The romance of air travel

A genuinely rubbish day.

My travelling companion and I both went to Yogyakarta Airport (which is apparently the only Indonesian airport with a train connection - is this relevant?) - I was off to Penang and TC was off to Bali and our flights were scheduled at similar times.

Mine was delayed by about 90mins so I got to Jakarta airport a little later. My next flight was from a different terminal (AirAsia seem to have their own budget terminal) so I made my way on the lovely shuttle bus. I checked in for my next flight and then came outside the airport buildings to find transport. It was not clear at all and there was no apparent method other than a cab. I'm not a fan of cabs but it is fine for Jakarta...
Except, when I explained that I had a flight in 5/6 hours and wanted to go into town and back out again, they just laughed at me. An actual laughter. The thought of getting into town and back out again would take 5 hours, apparently, even if I did not get out.
The day was wasted. I took the shuttle bus around the terminals to have a look and get some food. I took the shuttle bus around to fill some time. I got into the departures area early and then waited. And waited. The announcement system was not clear at all and people were getting up and getting around but there was no display to say which flights were leaving. I went and asked repeatedly, but asking does not make things quicker. The flight to Penang was also delayed, of course.

A bit of music (my addiction at the time was for "Entertainment" by SEKAI NO OWARI) and reading (recentish issues of PRIVATE EYE and New Statesman did at least pass the time).
I got to Penang a little late and without funds, I had to find a cash machine... And then a cab. To be fair, they had a centralised booking system for taxis so I was being officially ripped off rather than scammed and got to my hostel (or Guest Inn) at about 2345. Joy.
Getting there a bit later than expected, what did the receptionist say?
He said that I had not checked in by the 6pm cutoff and so my room had been taken.


Actually, not taken that night (fortunately) but the next night...
And with that news, I went to bed.

The next day was Penang...

Solo Travel

This is a follow up from the journey to Surakarta [link]

A lot of my trips are about how to fit elements together and at this point, I knew I wanted to be in Jakarta (airport) on Friday evening for a flight to Penang. I did not think this would be a particularly tricky transition but due to some circumstances to do with traffic and that getting across Jakarta is apparently very time-consuming - a flight to Jakarta from Yogyakarta was decided upon. As it was taking off fairly early, we needed to return to Yogyakarta that night, so it was a short time in Surakarta before the train back to Yogyakarta. To be honest, Solo is not massive so it was alright.
I wanted to visit the Surakarta Kraton and an antique market [a misleading link imo].
The kraton was pretty interesting although smaller than the Yogyakarta equivalent - it had some nice "residential" elements to it with the pool and tour guide.
The antique market was nothing special with it being dark and rickety and not exactly busy. I'm also not sure there were any antiques there - just a load of old stuff like a car boot sale.
Getting back to Yogyakarta, a trip to the main eating area (on JL Malioboro) was less successful this time. I had some crab, which was provided as a crab - and nothing to get to the crab meat. It wasn't that nice, to be honest, and not worth the considerable effort. I did have some Chicken Satay afterwards though (from somewhere else). There was also a brilliant band playing in the street which I really enjoyed with their percussion - it reminded me a little of an analogue Squarepusher.

And with that, Indonesia had been visited. It wasn't meant to end this way, but it did...

NOTE: The photo album is for more than this day - for further posts related to the album, please click through

Yogyakarta mixed

Surakarta - click for photo album

On to Surakarta

This is a follow up from the temples near Yogyakarta [link]

Surakarta (or Solo) is almost like a sister city to Yogyakarta and not too far away - about an hour by train. The trains are not too frequent and so we planned carefully to make the one at about 2pm in order to have a little time in the morning to investigate the Kraton [link].
The palace is still "active" and the royal family do still live there, protected by a fairly aged army of waiting men.
The palace itself is quite impressive in its own way with a lot of character and shows taking place. There is an area where a traditional puppet show takes place as well as music and some form of chanting. We were provided with an English speaking guide and so were able to get an understanding of some of the workings.... and be guided to the shops that were apparently unique and especially selected by the Sultan. I was dubious.
After leaving, we were taken by another person on a "tour" of a batik workshop and an area where they make many puppets. They were undeniably very impressive although it was clearly a live catalogue for us to buy from rather than a "tour". To be fair, I did buy a little but it was pretty obvious.
A rush to the station via the hotel and one of the longest one way detours I have ever seen meant we just about scraped onto the train (I think the next one was about 3/4 hours later).

After checking in at the hotel, there was not a lot of time left so a quick trip out for some food was all. The food was very nice actually and was also accompanied by some live music. The area we ate in had a statue of Slamet Riyadi (who re-took the city from the Dutch) which, in all honesty, reminded me of the Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cottage although it looks nothing like it.
There was to be more Solo time the next day.



NOTE: The photo album is for more than this day - for further posts related to the album, please click through

Yogyakarta mixed

Surakarta - click for photo album

Temples of Yogyakarta

This is a follow up from a day in Yogyakarta [link]

The easiest, and most sensible way to try to fit in two world famous temple complexes was to hire a car (and driver) to take us to the two places, Borobudur first.
There is not a lot to add, as it is a sensational place but there is not much I can add from a personal point of view that has not been said before.

The temple is a massive step pyramid structure made from giant stone blocks, built on a hill, surrounded by valleys and hills. The levels rise up representing the stages of enlightenment. [link]

One thing I did notice was that it was a very popular location and with many domestic tourists. It was also the first time for a very long time indeed that I was approached by young children wanting to interview a foreigner in English. This used to happen quite regularly when I used to travel about in Japan but it has not happened for a while - though this may be because of my solo nature. It was fun, actually, to talk to the kids and they were quite excitable with their questions. I'm not one to answer simply all the time though - hope it did not cause too many problems.

Borobudur is not super close to the Prambanan complex so we had some lunch along the way - while there was a torrential downpour.
Again, it was a phenomenal place which felt a little more spaced out but the detail and thoughts were stunning. 

Situated in a picturesque plain dotted with archaeological monuments amongst rice paddies and villages, you will probably be impressed by the Hindu Prambanan temple complex before you even pull in to the park, the height and pointed architecture of the temples gives an impressive welcome. [link]

The rain continued here and some entrepreneurial souls decided it would be clever to sell umbrellas to the tourists that were not equipped. I thought it was a great idea - until it stopped raining and the umbrella would not close. I couldn't discard it as the rain was intermittent but it was pretty inconvenient when holding a camera too. Not a patch on the Singaporean umbrella traditions.

It was a pretty full day and so all i did in the evening was get an incredibly painful massage. I could barely walk afterwards - and I needed to walk on the next day on the way to Surakarta.

Yogyakarta, Temples of - click for photo album

Indonesia - into Jogja

On first glance, Indonesia is fairly different to Singapore and, I'll be honest, it doesn't get more similar with subsequent glances.

Initially, Yogyakarta was the destination, also confusingly known as Jogjakarta. Yogyakarta is equidistant^[1] between the famous Borobudur and Prambanan temple complexes which is the beauty of its location. Well, that explains a lot of the tourist attraction though.
I didn't know a great deal about Indonesia generally, or the city specifically. The larger, and better known, cities of Indonesia sit on the island of Java which is big and I hear most commonly associated with coffee^[2]. 

Landing
Upon landing at the airport, a taxi was the best way out of the airport and to the accommodation. Indonesia does not seem to have embraced the idea of mass transportation so it can be a little tricky to get around. Actually, it is not that tricky as you can use taxis to get around so it is, in many ways, easier than pubic transport. 

In general, the problem I have with taxi travel is the feeling of being removed from the environment. It feels a little like being in a hermetically sealed bubble and I felt very insulated as we moved.
It was a short flight, but still strangely tiring and so food was required for a little perkiness. As seems to be the way with travel in South East Asia, I was told that Indonesia was "all about the food" by a fellow traveller - a gentleman from Singapore on the flight. 

After food, the first destination from a short shortlist was the Affandi gallery [link]. I'd never heard of Affandi [link] but I found the gallery and art there to be very much to my tastes. Not being an expert, I can't say much about the technique but I liked the fact that it was expressionist and non-realist. I don't think the website does justice, at all, to the paintings as they were vibrant and striking but they look a little washed out online [link] but they were beautifully moving.

Jogjakarta is not that large and, at night, the central street becomes very busy as people go out to shop and eat - which are classic tourist activities. There was a particular dish that had been recommended and so a search was started. A short search. 

Nasi gudeg ("this sweet flavored dish Nasi Gudeg is made of young jack-fruit cooked with coconut milk and also Javanese palm sugar")was served in most places so we picked one and sat. A "place" was a mixture between a tent, a stall and a restaurant. Seating was on the floor with long tables and pretty casual. Or relaxed, whichever you prefer. I'm generally a fan of these types of places.

Apart from being tasty, food in Indonesia is pretty cheap and this filling meal was the equivalent of £2.

After eating, the area was still pretty bustling and there seemed to be plenty of people out. Plenty of other people.

I was fairly busy the next day so....

NOTE: The photo album is for more than this day - for further posts related to the album, please click through

Yogyakarta mixed - click for photo album

<sup>1. not really, but they are close.↩
2. While in Indonesia, I asked at each hotel reception where I could buy coffee beans from and they each looked at me like I was mental. They seemed genuinely confused at the concept and so I can only assume that it is all for export. The coffee I actually had in Indonesia was of the instant and not so good variety - though I have no doubt I could have searched some out. I was presented with some ground coffee though, but I did not find it.↩</sup>