Cirebon: Nothing to see here. Very cheap as we paid only 40,000 Rp for a room (cheapest in Indonesia) and the people are very nice.
Semarang: Probably our favourite city in Java. It has super nice people who will all leave you alone as they will think you are expats as no tourists go there. They have some great Dutch colonial architecture and its comfortably the prettiest city in Java, with the old railway headquarters and the canal, which is dirty but atmospheric. There is only enough to keep you busy for a day, but there is not much traffic, its clean and its just a pleasant place to take a break. If Java is breaking you like it did to us, then I'd recommend a couple of nights here to unwind.
Solo: Underwhelming. We didn't even visit anything here. We just kind of hung around. Its a poor man's Yogya and we didn't even like Yogya that much. We met Ash and Reli here though, which was cool as we would travel with them to Bromo and had a really cool time hanging out with them, although they have managed to hook us on Game of Thrones lol.
Probolinggo: Didn't see much outside of the bus station and hotels. The third hotel from the bus station is the best value for money we had in Java. Everyone around the bus station is a total bastard. They wanted to charge us 25,000 for a mie goreng and lie and lie and lie. I hate the people of this town. They tried to force us into taking private transport to go to Bromo for 4 hours before we could get the local bus and even then they were fighting each other. They had done the same in Surabaya when we usually get local prices because we speak some Bahasa. When one guy had said that in Surabaya another guy punched him because he was letting us take local transport. They have some serious problems here. Also when we left they lied about the bus price and then threw us off the bus when we refused to pay the new inflated price and we had to walk 4km back to the bus station before we got a new one. Really make sure you fight hard here and if you have to get a bus wait for it round the corner outside the station where the touts can't find you.
Bromo: Yet more hassle. We were getting worn down in Java now. The public bus eventually took us for 25,000 up to Cemara Lawang, where they ambushed us for a 75,000 Rp entrance. Shit. Ash and Reli said they didn't have enough money and they eventually let us go for 25,000 each. Nice. They then dropped us at a homestay where we paid 200,000 for one room before we realised there were alternatives. There are a lot of homestays at the top, so if you take public transport have a look around and see which ones you prefer. Everyone wanted us to take a jeep and some kid was selling hats and gloves. He wanted 15,000 from a local for both, but then asked me for 20,000 for just a hat. No shame. We paid 25,000 for two hats in the end as he was a nice kid. We opted not to climb up the side mountain for sunrise as the weather had been super cloudy. We were lucky as it was cloudy that morning and we didn't miss anything. We decided to walk the 3km across the plain to Bromo, where we were hassled by motorbike people for half the way before they gave up. The 'tours' take you to sand dunes across the plain. This is laughable because if you walk across the middle you see the same sand dunes, but the jeeps skirt them to the right so you think you have seen something extra and then drop you off 1km from the volcano anyway, so you aren't walking much less by crossing yourself and its so much more scenic. I'd recommend walking across if you want the place to yourself a bit. It was scenic and therapeutic walking across the middle. We walked up the few steps to the top and looked down on Bromo. Its really pretty and well worth the visit. At last something world class to offset the growing dislike of Java we were experiencing. Java probably became the worst place overall on our trip for hassle, while Sumatra was the place we had the least hassle. If they flipped Way Kambas and Ujung Kulon onto the opposite islands it would be complete. Ash walked the whole perimeter of the volcano and has one of those action cams that look amazing. Apparently they work underwater as well and given that our cameras two biggest weaknesses are capturing scenery and being useless underwater, I think an action cam will be our first purchase for our next trip. Bromo is amazing. Just be prepared for the hassle.
Bondowoso: Nice little town and because Cannelle was sick we spent a few days here in a hotel with a swimming pool. We tried to sort out accommodation up Ijen but the hotels were super rude and apparently keep themselves free only for tour groups. Fuckers. I would have gone up in the afternoon and walked the full distance (9km from the last town) and back down for free, but Cannelle was too sick. So we had no option but to take private transport. If you intend to take private transport then I recommend going from Banyuwangi. I reckon you can get a car there for 250,000 or 300,000 to get up for the blue fire. We met someone who took an ojek for 150,000 return from Banyuwangi. We met an idiot in the street who wanted 700,000 and said the cheapest he could do was 650,000. We told him 400,000 or nothing. He said no. So we went with the hotel for 600,000 and get the security at least. Then the idiot came back to us saying ok for 400,000 3 hours before we left. He said we had an agreement with him. I told him that he'd said no. Fucking idiot. So you can get a car for 400,000 or 450,000 in Bondowoso if you stick to your guns, but I still reckon its easier in Banyuwangi and I like the people in both towns, but Banyuwangi is nicer and their bus station people are not arseholes like Bondowoso. Again we were thrown off a bus and had to walk back 2km. Fucking bastards. I was tired of Java. The next one agreed a fee of 16,000 to Banyuwangi and then insisted it was now 25,000. I told him I was too big for him to throw me off, he would get only 16,000 and I would only pay him in Banyuwangi bus station. Arsehole. I was tired of these games. He tried every trick to get money off me. He claimed the other guy didn't speak English so had got the price wrong. We spoke in Bahasa so no go. Next he said he was just a passenger, even though he clearly worked there. Then he told me he had to clear security outside. I said ok when they come on and they never did. Just a fat fuck who wanted more money. Even at the end he begged for 25,000. Bastard.
Ijen: Its cold at the top so take some warm clothes. You do not need a guide under any circusmstances. Not even to go down to the blue fire, no matter what they say. You could take a jeep up the trail. Its that obvious. Also there are about 100 other people making the climb at least so you can just follow them. The blue fire was not as impressive as some photos and its touch and go whether it is worth the effort to go up early and freeze your balls off to see it. It was raining though, so maybe that affected it a bit. Cannelle was scared to go down until I pushed her and it is slippery, but I don't think its that dangerous if you don't take stupid risks and we were both ok vertigo wise. The hike down is nice, though the rain was making us damp and super cold. The blue fire is supposed to be natural, but seemed to be artificial as they were stoking fires. I guess it could be due to the rain. Maybe it put out the fire and they had to stoke it again, because it had looked more blue from up top before the rain came. The sulphur is not as bad as everyone says and you don't need one of their stupid masks. You just need a material you can breathe through. I used the sleeve of my jumper and it was fine, though my throat was burning a little by the time we got back up to the rim. The slow reveal of the lake as the sun comes up is stunning and it was probably the most uniquely beautiful of all the volcanos we had been to so far. Beautiful turquoise waters. Little bit of cloud from the sulphur, but it was undoubtedly a highlight. Its a must see and along with Bromo and Ujung Kulon they are the three highlights of Java. We met a French woman at the top and chatted with her on the way down (which is also a beautiful walk). Its a lot of hassle to do Bromo and Ijen on your own, but I'd still recommend it over the tours between Bali and Yogya, because most of the tourists had to leave before the lake was clear and at its most beautiful.
Banyuwangi: Nice town. Nicest people in Java and a nice antidote to all the shit we had to put up with on that island. Go to Ijen from here as its a nice place to base yourself. They have bullshit prices to the port for Bali but we paid 5,000 for each angkot, even though you could just find the 6 in downtown and go straight there for 5,000. Goodbye Java and thank fuck its over. We saw a lot of nice things but we were so tired of all the bullshit in Java. We left Sumatra feeling very sad, we left Java with a sigh of relief. No question for me which is better. We just had Lombok and Bali left now and then it was off to Sydney to earn some money back lol.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Indonesia (Java Part 2: Depok, Cipanas, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Borobodur and Prambanan)
Depok: We arrived in Depok and stayed with Julie and her family for 10 days. It was one of the highlights of our time in Indonesia. We spent time chatting about everything and nothing as well as sampling a vast array of Indonesian dishes. The town itself has nothing to recommend it except that everyone just leaves you alone in a good way. We had to get our visa sorted here as well and because we only paid the 250,000 for a first extension of a 60 day visa we would have to wait a long time. We put it in on tuesday and they wanted us to come back on friday to pay and the wednesday after to collect it. They expected us to pay more to speed up the process, but given that we were going to Cipanas and Bandung for 2 days and would be back friday before going to Yogyakarta for 3 days over the weekend and back for wednesday, we actually thought it was perfect timing wise and we agreed much to their surprise and disappointment.
Cipanas: The drive over the fabled Puncak to get to Cipanas took us 5 hours to go about 50km or so. The traffic is abysmal and you have to pay backhanders to random dudes on the street to send you round some back alleys, like some random touring car race, in order to beat the traffic. I still think they create the traffic jams to make sure that people pay for the 'help' but Cannelle thinks I am too cynical. Cipanas itself is a rather nondescript town, but the gardens were really beautiful. They were everything we had been expecting in Bogor and had been disappointed not to find. Lots of beautifully landscaped gardens, a maze (bit too easy) and even mock Balinese and Japanese gardens. It was a very pleasant distraction, but I'd advise visiting it from Bandung side as Puncak is not that amazing and it appears to be just a giant town for prostitution and shitty getaways.
Bandung: We just passed through Bandung and can only say it looks nice enough, though far short of its 'Paris' nickname. It also has a lot of outlet stores where you can buy a lot of cheap clothes if you want some retail therapy. We went to the famous upturned boat volcano, that doesn't look anything like an upturned boat. It is however quite pretty. Its surrounded by touts and I recommended that Andy (Julie's husband) charge for photos and they could make a bule profit lol. These places are both nice and both worth a visit on your way to Yogyakarta if you want to break up your journey.
Yogyakarta: Ah the great divisive city. Half of it is excellent, half of it is shit. Lets start with the shit. The tourist area around the main street is fucking horrible, with so many people vying for your attention and business. Not pleasant people. They also fuck locals as much as they fuck tourists, so don't worry, you're not receiving 'special' treatment. One guy even said 'oh white people, you are always so difficult' in Bahasa when we said no to his extortionate bus tour. Fucker. We wouldn't be difficult if you weren't being lying sacks of shits. Borobodur and Prambanan are also thoroughly underwhelming. If you haven't seen many temples before then Borobodur is nice if hideously overpriced, but Prambanan is so crappy its not worth visiting unless you are a hardcore temple lover and even then you want to think twice considering the price. Prambanan is 171,000 Rp and Borobodur is 190,000 Rp. Locals pay only 30,000 Rp. We asked about the difference and they said we get free tea or coffee. Indeed. Well worth the money. I have to say my two $16 cups of coffee were exquisite and well worth the higher than Norwegian prices for them. Arseholes. Anyway. Borobodur is probably worth the 30,000 Rp but considering its one temple and you get Bagan (for 3 days for $10) and Angkor Wat ($30 for all the temples), its far too expensive. So suffice to say that after the first day we didn't really see what all the fuss was about with Yogya. Yeah its a little funky (but only a little) and it is really cheap (which seems to be the number one thing Indonesians say when you ask them why they like Yogya). Being cheap doesn't cut it alone. Oh well, disappointing. We even went to a Gamelan performance, which seems to be a lot of noise at one time with some random whacking together of two puppets. I am not sure where the skill is needed and I couldn't decide if the all round assault of the senses was something I liked or something I detested. I was only sure that 30 minutes is enough for one lifetime. Why so many foreigners want to stay ages in this place, God alone knows. Then I have thought that of a lot of places in Indonesia. The places all the foreigners hang out in are shitty and everywhere else is really cool. Weird, huh? On day two we went wandering south of the Kraton (the Kraton itself is nice) through areas Julie knew as a student. There are some beautiful lanes down here and they end at the swimming baths, which have a distinctly Roman slant. This part of Yogya is great. We then went to Kota Gede (silver district) and again it had a very European bent to it and was really pleasant to walk around in. These areas of Yogya were almost magical and there were almost no tourists. Where the fuck do the idiot tourists go in Indonesia. Just around the touristy parts. Fuck them. They will miss the beauty of the country. I can see the appeal of these area, but as almost no tourists go there I don't see what the appeal is for the tourists who stay there, unless they like shitty puppet shows and flowery dresses. Java was not appealing to us in the same way as Sumatra, as it was always a hassle, a fight and so many people. I would recommend Sumatra over Java without hesitation every time.
Cipanas: The drive over the fabled Puncak to get to Cipanas took us 5 hours to go about 50km or so. The traffic is abysmal and you have to pay backhanders to random dudes on the street to send you round some back alleys, like some random touring car race, in order to beat the traffic. I still think they create the traffic jams to make sure that people pay for the 'help' but Cannelle thinks I am too cynical. Cipanas itself is a rather nondescript town, but the gardens were really beautiful. They were everything we had been expecting in Bogor and had been disappointed not to find. Lots of beautifully landscaped gardens, a maze (bit too easy) and even mock Balinese and Japanese gardens. It was a very pleasant distraction, but I'd advise visiting it from Bandung side as Puncak is not that amazing and it appears to be just a giant town for prostitution and shitty getaways.
Bandung: We just passed through Bandung and can only say it looks nice enough, though far short of its 'Paris' nickname. It also has a lot of outlet stores where you can buy a lot of cheap clothes if you want some retail therapy. We went to the famous upturned boat volcano, that doesn't look anything like an upturned boat. It is however quite pretty. Its surrounded by touts and I recommended that Andy (Julie's husband) charge for photos and they could make a bule profit lol. These places are both nice and both worth a visit on your way to Yogyakarta if you want to break up your journey.
Yogyakarta: Ah the great divisive city. Half of it is excellent, half of it is shit. Lets start with the shit. The tourist area around the main street is fucking horrible, with so many people vying for your attention and business. Not pleasant people. They also fuck locals as much as they fuck tourists, so don't worry, you're not receiving 'special' treatment. One guy even said 'oh white people, you are always so difficult' in Bahasa when we said no to his extortionate bus tour. Fucker. We wouldn't be difficult if you weren't being lying sacks of shits. Borobodur and Prambanan are also thoroughly underwhelming. If you haven't seen many temples before then Borobodur is nice if hideously overpriced, but Prambanan is so crappy its not worth visiting unless you are a hardcore temple lover and even then you want to think twice considering the price. Prambanan is 171,000 Rp and Borobodur is 190,000 Rp. Locals pay only 30,000 Rp. We asked about the difference and they said we get free tea or coffee. Indeed. Well worth the money. I have to say my two $16 cups of coffee were exquisite and well worth the higher than Norwegian prices for them. Arseholes. Anyway. Borobodur is probably worth the 30,000 Rp but considering its one temple and you get Bagan (for 3 days for $10) and Angkor Wat ($30 for all the temples), its far too expensive. So suffice to say that after the first day we didn't really see what all the fuss was about with Yogya. Yeah its a little funky (but only a little) and it is really cheap (which seems to be the number one thing Indonesians say when you ask them why they like Yogya). Being cheap doesn't cut it alone. Oh well, disappointing. We even went to a Gamelan performance, which seems to be a lot of noise at one time with some random whacking together of two puppets. I am not sure where the skill is needed and I couldn't decide if the all round assault of the senses was something I liked or something I detested. I was only sure that 30 minutes is enough for one lifetime. Why so many foreigners want to stay ages in this place, God alone knows. Then I have thought that of a lot of places in Indonesia. The places all the foreigners hang out in are shitty and everywhere else is really cool. Weird, huh? On day two we went wandering south of the Kraton (the Kraton itself is nice) through areas Julie knew as a student. There are some beautiful lanes down here and they end at the swimming baths, which have a distinctly Roman slant. This part of Yogya is great. We then went to Kota Gede (silver district) and again it had a very European bent to it and was really pleasant to walk around in. These areas of Yogya were almost magical and there were almost no tourists. Where the fuck do the idiot tourists go in Indonesia. Just around the touristy parts. Fuck them. They will miss the beauty of the country. I can see the appeal of these area, but as almost no tourists go there I don't see what the appeal is for the tourists who stay there, unless they like shitty puppet shows and flowery dresses. Java was not appealing to us in the same way as Sumatra, as it was always a hassle, a fight and so many people. I would recommend Sumatra over Java without hesitation every time.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Indonesia (Java Part 1: Cilegon, Ujung Kulon National Park, Bogor and Jakarta)
After negotiating the ferry we realised we weren't going to get any further than Cilegon so we spent the night there. They initially lied to us about having a cheap room, but then changed their mind when we started to leave. The next day we took two connecting buses to Ujung Kulon. They wanted 50,000 for the second bus but we paid the 30,000 we should have done in the end (I suspect it might have been cheaper).
Ujung Kulon National Park: Beautiful place. The little village of Tamanjaya is very pleasant and it has a very Sumatran feel to it. We stayed in the place recommended by LP and I have to say that I dont agree with their assessment that the owner is an expert on local knowledge. I am beginning to think that LP is getting very sloppy and there is certainly room for a real backpacker guidebook. Oh well just have to carve our own route. He was not an expert and seemed instead intent on selling us his tour. I guess most tourists just accept the local advice, but I want to see what I want and not what I am told to. He wanted us to trek for 3 or 4 days to Peucang Island (guide is 100,000 a day) and then take a boat back (1.5 million). I guess the boat is where they make their money. Peucang Island looks nice enough, but the boat is too expensive and we were here for wildlife. Its famous for rhinos (Almost impossible to see and the guide had seen them once only when kayaking near the island beginning with H). So that wasn't worth the money. Peucang Island has macaques, wild boar and deer (woohoo as exciting as Way Kambas). We were here for gibbons and Javan leaf monkeys. These are within a day trip walk of the village, so we agreed to take a guide for 100,000 and take a day trip. The food here is good if overpriced and we paid 100,000 for the room. Still well under budget for the days we stayed here. The park permit is valid for 7 days. We went on the initial trek skeptical of seeing monkeys, but we saw gibbons (briefly after a chase), javan black leaf monkeys and crab eating macaques. I have no idea where the silver leaf monkeys are and neither do the guides seemingly. We saw hornbills (that sounded like pterodactyls over our heads) and loads of giant fruit bats, including around the hotel. Amazing. The park itself is very beautiful. We saw lizards and crabs and beautiful butterflies. This is why we came here. Its a 30km round trip walk to the ranger post and you can make it a triangle with a right hook at the beach (but its only worth walking 2km in this direction as we saw gibbons there once and beyond that the path is too muddy). No need to stay in the park. No need to spend loads for the boat. We enjoyed it so much we repeated the trip the following day for another 100,000 and this time saw nothing in the morning, but groups of gibbons 3 times after lunch on the way back (again proving that animals love the trails when people are not usually on them). We saw loads more macaques and more black leaf monkeys (Much faster than their cousins). Well worth the visit and one of the highlights of the trip. We also took a visit to the hot spring (which is more a trickle, but the walk across the rice fields to get there is really nice). Its a nice end to a day when you have finished monkey watching. This park is great and along with Gunung Leuser and Kerinci have been highlights of our trip. To get out was taxing as they wanted more money, but most of the other buses were fine until we got to the last town before Bogor. They wanted 25,000 and sent everyone and his dog to convince me that was the price. I had a feeling it was 20,000 and stuck to my guns. I was proved right when I saw everyone else paying. They really try their luck here in Java. It gets exhausting after some time.
Bogor: Overrated. Really overrated. We were anticipating some mountain town, but its over 1 million people and a suburb of Jakarta. Can't say anything notable happened here apart from getting a haircut. The 'gardens' are a joke for the price. More like a public park and really badly taken care of. If you haven't seen green for a while, its an ok escape, but otherwise its quite forgettable like the town.
Jakarta: We were afraid for Jakarta before we went there as people had told us it was super polluted and I feared yet another Manila. Thankfully it proved unfounded apart from the canal (which stinks like shit and is even worse when the rain comes). I found Jakarta a pleasant city (caveat is I like big cities) and the Transjakarta is a useful transport system, like the Transmillenio I was used to in Bogota. We stayed in a great hotel right next to Harmoni bus station down a side alley. Will be really good when fully renovated. The city has some really modern buildings, cinemas and restaurants with nothing standout. Kota old town is quite cute with the main square, although the port is totally rundown and swarming with naked beggar children sliding in the rain. Very disturbing. It doesn't have a lot of charm but its worth a day. The view from Monas is really nice, even if you run the risk of dying of boredom waiting in the queue for the lift. The carrefour has baguettes and camembert and brie so we could have a nice picnic in the room. I was helping Bee prepare for her IELTS exam in the evening and she came close, but hopefully they let her in. We met up with Jessica, who can't travel with me due to my overbearing personality. That happens with a lot of people. I am an acquired taste and you have to be a strong character. We saw her friend sing in a nice little cafe that did a weird interpretation of Philly Cheesesteaks. Then I got very, very sick and had gastroentiritis for 2 days. That meant I didn't do much. Cannelle went to see Jessica and eventually when I was well enough we headed off to Depok to stay with Julie who we had met in Bukittinggi and sort out the nightmare visa situation. Jakarta is a nice city to just kick back with some urban life for a bit, but we were soon to discover that Java is just one giant urban monster.
Ujung Kulon National Park: Beautiful place. The little village of Tamanjaya is very pleasant and it has a very Sumatran feel to it. We stayed in the place recommended by LP and I have to say that I dont agree with their assessment that the owner is an expert on local knowledge. I am beginning to think that LP is getting very sloppy and there is certainly room for a real backpacker guidebook. Oh well just have to carve our own route. He was not an expert and seemed instead intent on selling us his tour. I guess most tourists just accept the local advice, but I want to see what I want and not what I am told to. He wanted us to trek for 3 or 4 days to Peucang Island (guide is 100,000 a day) and then take a boat back (1.5 million). I guess the boat is where they make their money. Peucang Island looks nice enough, but the boat is too expensive and we were here for wildlife. Its famous for rhinos (Almost impossible to see and the guide had seen them once only when kayaking near the island beginning with H). So that wasn't worth the money. Peucang Island has macaques, wild boar and deer (woohoo as exciting as Way Kambas). We were here for gibbons and Javan leaf monkeys. These are within a day trip walk of the village, so we agreed to take a guide for 100,000 and take a day trip. The food here is good if overpriced and we paid 100,000 for the room. Still well under budget for the days we stayed here. The park permit is valid for 7 days. We went on the initial trek skeptical of seeing monkeys, but we saw gibbons (briefly after a chase), javan black leaf monkeys and crab eating macaques. I have no idea where the silver leaf monkeys are and neither do the guides seemingly. We saw hornbills (that sounded like pterodactyls over our heads) and loads of giant fruit bats, including around the hotel. Amazing. The park itself is very beautiful. We saw lizards and crabs and beautiful butterflies. This is why we came here. Its a 30km round trip walk to the ranger post and you can make it a triangle with a right hook at the beach (but its only worth walking 2km in this direction as we saw gibbons there once and beyond that the path is too muddy). No need to stay in the park. No need to spend loads for the boat. We enjoyed it so much we repeated the trip the following day for another 100,000 and this time saw nothing in the morning, but groups of gibbons 3 times after lunch on the way back (again proving that animals love the trails when people are not usually on them). We saw loads more macaques and more black leaf monkeys (Much faster than their cousins). Well worth the visit and one of the highlights of the trip. We also took a visit to the hot spring (which is more a trickle, but the walk across the rice fields to get there is really nice). Its a nice end to a day when you have finished monkey watching. This park is great and along with Gunung Leuser and Kerinci have been highlights of our trip. To get out was taxing as they wanted more money, but most of the other buses were fine until we got to the last town before Bogor. They wanted 25,000 and sent everyone and his dog to convince me that was the price. I had a feeling it was 20,000 and stuck to my guns. I was proved right when I saw everyone else paying. They really try their luck here in Java. It gets exhausting after some time.
Bogor: Overrated. Really overrated. We were anticipating some mountain town, but its over 1 million people and a suburb of Jakarta. Can't say anything notable happened here apart from getting a haircut. The 'gardens' are a joke for the price. More like a public park and really badly taken care of. If you haven't seen green for a while, its an ok escape, but otherwise its quite forgettable like the town.
Jakarta: We were afraid for Jakarta before we went there as people had told us it was super polluted and I feared yet another Manila. Thankfully it proved unfounded apart from the canal (which stinks like shit and is even worse when the rain comes). I found Jakarta a pleasant city (caveat is I like big cities) and the Transjakarta is a useful transport system, like the Transmillenio I was used to in Bogota. We stayed in a great hotel right next to Harmoni bus station down a side alley. Will be really good when fully renovated. The city has some really modern buildings, cinemas and restaurants with nothing standout. Kota old town is quite cute with the main square, although the port is totally rundown and swarming with naked beggar children sliding in the rain. Very disturbing. It doesn't have a lot of charm but its worth a day. The view from Monas is really nice, even if you run the risk of dying of boredom waiting in the queue for the lift. The carrefour has baguettes and camembert and brie so we could have a nice picnic in the room. I was helping Bee prepare for her IELTS exam in the evening and she came close, but hopefully they let her in. We met up with Jessica, who can't travel with me due to my overbearing personality. That happens with a lot of people. I am an acquired taste and you have to be a strong character. We saw her friend sing in a nice little cafe that did a weird interpretation of Philly Cheesesteaks. Then I got very, very sick and had gastroentiritis for 2 days. That meant I didn't do much. Cannelle went to see Jessica and eventually when I was well enough we headed off to Depok to stay with Julie who we had met in Bukittinggi and sort out the nightmare visa situation. Jakarta is a nice city to just kick back with some urban life for a bit, but we were soon to discover that Java is just one giant urban monster.
Indonesia (Sumatra Part 6: Banderlampung, Jepara and Way Kambas National Park)
Banderlampung: Pleasant big town. Nothing to do here, but they have a very nice modern hotel and its a good place to kick back for a couple of days if you are missing the comforts of home. Be wary of the becak driver who will stalk you all over town. We really enjoyed it, but its nondescript.
Jepara: We were forced to stay here due to problems with the park, but there is a nice hotel with karaoke for 250,000 if you really want to torture yourself by visiting Way Kambas.
Way Kambas National Park: OOOhhhh this will be fun. Haven't had this much of a rant since Ecuador. You may want to try Bukit Berasan Selatan (we never had time) as its part of the triumvirate of UNESCO Sumatra parks along with Gunung Leuser and Kerinci (which we loved), but for the love of God stay away from this park. Unless you have private transport to and from the park and are willing to burn through at least $500 and love birds then this park is not for you (If you answer yes to the above three you will probably have a nice if overpriced stay). Lets start at the beginning. They let us have a bus to Metro and then there they lied and said there was no bus to Rajabasa and wanted us to charter a van. This went on for 4 hours before they eventually gave us a fucking bus. Only the old people were honest. Then we found out there were no hotels or homestays in Rajabasa and the park is actually 7km from the village. Shit. It was late so we went to Jepara to stay. Luckily they agreed to look after our big bags and are subsequently the best option for visiting the park independently. We then took an angkot to the village again and walked the 7km to the park. Ojeks want around 30,000 so not too bad. Once we got to the park the troubles really began. They invent fees to pay (we ignored these), but they won't let you walk in due to tigers (rubbish) and we had to pay 150,000 for 2 ojeks for the 13km to the park hq. Here you are veritable prisoner, because you are not allowed to walk anywhere. When we tried, they sent us back like babies. They want 300,000 for a 3 hour walk and anything from 500,000 to 1.5 million for a 2 hour boat trip. Insanely expensive. No backpacker can afford this. When we told them it was expensive they just laughed and said not for us. The shit shack in the middle of the jungle was 300,000 (still our most expensive hotel and more than the plasma screen, hot water, super comfortable bed place in Banderlampung). They tried to screw us out of more money in the park, but it was beyond us. Hence what I said about $500. They watched our every movement like inmates and we told them the next day we would walk out of the park as we couldn't afford anything (Bear in mind at Ujung Kulon accommodation is 100,000 and a whole day guide is 100,000. In Gunung Leuser accommodation is 50,000 and a whole day guide is 300,000. Kerinci accommodation is 100,000 and a whole day guide is 300,000). All those parks are many, many times better than Way Kambas. You have to be lucky to see wildlife here. In the others its almost given. They said we couldn't walk without an escort for 100,000 (It was 300,000 on the way in). They said they would have a gun to protect from tigers. Come the morning they had no gun and we told them no gun, no money. We didn't need their stupid protection. What were they going to do to a tiger with just a scooter. Idiots. The guy passed us twice on our walk out of 13km (we saw squirrels, macaques, wild boar and 3 types of deer so nothing outstanding). They have silver leaf monkeys on the river, but we couldn't afford the boat. When we got to the gate the other guy came and demanded 100,000 for the protection. What protection. He passed us twice in 3 hours. Ridiculous. The park guards just want to screw you as much as possible. This is a super unpleasant place. We got into a slanging match and he said I was crazy after I verbally abused him. Yeah I am. Crazy for coming here. We were toying with the idea of not coming due to the bad reviews. We should have listened to our instinct. Just don't go. Yet it gets worse. We eventually got out and collected our bags to go. We went back to Rajabasa and the locals told us all afternoon that a bus would be coming. Eventually it turned out they were lying so we would be forced to take their friends ojek to Metro. What kind of people are these people. We were forced to stay the night in Jepara again. The next day they lied to us about the bus again and Cannelle was getting hysterical. We thought we would be trapped here. She didn't believe people could be like this. The ojek drivers were preventing the buses from picking us up and they were trying to force us into taking ojeks. One guy said it was the crisis and they need money. I told him he shouldn't treat tourists like this and its the reason why noone visits the park. I told him I'd tell everyone I met how they treated us. Prisoners in a town for 2 days. Eventually when he realised how upset we were a bus mysteriously appeared and the driver paid a backhander to the guy on the street of 8000. The bus price is 10,000 from Jepara to Metro, but he wanted 30,000 to cover his backhander even after saying he was doing nothing when I asked him why he paid the other guy. I watched everyone else pay 10000 each and gave 20,000 for the two of us. He complained and I said everyone paid that. He then talked in Bahasa about how we had only paid 12,000. No we hadn't. We had paid 20,000. He just paid a stupid backhander. We are not ATMs. They then didn't want us to take a bus to Banderlampung, but we did and our ordeal was finally over. This is without doubt the worst I have ever been treated by people and under no circumstances should you entertain the idea of visiting this shithole of a park.
We took the public bus to the port for Java for around 17,000 or so and met a cool priest there on the way. For some reason they played Titanic on the boat crossing. Interesting choice of film. We absolutely loved Sumatra and its a shame we had to end on such a bad note at Way Kambas. Onwards to Java.
Jepara: We were forced to stay here due to problems with the park, but there is a nice hotel with karaoke for 250,000 if you really want to torture yourself by visiting Way Kambas.
Way Kambas National Park: OOOhhhh this will be fun. Haven't had this much of a rant since Ecuador. You may want to try Bukit Berasan Selatan (we never had time) as its part of the triumvirate of UNESCO Sumatra parks along with Gunung Leuser and Kerinci (which we loved), but for the love of God stay away from this park. Unless you have private transport to and from the park and are willing to burn through at least $500 and love birds then this park is not for you (If you answer yes to the above three you will probably have a nice if overpriced stay). Lets start at the beginning. They let us have a bus to Metro and then there they lied and said there was no bus to Rajabasa and wanted us to charter a van. This went on for 4 hours before they eventually gave us a fucking bus. Only the old people were honest. Then we found out there were no hotels or homestays in Rajabasa and the park is actually 7km from the village. Shit. It was late so we went to Jepara to stay. Luckily they agreed to look after our big bags and are subsequently the best option for visiting the park independently. We then took an angkot to the village again and walked the 7km to the park. Ojeks want around 30,000 so not too bad. Once we got to the park the troubles really began. They invent fees to pay (we ignored these), but they won't let you walk in due to tigers (rubbish) and we had to pay 150,000 for 2 ojeks for the 13km to the park hq. Here you are veritable prisoner, because you are not allowed to walk anywhere. When we tried, they sent us back like babies. They want 300,000 for a 3 hour walk and anything from 500,000 to 1.5 million for a 2 hour boat trip. Insanely expensive. No backpacker can afford this. When we told them it was expensive they just laughed and said not for us. The shit shack in the middle of the jungle was 300,000 (still our most expensive hotel and more than the plasma screen, hot water, super comfortable bed place in Banderlampung). They tried to screw us out of more money in the park, but it was beyond us. Hence what I said about $500. They watched our every movement like inmates and we told them the next day we would walk out of the park as we couldn't afford anything (Bear in mind at Ujung Kulon accommodation is 100,000 and a whole day guide is 100,000. In Gunung Leuser accommodation is 50,000 and a whole day guide is 300,000. Kerinci accommodation is 100,000 and a whole day guide is 300,000). All those parks are many, many times better than Way Kambas. You have to be lucky to see wildlife here. In the others its almost given. They said we couldn't walk without an escort for 100,000 (It was 300,000 on the way in). They said they would have a gun to protect from tigers. Come the morning they had no gun and we told them no gun, no money. We didn't need their stupid protection. What were they going to do to a tiger with just a scooter. Idiots. The guy passed us twice on our walk out of 13km (we saw squirrels, macaques, wild boar and 3 types of deer so nothing outstanding). They have silver leaf monkeys on the river, but we couldn't afford the boat. When we got to the gate the other guy came and demanded 100,000 for the protection. What protection. He passed us twice in 3 hours. Ridiculous. The park guards just want to screw you as much as possible. This is a super unpleasant place. We got into a slanging match and he said I was crazy after I verbally abused him. Yeah I am. Crazy for coming here. We were toying with the idea of not coming due to the bad reviews. We should have listened to our instinct. Just don't go. Yet it gets worse. We eventually got out and collected our bags to go. We went back to Rajabasa and the locals told us all afternoon that a bus would be coming. Eventually it turned out they were lying so we would be forced to take their friends ojek to Metro. What kind of people are these people. We were forced to stay the night in Jepara again. The next day they lied to us about the bus again and Cannelle was getting hysterical. We thought we would be trapped here. She didn't believe people could be like this. The ojek drivers were preventing the buses from picking us up and they were trying to force us into taking ojeks. One guy said it was the crisis and they need money. I told him he shouldn't treat tourists like this and its the reason why noone visits the park. I told him I'd tell everyone I met how they treated us. Prisoners in a town for 2 days. Eventually when he realised how upset we were a bus mysteriously appeared and the driver paid a backhander to the guy on the street of 8000. The bus price is 10,000 from Jepara to Metro, but he wanted 30,000 to cover his backhander even after saying he was doing nothing when I asked him why he paid the other guy. I watched everyone else pay 10000 each and gave 20,000 for the two of us. He complained and I said everyone paid that. He then talked in Bahasa about how we had only paid 12,000. No we hadn't. We had paid 20,000. He just paid a stupid backhander. We are not ATMs. They then didn't want us to take a bus to Banderlampung, but we did and our ordeal was finally over. This is without doubt the worst I have ever been treated by people and under no circumstances should you entertain the idea of visiting this shithole of a park.
We took the public bus to the port for Java for around 17,000 or so and met a cool priest there on the way. For some reason they played Titanic on the boat crossing. Interesting choice of film. We absolutely loved Sumatra and its a shame we had to end on such a bad note at Way Kambas. Onwards to Java.
Indonesia (Sumatra Part 5: Kerinci Valley, Sungai Penuh, Gunung Kerinci and Bengkulu)
We took the bus down to Sungai Penuh from Padang for 80,000. If you plan on climbing Gunung Kerinci you may as well jump down in Kersik Tua, where you can sort out supplies. We went to Sungai Penuh first.
Sungai Penuh: Nondescript mountain town but a nice little base. We went to Danau Kerinci for the day, which is nice but not essential viewing. Here we got stalked by a local motorcycle driver all the way round the lake, his super loud engine blending effortlessly with the tranquility of the lake. Arsehole. We couldn't shake him off. He told me he was wanted by international police, he knew Jimmy Carter and his uncle was Chuck Norris. Or at least that's what it sounded like. His claims just got more and more ridiculous. He was head of an international bank, he had lived in France and England, but doesn't speak any English or French. I concluded that he was either crazy, dangerous or a bit of both. By the end I had figured that he was just crazy. Anyway he ruined our hike. We got the public bus both ways to the lake. That evening we met Luke Mackin from the LP guide. He was cool and told us a lot of useful things about the local area, including how the LP guy had come through for one night, done nothing and just took his information second hand. Good to see LP is as well researched as we suspected. You should definitely contact him if you are in the area, as he is trying to grow tourism in the region.
Gunung Kerinci: We then went up to Kersik Tua and stayed with a local homestay though we had arranged to climb the mountain with a guide friend of Lukes. This caused a little bit of a problem in the homestay and we had agreed to 1.2 million to climb it including equipment, food, porter and guide. We don't carry any of our own equipment and Cannelle was concerned about the tigers. Firstly we went to the local waterfall (forget the name), but its just off the main road and is impressively powerful. It made a nice day trip diversion. The homestay agreed to take us to the trailhead for 20000 which I thought wa steep but agreed. We decided to set off at 7am, which later changed to 8am. Then in the morning the homestay decided that they wanted 100,000. Fuck that. I was unhappy with the first price, so we decided to walk the 4km to the start of the walk. Its not that bad and fairly flat. It just added 300m to the climb. The guide and porter were not used to walking this additional part and I don't think they were too happy initially. The trail is very easy to follow and once you find the start you could hike to the top on your own very easily. I think that if you have your own equipment and you are at least 2 (probably better 3) then I would say you wouldn't need to hire anyone. We ended up walking ahead of our guide for a lot of it and even did the summit to campsite 2 on our own as the guide and porter went off ahead. As with all the mountains we have done in Indonesia so far, they are all very easy to find the route up. Being more than one protects against accidents and the possible but unlikely tiger encounter as the altitude is too high. We got on the trail about 9am (quite late), but as a bonus on the way up we started to hear siamangs. They were loud. They were close. We followed the sound and headed off the trail to the right for 100m. Awesome. Two siamangs including a baby were in the trees above us. It was a real bonus. We watched them for around half an hour and then set off climbing again. The trail is fairly easy until the first campsite and then it gets steep and muddy. It rained on our way up and that made it a little slippery. In the rainy season it would be challenging. We made it from the base to campsite 2 in around 4-5 hours. We decided we wanted to stay there as we had read that the wind was really strong higher up. It meant an earlier start the next morning, but a better night's sleep. There is some nice birdlife on the way up, but we never saw the yellow langur monkey. Shame as we really love collecting monkeys. I was having problems with altitude in the morning on the hike to the top. It took us around 1.5-2 hours to reach the summit. The sulphur was thick at the top and we had some trouble breathing but we had made it. About 100m down from the summit we had a beautiful view over what seemed like half of Sumatra. You can see the sea, we could see Danau Gunung Tujuh (stunning and you don't need to visit it if you climb here as you won't get a better view). Overall we felt like Gods on Olympus. Volcanos feel so much higher because unlike mountains they don't have any other volcanos around them. It was Cannelle's new highest peak as well. Her vertigo kicked in on the way down and it is a little intimidating, but we overcame it and got down quite tired. Our legs would also be sore for the next two days which shows its a little tough as we are in shape.
Kerinci National Park: When we got back we headed back to Sungai Penuh and decided to take a night drive with Luke, our guide Dhiey and a friend of theres. It cost us 400,000 including petrol from 2pm until 10pm. We went for a drive along the main road of the park (which the buses to Bengkulu also pass through) looking for monkeys. Still no luck. Luke says he often sees them in the morning. When the light fell we went looking for tigers but had no luck. Luke reckons he saw one up here briefly before. We were hoping to see a slow loris. On the ride we saw a civet cat, giant fruit bats, a suspected bear cat (as it was big but not enormous) and a giant flying squirrel. It was a cool experience and its fun sweeping the shadows with torches in pursuit of animals. I reckon if you went a few times you could see quite a lot. The following day we figured we'd take the bus to Bengkulu down the same road and maybe see monkeys. No luck again. Still we had climbed Gunung Kerinci, seen siamangs and the view of danau gunung tujuh was amazing. Well worth the visit. You also have a chance of seeing the Titanium flower, but none were in bloom when we were there.
Bengkulu: Much better than we anticipated. Nice little town. Hotel was a shithole and I can't say its a must see, but if you are heading this way then its worth a stop. You get a chance to drive through the park and the fort is cute as well as them having a weird hotel that looks like a crazy man's jenga set. We saw a captured siamang here, which was heartbreaking after seeing them in the wild a few days earlier. Cannelle reported it to the local authorities. We decided to head to Banderlampung next.
Sungai Penuh: Nondescript mountain town but a nice little base. We went to Danau Kerinci for the day, which is nice but not essential viewing. Here we got stalked by a local motorcycle driver all the way round the lake, his super loud engine blending effortlessly with the tranquility of the lake. Arsehole. We couldn't shake him off. He told me he was wanted by international police, he knew Jimmy Carter and his uncle was Chuck Norris. Or at least that's what it sounded like. His claims just got more and more ridiculous. He was head of an international bank, he had lived in France and England, but doesn't speak any English or French. I concluded that he was either crazy, dangerous or a bit of both. By the end I had figured that he was just crazy. Anyway he ruined our hike. We got the public bus both ways to the lake. That evening we met Luke Mackin from the LP guide. He was cool and told us a lot of useful things about the local area, including how the LP guy had come through for one night, done nothing and just took his information second hand. Good to see LP is as well researched as we suspected. You should definitely contact him if you are in the area, as he is trying to grow tourism in the region.
Gunung Kerinci: We then went up to Kersik Tua and stayed with a local homestay though we had arranged to climb the mountain with a guide friend of Lukes. This caused a little bit of a problem in the homestay and we had agreed to 1.2 million to climb it including equipment, food, porter and guide. We don't carry any of our own equipment and Cannelle was concerned about the tigers. Firstly we went to the local waterfall (forget the name), but its just off the main road and is impressively powerful. It made a nice day trip diversion. The homestay agreed to take us to the trailhead for 20000 which I thought wa steep but agreed. We decided to set off at 7am, which later changed to 8am. Then in the morning the homestay decided that they wanted 100,000. Fuck that. I was unhappy with the first price, so we decided to walk the 4km to the start of the walk. Its not that bad and fairly flat. It just added 300m to the climb. The guide and porter were not used to walking this additional part and I don't think they were too happy initially. The trail is very easy to follow and once you find the start you could hike to the top on your own very easily. I think that if you have your own equipment and you are at least 2 (probably better 3) then I would say you wouldn't need to hire anyone. We ended up walking ahead of our guide for a lot of it and even did the summit to campsite 2 on our own as the guide and porter went off ahead. As with all the mountains we have done in Indonesia so far, they are all very easy to find the route up. Being more than one protects against accidents and the possible but unlikely tiger encounter as the altitude is too high. We got on the trail about 9am (quite late), but as a bonus on the way up we started to hear siamangs. They were loud. They were close. We followed the sound and headed off the trail to the right for 100m. Awesome. Two siamangs including a baby were in the trees above us. It was a real bonus. We watched them for around half an hour and then set off climbing again. The trail is fairly easy until the first campsite and then it gets steep and muddy. It rained on our way up and that made it a little slippery. In the rainy season it would be challenging. We made it from the base to campsite 2 in around 4-5 hours. We decided we wanted to stay there as we had read that the wind was really strong higher up. It meant an earlier start the next morning, but a better night's sleep. There is some nice birdlife on the way up, but we never saw the yellow langur monkey. Shame as we really love collecting monkeys. I was having problems with altitude in the morning on the hike to the top. It took us around 1.5-2 hours to reach the summit. The sulphur was thick at the top and we had some trouble breathing but we had made it. About 100m down from the summit we had a beautiful view over what seemed like half of Sumatra. You can see the sea, we could see Danau Gunung Tujuh (stunning and you don't need to visit it if you climb here as you won't get a better view). Overall we felt like Gods on Olympus. Volcanos feel so much higher because unlike mountains they don't have any other volcanos around them. It was Cannelle's new highest peak as well. Her vertigo kicked in on the way down and it is a little intimidating, but we overcame it and got down quite tired. Our legs would also be sore for the next two days which shows its a little tough as we are in shape.
Kerinci National Park: When we got back we headed back to Sungai Penuh and decided to take a night drive with Luke, our guide Dhiey and a friend of theres. It cost us 400,000 including petrol from 2pm until 10pm. We went for a drive along the main road of the park (which the buses to Bengkulu also pass through) looking for monkeys. Still no luck. Luke says he often sees them in the morning. When the light fell we went looking for tigers but had no luck. Luke reckons he saw one up here briefly before. We were hoping to see a slow loris. On the ride we saw a civet cat, giant fruit bats, a suspected bear cat (as it was big but not enormous) and a giant flying squirrel. It was a cool experience and its fun sweeping the shadows with torches in pursuit of animals. I reckon if you went a few times you could see quite a lot. The following day we figured we'd take the bus to Bengkulu down the same road and maybe see monkeys. No luck again. Still we had climbed Gunung Kerinci, seen siamangs and the view of danau gunung tujuh was amazing. Well worth the visit. You also have a chance of seeing the Titanium flower, but none were in bloom when we were there.
Bengkulu: Much better than we anticipated. Nice little town. Hotel was a shithole and I can't say its a must see, but if you are heading this way then its worth a stop. You get a chance to drive through the park and the fort is cute as well as them having a weird hotel that looks like a crazy man's jenga set. We saw a captured siamang here, which was heartbreaking after seeing them in the wild a few days earlier. Cannelle reported it to the local authorities. We decided to head to Banderlampung next.
Indonesia (Sumatra Part 4): Bukittinggi, Danau Maninjau, Harau Valley, Padang)
I've decided to switch up the style of the blog as it needed a little tweaking and I am way behind where we actually are on this trip. If I like it I'll keep the style. I'm going to comment in general on places and what we did there.
Bukittinggi: What a great little town. I'd say its the highlight of Indonesian cities for us and possibly one of the top 5 cities on this trip (Not that South East Asia has a lot of great cities). Its much prettier than most of the other cities and the distinctive cow horn shaped roofs on the house are impressive. We were also back in a place where people were just happy to see us. The first night we stayed in an overpriced hotel so that I could watch the end of the Premiership season. We won, but so did Arsenal and we finished 5th (Cue speculation on Bale's future, but he seems to be staying with us for at least one more season). I also dropped the computer and broke the edges, but there's nothing you can't fix with a little bit of celotape. The rest of the days we stayed in Hello Hostel which is a really nice place and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone in the city as its cheap and there seems to be a cool collection of travellers there. The first day we wandered around the city and then set off for Lake Maninjau or more precisely to Puncak Lawang which is the viewpoint over the lake. You only really need to come here. It was 6000 Rp by local bus and then you have to walk the last 4km or you can take an ojek. The walk is fairly easy, though there were some kids asking us for money. At the top you have a breathtaking view over the lake, which in my opinion is far more stunning than Lake Toba and Cannelle thinks it is the prettiest lake she has ever seen. Bring a picnic. Its really nice. Some locals offered to guide us on a walk to the lake, but I didn't see the point. We were not going to get a better view than from up here and we just decided to chill out and enjoy it. Well worth the trip.
Inside the city itself they have a little canyon marked on the LP map. We thought why not check it out. Might be nice. Little did we expect an enormous canyon cleaving through the South of the city. Really impressive and beautiful. Sumatra was constantly exceeding out expectations and was becoming a firm favourite of the trip. We got ambushed by a lot of locals looking for photos but it was another highlight in this city of highlights.
That night we met an English couple (who had retired and decided to travel all over despite being nearly 60. Very cool. We also met a German girl and a French guy). They told us that a rafflesia flower was in bloom up at the coffee luwak plantation. At fucking last. A fucking rafflesia. Cannelle would get one of her two wishes. We all set off together and ended up paying 10,000Rp each to some random guy who said he knew where it was. He wasn't an official guide but the price was cheap. We told us it was black as we were discussing in Bahasa, but I insisted it was red and new. In the end he got lost as he only knew the one that was dying. So he had to call his friend while we waited in the the jungle, until he came along and showed us where the flower was. His friend was a real guide and a little disappointed that we were a group of six seeing the flower for such a small fee. Oh well we promised not to tell the others. We were then invited to try the famous Luwak coffee. We were not the best group for this as I don't like coffee that much, Cannelle hates it, the German girl hates it and Camille is French so he likes strong coffee. We all try this super expensive world famous coffee (though we bought only 4 between 6) and you can tell noone likes it. Romaine tried to be diplomatic by saying how nice it was. The rest of us thought it was really silty as they don't filter their coffee, but it did have no aftertaste. I certainly wouldn't pay the ridiculous price for what is effectively overrated coffee. Never mind. We met some locals in a restaurant that evening and they took us to try durian at last and some local puddings. They invited us to join them in Jakarta when we got there eventually.
The following day we set off for the Harau Valley. We wanted to do it by public transport as we were worried about corruption in the police force. A guy wanted to rent us a motorbike for 60,000 a day in the main square but with no international driving license I didn't fancy paying fines. We got a bus out to the nearest big town for 7000 and there the problems started. We arrived and an angkot said 2000 to Harau Valley. I thought cheap, but ok. Instead he took us to an angkot terminal where they wanted us to charter an angkot for 60,000. Fuck that. We refused to pay either angkot driver as we had asked for Harau Valley and not vans to go there. I have just decided not to pay people if they fuck with us. Some locals also thought they were being stupid and we went back to the main road and got an angkot for 3000 to the entrance to the valley. Its only a 4km walk to the valley, but Cannelle was not sure of the distance and wanted to take a sidecar ojek. We negotiated 10,000 for the 4km and rode in. Its a really picturesque place. Towering canyon walls, carved with striations. We spent the afternoon walking around and Cannelle got scared by a macaque who was bearing his teeth at us. We were surrounded at one point, but they were as scared of us as we were of them. Its a nice day trip and if you have to stay at one of the two, I'd choose Harau Valley to stay in for one night. The way back was a little easier, but involved a few changes of bus and some bullshit expenses. Still it worked out cheap enough. We even walked out of the valley to the entrance on the way back and its a nice walk. Lots of dogs on bikes though. Not sure where they were taking them and what for.
The next day we moved on to Padang. Its an ok city. Not much to see there. We just bummed around and finally tried the famous Padang food. Its awesome. Chicken, fish and meat (including the famous rendang). Vegetables, eggs and rice. Many different types of sauce. They just put all the plates down in front of you and you take whatever you want. You pay for what you take. Its perfect as you always eat what you feel like and the perfect amount to feel satisfied. Never too much and never too little. Its by far my favourite food in South East Asia and probably the only one I would look for in Australia (along with biryani and bicol food). The others left in the morning and we set off for the Kerinci Valley.
Bukittinggi: What a great little town. I'd say its the highlight of Indonesian cities for us and possibly one of the top 5 cities on this trip (Not that South East Asia has a lot of great cities). Its much prettier than most of the other cities and the distinctive cow horn shaped roofs on the house are impressive. We were also back in a place where people were just happy to see us. The first night we stayed in an overpriced hotel so that I could watch the end of the Premiership season. We won, but so did Arsenal and we finished 5th (Cue speculation on Bale's future, but he seems to be staying with us for at least one more season). I also dropped the computer and broke the edges, but there's nothing you can't fix with a little bit of celotape. The rest of the days we stayed in Hello Hostel which is a really nice place and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone in the city as its cheap and there seems to be a cool collection of travellers there. The first day we wandered around the city and then set off for Lake Maninjau or more precisely to Puncak Lawang which is the viewpoint over the lake. You only really need to come here. It was 6000 Rp by local bus and then you have to walk the last 4km or you can take an ojek. The walk is fairly easy, though there were some kids asking us for money. At the top you have a breathtaking view over the lake, which in my opinion is far more stunning than Lake Toba and Cannelle thinks it is the prettiest lake she has ever seen. Bring a picnic. Its really nice. Some locals offered to guide us on a walk to the lake, but I didn't see the point. We were not going to get a better view than from up here and we just decided to chill out and enjoy it. Well worth the trip.
Inside the city itself they have a little canyon marked on the LP map. We thought why not check it out. Might be nice. Little did we expect an enormous canyon cleaving through the South of the city. Really impressive and beautiful. Sumatra was constantly exceeding out expectations and was becoming a firm favourite of the trip. We got ambushed by a lot of locals looking for photos but it was another highlight in this city of highlights.
That night we met an English couple (who had retired and decided to travel all over despite being nearly 60. Very cool. We also met a German girl and a French guy). They told us that a rafflesia flower was in bloom up at the coffee luwak plantation. At fucking last. A fucking rafflesia. Cannelle would get one of her two wishes. We all set off together and ended up paying 10,000Rp each to some random guy who said he knew where it was. He wasn't an official guide but the price was cheap. We told us it was black as we were discussing in Bahasa, but I insisted it was red and new. In the end he got lost as he only knew the one that was dying. So he had to call his friend while we waited in the the jungle, until he came along and showed us where the flower was. His friend was a real guide and a little disappointed that we were a group of six seeing the flower for such a small fee. Oh well we promised not to tell the others. We were then invited to try the famous Luwak coffee. We were not the best group for this as I don't like coffee that much, Cannelle hates it, the German girl hates it and Camille is French so he likes strong coffee. We all try this super expensive world famous coffee (though we bought only 4 between 6) and you can tell noone likes it. Romaine tried to be diplomatic by saying how nice it was. The rest of us thought it was really silty as they don't filter their coffee, but it did have no aftertaste. I certainly wouldn't pay the ridiculous price for what is effectively overrated coffee. Never mind. We met some locals in a restaurant that evening and they took us to try durian at last and some local puddings. They invited us to join them in Jakarta when we got there eventually.
The following day we set off for the Harau Valley. We wanted to do it by public transport as we were worried about corruption in the police force. A guy wanted to rent us a motorbike for 60,000 a day in the main square but with no international driving license I didn't fancy paying fines. We got a bus out to the nearest big town for 7000 and there the problems started. We arrived and an angkot said 2000 to Harau Valley. I thought cheap, but ok. Instead he took us to an angkot terminal where they wanted us to charter an angkot for 60,000. Fuck that. We refused to pay either angkot driver as we had asked for Harau Valley and not vans to go there. I have just decided not to pay people if they fuck with us. Some locals also thought they were being stupid and we went back to the main road and got an angkot for 3000 to the entrance to the valley. Its only a 4km walk to the valley, but Cannelle was not sure of the distance and wanted to take a sidecar ojek. We negotiated 10,000 for the 4km and rode in. Its a really picturesque place. Towering canyon walls, carved with striations. We spent the afternoon walking around and Cannelle got scared by a macaque who was bearing his teeth at us. We were surrounded at one point, but they were as scared of us as we were of them. Its a nice day trip and if you have to stay at one of the two, I'd choose Harau Valley to stay in for one night. The way back was a little easier, but involved a few changes of bus and some bullshit expenses. Still it worked out cheap enough. We even walked out of the valley to the entrance on the way back and its a nice walk. Lots of dogs on bikes though. Not sure where they were taking them and what for.
The next day we moved on to Padang. Its an ok city. Not much to see there. We just bummed around and finally tried the famous Padang food. Its awesome. Chicken, fish and meat (including the famous rendang). Vegetables, eggs and rice. Many different types of sauce. They just put all the plates down in front of you and you take whatever you want. You pay for what you take. Its perfect as you always eat what you feel like and the perfect amount to feel satisfied. Never too much and never too little. Its by far my favourite food in South East Asia and probably the only one I would look for in Australia (along with biryani and bicol food). The others left in the morning and we set off for the Kerinci Valley.
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