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Today I’m taking a break from the long trips and sticking to inside the city. I’ve got into the habit of putting in earplugs at 4:20AM, the time of the first Muslim call to prayer being blasted over loudspeakers all over the city.

I’ve been lucky in Indonesia considering the weather. It is the dry season right now so the humidity isn’t too bad and as long as I’m not in direct sunlight all day long it is fairly comfortable.

I bought some Pepsi Blue from the supermarket. I read this was only sold in the US from 2002-2004, but Indonesia is one of the only countries where it is sold now. I never tried it before, but I can’t really taste much of a difference other than the blue color.

Today I visited the Sonobudoyo Museum, which was average. And then I visited the Kraton, the sultan palace in the center of the city. The palace was embarrassingly rundown and there was nothing special there. I don’t think they’ve made anything in this country that has matched what was built 1000 years ago so far. So that’s why I’m going to try to see more of the old things tomorrow.

I bought a train ticket to my next destination today. That was a different experience. They require you to fill out a form that has no English on it. I was able to figure out most of it from some examples. And then you had to “take a number” and wait. There was no sign saying the numbers, they were announced only in Indonesian. I made note of who took a number before me and waited for him to go so I knew when it was my turn. And things worked out ok and I got my ticket.

I was considering taking a organized tour to Borobudur from a travel agency here, but things were not looking good. They need at least two people to run a tour and I’m only one. It is the low season right now, so there aren’t too many tourists around here. I decided to take the public buses, but there isn’t a direct one.

I made my way to one of the bus terminals and then got on a bus to Borobudur. I did my research and found an Indonesian blog where a guy paid 7000 Rupiah for the trip earlier this year. After the bus starts going, the conductor demands 20000 Rupiah from me. I told him it is 7000 and I knew he was lying.  I should have told him to stop the bus and let me off, but I didn’t see much of a choice at the time. So I had to get ripped off. Afterwards, the bus squeezed with students and other people, each paying 1000 for shorter trips until not another person could fit inside. It made me angry I went through so much trouble and time to get on this hot, slow, crowded bus when I could have taken the direct tour bus from the travel agency for the same price. I stay away from all taxi drivers and things like that but still hard to believe on a public bus they will still rip me off here.

I got off the bus to see Candi Mendut first, which is a smaller stone temple on the eastern axis of the famous Borobudur. Afterwards, I had to walk at least 2km to get to Borobudur itself. I felt kind of silly since I was the only person around walking in mid-day. Everyone else was on buses and motorcycles and bicycles. Once I arrived, it was the same dual pricing scheme ($1 for Indonesians, $11 for everyone else) as yesterday.

I walked through the archaeological museum first, and then a museum about a boat constructed to match a carving shown on the side of Borobudur. Then I started walking around the stupa. I lost count, but I think in total there are about 9 levels and it is about 5km (not sure if it really was that much) to walk around every level to look at the 1460 carved relief panels.

I visited in the afternoon and it was not too crowded considering this is the top tourist attraction in the country. Of course, I had that planned out by coming in the off season, weekday, and hotter afternoon time. At the top of Borobudur, the sun was getting low, and I could see jungle forest and hills as far as I could see.

On the way back I only paid 10000 Rupiah for the same bus ride. The past two days I’ve eaten at McDonald’s and KFC for dinner because I feel like these American corporations are more honest than the local people here.

Today I took a trip outside of the city to the Prambanan temples, which are over 1000 year old huge stone structures.  It was easy to get there since that new bus system went directly there. I bought myself a hat so I could walk through the midday sun with more ease.

I noticed there were two ticket offices. One for Indonesians who could get inside for $1 and one for foreigners who could get inside for $10. Just a little difference, but oh well, I didn’t mind too much since this was one of the main things I wanted to see in the country.

I walked through the museum first and then to the ruins: Candi Lumbung, Candi Bubrah, and Candi Sewu. The area is similar to Angkor in Cambodia.

Two years ago there was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in the city I’m staying in now. 5,782 people died. The effects could be seen on some of these stone buildings too. Some of the stones were cracked in half. But overall, in the past two years they have been fixed so they look as good as new.

In Candi Sewu the ruins of 249 towers surrounded a bigger tower. An Indonesian man came by and started talking to me and then offered to take me inside. Going inside was off limits since after the earthquake, but he did anyway. It was like an Indiana Jones moment, going in the dark rooms. He lit a match so I could get up some of the stairs. Afterwards he asked for some money, but I didn’t mind to give him a little for that service. He said he was an assistant to the archeologists here, but I had a feeling he was a liar just like everyone else in this country.

Later I saw the biggest buildings, centered around Candi Shiva Mahadeva. Because of the earthquake, there was a fence around the temples so I couldn’t get right next to them, but it was still a nice sight with the sun getting low, a volcano in the distance, and piles of stone ruins all around.

At 6AM I had a 10 minute ride from my room to the airport in Bali. I was impressed by Mandala Airlines, they were speedy and efficient for my flight to the city of Yogyakarta in Central Java. The plane flew past some volcanoes, including the one year the city called Mount Merapi.

When I arrived I was surprised to see a new bus system in the city that was not mentioned in any of my guide books. I took bus 1A directly to the area where all the cheap rooms are.

Out of the bus, one man showed me one room, then another man showed me two others. I decided on a simple room at Nuri Losmen. The same man helped me check-in and then mentioned I arrived on a special day and there is an art exhibition only this morning. I agreed to go there since this man said he was one of the artists and he will be an art and math teacher soon.

I realized this isn’t an art exhibition. It is just a shop. They were selling Batik paintings. The owner talked to me for a long time, they gave me tea and really pressured me to buy something right then. He said he was an artist too and pointed out the ones that were his own. So many red flags appeared: “This is lucky morning, we’re not open every day, special discount for students.” I got out of there without buying anything finally.

Later in the day, I noticed everyone is trying to get me to go to a special art exhibition today. It was like a broken record around here. “Where are you from?” and then I say USA and they always ask “California?” because statistically that has the biggest population, and then they say “many Americans come here recently.”  And then they tell me to go see some art exhibition so they can get some commission on a sale. I decided to take a look at another. And it was the same thing. They offered me tea like they’re reading from a script, a man shows me his own works of art and keeps talking and talking. But when he sees I’m ready to leave he doesn’t even say goodbye.

Later, I see the “teacher & artist” who found me my room and said go buy his artwork. I asked him which one did he paint and he said he it just happened to be the same one I was looking at in the shop. He started grabbing my arm and tried to drag me in there. At that point I knew he was a liar and he doesn’t do anything expect sit and sleep outside all day. I locked myself in my room for the rest of the day.

The transportation system in Bali is pretty confusing. These Bemo minibuses often do not have any signs showing their destinations. For other forms of transportation, every few steps you take down the street men say “transport, transport” and they are basically motorcycle drivers. I stayed away from them, but it sure was annoying just to walk down a street. People at every shop have to say “Hello and start talking to you. I decided the most peaceful place was in my room, so I stayed there alone most of the time in Bali.

Bali is nice if you like going to night clubs or sitting on the beach, or surfing. But other than that, there isn’t too much. If you just want to take a walk, it is difficult because sidewalks are so narrow or blocked, plus all the people trying to get your attention as I mentioned before. There are a lot of stone temples around, but most have closed gates and if you do get into some museum or temple you get assaulted by fake guides.

Finally I got a ticket off the web site of Mandala Airlines to take me back to the island of Java. After seeing the suicidal bus driver on the way here to Bali (even passed a truck that crashed through a guardrail landing below), I decided it was safest to fly (even though Indonesian airlines have some of the worst crash records in the world).

My room is just down the street from the Bali Bomb memorial. I can actually see it from my room, the place where 202 people died in a terrorist bombing six years ago. They have a list of names and I noticed it was mostly Australians who died (88 I think) and there were a few Americans (about 7). The bombing too place at one of the popular night clubs here. These clubs are still popular and I could hear the music all night.

I spent some time going to the main city on the island, Denpassar. There I visited the Bali Musuem (Museum Negeri Propinsi Bali) and the state temple next door (Pura Jagatnatha). In the museum it seemed like one guy was trying to guide me, but I kept ignoring him and he went away. The same in the temple, a man in a baseball cap and T-shirt claming to be one of the Hindu priests there kept talking to me. I finally told me he was making me nervous and I wanted to walk around by myself.

Later I visited an old temple called Pura Maospahit. Near here I had some lunch at a local restaurant. Here there was no menu, so I pointed to what another man was eating. I paid 15000 Rupiah but then when the Indonesian man left I noticed he paid 8000 Rupiah! It made me angry and again I have to think twice about going anywhere that does not have a menu or posted prices.

Even on the slow public minibuses called Bemos, the drivers are not very honest. Quoting me 2-4x the real price, but I know what it should be so I just pay that.

The room last night was pretty bad. Only $4, but it smelled horrible and there were no covers on the pillows. Also no flush toilet, and after asking them to turn the water on, I got to use a bucket to take a bath.

I went out and found a better room for $3. On the third floor with a better breeze going through the room. It is probably one of the best rooms I’ve had for this price. It even includes a small breakfast for free!

I took a walk to the beach to see the sunset. A lot of surfers around here.

I stayed two nights here, so I’d have another chance to see the volcano. I woke up at 4:30AM today and walked straight to the Mt. Bromo volcano. My room is up on the upper edge of an ancient caldera. So I walked on a road down to the bottom of the caldera first. This morning the bottom was filled with fog. I had to walk across a flat sea of volcanic ash for about 2km and there was fog all around me. There were some footprints and some stones on the ground to follow, otherwise it would be easy to get lost. Plus I made this walk yesterday which made things a lot easier.

Things were much clearer today. I could see the inside of the volcano where the gas was venting out. Yesterday it was all a gassy mist inside the crater. The sunrise was nice again. The landscape always looks different because the clouds are always moving through the caldera. Again today I got some fantastic views.

I went back to my hotel and had breakfast and then got on the bus back down the mountain. It was slow going, waiting around and stopping to pick up passengers for about an hour. I was worrying since I already paid for an onward bus that leaves at 12:00 and I hope I wouldn’t miss it. I almost did. I got to the travel agency around 11:10 (the ticket receipt said be there at 11:30) and the bus was already there and it left just a few minutes later! I was kind of shocked at why the bus was there so early and what if I arrived only a few minutes later?

I was relieved I got on the nice express bus to the city of Denpasar on the island of Bali. So far I’ve been on the island of Java. The bus took me along the northeast coast of Java. There was ocean on the left and mountains on the right. We stopped for lunch and I quickly found out everyone else on the bus was eating expect me because they had a coupon for lunch. The travel agent must have forgot to give me to me! So I had to pay extra for the lunch even though I was on the same bus as everyone else.

Later the bus drove onto a ferry to the island of Bali. I noticed at one point the lady next to me was grabbing a mouse or rat off the floor of the bus. It must have been her pet. I finally arrived at the bus station after 9:00 at night. All the public buses stopped running but I found a couple people to share a taxi with. The taxi went to Kuta beach and I found a cheap room to stay in for the night.

I woke at 4:00 in the morning and started walking to a mountain nearby that has a good view of the area. There was no moon and I had no flashlight. I knew I had to follow a road, so I did so slowly, watching every step since I couldn’t see much of anything. I could make out buildings and trees so I knew where the road was. There was some mud from the rain the day before too. I noticed some people ahead of me with a flashlight. Just when the road ended, I was able to catch up with them. They were a Japanese couple. I followed them up a very narrow trail farther up the mountain. At around 5:30 we reached a viewing platform and the sun was about to rise.

The guidebooks say it is worth it to keep walking up a even smaller trail up the mountain. So I tried. I walked and walked and my pants and shoes were getting soaking wet from all the grass and plants next to the “path.” The path was also muddy and very slippery. I stopped after a while since I didn’t seem to be gaining too much doing this. I missed the stairs going up all the mountains in China. I turned around and partially slipped on the way down. I heard something rolling behind me after the bag I was carrying flew up in the air. I saw my new lens rolling down the dirt trail. I slipped a few more times, but luckily I didn’t get all my clothes muddy.

I met up with the Japanese couple again as they were viewing Mt. Bromo. It is not just a mountain, but a volcano. You can see smoke venting out. Actually you can see two volcanoes from this spot. Mt. Bromo and Mt. Sumeru. I got some good photos. Then I took one for the Japanese people which was probably one of their best of their trip. There aren’t many people around this area, it is very nice.

At 8:30 or so I walked back. I noticed the road I walked along had farms along both sides. And now there were farmers working in the fields. I rested for a while and then in the afternoon walked over to the Mt. Bromo volcano itself. Although, I didn’t see too much since by the time I got there it was very cloudy. The land is so high here the clouds are moving right through you. I walked up to the rim of the volcano and smelling the sulfur gas coming out. It looked quite dangerous since the rim was very narrow and if you fall of either side it looked like death.

There was a small Mosque across the street. I heard something coming from the speakers there and my watch said 4:18AM. There were no blankets on the beds and the room had mosquitos. I noticed Indonesian homes (or at least this one) are mostly open to the air with no screens. Only the bedrooms have some screens. Bedrooms are also permanently open to the air and also have high ceilings to help deal with the heat and have some natural circulation.

Since I’m in Indonesia, it means poor Internet access. There is nothing in the hostel and the net cafes will not allow me to use my own computer. Plus the speeds here are really slow. So I’d say this country comes in 2nd to Cambodia for worst Internet access.

Since there isn’t anything much in the city of Surabaya, I decided to head to Mt. Bromo. So first I had to take a taxi to the bus station (there are metered taxis here at least). At the station they had a strange deal where you had to pay some money to get into the area next to the buses first. I got on and about 3 hours later, they dropped me off at a travel agency (instead of the bus station, strangely enough!).

On the bus ride, I noticed Indonesian kids like flying kites. Almost every kid I saw had a small kite twirling around in the sky.

Next I got on a minibus to the top of the mountain. It took a while to leave since they had to make sure they had enough people. And they had about 26 men, women, and children  in this van at one point, including the conductor hanging on from the outside!

The ride took me up through some mountains. I noticed many farms on the sides of some very steep hills. It got cooler and cooler. This will be a nice break from the hot weather.

On arrival, there are a few choices for accommodation. The first one looked at was pretty bad. Narrow bed, no electrical outlets in the room. I went to a second place and had a bigger bed and better view out the window. Still no electricity though! But I took it anyway. There was a light on the ceiling and a switch on the wall. I attempted to take the switch off the wall and connect to the wires (using a metal piece on my watch band as a screwdriver), but there wasn’t enough current since it was still going through the light. I’d have to short out the light to make it work. That was too dangerous, so I gave up. It is really simple here. No showers, no flush toilets. They say you can dump some cold water on yourself if you want a bath.