Masquerade party's and beaches
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
3
7
Trip End
Jul 16, 2008
Yogyakarta,
Java,
Indonesia
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Hmm..where to begin. So the last I wrote, I was in Yogyacarta in Java, which is a really cool city. There are horse and buggy taxis everywhere, the horses dresses up with beautiful ornaments on their bridles and in their manes. For a big city, it had a really mellow feel to it, and to correct my last email when I said that Kratan once had sultans, it still does. I walked around the palace with a guide that is free with admission, who also told me that he has a collection of over 5000 traditional puppets at his home, some of them hundreds of years old. I did not go to a puppet performance, but I did go to a traditional dance performance in this beautiful small outdoor hall, which was pretty cool. The costumes and masks were amazing, and the band was great, the dancing seemed to me almost a martial art, movement wise, very slow and calculated, the hands and the feet arched just so. On my way home, a young Indonesian man started a conversation with me, just as all my other conversations had started, harmless and polite, but it soon became apparent that he was not going to leave me alone and that he was going to follow me the rest of the way home...and I had a little warning bell in my head; this is how I met the next part of my trip. There was a group of young English guys getting some food at a vendor on the side of the road that I had passed, so I turned around and invited myself to join them until I was no longer being hassled. A few hours later I was at a dance club with a group of about ten backpackers, mostly from Europe, but also Canada and California, at a masquerade party. Go figure. The dance music here cracks me up, it's often American pop songs, only in either Indonesian or with different lyrics...so I'm singing along to a song I know, and realize I'm singing a completely different set of lyrics. After one more day in Yogyacarta, I flew to Bali with some of the people I had met that night, stayed in Kuta beach for a day...and decided it is definitely not my scene, too crowded and just too touristy. We rented motorbikes and drove to a temple called Pura Petitenget, which was quite beautiful because it is right on the coast and the views are stunning, and there are very curious monkeys everywhere. From here we went through Ubud and took a 4 hour boat ride to an island called Gili Trawangan, one of three islands called the Gili Islands. Beautiful. Turquoise waters and white beaches, and a nice mellow night scene. It takes about 3 hours to get around the entire island, there are no cars or motor bikes, just bicycles and horse carts. I went out snorkeling for only twenty minutes or so, I didn't chose the best place to do it, but I did see two beautiful turtles. I am here in off season right now apparently, and it is really quiet in most places, June and July and supposed to pick up and be much busier. I'm happy to be here now, although booking certain things such as hiking with a guide or going to certain Islands, is more expensive for only one person, and better with a group. So we stayed on Gili for 3 nights, and today I parted with my new friends, and am on the road again solo. I took a slightly unsettling boat ride to Lombok, a fairly large Island, and only about twenty five minutes from Gili, and then piled myself and my stupidly large backpack onto a motorbike with a driver, and drove to Senggigi, where I am now. We drove up to the top of a mountain, the windy road lined with monkeys, and the forest so green and lush...breath taking. Every trip that I've gone on, has a couple of those moments where you feel so happy and content with that very moment, and although my goodbyes this morning were bittersweet, I had one of those "moments" on that road today. We came down the mountain, and passed a mosque, rice fields on both sides and at least ten or more kids running through them flying kites...a favorite past time here. I have one more day here, and then I am off to the Island of Flores and then on a boat for four days, going to Komodo Island to see...yes- you guessed right, Komodo Dragons. I had not even planned to come over to this part of Indonesia, these Islands are known as Nusa Tenggara, but isn't that how it usually works. I'm happy to be here, still very beachy from Gili Island, as even the shower water is salty, sad to say goodbye, but excited to be back on my own. I met a French girl today and had a very interesting conversation about traveling as a woman solo. It's difficult to explain to many of the travelers I see, they are usually either in couples or solo men, but it is a different reality for a woman to travel alone here. My alertness is at its highest, and at times I feel like I have eyes in the back of my head. I feel safe here for the most part, but trying to decide whether I can go on a hike that I should be able to do by myself, or if I should get food because it's already getting dark, becomes frustrating. I see western girls wearing shorts and tank tops, but they are in groups or with their boyfriends, and I do notice the way people look at them. People here cannot fathom that I am traveling alone..."ALONE? JUST YOU? NO BOYFRIEND!!??" I hear this at least once a day, but regardless, people here have been very helpful and kind to me. Speaking of dark, it is just after six and already the sun has gone down...and I have a dinner date with the French girl I met today, so I'm off to have a hopefully freshwater shower, then food. Love to all. xoxo Daphne
