RTW 08/09

First few days

INDONESIA | Saturday, 6 September 2008 | Views [593] | Comments [10]

WELCOME to my 1st journal entry. Just a quick roundup of the past few days

After 35 hours, 4 Flights and another hour trying to explain to a taxi man where the Hotel was I arrived in the village of Borobudur about 40km north west of Yogjakarta in Central Java at 10pm on Tuesday night.

After exterminating all the mosquitos in my room I finally got to sleep and made the most of it with a 12hour nap.

On the Wednesday one of the hotel staff took me around the area on his scooter. The roads here are chaotic with som many motorbikes, moped cars and crazy bus drivers. Motorbikes and mopeds are the main source of getting around for the locals.

We went to see Mt. Merapi Volcano but unfortunately it was covered in cloud. Three days later and it is still clouded over.

There are a lot of Buddhist temples in the area but the main one is the Borobudur Temple. I was up at 4am on Thursday morning for the sunrise at the temple but the clouds are not my friend the past few days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur

I left Borobudur and went to Yogjakarta on Thursday morning which is a great city to hang out in. There's a Hindu temple outside the city but other than that there's not much else to see. The streets are lined with clothes and food stalls and the people are so friendly.

Weather wise it has been hot the past few days but thankfully its not so humid. I have started to develop a nice farmers tan too :)

It's a really good time to come and visit Java as it isn't a popular time with tourists and it's also the month of Ramadan. The touristy sites are more or less empty and there's no problem getting accomodation.

Everything here is very cheap with a nights accomodation costing around 7 Euro for a really good room and a bottle of the local brew (Bintang) costs just over a euro.

Tomorrow I leave on an 11hour bus journey to my next stop and probably the highlight of Java, Mt Bromo. I plan to spend a couple of days there and hope to climb Javas highest Volcano.

Back next week with some more pictures and stories :)

Enjoy the weekend

Paul

Comments

1

Hiya,

good to hear you are well, enjoying life and developing a healthy farmers tan.... look forward to the next instalment. :)

annemarie Sep 6, 2008 7:15 PM

2

good to see you we saw all your phots look lovely making us jealous john o hanlon o hanlon is on the x factor in belliens to night da says hello saw your photo and started to cry we all miss you and love lots god bless an hope the rest of your travels go as well ma xoxo

Ma & Da Sep 7, 2008 4:44 AM

3

Thanks Arthur for showing Mum and Dad my blog and making Mum cry :-)

porridge Sep 7, 2008 10:25 AM

4

Hola hombre,
Exciting to hear about your first moves in Java. That hike in Mt. Bromo sounds reeeeeeally tempting. It would be nice to see a few pictures in your next blog entry. Just in case I decide to drop by .. : - )
Wishing you a good time

Lothar Sep 8, 2008 4:20 PM

5

Just what I needed to read first thing on a cold Monday Morning!!! You're making me jealous. Take care honey and enjoy yourself. Love ya. xx

Claire Sep 8, 2008 5:22 PM

6

claire kindly forwarded your blog to me...keep me posted!! sounds pretty cool i must say - hope your enjoying yourself! Talk soon DEbra

Debra Sep 8, 2008 9:16 PM

7

35 hours travelling! Wow no wonder you slept for 12 hours. I had some fun with the mosquitoes in Sardinia too but now back to the good ol' rain :)

Amanda Sep 8, 2008 11:28 PM

8

WELL BIATCH. tats the longest book ive read in ages!! glad 2 hear u getn on well. make sure u bring me bak sumfin nice 4m EACH place u visit!!!

aidan Sep 9, 2008 3:33 AM

9

Well hello there big bro!!!! Finally got onto the internet to check out this blog I heard so much about from your ma! Hope your having a great time and not missing me to much! Im still in Cork at the minute making the most of the 5* Sheraton Resort Spa ;-) That was my lame attempt at making you jealous.... Im sure it worked. Training away for the half marathon, hope to do you proud! Take care, have fun and be careful... Love you lots xxx

Leanne O' Hagan Sep 9, 2008 6:56 AM