Since we were so close, we next decided to head over to Indonesia - the flight from Borneo cost us little more than $100 a person and gave us a chance to spend some more time in the surrounding islands. We took a connecting flight from Kuching to KL and then onward to Jakarta (Indonesia's capital), on the island of Java. Luckily, Indonesia allows Canadians to obtain visas on arrival which made for simple entry to the country. In fact, as of a few weeks ago the visas are now FREE for 30 days (they used to cost $35 USD a person) - although, it seems that this policy is so new that even the customs agents weren't quite sure of what the exact details were. When we arrived at the airport our officer had to check a few things on his cell phone on the governmental website and discuss with his buddy in the neighbouring booth to sort out the details. As long as you are flying in and out of certain ports of entry the free visa applies - or else you are stuck with paying.
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| Rising sun over the Merapi volcano |
Jakarta was much more developed than I originally thought. The center of the city is full of large multi-story buildings, hotels and horrendous traffic. Although the city is slowly being taken over by large scale development, it is still managing to hold on (albeit tenuously) to its colonial past. Scattered around the city center are many of the original buildings from the Dutch who ruled these islands for more than 200 years. Before achieving independence shortly after WWII, Indonesia was a Dutch colony called the Dutch East Indies. Arriving in the 1600's the Dutch managed to boot out the Portuguese, and dominate the spice trade in the region providing a direct trade link to Europe (bypassing the Arab middlemen). Indonesia's 'spice islands' produce vast amounts of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, all which were in very high demand.
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| Right across the street from the Mosque is the cities largest church |
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| Shedding the shackles of Dutch colonialism |
Indonesia is also the first large muslim country that I have been to and I was surprised at how loud the muezzin's call to prayer is throughout the day. Starting at 4:30am, all the mosques in the city start humming with activity - with VERY loud, large speakers. It does make for a very atmospheric effect in the evenings around sunset, but I will admit that it does make it hard to sleep in much past 5:00am every day. Earplugs are a must for non-muslims (unless you are a real early-morning person).
From Jakarta our plan is to make our way overland through to the eastern end of Java, and then take a ferry to Bali and Lombok. I was pleasently surprised to find out that Java has a fairly decent railway system which makes getting around the country very easy.
Except when the train breaks down...
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| What better way to ship your motorbike and chicken... |
Our first stop after Jakarta was the cultural center of Java, the city of Yogyakarta (pronounced JogJakarta). This city has a bit of a special status in Indonesia and actually acts as a separate state, complete with its own Sultan! The area around the city is home to two major temple complexes - one Buddhist (Borobudur) and one Hindu (Prambanan). These temples give Ankor Wat a run for its money as the most spectacular in south east asia.
In Yogya we also got to try Loewak coffee for the first time. This is a specialty of Indonesia and it is a bit strange - the coffee is actually from beans that have been previously enjoyed by a local critter called a Civet (thats why its also sometimes known as Civet coffee). Yup - thats right: the Civet (a kind of jungle cat) eats the coffee beans, poops them out and then it is "harvested" and roasted to perfection. Presumably there is also a cleaning step somewhere in there. It is extremely expensive and sold to western markets at a rate of around $500 / kg. The coffee was pretty spectacular, but I am not sure if its worth the money - I'll stick to Starbucks.
We stopped to see both the main Prambanan temple complex and also the nearby Boko Hill Temple - both were very cool. Lots of towers, and statues dedicated to the Hindu god trifecta of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
The next day we signed up for a guided tour of Borobudur - the most famous of the temples in Java (and probably the most popular tourist destination in all of Indonesia). This Buddhist temple was built in the 9th century and is literally wrapped around a large hill surrounded by jungle and mountains on all sides. This temple was only 're-discovered' not too long ago in the 1900's and has since gone through several stages of restoration. The result is a pretty amazing 9-level mega-stupa that is covered from head to toe in very detailed stone carvings depicting many sacred Buddhist stories including Prince Siddhartha's journey to eventually become the first Buddha. For our tour we opted to go with Kaleidoscope of Java - run by a man who actually grew up in Borobudur village. For the tour we started with an early-morning climb to the top of the temple complex to watch the sunrise. It then followed with a little bit of exposure to Javanese culture and local village life. The combination of the pre-dawn blue-light mixed with the orange intensity of the rising sun was spectacular.
Us trying our hand at Javanese gamelan - we sounded like a 3rd grade band recital.
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| I got the easy job... |
The second village is known for its ceramics, which are still made in the traditional way from local clay, and fired (litterally) in huge bon fires in the front yards of the residents. Some of these ladies were like mini-pottery factories with hundreds of pieces in-progress out in the sun drying in the front yard.
Marie also gave it a try - attempting to make a stupa shaped ashtray (with a lot of guidance). Not bad for a first try.
From here our plan is to head east overland toward Bali, with a stop at some volcanos along the way!
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