Today we left Yogyakarta and made our way to Kaliurang in preparation of climbing Mt. Merapi Volcano tomorrow, which is currently the most active Volcano in the world. So to get there we had to catch a local bus to the main bus station and then change buses. However, once we were on the bus, it emptied out, the driver and conductor said they would take us all the way there for a cheaper price so we wouldn’t have to change! Perfect and extremely nice of them!

However, I think it was an excuse for them to have a drive and thus enjoy some lunch and time off! When we arrived in Kaliurang they unfortunately as well as 3 other locals gave us incorrect directions for Vogels, which is the guesthouse we were staying in. So we wandered around and around for ages before working out that it was right where the bus had dropped us off! As soon as we checked in, we instantly fell in love with the place and the owner Christian and enjoyed a chilled evening in the restaurant.

written by  chrischarly on June 5, 2011 from Kaliurang, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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This morning we woke up at 4:30am to get ready for our trip to Borobudur, Mendut Temple, and Prambanan.

Firstly, we took a minibus to Borobudur, which is an amazing Buddhist temple constructed in the 9th century AD.

We took a guide and learnt all about the symbolism of the temple and in short, it shows the journey of Buddha from birth through to enlightenment, sharing the guiding principles along the way.

This monument was actually lost and destroyed by various volcanic eruptions and only rediscovered and renovated after 1814.

It’s like the biggest, most complex jigsaw puzzle ever attempted. Plus, it took 10 years and they still have several 10,000’s pieces left over.

Also, every time Merapi erupts, quite regular of late, it is buried in ash and they need to clean it all! Don’t fancy that job!

Afterwards we went to Mendut Temple, which houses a 3m tall Buddha. Some believe it was supposed to be put on top of Borobudur, but they couldn’t work out how to get it up there. I can see them scratching their heads and saying ‘Oh Bugger’, all those years ago!

Finally on our thoroughly cultural day, we went to Prambanan, which is a massive Hindu temple complex, built, would you believe it, in the 9th century AD.

Once again my cultural mind could see the Hindus and the Buddhists having a build off, the Buddhists finishing first but the Hindu’s saying 'you ain’t done till you get that big Buddha fellow on top, suckers!'

written by  chrischarly on June 4, 2011 from Borobudur, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Chris sitting on the balcony

After having a lovey lie-in this morning, we went for a walk around the streets of Yogyakarta. It was so hot and humid today, which didn’t help the stinky smells of the city. It is also so loud here with all the mopeds and cars driving around honking their horns. I swear I have never in all my life seen so many motorbikes in such a confined area, it’s literally crazy here. It is like being back in India again for so many reasons. We can’t walk more than 10ft without people coming up to us and asking us a zillion questions and by lunchtime, I was already exhausted.

Chris and I sat in a cute restaurant

However, the majority of people are really friendly though, but it doesn’t make it any easier to keep your smile plastered on your face!

written by  chrischarly on June 3, 2011 from Yogyakarta, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Chris and I

This morning after a surprisingly good night’s sleep, but covered in mozzie bites, we woke up at 6am and decided to make a run for it and leave Jakarta. Although we went to the train station last night and tried to book tickets to go to Yogyakarta, we decided to not take ‘Full’ for an answer! So we jumped in a tuk tuk to the station and Chris managed to blag his way onto a luxury train. Prices weren’t cheap at all, but as soon as we got onto the train, the money was instantly justified, as it was so comfy, clean, and spacious with air con and unbelievably plug sockets! Perfect!

The lovely comfy train

Leaving Jakarta

An over-flowing bin just outside of Jakarta

The scenery along the way was great as well. There were just miles and miles of rice terraces and cute little villages to look out at.

On the way

Rice paddies with a huge mountain or volano in the background

However, just over half way the power was cut off, thus no electricity and worse, no more air-con! My God, it was simply like being in a sauna, it just got hotter and hotter, and as it was an air-conditioned train, none of the windows would open, so no breeze so we were left to bake for the next 3 hours! I felt so sorry for a local family trying their best with 3 young children to keep cool, using everything they could to fan them down even though sweat was literally pouring down them!

Rice paddies

farmland

So, we were relieved when we finally arrived! Finding accommodation wasn’t as easy as we thought, as most of the nice ones were full already. But after about walking in and out of 10 of them, we found a nice little place for good value but unfortunately, we forgot to check the bed! As soon as we sat down on the bottom right corner, Chris almost fell through! So we lifted up the mattress and found a huge chunk of wood missing! It was very funny though, but it didn’t matter as long as we avoided that area of the bed! In the evening after having one of the most refreshing showers, we went out for something to eat and got chatting to a friendly English couple, Nadia and Sam who gave us loads of great tips on what to do in Indonesia until late at night.

written by  chrischarly on June 2, 2011 from Jakarta, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Me eating tradional Malay food... Chris was soooooo proud!

As it was our last day in Kuching, and well our last full-day in Malaysia we decided to go out and try some of the local foods that Sarawak is famous for. Chris had a ‘Sarawak Laksa’ and I had ‘Tomato Keow Taow’ which is fried noodles cooked in a tomato sauce with other bits in which were tasty but I have no idea what they were.

????

We then went back and did last minute preparation for tomorrow, as we still haven’t worked out what we should do once in Jakarta.

Staff

And now that it is the evening we are going to have a few drinks to toast Malaysia!

The lounge in Wojia Lodge

Probably not the best plan before a day of flying, but we'll deal with that tomorrow! :)

Our German friends, David and Tanya

A statue outside a Chinese temple

A tasty Lebonese Restaurant

Oh and finally the scab fell off my knee, now a month later I'm left with a big hole in the middle and a rank scar!

My knee a month later, with a hole and scars all round... yuck!!

Men picking up huge wooden things with their teeth!

Chris looking out a window in a traditional Malay house

Today we woke up early and caught a shuttle bus to Sarawak Cultural Village in Damai. We had heard great things about it and as they were celebrating their Harvest Festival this weekend we thought it would be a great time to visit.

Chris walking along a mission of a bridge

Climbing up very thin steps made out of a tree trunk

It wasn’t however how we expected it to be.

A mask

A statue

I had heard wrong and thought it was a real longHouse village from years ago, but really it is so touristy and they had built replica longHouses from the different tribes.

A typical bedroom

Inside a longhouse

It was a great chance though to see what a real long House looked like even if it had never been lived in.

A long house

A Long house

Some figurines

An iron-man competition

Inside a longhouse

Me looking at gongs

An old-style bed

Ladies making cakes

But there was very little to do and it was very pricy to Enter at £12pp and for Malaysian standards that is high.

Chris and I waiting for the dances to start

Another Mr. Joel staying at a longhouse...

There was an iron-man competition going on which was weird in such a setting with loud music blaring all day, so it didn’t make the whole experience life-like.

Dancing

A traditional cultural dance

Impressive!

A man balancing on a stick

But what we did see were a few cultural dances which were impressive from different tribes around Sarawak.

Ladies in traditional clothing

Shooting blow-darts

However as we were sitting right at the front we noticed they were all the same dancers dressed up differently for each dance, which was also a great disappointment considering it was advertised to be tribes that were dancing.

Ladies dressed up as they would in tribes years ago

There's something not right about this picture??

Nevertheless we did have a good day and did manage to see the funny side and were pretty tired once we got back.

written by  chrischarly on May 29, 2011 from Kuching, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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