Out of the frying pan and into the fire
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2007
1
59
82
Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
Jakarta,
Java,
Indonesia
Monday, June 23, 2008
We had an alright time in Yogya. One of the days we took one long scooter ride one day to Borobodur, an eigth century Buddhist temple that has been refurbished after being found in the late 1800's. A great scene, but covered with people. We arrived at 6 AM, and there parking lot was throbbing with bus loads full of school kids. When we reached the top of the temple we had to stop for a photo session with just about every group of them. It was quite funny actually. The rest of the day we spent cruising down back roads, eventually finding the town we were looking for at the base of a mountain. We had some Bakso, soup with meatballs, for lunch, and later learned it is quite possible there was rat meat in the meat balls. A new food! We then found our way back to the main artery towards the city, which was chock full of scooters.
On the way back into town we stopped at the train station and found out that all the trains for the next two days were full. Which meant that we would be taking the bus instead, and our fate was to take a bus for 18 hours instead of a train for 7. Yipee!!
That night we went out with a great
Dutch couple we had met the day prior. It was just
fantastic. They found this spot that was having a live reggae band,
and we got to dance the night away, which we have not done in ages. It
was great to see young Indonesians playing music, and dancing, just as
we would at home. Though, it was more ska than reggae, it was
great fun. They even played "Radio, Radio, Radio".
Now we are here, waiting out our plane ride, and being followed by some guy, who barely speaks English. We though he was just helping us, and then he sat down to breakfast with us, and we told him we did not need any more help. He has subsequently come with us to the internet cafe, and is sleeping right next to me. Not sure what to do with him, as he doesnt quite get the drift.
We have spent too much money here, including buying a few batiks that we thought were beautiful, and indeed are, but we were told they were done by, and benefiting University students. The place we were at looked fairly reputable, but now we think we may have been scammed. It hurts my heart to be lied to as such. Maybe we are just too trusting, or naive, or whatever it may be. But I refuse to believe people are just wicked in the heart, and so, occasionaly I get burned. But it hurts badly, both my pride, and my heart. I do not know what else to do. Se la vie, life goes on, money gets spent, and all in all, we have loved our time afar. We are heading to two different lakes for some R&R, and just to get out of the scene for a while. Our thoughts have drifted to trying to find some volunteer work while in Laos, and just spending a good chunk of time in one place. We will see how it goes, but for now we are looking ahead to seeing Byrner in Thailand, for it has been a while since we have seen a familiar face.
So, our friend left, and then came back. Amanda got up and told him that there was no reason to wait for us, and then he asked me for some money. It is just a constant thing here. We are wading through shit, but when we do get to look up and around, there are some of the most amazing and beautiful spots. We have been saying to each other that we wish we had just stayed in one spot here, and got to know the locals, because they seem to be great people, but they are guarded by the people who are the face of tourism, and these people we do not so much like.
Anywhoo, the travels go on, as does life, and hopefully a smoother road awaits us. Sorry if this was a sad bit of rambling, but that is sort of how things have been going.
