Indonesia

Hello, friends. We've got a bit of catch-up to play, as we have been thoroughly vegged out the past two weeks in Indonesia. After our indulgent holiday on the Gili islands, we headed back to Bali one last time for a four day stint at Kuta beach. Kuta is known as the Aussie party haven on Bali- perhaps not that unlike Cancun for Americans- so we were expecting it to be one big party. Actually, as was the case at many great stops in Bali, tourism is suffering in Kuta, and instead of packed clubs, we saw empty clubs- with throbbing music, and promoters shoving party promotion flyers into the hands of passerbyers. We don't want to diminish the allure of Kuta, though... we really enjoyed four days at a California-style, sand bar beach, with nothing more to do each day than lay on the sand, play in the waves, and consume cheap food... and enjoy the company of our new friends from Germany, both conveniently named Alex (hey guys!)

We followed the Alexes, who are pro-SE Asia travelers, to Dewa Bharata, a very reasonably-priced guesthouse set in a pretty garden with a pool for 100 Rp (approx. USD 11) per night in the heart of Kuta. The guesthouse is actually located only 100 meters or so from ground zero of the 2002 Bali bombing, and there is a memorial and empty lot (formerly a club), filled with pictures and remembrances right in the midst of surrounding nightlife, which still pulses all around. Over 200 people died on that spot when a truck bomb exploded out front in the midst of a busy Saturday night in October of '02. It is a bit of an eerie contrast, to be honest.

Here are some pictures of Kuta:

From Kuta, we decided to take the intrepid, overland route into Java. It actually went much more smoothly than we could have dreamed. It started at 4:00 AM in the morning, when a cab ride to Gilamanuk, a three and a half hour drive from Kuta, and the western-most town on the island of Bali. We arrived at the public ferry with our packs on, just in time for the locals' morning commute to Java. The ferry ride was a bit surreal. We were both exhausted, and Arabic music was blasting on the main deck. A couple of guys were up at the front on a microphone, trying to sell everything from backscratchers to toy trains. The boatride was fast enough, and sooner than we knew it, we were deposited on the eastern shore of Java at Ketapang. Confusion ensued as we walked through town, in search of the train station, which our out-of-date guidebook promised was "500 meters" from the dock. We located it, and luckily the one daily train to Surabaya was leaving in half an hour.

The train was an experience. All windows were sealed shut (though they all had spidercracks and were busted), but there was no A/C, so it was quite hot and stuffy. Roaches began emerging from the curtains and armrest areas and had a full run of the place for the seven hour journey. Unsure of what was appropriate dress in Islamic Java (silly tourist, Megan), I kept my long-sleeved sweatshirt on for the first four hours of the journey until I finally stripped it off in a moment of quasi-heat exhaustion.

In Surabaya, we switched trains at the station and were lucky, twice- the five hour train to Yogyakarta (or Yoyga, for short, pronounced "Joe-gjah") was leaving in one hour. This train was much better, although a terrible American Bflick scary movie was playing on repeat (mixed in with Indonesian childrens' programming and Beyonce music videos- yes!) We arrived at Yogya around 10:00 PM, set off into town on bicycle taxis ("becak"), identified a place on Jalan Sosro, the budget acommodation hub, and got to sleep.

The biggest obvious different between Java and Bali is religion. Bali is overwhelmingly Hindu, while Java, like the rest of Indonesian, is mostly Muslim. There is a call to prayer five times daily, and you can hear competing calls broadcast from multiple mosques at once all around the city. Yogya is an artist and a university town, and the people are very curious as to where we are from, etc. Tourism has unbelievably suffered even more in Java than on Bali- our becak driver told us it was down "99%" since the bombings- and many guesthouses, cultural performances and restaurants listed in our Rough Guide are now out of business.

Yogya:

(because it is the windy, "bayu" season- and the dry season- kids flying kites are everwhere in Indonesia, like this one.)

(at the Sultan's Palace)

(wayang puppetry, from behind the screen)

(wayang puppet show)

Our main incentive for coming to Yogya was to see neighboring ruins at Borobodur (Buddhist)- the largest monument in the Southern hemisphere and the largest Buddhist stuppa in the world, and Prambanan (Hindu). They did not disappoint. We elected to travel early in the morning to catch Borobodur right as the sun was rising. The stuppa is five levels high, each ascending level representing a further stage in the quest for enlightenment. At the highest level, the walls fall away, revealing the surrounding mountains and volcanoes, with 72 smaller stuppas with a lattice design and buddhas inside. The lower 4 levels are all incredibly done in relief sculpture.

Borobodur:

Prambanan is about an hour drive from Borobodur, and was badly damaged by an earthquake one year ago. As a result, tourists can only observe the temple from a roped off perimeter. The temple is extraordinary, though it was frustrating to not be able to see the sculptures inside (due to the damage). Apparently over 6,000 Indonesians were killed, south of Yogya, in that earthquake.

Prambanan:

Other highlights of Yogya were the Ramayana ballet, performed in classic Javanese ballet style, and the wayang kulit puppet show. The puppets are crafted from buffalo hide, and are held behind a white cloth screen, behind which a light is shining so that the puppets' silhouettes are clearly outlined for the audience. The puppeteer does all of the characters, and a gamelan orchestra provides music.

After taking care of some errands in Yogya, we grabbed yet another train to Jakarta, where we were looking forward to meeting up with friends from the OPDAT Indonesia program. Rob, our OPDAT Indonesia RLA, and his family were kind enough to offer to put us up for a few nights, and we had a great time at their place hanging out with their adorable kids, singing karaoke with interpreter and FSN friends (hi to Ratih, Cut, Michelle and Avi!) and catching up on sleep in a gloriously air-conditioned, Western-style home. Michelle and her husband Peter showed us a tour highlighting the culinary delights of Indonesia including delicious Chinese noodles, Sundanese food (the salted fish fins were our favorite), and avocado juice, something we had been shying away from on menus, but actually isn't that bad- it's a mixture of condensed milk, chocolate sauce, and blended avocado. Michelle and Peter also took us all around Jakarta to museums and haunted spots. All of us went out to karaoke on Saturday night, which was noraebang-style and a real hoot. We even got Rob and Vivian to sing some Abba. Thanks to all for really making us feel at home in Jakarta. We miss you guys, and hope to see you in the USA next year!

Having fun in Jakarta:

We are now in Malaysia, having flown to Kuala Lumpur (KL) late two nights ago. We ventured up to the Cameron Highlands this morning, and will update more, soon!

Be well!
Catt and Megan

We're back in Kuta, Bali after six days exploring other parts of the island... and, as it turned out, other islands. Sorry that we were not able to return emails!

On a whim (and because you can do things on a whim when you've quit your job to travel), we decided to take a small boat to the Gili islands, about 4 hours by sea off of Bali to the east, very close to Lombok island. Through a series of accidents and miscommunications, we picked the island closest to Lombok, Gili Air, as our surrogate home for 5 days. This trip was one of those travel experiences where you drop all previous cultural points of reference and just sort of go with it. We arrived after 10 hours of travel by bus and boat- crazy waves and seasickness on that boat, I should add- while the sun was setting. Even as you are arriving at the Gilis, you can still see the silhouette of Agung volcano, the most holy of Hindu sites on Bali, towering at 3,014 meters (approx. 10,000 feet) over the Bali Sea.

When we arrived on Gili Air, the sun had just dipped below the horizon, and everything was darkness under the coconut trees (the sunset put on quite a brilliantly colored show which we watched on the top of the small boat). There are no paved roads, and no vehicles, so we were transported to our bungalows the way locals travel- by cidomo, or horse-drawn cart. The carts all have bells attached to them, and sound not unlike Santa arriving with gifts as they approach you down the lane. The horses are really more like ponies and I feel for them, straining under the weight of our American frames (and American packs).

The path was only lit by the occasional window-side candle, and everything was awash in moonlight or black shadow. As poetic as this all seemed, later, we learned that this darkness, while not uncommon, was attributable to a power-outage... apparently the generator off of which all electricity runs on Gili Air is always acting quite fickle. The next morning and following day we followed a routine which was to stay the same for the next four days. Wake up, have a simple breakfast sitting on pillows in a wooden hut on the beach, take a walk around the island (about 45 minutes), lie on the beach, and chat with locals. It truly was practice in the "art of doing nothing" and such a marked change of pace from the past four years- well, really the past 10 years- that it felt strange at first, being okay with having a simple routine and being okay with just thinking, and not really having to do. Not sure if that really makes sense, but that's the best I can describe it. Sort of like a mental detox.

We didn't just sit around thinking and relaxing in Gili Air, though... we had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful couple from California, Jeanne and Ron, with whom we enjoyed a tasty dinner of fresh fish, and great conversation. Talking with Jeanne and Ron was like learning how to be social again after a week of random exchanges and thoughts, reading and listening to ipods. Catt and I had finally run out of conversation topics, and it was great to swap travel stories, and get advice from an older, wiser team Jeanne and Ron, thank you for the great dinner, and we will keep in touch!

A few random logistical details and accomodation info:

Gili Air: we stayed at Gili Air Santay bungalows, 90,000 Rp per night (about $10) for simple room with Western-ish style toilet, mosquito net, bungalow and porch hammock. The food was great value (especially the Thai curries and pad thai). Travel was by Perama boat, to and from.

And here are some more pictures:

We've made it, finally, to Bali Indonesia. We arrived here about two days ago, bleary-eyed after forty hours in transit from Washington, DC. Our trip was delayed by the usual- poor weather, last minute gate changes, and a surprise layover in Anchorage, Alaska (although it was beautiful to see the rugged Alaskan landscape, bathed in the reddish-orange glow of 24 hour daylight as we landed at 3:00 AM). As soon as we reached Indonesia, though, our spirits lifted immediately... it's beautiful here, and the people we encountered were extremely eager to talk and easy to smile. Our airport pick-up is a local guy named Made, who, as we have learned, like most Balinese, likes to talk, and loves to ask personal questions off the bat. We learn from Made (pronounced "Mah-Day") that most Balinese have one of four names- all indicating birth order. Made means "second." We asked what happens when a fifth child is born, and were told that they simply start over again with "first." Many families as a result have several sets of children named first, second, and so on.

We picked the quieter town of Sanur as our first stop, or "Snore" as it's jokingly referred to by the Australian party population that prefers wilder, rowdier Kuta. We are staying in a lovely guesthouse called Flashbacks that has bungalows and rooms situated in a private, small garden right off the main drag here in Sanur. The price is good- at $21 per night, this is definitely moderate (or the highest end of budget) for accommodations on Bali, but hey, we wanted a soft landing for our first few days.

We spent our first afternoon and day getting our bearings, indulging in the cheap, tasty restaurants in our neighborhood ($3 entrees and 90 cent beers at nice places; even cheaper at food stalls), and checking out the beach, where we spent the majority of yesterday afternoon. It was naive of me to think that this would translate to an afternoon of solitude; it was quite to the contrary. The touts and hawkers walk up and down the shoreline, desperate to tempt potential customers with excursions, massages, pedicures, etc. A guy named Komang ("third") stopped by our beach chairs eager to make a business pitch and we ended up discussing everything from religious tension on Bali to the ghosts that inhabit all Balinese homes. The 30 minute chat was much more of a cultural exchange than a cross examination. Komang, like most Balinese, is Hindu, and as his main source of income is the tourist industry he has a somewhat colored view of some of the more conservative Muslims in Indonesia. He discussed this at length with us, always emphasizing that Bali is different from the rest of the country, and that we may not receive such a warm welcome in Java. We also discussed the negative impact that perceptions of Indonesia as a "terrorist haven" have had on Bali's tourism industry. The recent terrorism threat posted by the government of Australia has many locals in the industry fearful for a relapse in the tourism drought that followed the 2002 Bail bombings, and everyone is quick to attest to the safety of the island. Komang went so far as to say that he would welcome President Bush here, "with open arms!" Furthering this point were the many tee-shirts we saw in outdoor market stalls with slogans such as "Osama Don't Surf" and "F*(expletive) Terrorists."

Speaking of surfing, I'm hoping to learn later this week when we make it down to Kuta.

Today we took a driving tour which included the inland culture mecca of Ubud. We travelled up to the volcano of Gunung Agung, saw a traditional dance performance and visited different artists' villages. Once we hit our backpacking groove, life will not be as plush as it's been... but we've really enjoyed our first few days here. Tomorrow it's on to Ubud, the cultural navel of Bali. We will update with pictures and a list of our gear, soon, so check back!

Many thanks for all of your emails, and please keep in touch!

Here are some more pictures of our first few days on Bali in Sanur, and Ubud: