Hello from Sukadana! So, since Christmas, a rather lot has happened I guess, though it doesn’t appear to have included me writing about it. As I try to backtrack this post grows long, so if you don’t have the time/energy to read an epic, I forgive you.
My last few days in Yogya were rather hectic. I decided last minute to go on a two-day adventure to see Mount Bromo, a famous volcano that continuously spews gas and is located in a giant crater with two other volcanoes in East Java, only 12 hours away by bus, a breeze really. Thus, I left Sunday morning at around 9 am, got to the town by the mountain at around 9 pm and crashed until getting up at 1 am to trek to the mountain for sunrise, and then got back on my bus by 9 am and went right back to Yogya. Lunacy, you say? Perhaps. But, it was still pretty cool.
The first part of the trekking was rather thrilling as I set out across the dessert in the crater alone under the stars; however it later lost some of its magic as the road that I was following up the mountain became inundated with Jeeps (the more popular way to get to the top). There is apparently also a walking trail, but no one seemed to know where it was and I wasn’t left with much choice at 1 am by myself than to follow the road. I don’t know what they put in the cars here sometimes, but let me tell you, its not that pleasant to breath in deep gulps of exhaust as you walk up a steep hill. In the end, I ended up taking a motor the last 2 km (it was apparently around 20 total, though that number is dubious) because I could see that the sun was starting to rise at 4:30 and not at 5:15 as they had informed me, and after all the effort I had gone to in order to get there, I was not going to miss it! Clouds had set in while I was walking, but the sunrise was still beautiful and the landscape just extraordinary. Later I was rescued from my long walk down by some Jakartans in a Jeep and just had time for a quick jaunt over to Bromo itself and climbed the 200ish steps to the top in order to peer into the smoking hole where the giant white plume originates. (NB I really am trying to upload my pictures, but now that I finally have my laptop, it seems that my card reader isn’t working or something…)
Back in Yogya my month which had once stretched on into the distant future seemed to have flown by and I found myself hectically running errands and packing, and suddenly it was time to say goodbye to my host-family. Monica and her sisters were so nice and came to the airport to see me off/give me a goodie bag of presents.
Bali was a lot of fun. Between a combination of fun in the sun, the water, some quality chilling time, and some dance performances of dubious quality, it was an all around great trip. That said, I think my two favorite places were not on Bali proper but on two smaller islands. The first, Gili Air is a tiny and picturesque little strip of white sand and palm trees set in turquoise water. The only form of transport is horse-cart, but don’t worry, you can walk around the entire island is about 90 minutes. Gabe and I essentially split our time between kicking it in beach bungalows drinking mango juice and snorkeling. Ubud was nice, though the best part was definitely our sumptuous accommodations. The town itself is very touristy at this point, with lots of shopping. We went to one dance performance, which was plenty. While I find the traditional dance very interesting, I don’t necessarily have the attention span for a full 2 hour show.
My other favorite place was Nusa Lembogan, a small island off the cost of Bali with 7000 inhabitants, 95% of whom are involved in the island’s seaweed farming industry. Not only was the lack of tourism and touts refreshing, but it was also here where I went on some of the most beautiful dives of my life. This, combined with the great group of people meant that I liked it so well that I ended up staying an extra day and would have stayed more if I could have. Post Nusa Lembogan it was time for a bit of culture shock as I went to join Chris and the some of the HMC crew at a resort in Nusa Dua. The place was absurd. It turns out that Nusa Dua is a resort community of about 15 resorts with a collective security gate outside (followed by more security for each one). There were about 10 pools (it had to live up to its name “laguna”) and many Russians. It was funny too the difference between kicking it with low-key backpackers and the fast-paced intellectual conversation of Harvard students. Eventually we left the resort in search of a more authentic Bali, but returning to Ubud was not the answer for such a task. Finally we found ourselves in Munduk, a tiny village on the side of one of Bali’s volcanoes from where the view of rice paddies and forests stretches all the way out to the distant ocean.
Finally, it was time to part ways again and I headed off on my own to Borneo. Traveling in Indonesia requires some serious fortitude and patience. While it is often very quick to get through airport security, nothing else is easy. After a delay caused me to miss my second flight, I had to fight my way to the front of a “goat rodeo” of people all competing for the attention of 4 clerks issuing new boarding passes. Why they couldn’t have a) more people working and b) some sort of organized line system in which each person waits patiently until the next available clerk is available is beyond me, but it sure gave me new appreciation for those lines they have official offices where you have to “wait behind the line.” Later, as I explored the domestic terminal, I think my favorite image was the group of 8 or so guys kickin it together smoking some cigarettes in the walkway to the terminal RIGHT BENEATH two “no smoking” signs. I would have taken a picture, but there was also a sign saying “no cameras”…Honestly, usually I love Indonesia, but sometimes the lack of regard for the rules can get to me. This, of course has larger implications than my mild asmatic response to a smoky terminal: it means that vast swathes of beautiful rainforest that are technically protected are being logged daily, or slash and burned to create new fields for palm oil. And on that note, I think I’ll leave the rest for later.
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