A week in Java

We landed in Java in the port city of Surbaya at 6am. Much to Lindsay and Chris' dismay us Gohmann's have a habit for booking flights that leave no later than sunrise. From Surbaya we experienced our first bus travel of the trip down to the quaint college town of Malang. The three hour trip was remarkably smooth, and we were fortunate enough to even have entertainment during the trip (Indonesian karaoke blaring the whole way).

Malang was our base camp for Volcano #2 of our trip, Mt. Bromo. It turned out to be a great little city and our first glimpse at a less touristy and more authentic Indonesia life. While severely lacking sleep throughout our stay in Malang we managed to explore much of the city including the pandemonium of the local bird market (see photo of Chris to the right), and sample some fantastic foods including soto ayam (chicken noodle soup) and bakso (a delicious soup with meatballs).

Mt. Bromo. In order to get to Mt. Bromo for sunrise we left from Malang at 1am, arriving at 4am to begin our accent. We decided to be a bit spartan and do the hike up to the volcano summit sans guide. This soon proved to be a bit disastrous, as within a few minutes of our hike we were stumbling through the the darkness of the volcanic lunar landscape in temperatures barely above freezing. Fortunately our wandering became slightly less aimless as the sun began to peak its first rays over the crater rim and out of seemingly nowhere a band of touts began to offer us horse rides to volcano. We spent the remainder of the day soaking up the sun's warmth and the breathtaking views (see below).

Yogykarta
Aka Yogya (pronounced Johg-Ja)- bustling city of about three million people all governed by a sultan who lives in a big walled palace in the middle of the city. Something we may not have mentioned before is that is is Ramadan here and as you may or may not know, Indonesia is majority Muslim. Translation for us-we are not supposed to eat/drink on the street and a bunch of places are closed for lunch, or you eat behind a curtain, so people on the street don't have to watch you eat. Otherwise, we have been told that Yogya is normally filled with much more traffic-which has been nice to miss, since we felt it was already pretty busy. In addition, we hear the call to prayer throughout the night, esp 3am-5am as it is projected over a loud speaker from all mosques. After asking around though, we have been told that this happens all year round, not just during Ramadan.

Back to Yogya. On the first day, Sarah tripped on the uneven sidewalks of the city and awkwardly landed on her foot, causing it to bruise and swell up. Fearful that she had broken something, she and Chris headed to the hospital the next morning, while Mark and I went to visit the sultan's palace. Fully expecting Sarah and Chris to be at the ER all day-we found them relaxing at our lovely hotel (which had both a pool and a gym) upon on return. Turns out it was one of the nicest hospitals they had ever been to and they received the royal treatment-in and out in one hour and no broken foot! Great news. An aside-please see photo below of us trying to work off some Nasi Goreng (fried rice) and Mie Goreng (fried noodles) at the old school hotel gym. We have been eating a lot of both.

The walled palace was cool-Mark and I saw some traditionally dressed women, ritualistically bringing the sultan his lunch under an umbrella. We also did a walking tour of the city with a great guide named Alice, who kinda just acted as our friend while we walked around the city for five hours.

Mark trying his hand at making a traditional leather puppet....



One of the many sweet graffiti clad walls in Yogya...



We also took two day trips from Yogyakarta two see two large temples-Prambanan and Borobudur. Prambanan is a Hindu temple built in the 9th century and consists of three central temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma and many smaller shrines around it. The central temple is about 60 meters tall and all three temples were an incredible sight to see. It reminded me of being at Macchu Picchu since all of the stones have no mortar between them and are carved to perfectly fit together. On the evening of our visit to Prambanan we watched a traditional dance performance on an outdoor stage with the temples glowing behind. Another aside-before the dance performance began, an earthquake struck. It was nothing major-but enough to feel everything shaking a bit for about one minute. Sarah and Chris are used to this having lived in LA, but it was my first earthquake and it totally weirded me out. I kept thinking I was feeling aftershocks for a couple days after.

Interesting wall carving at Prambanan, though I forgot this bearded dudes name...



The gang in front of Prambanan...






Borobudur was also an incredible sight. It is a Buddhist temple, with ten levels forming a pyramid. The trip to the top represents the path to nirvana-with the bottom level full of stone carvings that depict people enjoying life's vices and the apex of the structure symbolizing nirvana. The carvings were incredibly well preserved (the structure was not "rediscovered" until about 1814) under volcanic ash from the three volcanoes nearby. The top of the monument was void of decoration, carvings or buddha statues (of which there were hundreds on the monument) symbolizing the nothingness and serenity of nirvana. It was pretty impressive.

Lindsay Trying to reach inside the wall and rub the Buddha's foot for good luck...


Us in front of the mighty Borobudur....


Taking a break on our journey towards enlightenment....


Random aside-on the way back from Borobudur we stopped to pick up a loaf of grilled bread called Roti. It was made hot, right in front of us at a street food cart. There were an infinity of possible fillings to put inside the bread including nuts, jams, butter, chocolate, fruit, but we really went all out and asked for chocolate and cheese! We watched as the chef slathered the bread with butter, condensed milk, chocolate, and cheese and grilled every side of the loaf to perfection. Needless to say it was one of the most glorious things i have ever eaten. We made it back to our lovely hotel in Yogya and though we were sad to go, we left in the morning to head to the airport for a quick one night stop in Singapore to renew our Indonesian visas.

Achieving Nirvana.....

Relaxing in the Gillis

After our difficult trek up Rinjani, we headed to a small island called Gilli Air with Kristine and Mathais. Gilli Air is one of 3 islands known as the Gillis that are located just off of Lombok. It takes about 15 minutes to get there by boat from Lombok. During our most difficult moments in Rinjani we kept telling ourselves to just get through it because soon we would be in the tropical paradise known as the Gillis. When we arrived we were not disappointed!


Perhaps the greatest thing about the Gillis is that they are closed to all motor traffic so the only way to get around is on foot, bicycle or by horse cart. It's the Mackinac Island of Indonesia.
We also chartered a boat for the day and went on an amazing snorkeling trip. We saw lots of sea turtles, parrot fish and Mark spotted an eel.

We stayed in cottages that were a 2 minute walk inland. The interior of the island is also equally idyllic with cows, goats and chicken grazing in the shadows of palm trees. Here I am in my newly purchased sarong in front of our cottage. Lindsay & I walking home from the beach bellow.

Some more Gilli Pics

Gili Islands

Mt. Rinjani

We made the trip to Mt. Rinjani (Indonesia's second highest peak) via a four hour ferry across the Bali Sea followed by a 3 hour van ride through the eroding switchbacks of Lombok. We were surprised to find that our driver had a 15 year old mix tape that was heavy on Boyz II Men. After arriving in Senaru, a small village at the base of Mt. Rinjani, we negotiated for a reputable guide to lead us on the daunting three day trek up the mountain.



Day 1…

Day ONE: we woke, swallowed some banana pancakes and then rode in the back of a pickup truck to the trail head. We should note that in addition to the regular "sights and parasites" crew (Mark, Lindsay, Sarah and Chris) we were also joined by Sarah’s attorney friends from L.A., Christine and Mathias, as well as a German named Andreas. The seven of us were accompanied by Itra, our guide, who, at the end of our first day's hike, would carry a 50lb log up the side of the mountain to the campsite so we could have our dinner served hot). five porters accompanied us as well, ranging in age from 17 to 45, all in astronomically better shape than us. And so it was that the whole Rinjani gang was about a baker's dozen in size.

The first morning's hike was pleasant enough, through savanna, rolling hills of waist high grasses and the occasional wandering bovine. We broke for lunch after an hr, and any worries about going hungry on the mountain were quelled when we downed a large Indonesian style noodle soup. Stretching out after our meal we shared our optimistic impressions of the trek, believing our initial 2 hour hike and 1.5hr lunch might be the pace throughout.

By 3pm we were scrambling on all fours up a steeply graded trail resembling the loose bed of a former avalanche We powered through and by 4:30pm we arrived at our first campsite, perched on the rim of Mt. Rinjani's crater, 1600meters higher than where we'd started. The views from the rim were all the reward we needed. We ate and hit the sack by 7pm, for Itra would be waking us in less than 7 hours to start our ascent to the summit.

Day 2…

2AM… we sit outside our tents and consider the 1100meter climb ahead of us. tea and cheese sandwiches were all the sustainence we'd need. above us, the Milky Way gleamed so vividly that its clouds of cosmic gas were visible (a dark smudge with a purple-ish white perimeter). Under the guidance of Itra and our headlamps we began to climb. The grade of the trail was even more daunting then the day before. Making matters worse, the trail was comprised entirely of tiny bits of volcanic pumice. Progress was slow and demoralizing. With every two steps forward we slid one back, a Sisyphean ordeal, like climbing a waterfall.

6AM…Summit. eventually, all of us who tried to summit DID-- some much quicker than others! The sunrise was astounding; at 3700meters we were well above the clouds and will let the pictures speak for themselves. Oreo's were eaten and then we made a much more rapid decent back down to base camp and more banana pancakes.

NOW 9AM… the day was far from over. we stretched our dogs (aka our feet) in the morning sun, thinking we'd happily spend the remainder of the day napping and recuperating. However this was not part of the itinerary, and by 10AM we were stumbling down a precarious switchback with sheer cliff drops into low hanging clouds, which pour into the crater basin every morning and keep the northern side of the volcano green and tropical. The trail descended 600 meters to the edge of the crater lake. We took a 2 hour break for lunch and some (very) hot springs and then (again, after thinking we'd happily spend the remainder of the day here, recuperating) left the stunning lake behind and began a 600meter climb to the other side of the crater rim, where we would spend the night. finally, now at the campsite, what remained of our energy was used chewing dinner, afterward which we collapsed in exhaustion before the sun had even set completely.

Day 3…

All down hill! Despite some very sore legs (esp knees) we all managed to get down the mountain by noonish on Day THREE. the group photo shows us at the bottom of the trail, tired but fulfilled!

Bali Ha'i

Ubud

Another hour ride with our friend Wayan behind the wheel and we arrived safely in Ubud. Ubud is an artisan's town filled with tons of boutiques selling everything from jewelery to baskets, clothing, paintings and more. As Sarah said, we are not sure we have ever seen a more creative group of people in our lives. Everyone is making some sort of art. Our first night we met up with a friend of my (Lindsay's) family's named Ben, who is an American ex pat who has been living in Bali with his wife, Blair, for the past 12 years. Ben and Blair took us out for a night on the town at a great ex pat hangout. We ate some incredible bbq (there's always plenty of time for indonesian food right?) and had a great time. Over the next couple days we went on two great hikes through the surrounding area outside Ubud, which are filled with gorgeous views of terraced rice paddies (see photo) and ornate temples everywhere you turn. We also stopped by at the monkey forest in Ubud, which is filled with tourists feeding bananas to monkeys, but there were some adorable monkeys there, who surprisingly were not too aggressive.

On the second night we went to a wonderful Balinese dance performance which included Gamelan (Balinese percussion orchestra). See photo below for a sense of the amazing costumes the dancers wear. The music and dance is very eerie and unlike anything I had seen before- very cool.


Our last night we really went for the budget dinner option and decided to "cook" dinner for ourselves. Considering our hotel didnt have a kitchen for us to use, we ended up making a raw dinner that consisted of a vegetable salad and some bread. Though it wasn't the most delectable meal we have had yet on the trip, we were all quite proud of our home cooked meal and were happy to get the raw veggies.

Chris and Sarah later took advantage of the extremely cheap massages in Bali and treated themselves to an $8 hour long massage. I had to opt out since I got my first sunburn of the trip on our last morning in Sanur (don't worry Mom it wasn't bad). Needless to say, I was jealous.

The food here has been awesome so far, lots of curry, fried rice and noodle dishes and the best of
all was the suckling pig we ate on our last day for lunch. It is a baby pig roasted on a spit, filled with amazing spices served over rice. DELICIOUS.











Random interesting facts about Bali-1. They love kites. Kites are everywhere. Its an awesome national pastime. 2. Bali is a majority Hindu (the rest of Indonesia is majority Muslim) and all over the streets are small offerings or blessings consisting of rice, small flowers and maybe a candy or two neatly places in a banana leaf with some incense. Since we have left Bali I miss this smell and splash of color.