After enjoying the break on Con Dao, we decided to venture into Cambodia for a few days due to our expiring visa for Vietnam. However, our spontaneous approach taught us the importance of better planning yet again.
Heading to Con Tho along the Mekong River seemed like a familiar route, but our sole purpose was visa renewal, a detail we overlooked.
Assuming we could easily cross the border and return to Vietnam, we soon discovered the hurdles—£20 entry fee and no visa extension options. With little time to spare, our plans shifted once again. Next stop: Taiwan, with a brief detour through the mountains of Vietnam.
We decided to not waste the journey up to Con Tho and booked onto a day trip on the Mekong to see the floating Market.
We embarked on our journey at the crack of dawn, a familiar routine for the last few months.
Accompanied by four others, 2 Spanish, 2 German, we made our way to the river and joined the procession of tourist boats gliding along the main Mekong. While we anticipated the lack of uniqueness in the trip, there was still something magical about witnessing the sunrise from the rocky waters of the river.
The market, though diminished in its size over recent years, serves as an example of changing economic landscapes in Vietnam. Its decline can likely be linked to the increase of supermarkets and wholesale buyers, who now buy goods directly from the source, bypassing traditional middle operators like those found in the market. However, despite the dominance of tourist boats over market boats, it was still good to see how the operators work and live.
We also stopped there for a noodle breakfast, at the equivalent of a very busy transport cafe!
Next stop was the noodle factory where we got the chance to roll and cut noodles
We then had a chance to go down one of the smaller inlets where people live in house propped up on stilts
The stark reality of the rubbish issue in Vietnams larger cities becomes glaringly evident in the smaller canals, where weeds flourish and debris accumulates unchecked. With the market gradually fading, there’s an opportunity for tours to embrace sustainability initiatives. It’s disheartening to witness the casual disposal of rubbish onto the streets all over Vietnam and the excessive use of plastics in everyday practices.
Final stop was an organic farm, which again had seen better days, the whole tour seemed to be something that was struggling to hold on and the market, state of the canals and small farms weren’t helping. Saying that the guide was really entertaining and we had a good ride up the river, and met some nice people, so a good few hours out.
So after arriving the day before on our way to Cambodia we leave on route to Taiwan.
Well, after being spoilt with the warm sunny days in Hong Kong it was a bit of a shock to arrive in a very wet and slightly cold Hanoi.
I seem to have started a habit of booking accommodation in the wrong location when we arrive somewhere, and Hanoi’s, although a great little studio apartment, was a 5 mile walk into the old quarter where all the interesting bars and cafes are located. To be fair I thought I’d booked near the lake in the old quarter — but this was another lake (subsequently remembered that Hanoi has several city water spaces!)
However, this did provide the opportunity to get our average steps back up from a dismal average of 9000 to 22,000 a day, and most of the walk was around the huge lake with cafes and people fishing (some very menacing cat fish being pulled out).
The weather wasn’t going to improve, so we decided to only stay in Hanoi for a couple of days and had a good wander around the city, and there was a great atmosphere as everyone was getting prepared for the Chinese New Year in February.
The city was alive with people, and I love the atmosphere in Vietnam’s cities. We didn’t see anyone having cross words or people being anything other than warm and friendly.
When we were here last in 2013 our stay corresponded with the annual Earth Hour.
We didn’t know this was happening and it was a surprise when the power went out in the city. Now I don’t think I’m being unfair to say that in England the looting would have started within the hour! But In Hanoi once we’d established what was going on we walked around in the darkness and saw people having picnics, playing music, and spending time with their families, and this friendly atmosphere doesn’t appear to have disappeared — which was great to see.
We had a couple of hours till we left Hanoi, and we’d had to check out of our accommodation and didn’t fancy wandering any more, so we jumped onto the city tour bus which turned out to be a really funny couple of hours as we tried to see how many people we could get to wave at us 🤣.
Hoi An
Now I love a train ride and whenever there is a possibility of a sleeper we usually do it!
Hanoi had a train direct to Danang, which would then be a short taxi drive to Hoi An, where we’d decided to head.
So for £24 each we had a sleeper bed for the 16 hour overnight journey.
In the morning I did feel a bit stiff as the bed was very hard! But I got up at 6:30 to a chap pushing a trolley through the train serving pork noodle soup, which I think partly to the experience was the best soup I think I’ve had so far. Richard missed out though as he wanted cake!
About an hour before getting into Danang the train skirts around the coast and you get some lovely views.
Hoi An is this pretty little town set on an inlet of the South China Sea. However, when in the town it looks just like there’s a river running through.
The main ancient town area is very touristy with lots of shops, cafes, and restaurants, and was a lot busy than I remembered. Regardless of this though the architecture of the French colonial buildings that line the streets remain intact.
Now at some point someone thought it would be a good idea to light a lantern or two and the whole town now comes alight at night with hundreds of coloured lanterns of all shapes and sizes lining every possible space of the buildings, streets, and even the river, with people enjoying evening boat rides.
There are a couple of beaches near to the town. They aren’t the prettiest place to visit, but it’s a fun bike ride to get there and the coast is lined with fresh seafood restaurants. The sea was certainly warmer than the south coast of Australia.
Cham Island
Vietnam does have some islands just off its coast, and like much of Vietnam they have a mixed history, with many of them being used as prison camps.
Cham is one of these islands set about an hour boat journey off of Hoi An and we decided to head out there for the weekend.
The night before leaving for the island we had arranged to see Lou, Jonks, and their boys for drinks. We had spent Christmas with them and they were on holiday and our paths were crossing, them heading up to Hanoi and us down to Ho Chi Min.
The next morning we had to be up at 7am to get the transport to the 9 am ferry. Fair to say we both were feeling the effects of our night out. The crossing was really rough, and my sea sickness was a little worse than usual!
When we arrived we checked straight into our accommodation right in the centre of the village and harbour, and spent most of the day in bed recovering! But managed to surface around 4 pm in time to watch the sun setting from the hotel’s rooftop balcony.
Next day we were back to normal and hired a motor bike, with very fetching helmets
We set of around the islands, firstly to the Northern peninsula. It wasn’t long before we came across landslides that had thrown rocks across the road.
We kept going, and at one point had to literally get the bike off the road, and navigate a very narrow path on the cliff face.
We kept going but eventually the road beat us, had been completely blocked and was impassable.
There was, as in a lot of Vietnam, evidence of the war, and in Cham’s case it was the lookout defence posts which were dotted around all of the island. Unfortunately there still appears to be security concerns and the island has an army presence, and citizens from China/Hong Kong are not allowed to stay on the island overnight.
We headed to the south of the island and there were also signs of landslides, but we did make it the second village on the island where it appeared the main temple was located.
There were also visible signs of larger tourist developments and villas, but it was unclear how old they were, or if construction had completely stopped.
The island was very rustic, with little restaurants that served fresh seafood and the usual noodles!
But I think the best time was getting to the beach or sitting at the cafes in the village and watching the sunsets, which have been spectacular.
We had planned on staying till Monday, but were told that if we didn’t leave on Sunday then we would be stuck on the island for a few days as the weather was changing and the boats wouldn’t be crossing. We had our train booked for Ho Chi Min on the following Tuesday, so sadly we packed up a day early and headed back to the mainland.
Neither myself or a Richard have been to Hong Kong before, although I did fly into its famous city airport many years ago — before they moved it out of the city after its closure over 25 years ago.
The landing strip has now been turned into a garden walk-way and port for cruise ships, if you watch the link you can see from the photo below an example of how much Hong Kong has been growing.
One of the conditions of entry to Hong Kong is to have onward travel arranged, not sure why this has become a common condition of entry to a lot of places, but as usual we didn’t and had our excuses ready for immigration, but this wasn’t an issue, in fact the woman processing me didn’t even speak to me!
So we were in. First task was organising how to get into the city. We managed to find a bus (£4 each, bargain) with the help of a very efficient woman at a help desk, and the journey in provided a preview of how developed the city was going to be.
As soon as we got off the bus, we knew this was going to be a good stay, there were loads of food stalls and the hustle and bustle gave an instant good vibe.
Yes that is my mobile, ever tried multi tasking with a backpack!
There were a couple of things that we’d seen that looked interesting to visit.
The Big Buddha
To get to this site there is a cable car ride that takes in some of the islands and goes over one of the bays. As usual we wandered across the city with no planning on the train for an hour, and, on arrival, discovered it was closed for the day. However, there was a bus that took you to the village where the statue was.
Lamma Island
Lamma had been recommended by a friend to visit, it’s billed as a bohemian island, oh, and has a nuclear power station on it. We took the ferry from the central pier in the city and it was about a 45 min ride out across the bay. With a great view of the city as you left.
You could also see the constant stream of ships bringing goods into the city.
The island has 2 main villages, and we did the 90 min walk between them along a trail that took you around the coast and up over a couple of hills. The island is fairly rural and a nice alternative to the hustle of the city.
From the north of Hong Kong island you can catch a cable train up the steep hillside to a viewing centre that gives you amazing views of the city.
We struck it lucky and there wasn’t a queue and managed to get straight on the train, which was about a 20 min journey, at a very steep 45 degree angle.
At the top you can stand outside on a viewing platform and really see the vastness of the main city, although this intensity of skyscrapers just continues all over most areas of wider Hong Kong
We’d only planned on 2-3 nights here but ended up staying a week as although there are not any major ‘sights’ to see the city has so many cafes, bars, and little neighbourhoods we spent most the week just wandering around looking at it.
Australia is the country I have visited the most times over the years. I first arrived in Sydney in 1987 and other than a 7 year ban on entry to the country after being deported in 1992 (that’s a whole other story!) I have been back at least 10-15 times, so many I’ve lost count.
This trip has been about seeing new places but this stop is defiantly about the people. The reason is to visit with my oldest friends John and Sally, their kids and grandkids, and spend Christmas at Sally’s family home in Tallangatta with 43 of her relatives!
On arriving we stayed for a couple of nights right in central Sydney, as opposed to our usual spot of Coogee, and the accommodation was perfect, very close to Circular Key (where the opera house and harbour bridge are)
If you are in Sydney and don’t mind shared facilities I’d recommend this place for its location.
One of my favourite things to do in Sydney is go to the Opera Bar to watch the sun set and eat oysters. A bit of a luxury on this trip but we headed down anyway and had a bit of a big night, and think the traditional was well and truly fulfilled.
Before meeting up with John and Sally we headed down to their daughter’s house in Berry which is about 2 hours South of Sydney and spent a few days at the numerous beaches with her family.
The venue for Xmas was called ‘Yabba’ and has been in Sally’s family since the 1800’s and remains an active 200 head dairy farm. Although I’d met most of the relatives before I’d never been to Yabba or the property.
The house lay on the farm within a valley and surrounding area was just stunning.
After being on the road for 2 months it was great to be with people you know, and everyone made both of us feel very welcome, especially Virginia who grew up on the property and who we’ve spent time with on a few trips before.
Everyone expects that Christmas will always be hot and sunny here, this was my third one in Australia and as with every other time rainstorms were forecast.
However, despite this we set up the table for 45 people to have Xmas lunch on the house deck facing the valley.
Although the setting couldn’t have been more perfect, like any Christmas it’s the people that make it, and what an amazing bunch of fun, kind, and crazy folks they were!
After 4 days of late nights, dancing, and amazing food, we drove the 325 miles back to Berry where six of us were due to go to the local Rodeo!
I declined a ride on the bull but the others had a go!
I’ve never been to a full-on rodeo, the bulls seemed to have the upper hand on this occasion, and this poor fellow in the video below got a bit of a trampling, luckily the bull was ok.
We said some very sad goodbyes and headed back up to Sydney on New Year’s Eve for the fireworks, we knew we’d have to be at the harbour early to get a spot. Unfortunately we were staying about a 30 min train ride outside the city as we’d booked the accommodation late and it was all we could find that was affordable.
After we had persuaded the manager to let us into our room early, drop the bags, then returned to the city it was already 1pm. We headed straight to the opera house just to be told it was full and they directed us to the botanical gardens, which were also full.
It was looking like we might struggle to get somewhere, but we raced around to the other side of the harbour known as The Rocks, and very luckily managed to find a little space in a really great spot (thanks to a lovely Irish couple letting us squeeze in).
It was 2pm by the time we sat down, so only 10 hours to wait. There was some bad news though, the site we managed to get into was a no alcohol site, but I think after all the Christmas celebrations it wasn’t a bad thing. So we settled down for the long wait to midnight.
But it was worth it….
We had a couple of days left before we headed to Hong Kong, so we took advantage of the sunshine and did the Bondi to Coogee walk.
Well we have done a complete circle, back in Singapore where we started in October. There wasn’t a plan to come back here at this time but that’s how this trip has evolved. When we were in Borneo someone at the hostel we were staying at said ‘why aren’t you going to Sumatra, it’s amazing’ so we ended up there, then while we were there the woman in the bike rental place said the Xmas lights in Singapore where really good, so here we are!
When here in Oct we spent most of our time around the Chinatown area so headed back there for 3 nights.
Singapore city is very clean and organised and a little clinical, so having this district, with loads of bustle, lights, cafes, and atmosphere right within it is great.
We didn’t waste any time and although it was absolutely throwing it down we headed off to Gardens by the bay.
The venue which is open all year and is a garden complex with living towers set next to Singapore bay had a ‘winter wonderland’ event on, with Christmas music and light displays.
Well the rains have really caught up with us! We knew the last few weeks in Asia were a risk and they haven’t disappointed. The rainy season is well and truly underway.
But as good English men we both packed an umbrella!
We landed in the northern city of Medan. The city was an odd mix of modern and historic buildings and almost had that decadent feel of decay, a bit like Havana.
So armed with brollies we headed out to have a look.
First stop was Tjong A Fie Manson
Called “a historical jewel in Medan”, the 35-room, 2-storey Tjong A Fie Mansion was built in 1895 on an area of 8000 sq. meter. It is a registered historical landmark as well as a cultural heritage building and museum.
The Mansion has Chinese, Malay and Art Deco influences in its architecture style. The structure was built observing feng-shui principles. The rooms are on four sides of the structures and surround a big open-air courtyard in the middle, signifying the “Well of Heaven”.
Every inch of the home was covered with decoration or carvings and lots of personal effects from the family’s history. It’s located right in the heart of the city, but looking at historical images it looked like it would have originally been an upmarket residential neighbourhood before the city engulfed it.
Next stop was the Istana Maimun:
Maimoon Palace or Maimun Palace is an istana of the Sultanate of Deli and a well-known landmark in Medan, the capital city of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Today, it serves as a museum. The name is the Arabic word for “blessing”. Built by Sultan Ma’mun Al Rashid Perkasa Alamyah in the years 1887–1891, the palace was designed by the Dutch architect Theodoor van Erp and covers 2,772 m² with a total of 30 rooms
Again the whole building was architecturally over the top with intricate design and carvings.
Last stop was the Masjid Raya Al-Mashun mosque. Richard was a little uncomfortable seeing this as a ‘tourist stop’ but I’m really glad we did go in. People were interested in speaking and asking where we were from, and what our religion was. The mosque is not that old and walking around the city there is a lot of construction being undertaken for new religious sites, as there has been generally in Indonesia.
Bukit Lawang
We’d decided to limit our activities to 3 places rather than rushing around trying to fit too much in with the 2 weeks we had in Sumatra. We headed to Buckit Lawang for our second stop which was a 3 hour taxi ride west from the city. From here you can access the jungle and it’s a pretty village set along a river.
We booked into a really lovely eco lodge, we’ve been spending an average of about £10 a night on accommodation but splashed out and spent £26 a night as I was my birthday! ( 53, the last time I went travelling like this I would have been in my 20’s, also with Richard!)
We were going to try and do a bit of a trek from here, but I ended up with a bad cold, so the thought of walking through the rainforest in the heat and rain, lots of rain, didn’t appeal, so we just enjoyed the village and food!
Our final stop was Lake Toba, which was about 100 miles south of Bukit Lawang, and again a shared taxi was the only real option. So we set off on our 8 hour journey (an average of 12 miles an hour due to the road conditions).
This is where you can be misled by the internet. I’d looked up what the ‘tourist transport’ was like and generally the reviews were pretty negative, but the only other option was a private car which was about £50 more expensive. So we decided that we’d risk the cheaper option, and glad we did. The car was a modern SUV and there was only us 2 and one other person for most the journey, then 3 more picked up after we dropped her off, so it was perfect.
The journey was very scenic — through villages and farms then up over a mountain pass with a few odd manmade sights on the way.
Fish hotel.??!
We arrived in the town of Parapat, from here you could get ferries over Lake Toba to Samosir Island which is where we were headed.
We decided to stop the night in Parapat and catch the ferry the next morning, and I’m glad we did, the sunset over Samosir was pretty special.
Samosir
Lake Toba, which is the largest lake in the SoutheastAsia, the second largest lake in the world after Lake Victoria in Africa, a lake that is included in the list of geo parks that have been established recognized by UNESCO, the largest volcanic lake in the world and the largest lake in Indonesia. Lake Toba is located in North Sumatra Province. In the middle of Lake Toba, there is Samosir Island which is often the centre of attention of tourists and is the fifth-largest island in the world in the middle of the lake after Manitoulin Island in America, the area of Samosir Island is almost the size of Singapore.
The ferry over to Samosir the next morning gave you a nice view of Parapat and right down the lake and the surrounding hillsides.
We docked right in the centre of a peninsula where all the accommodation was located and managed to get a little room right on the lake.
Since being in Asia I think I’ve become a little obsessed with road conditions, and the accident in Borneo didn’t help! Samosir roads looked pretty good so we braved a motor bike again so we can explore all the out of way areas on the island. (£5 a day, bargain)
We set off on the first trip with a determination not to go right around the island, but as usual we just went ‘a little further’, and ended up doing the approx 90 miles in a 6 hour journey.
Road condition highlights were water buffalo wandering in front of us and quite a few landslides where the road had just disappeared down the hill.
Although it was a long ride this island has to be one of the most beautiful places I think I’ve ever visited. The scenery changed from massive lake vistas, farms, villages, and hills covered in forests. Being on the motorbike you got all the smells as you passed by places, fish cooking, garlic, coconut husks being burnt, and a few that weren’t so great.
The Batak Toba people were the indigenous population on the island:
The Batak Toba people speak in the Toba Batak language and are centered on Lake Toba and Samosir Island within the lake. Batak Toba people frequently build in traditional Batak architecture styles which are common on Samosir
The most obvious sign of the islands cultural history are the traditional Batak houses. These traditional houses are dotted all over the island and the buildings have the same core design. However, as with all housing the level of decoration and finish varies — from very painted with patterns and carvings,
To very basic housing or functional storage buildings.
We visited Batu Kursi Raja Siallagan (Stone Chair of King Siallagan). This is a strange museum as people still live in the houses. The notable structures other than the houses are the 2 stone circles. The one on the left is where you were taken and it would be decided if you were guilty of your crime, and the second is where you would then go if you were guilty and your head would be bashed in and you’d be eaten!
On all of Samantha there are tombs where family ashes would be kept, these would generally be located in the middle of the field where food was being grown. on Samosir these again had that traditional structure on the top.
Well, our time in this part of Asia is nearing the end. We head to Singapore in a few days on our way to Australia for Xmas. We’ve been away for about 8 weeks now and haven’t even scratched the surface of what Indonesia has to offer. It’s an amazing place to visit, it should be on everyone’s bucket list, and I’m sure we will be back!
Borneo is one of those countries that you have heard of, but know nothing about, well it was for me. On arrival you could tell you’d left Indonesia (even though most of Borneo is Indonesian territory), there was instantly a more western presence, the usual Mc Donald’s and Starbucks lighting up the night sky.
We headed for the city of Kota Kinabalu as it was nighttime when we arrived and this was only a 30 min taxi ride. It was 10:30pm by the time we dumped our stuff at the hotel, but we managed to be in a bar, ‘The Rasta Room’, by 11 in time for a few beers before bed.
The next day wasn’t a good one. It was hot and we wandered around the city trying to find out how we could get on a tour or find a way to see the sights, it didn’t help that it was Sunday as well so places weren’t open. This proved really difficult and resulted in cross words and frayed nerves (life isn’t all instagram moments you know 😂). So we went to bed with no room booked for the next night and no plan how to get around the island.
The following day we decided that getting back on the road on a bike would be the best way forward. We found a great little hire place and there were a couple of German guys at the store just returning from their tour and that made us feel a little safer (not recently but kidnapping tourists has been an issue in Borneo), so we were off, 2 weeks to explore.
The roads in Borneo are not good and that’s being polite. There are massive pot holes everywhere and roads that sink without warning, resulting in you being bounced up and down.
But we headed off towards ‘The tip of Borneo’, which is what it says on the tin! A peninsula on the most northerly point of the country. This was a long journey, about 100 miles which doesn’t sound a lot but we could only travel at about an average speed of 25-30 miles an hour due to the road conditions. It didn’t help that the rains have started, so with about another 40 miles left the heavens opened and we had to continue in a full on tropical rainstorm for the last leg.
For our accommodation for the night Richard had found a ‘Natural retreat where the owner is passionate about the jungle’.
Now when I ever hear passionate in a review I always assume it’s a dump, and wasn’t wrong this time. We were completely soaked from head to toe, the chap was very nice but the whole place was in decay, we were booked into what looked like a store cupboard with only room for a mattress and about 4 ft triangular head room, and it looked filthy.
So I had to go and have that awkward conversation to the owner, that did he have an alternative, which he did, a hut that was equally miserable but at least it had some covered outdoor space and you could stand up. I’m so glad we had managed to get a bottle of wine. Everything feels better with wine!
The next day at least the sun was out and we headed the 90 miles back down to the main highway that would take us over to the East coast. The main road was mainly single highway and very busy with trucks shipping produce and fuel across the country.
However, it eventually wound up into the hills revealing some stunning views across the valleys.
There isn’t too much as you make your way East a few small towns with not a lot to see. Although we did see a sign to look at a Rafflesia Keithii, which is a flower that has the largest bloom in the world. I always expect these things to be bigger than they are, but it was very surreal.
Our next destination was a little jungle lodge that I’d found, but hadn’t realised it was a 128 mile journey to get there. As the rainy season has started the weather is very changeable and that day it was blazing sunshine and very hot. But we set off on a journey that was to take us about 7 hours (resulting in very numb bums from the bike and sunburnt arms and legs).
We started off as usual trying to find breakfast on the road from one of the many roadside stores, today’s treat was steamed chicken buns.
We made all the 128 miles without too much issue, until the last 5 meters to the accommodation. To gain access there was a really steep driveway which we started to head up, as it got steeper the bike stalled and the brakes would not hold us and we began to slide backwards down the driveway, getting faster and faster, until it skidded sideways throwing us both off, with Richard falling down the hill and the bike landing on top of me. Luckily I only suffered bruising and some gravel grazes on my back, but Richard wasn’t so lucky with some nasty cuts.
This did kind of put a dampening on the mood (we’d chosen this place as it was our 24th anniversary), but it could have been a lot worse.
The cabin though was great, and we had a direct view of the jungle from the bed.
I even had a snake come and visit me in the shower!
One of the main reasons for visiting Borneo was to see the orangutans. Unfortunately due to deforestation to make way for palm oil plantations (we saw thousands of acres of these lining the landscape right across the countryside), the only real place to see them was at a rehabilitation centre, where they roam in a large jungle area that does have a perimeter fence.
The centre does have a good record of releasing them back to the wild, and it was great to see them roaming free and not in some small enclosure.
The only way to see them was when food was placed in a platform in the jungle. It wasn’t guaranteed that you would see any as the food laid down was purposely bland to encourage them to forage in the jungle.
However, we were lucky and a couple showed up with their young clinging on as they swung in.
So mission accomplished!
The accident had left us a little nervous about the journey ahead as the roads were reported to be even worse along the route we had originally planned (although not sure how that could be possible), so we decided to head back on the road we had come as this would knock about 300 miles off our route back to the city, and we had passed through a mountain village that looked lovely so we decided to stop there for a couple of days to explore.
So our time in Borneo is coming to an end, we have been incredibly planned (for us) and have booked flights from here to Sumatra, then onto Singapore for a few days (someone said the Xmas lights in the city were really amazing so we thought why not), then down to Sydney for Xmas and New Year, then finally onto Hong Kong… then, who knows.
We’ve been away for just over a month now and I can’t believe how much we have packed in so far!
PS
Richard says I have to add this, a dead snake at the side of the road!
Yogyakarta was our last stop before heading to the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, to catch our flight to Borneo. There are 2 sets of temples in the region, and again we were back on the bike to go visit them.
We arrived in Yogyakarta on the Sunday and discovered that on Monday’s all the temple sites were closed, so we headed into the city to see the Tamansari Water Castle.
A Place for Princesses to Bathe and be ‘Hunted’ by the Sultan
When inside the small complex you could have been standing in a building in southern Spain or Morocco. I love that Indonesia has such a diverse cultural and architectural history. For example, the temples we were going to visit over the next couple of days were Buddhist and Hindu.
Day 1: Borobudur Temple
Areal image courtesy of Google
Our journey was about a 2 hour ride on the bike, and this wasn’t a particularly scenic ride as the city extends way out into the surrounding area, so avoiding trucks, taxis, and other motorists randomly pulling out in front of you was the main focus!
However, after about an hour the endless buildings gave way to farmland. If not urbanised most of Java’s countryside appears to have been developed into food production, and this seems to be mainly rice or sweetcorn.
Borobudur temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the world (however, the guide then said that it wasn’t technically a temple as there are no inner spaces?), and like lots of historical structures in Indonesia it had been rebuilt due to damage by volcanic activity.
Now I’m not sure how I feel about buildings that have been reconstructed and if you should see them as time has left them, but there we were — and it was an impressive sight.
Access to the structure itself was tightly controlled, you were issued with sandles to protect the soft volcanic stone when walking around the temple structure, and you had to follow a guide to ensure you didn’t go rogue and start climbing all over it!
The temple is covered with hundreds of carvings of animals
and social scenes or religious figures.
With a lot of them having amazing detail remaining on the carvings, considering they are over thousand years old.
Day Two: Prambanan
Ariel shot courtesy of Google
This temple complex is the largest Hindu complex in Indonesia (can you see the theme here!).
We’ve been to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the style of the temples visually appeared the same, but here the reconstruction due to volcanic activity has been much more significant, and the areas around the structures have been cleared, giving the site a very odd feel, more like a museum than an historical religious site.
The reconstruction work continues at the site and there are still many more individual structures to be restored. At the current pace of reconstruction it will take 200 years to fully complete the restoration.
The inner larger structures are fully restored and you can enter the temples, where there are figures of Hindu gods…
…and I was happy to see my faviourte Hindu god was there, Ganesha.
This site was more open and you were free to wander around the structures and gardens alone.
Again the structures are covered in carvings
There are also 2 other sites within the complex and although it was topping 35c we did the walk to have a look.
So after a very hot and sweaty Yogyakarta we headed for Jakarta on the train to get our flight to Borneo. Indonesia is so much more than Bali and it’s definitely worth making the time and jumping on a boat and discovering the other islands.
Probolinggo wasn’t on our semi-planned route across Java. However, the lack of train availability resulted in us ended up in this busy costal town. In the region was a set of water falls and Mt Bromo, another active volcano.
Java doesn’t have the tourist presence at the same level as Bali, and it has a completely different cultural context (Bali is Hindi and the rest of Indonesia is Muslim). So the experience and ease of travel are very different, and although more difficult I think I prefer the experience of the other islands so far, over Bali.
We did find a great little backpackers to stay at, with our own little cabin in the garden (£9 a night!), but the lack of tourists did mean the tour options to visit where we wanted wasn’t really available.
If there aren’t tours to hop onto then the only other option is to either rent a taxi for the day, or hire a motorcycle.
Renting a bike in Indonesia is an interesting process. On this occasion I asked the guy at the desk of our accommodation if he knew anyone, he made a call and the bike appeared an hour later. We paid our daily fee (about £7 a day, which probably included a commission for the guy at the desk) and that’s it! No checking if I have a licence, or if I have ever ridden or operated a bike.
(Unfortunately you couldn’t look down on the falls on our walk,this one’s from google)
The falls were about 45 mins away, so we set off on the bike for the first time in Java. If anyone asked me would I recommend hiring a bike in Indonesia I think I would struggle, on one hand the roads are chaotic, very busy, and with no apparent traffic rules, but on the other, it’s cheap and the road trips to places, such as the falls that day, are fantastic. You see little villages, rice fields and things that you wouldn’t if you were sticking to the main routes.
When we arrived at the falls there was a short 2km walk into the valley, where you could access the river and walk up it, with several small waterfalls streaming around you.
This led to the main area where there was a circular area with high cliffs surrounding
There was a big sign saying you had to stop at that point (due to falling rocks) but we had our helmets on and there were a couple of people further on, so we clambered over the rocks to access the main pool.
The rains are late this year and the flow of the falls was low, but still worth the trek.
The water was really cold and the falls made for a great cold shower in the heat!
Day 2…Mt Bromo
This is another volcano, but very different to Mt Ijen. There is a massive crater with several craters within it, in the image below the whole landscape is the old crater with two new volcanos sitting inside it, one of them actively sending steam and sulphur into the air.
To get here we followed mountain roads up to reach the summit (thankfully no three-hour walk this time!), to a village that over looks the crater’s edge
We took the bike down into the crater, but the sand was soft and you really needed to be in one on the many 4WD jeeps. However when you are down inside it is one of the strangest places I think I’ve been to, felt like a set out of Star Wars!
The drive back down the mountain was stunning, Richard tried to get some shots while hanging on.
After our journey from Bali it was about 3pm before we had checked into our accommodation for our first night in Java.
I’m blaming island life for our complete lack of planning, but we hadn’t even looked at a guide site for Java, only googled the top ten things to see! It transpired that you could take a tour to one of the sites, Mt Ijen from the town we were in. The only problem was it left at midnight to allow time to climb it before sunrise. So instead for a nice dinner, a beer, and an early night, we were booked on to leave at midnight.
The temperature in Java was hotter than Bali, around 35 Celsius, so when the tour agent told us you needed to wrap up. It was a little hard to get your head around wearing a scarf, hat, warm coat, and long trousers. The long trousers was a step too far for me, and myself and Richard were about the only ones in shorts, glad I’d packed a woolly hat though.
After a bus journey we arrived at 2am to the base camp and got ready for the 2-3 hour climb up the volcano. Any thoughts of having any sort of life affirming moment all alone on top of the world were quickly dismissed when the guide told us there would be 700 people climbing that morning.
The path for the 2.5 mile journey up the volcano had been man made and was not the rocky path I thought we would be taking, but it was steep, very steep in parts! It was also pitch black so you could only see the ground in front of you and all the head touches flashing in the night sky.
When we reached the summit (about 2500ft) we had to start the descent into the volcano. This brought home the reality that we were actually on an active volcano. You could smell the sulphur and miners were lugging chunks of sulphur rock up the steep rocky path — past all of the tourists — from the mine at the bottom of the volcano’s inner core.
Luckily we got to the summit ahead of most of the 668 other people and when looking back up from inside the volcano there was a little trail of lights heading down the path.
The plumes of sulphur became bigger the closer you got to the bottom of the volcano, we were told to get our gas masks on, not sure how safe this all was…
At the very bottom the sulphur washed over you and it was hard to breathe even through the mask, and what I hadn’t expected was how it burnt your eyes. The ‘blue fire’ which we had climb down to see was a smallish river of gases that spontaneously flamed up as they ran down the rock giving off a blue flame.
The guide then told us it was time to start the long climb up, out of the mouth of the volcano and back to its summit, as it would be getting light soon, up the same narrow rocky path where people were still climbing down.
About halfway up the path, behind us the lake started to appear ( I didn’t even know it was there when we were at the bottom as it was so dark)
As the light increased the colours of the lake and surrounding landscape just came to life, truly breathtaking.
We had about an hour to explore around the top of the volcano before it was time to leave.
But not before an Instergram moment, which I didn’t find too comfortable as you can tell
So the long journey began, which was more tricky than the accent. The path was very slippery with loose earth and as the angle was so steep everyone was sliding and trying not to fall over.
Eventually back at base camp, thankfully no broken bones from the trek down, and time for deep fried bananas.
