Java - A day out at the Temples

Whist in Jogya we visited Prambanan (Hindu temple complex) to see the evening performance of the Ramayana ballet. This told the story of the Shinta, a beautiful princess, and Rama, the handsome prince. We both really enjoyed the ballet and the setting was stunning.





Jo had very kindly offered to take us out on the bikes for a second time to visit Prambanan and some other temples.

Here is Prambanan looking majestic. Prambanan also dates for the 9th century AD and has about 50 temples but many of them were damaged during the 2006 earthquake.

Below is the Shiva temple, the largest, it towers 47 metres above the valley. Unfortunately we couldn't go inside as it's not stable. We could however, go in some of the other temples.


Below are some of the 3,500 workers who are repairing the temples, a pretty big job!:



Jo also took us to see the wonderful Sewu temple, the second largest Buddhist temple in Java. There's a story that says that there were once 99 temples on the site but due to the damage it is impossible to verify this. Only the main temple has been reconstructed, but hopefully more will be rebuilt in the future.


Jo took us to his house after our wonderful day out and we said our goodbyes.


Once again, we'd like to thank Jo for his generosity.

Tomorrow we leave Java and Indonesia and fly to Singapore. We've had the most incredible time here. The people are so friendly and helpful and we have many wonderful memories to take away with us. Thanks to all of the people we've met along the way and made our visit so special.

Java - Borobudor on Buddhas birthday

Whislt in Yogya we did a trip to see Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in Java that dates from the 9th century AD. We left at 5am and got there before the hoards. We went to the temple on Buddhas birthday, which made our visit extra special as we got to see monks singing and praying and also the preparations for the big parade and festival.

When we arrived the temple was enclosed in a shroud of mist but then this cleared and we could see the temple in its full glory:




Spot the Bule (tourist):




Me with a couple of smart chaps from the Navy wearing impsossibly tight clothes:



Below is the top of the stage for the festival:

They had many offerings, including fruit, biscuits and coca-cola!


There were lots of students also visiting the temple and they kept asking to have their photo taken with us. This really added to the experience as they were so charming and giggly. Once again we felt like celebrities.

Yogyakarta, Java

When we arrived in Yogya we contacted a chap called Jo on WarmShowers and he very kindly took time off work and took us out for the day. It was fantastic having Jo to safely get us in and out of the crazy city and show us places that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. One of the places that we visited was a small factory that makes shadow puppets on leather. He's me looking a bit sweaty with one of the puppets:

Jo also took us to another small factory that makes Keris, the Javenese sword. Jo is crazy about these beautiful objects and spends hours here choosing his next purchase. Here is Jo:




Whilst in Jogya we went to visit the Kraton (Sultan's Palace) and as we didn't want to get lost we took a Becak:


They have different shows on every day and we got to see part of a puppet show:



This little boy was the star attraction in the Kraton as he was wearing a traditional uniform. Very cute:


We also went to another puppet making factory. The puppets are very intricate and beautiful:


We want to send a big Thank You to Jo for being so kind and helpful and making our visit to Jogya so special and memorable.

Bye Bye Bali, Hello Java

We spent 2 nights in Tulumben and did some more diving. We did a morning dive and a night dive on the Liberty wreck and both dives were really great. We saw bizarre spanish dancers and huge bump head parrot fish. We also did another dive in the coral garden and watched various things including our dive master's mouth being cleaned by cleaner shrimp.

When we left Tulumben we cycled across the top of Bali on a very flat road to Lovina, where we stayed for one night. It was very touristy so we just relaxed around the pool, which we had to ourselves, before a massive thunder storm. The following day we cycled further across the top to Pemuteran. The hotels were quite expensive (for us) but we got a very good deal on some diving at Palau Menjangan national park. The diving was very easy and relaxed and although it wasn't as amazing as Komodo we did enjoy it. We also visited a turtle hatchery, made a donation to the conservation project and saw lots of very cute tiny turtles. They work with the locals to potect the eggs and release the hatchling.


Next we cycled to Gilimanuk, the port where you get the 30 minute ferry that takes you to Java. Nic spotted this sign:


We arrived in Java and because of the hour-change we left Bali at 10 and arrived in Java at 9.30. We cycled to Banyuwangi and got very lost trying to find the train station. Luckily a wonderful man on a motorbike offered to show us there. We followed him for miles and ended going down a small road through paddie fields. When we arrived we offered to buy him a drink or pay for the fuel but he said that that "it made him happy just to help us".

We thought that we would have to spend the night in Banyuwangi but there was a train due in 2 hours that would take us to Probolinggo. This was an economy train i.e. mega basic but beggars can't be choosers so we got tickets (about 3 pounds for 2 people and 2 bikes for a 7 hour journey). We were the only tourists on board (surprise!) and we spent the first 4 hours in the guards van with our bikes, as there were no free seats. It was very hot and stuffy but it was fun to look out of the windows and chat with the chaps, including the police man, on board.


We arrived in Probolinggo at night but we managed to find our way to the hotel. Even in the dark people spotted us and shouted "Hello Mr" "Hello Tourist" etc.

The reason for travelling to Probolinggo was to visited Bromo, one of Java's many active volcanoes. We organised a 2 night trip and travelled up to 2000 metres through mind-blowing scenery. They seem to be growing crops in every available space even if the ground is vertical. Also the ash, which has been blowing out of Bromo for the past 6 months, makes everything look grey. Very surreal. We arrived in Ngadisari and put on lots more clothes. It was a strange experience to be cold in Indonesia and have blankets on your bed.

The following morning we got up at 3am for the sunrise. It was well worth it. There are 3 volcanoes, Bromo is on the left smoking away and the largest one behind it is Semeru. This also had a belch whilst we were watching.




We thought that we wouldn't be able to walk to Bromo, due to safety reasons, but luckily we could. We looked into the crater and heard the booming and crackling, which was quite scary. The scenery was very end-of-the world.

In the photo below you can see a Hindu temple that is covered in ash:



The red one is our jeep:

The following day we made our way down back to Probolinggo and then had an 11 hour journey to Yogyakarta. The transport is very cheap in Java so we decided to have some luxury and get our own air-conditioned mini bus. Heaven!

The traffic was totally crazy, as one would expect in a small island that has 140 million people. How our driver drove for so long with only a one hour break in the middle I don't know. Anyway, he got us to our hotel in Yogya safety at 10.30 pm and it was a relief to get there.

Returning to Bali via Sumbawa and Lombok

We left Labuanbajo, Flores after having another days diving for a very cheap price, due to all of the problems on our Liveaboard. The 3 dives that we did were amazing, especially the one at Manta Point. We saw huge Manta Rays being cleaned by fish at the 'cleaning stations' and one huge one swam right over our heads, so close that you could have touched it - incredible. On the same dive Nic lost his wedding ring and when I got back to the boat I burst our crying. We've decided that it was a gift to the sea and payment for such an amazing dive!

We then started our epic journey back to our bikes. We had another 8 hour ferry crossing back to Sape, Sumbawa and then a 2 hour bus journey to Bima. We stayed the night in Bima and the following day we got the 8am bus to Sumbawa Besar. Last time the bus took 10 hours and this time it took an incredible 12 hours. The bus was also much more packed, so we were pretty uncomfortable, the driver played the same terrible music over and over again and he kept stopping to chat to the other bus drivers and to eat regularly. We also got another puncture but this time it took 20 minutes to repair and not 1 hour. Thank God we don't have to do it again and it was heaven to get back on the bikes.

Starting in Bima, on our Executive Class bus!:

Already quite full:


Stopping for a puncture, bus bursting with people and goods:


We had 2 nights at Kancana Beach to recover and then we cycled to Poto Tano to get the ferry over to Labuhan Lombok. On the way we saw this chap taking a bath:


We love the size of the satellite dishes compared to the size of the houses:


When we arrived back in Lombok we stayed the night in a really basic room in Labuhan Lombok. This place had the noisiest mosque we've ever heard. The loudspeakers dished out almost constant 'babble' from before dawn to after dusk. How any one gets any sleep and doesn't go mad from the constant noise is beyond me!

Anyway, we got up at 6am to cycle 90km to Kuta. We had a wonderful ride. The scenery was beautiful and we even saw the top of Ringani without clouds for the first time. Every one had huge smiles for us and when we stopped we ended up with a small fan club.

The top of Ringani:


The beautiful people of Lombok:

This is a lady who was selling Yakult, she was over the moon about meeting us and gave me a massive hug:


When we arrived in Kuta we had 2 days off relaxing. Our friends Tenne and Axel contacted TV9, who wanted to interview us. Anyway, we ended up being interviewed by them in Kuta for 2 hours. They were the loveliest people and asked us about cycling in Lombok and why we love cycling so much. We might appear on the news at some point.

Here's me with the crew:


We also met up the following day for lunch with Tenne, Axel and Ekki. It was so lovely to see them again. They've been wonderful friends to us.

We then set off for our final days riding in Lombok and we took the following photos.

Ploughing the fields Lombok-style:


Working hard in the paddie fields:


We arrived in Lembar and got the 4 hour ferry back to Padangabai in Bali, which we left 5 weeks ago.

The following morning we cycled up hill to Tirta Gangga where they have a wonderful Water Temple. We spent a lovely hour there wandering about with the other tourists:




Today we cycled to Tulumben, where the Liberty wreck is located. Today we had rain but the views were still gorgeous.

This is looking back to the place that we stayed at last night:


Amazing paddie fields:


We're going to dive the wreck and then head west. We're planning to get to Java in a few days time so we can spend a week seeing Java's highlights and then we'll fly to Singapore.