Shopping notes:
(1) It costs me up to 80,000 times as much as a local to send a text message!!!!
(2) They ship Evian in and charge 10 times as much for it than the local water (which is owned by Danone). Who buys the stuff at that price??!?!
The hotel in Yogyakarta was a bit like an old tart. Over made up on the outside but scruffy and peeling on the inside. The owner also seemed to have a thing for caged birds which I don't really approve of anyway, but particularly don't like when they shriek their little lungs out at five in the morning. Even over breakfast they were ear-splitting. We also had to change rooms because we could hear rats scurrying around in the ceiling.
We spent the first day in Joyja (as the locals call it) trying to sort out the rest of our time in Java. Just getting out of the city was proving problematic. Since the Bali bombs and Boxing Day tsunami tourist numbers have collapsed. The upside for us is that things are a bit cheaper, but the downside is that availability and choice has reduced as places and transport routes have closed down.
Day two was a tick-list of sights. Borobudur and Pranbanan were both impressive temple complexes which were interesting to wander around, although the sun and heat were stifling. On the last day we took a look around the city itself and the "highlight" of the Kraton (palace). Honestly, it was deeply unimpressive. Most of the rooms were whitewashed and tiled giving the impression you were viewing Indonesia's national treasures in some old school changing room. And they made you pay twice for the privilege.
Up until now, Dan has been the one suffering from mozie bites, but since arriving in Indonesia they've taken a shine to me too. I'm still suffering a lot less that my travel companion, but i've still had some bites that have inflamed up to the size of nipples and itched like hell.
I've decided to resurrect Williams's Rules Of Budget Travel from my last trip. I will add to these as i get sufficiently bored to think them up:
(1) If they want your money, they'll speak your language. (This is a general rule that applies everywhere except Russia where they just snarl and expect you to pay up.)
(2) When visiting a tourist attraction, never assume you have to pay. If you wander around looking like you need to give some cash away, there will always be someone to take it off your hands. Keep walking until either something (e.g. a barrier you can't climb) or someone (e.g. person with a gun or ticket machine) stops you. (You'd be amazed how much money this rule can save.)
(3) If locals speak to you, they want money. There is an argument in some quarters that some of them may just be being friendly, but in my experience any conversation that starts "hello, where do you come from?" inevitably ends "for you, only 10 US dollar".
On Thursday we took a mini bus from Jogja to Pangandaran. The road seemed to only have one lane - for traffic going both ways. They're supposed to drive on the left here but vehicles just go wherever there's a gap, however quick that gap is going to be filled by the very large lorry approaching very fast from the opposite direction.
Pangandaran is a beach resort and is emptier than an investment banker's employment prospects. They were hit by a tsunami in July 2006 which caused major damage and scared off the few remaining tourists who weren't put off by the Bali bombings or Boxing Day Tsunami. It's a shame really because you can immediately see the potential the place has. It's just a narrow strip of land pointing into the sea with a small jungle at the end. The beach is wide and sandy, but alas covered in rubbish, so it isn't ever going to win a blue flag.
We had a tour of the wider area today including demonstrations of how to make brown sugar from coconut oil and how to carve puppets. Naturally they tried to flog us the produce afterwards. We also visited the Green Canyon. It was green.
Tomorrow we head for Jakarta. Apparently they have traffic problems there...
Rich.
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