Indonesia
Bali
Yogyakarta
On the way from KL I change flights in Jakarta. I stick my head out at the airport. Two days ago the Jakarta Marriott was blown up by Jeemah Islamiah the local terror group. I'm just going through... A Saudi Air 747 just landed. The duty free shop has an arab man buying a large supply of Johhny Walker and orders everyone around loudly. The shop girls are giggling, he seems to be tipping well. I wonder if it's all for a big party or just gifts. There's a large sign at customs warning about the mandatory death penalty for drug traffickers. The airport seems on the shabby side, especially right after KL international's ultramodern terminal. Switching to a Garuda flight on the way to Yogjakarta. There's a sandwich and drinks on the plane which is certainly more than american flights provide these days. In Yogja a guy helps me set up my hotel at an agency, not that I really need help but he seems eager. A couple of times he gives me the gay handshake and I act like I didn't notice. The taxi driver takes me downtown and when I ask him about the local food specialty he says it's gado-gado . Soon I get a call from the front desk of the hotel and they put through my "friend" from the airport. He wants to see if I am doing anything this evening or if I want to give him my room number (probably not a good idea in any case), finally I need to explain that I am not Interested. I walk out to the main drag that's just around the corner. The place is absolutely crazy with all the vendors and food stalls, it's hard to walk. In a few minutes a guy "befriends" me and wants to show me his art gallery around the corner. He tells me about the "art exhibit that they are doing for UNESCO tomorrow in Brunei". I take his word for it as we walk to the gallery, but it soon becomes more apparent that I "need to buy today as it may be the last opportunity before all the artists leave town". He actually has really nice batik art in two rooms, but I am not interested yet as I just got off the plane. I finally escape his gallery and have to evade him for the next two days. I pick up a few beers and snacks Circle K for snacks. My small hotel's front desk sets me up on a tour for the next morning for Borobodur and Prambaran the real reason why I came to Yogjakarta.
After the tour and on the way to lunch my friendly batik dealer catches me on the street, but I get away again. Most of the food on the streets looks very sketchy, except for the satay and peanut sauce. Even restaurants are selling stuff that seems to been from yesterday. After walking a long way I finally decide on a chinese food shop (not too many in the city) as it looks the cleanest. Everyone is very friendly on the streets and wants to help me in some way. I look for the local art school that's known for batik, but I end up in a different gallery where at least prices are posted. The guy there mentions that tomorrow they are closing for some art show and it may be time to buy (it sounds less and less plausible). I actually like some of the paintings but I have no money on me. He takes me on his scooter to pick up my credit card and soon I get my batik needs met (I never knew I had any). Walking along I finally find a nice Indonesian restaurant, Indo-bello, run by a local guy and his Dutch wife. The food is excellent and the place is clean.
I get some info on the evening Ramayana show. Check out the Dutch fortress that doubles at the local independence museum. I am the only visitor and a local schoolgirl-guide takes me around and explains each exhibit. Next is the sultan's palace. Here a guide gives me the personal tour of the throne and the facilities. I finally give in to a cyclo driver and let him take me to the local history museum that has gamelan equipment and shadow puppet exhibits. I check out a shopping mall and have more local food. I get a cyclo in the evening for the Ramayana theater. The price includes a coke. The show is impressive and there are only about 20 people watching. I meet some Canadian guy and I tell him about the all night puppet theatre that I am going to check out. We walk together in the dark streets of the sultan's palace and soon we get a new local guide. He takes us to the puppet show through some dark alleys. The program goes from 9 pm to 5am and the place is packed with men. There's a full gamelan ensemble and a women's choir, but no kids or women watching the show. It's one of the few places where it's a macho thing to watch an all night puppet show. After about 20 min we leave and out new guide gives us a tour of the hidden parts of the palace. We see the princess' area and the water garden. At the end the guide is about to show his own batik collection, but instead we take a 2 for 1 cyclo ride back to downtown.
Tomorrow it's on to Bali..
Homepage