. I found Karnos again and he took me back to Kota Gede, where this time I could see the silver making process, which was very skilled and interesting. Karnos initially wanted to take me on his motorbike, but it was a nice day and I enjoyed travelling slowly through the streets... plus the exercis was good for him!
In the evening I went to Bintang restaurant / bar to try the tuna steak recommended by Tino and peruse the Jakarta Post - my new favourite read (more dramatic / imaginative than most novels!). A Dutch guy names John and his Indonesian friend Dee Dee started talking to me and although I was unsure to start, they were both nice guys. We stayed there most of the evening and Dee Dee played me some Indonesian music, which was some of the best I've heard in SE Asia. He then went and copied a load onto cd for me to keep! At 9:30 a band started playing classic rock and were outstanding. I really enjoyed hearing some great live music again and I just coudn't sit still!
At the interval, John and Dee Dee wanted to go to another bar down the road called Loochifayre (Lucifer, without the Dutch accent) and although I was reluctant at first, the band in there were equally great - reggae music with Bob Marley II singing - he deserved to be famous. Dee Dee kept requesting Bob Marley classics and dedicating them to me and then proceeded to get up there and sing with them! The owner of the bar - I suppose Lucifer himself - is a European brick s**thouse who also fanices himself a bit of an MC... and kept MC-ing over the wonderful reggae music! At one point there was both Dee Dee and this idiot ruining what would have been the most beautiful rendition of 'I Shot the Sheriff'! Towards the end of the set, the drunk becak drivers infiltrated through the door and started dancing before being ushered out! Found myself locked out of my hotel again.
Day 153 - Washing and internet mostly today. Seems I've been in Yogja long enough as people keep recognising me around Sosrowijayan - there is even one intriguing, alternative man who I always pass in the same alley and we always grunt at each other!
Having killed time until the end of the day, my minibus taking me to Surabaya turned up. By the time we'd picked up all the passengers (it is a door-to-door service), the bus was full and I had the middle seat of the middle row between two girls. I did sleep a little and had the pleasure of the one girls head on my shoulder (which was surprisingly heavy for such a small person). That I didn't mind, but one of the men behind me hung his arm over my seat most of the way which kept finding itself on my shoulder. I couldn't decide if he was just trying to get comfortable and sleep, but I swear at times I could feel it stroking my shoulder and as I kept pushing it off, it kept finding its way back near my head again! I wrapped my scarf around my head and all sleep ceased.
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