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Wed 30th April - Mon 5th May (Week 32)
Wed 30th - Checked out at 8am and took the MRT back to Changi Airport, taking another hour and 3 changes during rush hour (Bet we were popular with our big bags !) Even during rush hour everything is so well organised - a gap is left for commuters to get off the train first, while people form an orderly queue to wait their turn to board ! Amazing ! Found the Hero 3 Go Pro for a really good price in Duty Free, so hurriedly bought it before boarding the 11:15 flight. Wish we had bought a Go Pro before we came travelling as we've done so many cool things already, but hopefully still a few more to come in the final 3 months !
Flight no.36 was good and landed in Yogyakarta at 12:15pm. Our room apparently had a water leak, so we were moved into a nicer hotel around the corner for one night - which was nice ! Had a wander around the local streets, checking out restaurants and shops, then spent the rest of afternoon researching tours for the next few days. Treated ourselves to a nice pizza, spag bol and ice-cream dinner as didn't really eat that much in Singapore due to time and money !
Thurs 1st May - Restful morning then moved to our original homestay at 12. Caught the local bus at 2pm down to the main touristy area to check out some agencies for tours. Eventually booked 2 day tours in Yogy, as well as a 4 day/3night tour to Mt Bromo and Ijen from Tuesday. We enquired about a day trip to Merapi volcano, but apparently it has been shaking/smoking for 2 days so no-one is allowed within 4km of it at the moment ! This has also affected Bromo for now you cannot go up to the crater for the same reason ! Harsh reminder of where we are and how unpredictable nature can be !
Fri 2nd - More planning and research in the morning, then got our private car tour at 1:30. Went to Prambanan - a 9th-century UNESCO Site, and is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It is similar in style to Ankor Wat but unfortunately most of it is in ruins due to various earthquakes over the years. There should have been 224 towers, but only about 8 have been repaired and were intact. But those 8 were very impressive, and some stunning and intricate carvings all around. Walked 1km to Candi Sewu which was really nice as we were the only ones there so had peace and quiet and could take some nice empty photos. Then headed to Ratu Boko, another temple complex high on a steep hill. We'd been told by the agency it was around 3000 R to get in (15p), but in actual fact it was 90,000 (£4.50). Not the most expensive place ever, but when you're expecting 15p, its quite a lot ! Luckily we had brought enough money, but were quite annoyed. Only arrived at 5pm so it was already getting dark, so had a quick whizz round to see all the beautiful buildings and pool complex etc. The 90,000 also included a rice or noodle dish for dinner overlooking the city, so that made up for it a bit !
Sat 3rd - Headed into town on the bus at 9am, and following the instructions of the bus conductor, ended up getting off far away from where we actually wanted and having to walk back to Kraton Palace. Very small in terms of palace size, but nice courtyards and interesting information from the guide. Then walked to Taman Sari Water Castle - somehow ending up navigating our way through a maze of narrow alleys through Kampung Taman to get in the back way, but meant we got free entry ! Again, quite a small place with 3 pools which was a site of a former royal garden. Caught a becak (bicycle taxi) down to the Bird Market which was actually full of all sorts of animals to buy - many birds including owls, ferrets, bats, bunnies, puppies, monkeys, snakes (tiny and massive) and our favourite - kittens! Caught another becak up to Malioboro street and as we stopped at various points for photos, someone always came up to us to start chatting and practising their English. And all of them, unprompted, told us about this one shop that was the best in Yogy for selling good quality, and cheap Batik. I hadn't been bothered about buying any batik at all, but when 4 different people kept telling us how good it was, we decided to go. There were some beautiful pieces, and somehow ended up buying 5 paintings, ranging from £2 to £7. Popped into Alaska tour agency to complain about a few issues we had with our tour yesterday. Got absolutely nowhere, so then decided to move on and reconfirm our trip for Monday. Again they didnt seem to know what was going on, what we'd booked or paid, and only on our 10th attempt to reconfirm everything, they suddenly changed the pickup time from 5am to 4:30am ! This was the final straw, so we cancelled the trip and demanded a refund. The most incompetent company we have ever dealt with !
Sun 4th - Had a lazy day just hanging out in our a/c room doing research and trying to figure out our new Go Pro ! There is quite a lot to learn, and loads to accessories we may need for various sports which we now have to find !
Mon 5th - Left the home stay at 8:30 and had to catch 3 different buses to get to Borobudur - taking 2 hours. We had originally booked a tour to go there, but the agency messed us about, so we decided to take public transport instead. It ended up costing nearly the same as the tour and way more time and hassle, so was a bit annoyed we couldn't do the tour. Finally got there at 10:30, paid the $20 entrance and spent 2 hours wandering around the world's largest Buddhist temple. Walked around the six square platforms, and up to the three circular platforms at the top for great views all over the valley. It was built in the 9th-Century, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels, 504 Buddha statues, and at the top there are 72 Buddha statues seated inside their own perforated stupas. It was hidden under jungle, in ruins when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles found it in 1814, but has been fully restored now and is like new. Took another 2 hours on hot, crowded, sweaty buses and relished the ice cold shower and a/c when we got in !
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