Bogor

This weekend was 4 days long so we had an opportunity  to get out of Jakarta. We drove the 40km to Bogor and stayed at the Novotel for one night. The Lonely Planet says the Novotel is arguably the best hotel in the city. Definitely. Bogor, cooler and higher than Jakarta, was a tiny hill village until the Dutch selected it to be the seat of the first Governor General of Java in 1745.  Since then, it has been the chosen retreat of starch collared colonials and, more recently, wealthy Indonesians escaping the stifling and crowded capital. Bogor is now almost a suburb of Jakarta and the roads are choked with the overspill of the capital’s perennial traffic problem. Our hearts sink whenever we see food vendors appear on the roadside at Bogor, wading through lines of slow-moving traffic holding up their bags of tempe, as this often means that their potential buyers will be stuck in our cars for hours and perhaps getting hungry. Also, local establishments along the roadside advertising the use of a WC mean we might not be going anywhere fast either. But this weekend we were lucky and home to hotel took almost exactly 60 minutes. The Novotel could almost be a weekend dinner date destination.

On our last visit to Bogor we didn’t visit the Botanical Gardens known as Kebun Raya. Refreshed from our night in the hotel we drove to the centre of the city and found the main entrance to the gardens. There were no parking facilities, so we parked further down the street and then walked up through fruit and vegetable sellers and past baskets of live rabbits, we assume for the pot – while constantly dodging the green angkot minibuses. The guidebook says ‘Crowds flock to Kebun Raya on a Sunday’.

Once inside, on this Sunday the park was busy but not crowded. Shona bought a unique handmade batik scarf  from local children to support their young enterprise project. We headed for the Zoological Museum and wondered why the stuffed animals looked as if they have been painted. By the look on some of the animals faces it seemed some had also been stuffed while still alive. Lucas got quite upset until we reassured him that they wait for the animals to die first (a lie, I know, but we don’t want to put him off zoological museums for life). The skeleton of a blue whale hangs outside (again painted) washed up on the South coast of Java in the early 1900s. We walked the beautiful gardens heading towards the Governor’s House ( Istana Bogor) but were unable to get access due to a moat separating the gardens from the palace. It seems there is another entrance for the Presidential Palace. The guide book does say the palace displays Sukarno’s erotic art collection – and children are not allowed inside. So, our boys make do with an ice-cream from an old vintage Walls cart.

Families sit everywhere tucking in to packed lunches. A scout group arrives, the first of many, happily marching around the park with thick walking poles and big rucksacks. Being foreign we have not brought our own lunch. We look for a cafe. We are prepared to eat but we begin to be bitten by mosquitoes so we head back to the car and back to Jakarta. Very pleasant visit.

Bali Runs

A whirlwind return to Bali this weekend for the Bali Marathon. Just a fantastic run. Half marathon started in the dark at 5:30 am. Wonderful going through the villages to be met by most of the population cheering and throwing flower petals at the runners. Hot and hilly. I felt I was running well but several glances at the watch didn’t show this – came home in 1:56. Be back next year.

Beach Boys

 

 We have just returned from an Easter break to Bali. Can’t really complain. We hired a dilapidated car and drove (slowly) around the island. Our first few days were at Ubud. The Globetrotter Travel Guide describes Ubud as being “for visitors who want to experience Bali, not just stay in another tropical beach resort”. Nice try but being in the heart of the island it does not have a beach. However, if this was the cultural heart of the island it was disappointing to say the least. It needed a beach. The first day we visited the Monkey forest and Ubud Palace and then planned the following day – to the beach at Canggu. A lovely morning was spent jumping surf despite smashing the car’s mirror avoiding oncoming traffic. (Shona says we need to give Ubud another chance – the shopping was brilliant!) The accommodation wasn’t.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed off to the North and Lovina where there was not much of a beach, a small strip of washed-out grey and black volcanic sand. We spent a few days exploring the area looking for Hindu temples. We visited the waterfall at Gitgit, spotting enormous butterflies and colourful dragonflies and the wonderful hot springs, Air Panas Banjar. Eight stone Naga (half human, half serpent) pour warm, cloudy-green water into the first pool.

Our final few days were spent South at Balian Beach. A pounding surf and wide beaches on either side of the surf beach took a few days to explore. As well as a lot of beautiful shells there was a lot of interesting flotsam on the beach that included a huge selection of single flip-flops. An enjoyable few hours were spent creating our floppy palm tree on the sand. When we returned in the evening our artwork had been stolen! A good few days in the sun. I don’t know if the island is reaching saturation point in terms of population and traffic. This was not high season but travelling was slow, the roads were packed and shrouded in clouds of diesel. It took us nearly four hours to travel from Balian to the airport, a journey of 37 kilometers.

Downtown on Bikes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put the bikes on the car this morning and headed downtown to Senayan City for Eco Walk and Bike 2012. Downtown is usually congested but we are looking forward to cycling on roads closed to traffic for four hours. When we arrive the bike registration is chaos but Shona manages to successfully secure four Tupperware Eco -bottles and we head off to the start. However, it soon becomes clear that the roads here are not free of traffic –  and not even a lane is marked off with cones for walkers and cyclists. We return to the start and the car muttering our discontent. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drive parallel with Jalan Sudirman to find it totally vehicle free apart from buses using the bus lanes. We park and try again, this time joining the Bike to Work festival. Jalan Sudriman is usually a four lane congested equivalent of Wall Street. I wouldn’t know. Traffic here is bad. I can only imagine it would be like shutting the M8 from Glasgow Cross to the Kingston Bridge to all traffic except cyclists for four hours. Today we have time to stop and look at the buildings, weave through fellow cyclists and runners and take in the statues and fountains. Food-stalls line exit ramps and the grassy verges - while various PA systems compete for your attention as we ride about 6Km. The central fountain is  surrounded with people on bikes some cooling off in the water. Some locals take pictures of themselves, some lying down in the middle of the road,  almost disbelieving the absence of motorised vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is almost a… what could be moment. Then as 10 am approaches the streets begin to choke up once more and we crawl the 8 kms back home, bumper to bumper. Great while it lasted.

Year 6 trip to Bandung

blog report

Click on the above link ‘blog report’ to see Cairo’s homework report on his Year 6 residential trip.

How to Embarrass your Children

Pelabuhan Ratu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 90 km south of Bogor,  Pelabuhan Ratu is a popular seaside retreat for many Jakartans. The road to get there, however, was once again awful and a torrential downpour on our arrival did a lot to dampen our enthusiasm as we arrived at the Ocean Queen Resort for three nights. Our first puncture and tyre change didn’t help either. The Toyota struggled on the hills: the 1.5 litre engine failed on a few gradients and the air conditioner needed to be switched off. The smell of a burning clutch… the car will appreciate the return of our driver and the journey to and from work come Monday.

The beach at Sukabumi was a large horseshoe-shaped piece of black sand with fishing boats anchored offshore. The only splash of colour came from the model fishing boats sold along the shore by young boys. We buy one, of course, without haggling over the price in the rain. There is always sunshine after rain – and big waves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wonderful experience at the hot springs at Cisolok. Boiling water sprays into the river and bathing pools have been created at the side. Huge crowds, families and sellers swarm over the site. We try a dip in the river but the smell of sulphur is quite strong. We pay to enter the pool areas. Very warm water and thoughts of cleanliness forgotten as we soak it all in. You can just make out Shona and the boys reaching out to try to touch the water spraying up.

Java Road Trip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are back in Jakarta. During the last twelve days we have been on the road exploring Java. We got as far as Yogyakarta before heading home. We travelled 1640 km but only managed to get half way across the island. The roads were not good and most distances were driven at an average speed of 40km/h. The population of West and Central Java seem to inhabit the space along the major roads and we often drove through endless towns having expected to be in the countryside. The Toyota is not a car we can get attached to but it deserves a lot of credit for making our road trip so successful. I even got a little protective of the car as we drove through the Taman Safari Park, worrying about the paintwork and the damage caused by the animals climbing over (and biting) the car. I’m sure I scoffed at my Dad some forty years ago as we drove through Blair Drummond as the monkeys scratched his red Ford Cortina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We first drove to Bogor, only some 60 Km from Jakarta. We got to Bogor quickly but then had first hand experience of the Indonesian way of traffic management. We were not allowed to take the turn off for the organic farm where we were staying and got caught in a traffic jam. At weekends especially, they close one direction of travel for a few hours and use all the lanes for traffic travelling in the opposite direction. They then reverse the direction of traffic to keep it fair. The Permata Hati farm was far from welcoming. Outside our room door there was this stunning view but it could not make the place any more comfortable or hospitable. Breakfast one morning was a loaf of bread, UHT milk and chocolate sprinkles, all still in their packaging. There was an ant infestation in our toilet and other less desirable insects. No towels or soap or hot water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, we did have a wonderful day at Taman Safari Park close to Bogor. We drove round the enclosed area and got close to lots of animals: the highlights must be the tigers and lions and we watched in awe as one tiger attacked a huge tour bus. I would have accepted those scratches on my car. Following the drive through we visited the attractions: dolphin and sea-lion displays, an absolutely super wild west re-enactment with trained chickens, rats, cats and vultures (lots of questions from Lucas afterwards along the lines of “how do they do that?”) – and tigers reluctantly working through a show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next day we drove on to Bandung. Didn’t get much of a chance to explore this city but the hotel we stayed at was brilliant. The Bumi Sawungalling still has great charm. Huge rooms and clean comfortable beds. Then it was the drive to Pangandaran over the Puncak Pass. We stopped at a strawberry farm and watched the Indonesian paratroopers jump from their aircraft. Buses and lorries inched and groaned their way up massive gradients while some local motorists (the ones who can see round corners) overtook them seemingly oblivious to the risk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pangandaran is on a narrow isthmus on the South coast. The nearby headland is a forested national park. The strip of dark and sticky sand is advertised as Java’s premier beach resort. Perhaps it has seen better days but we had a great time jumping the Indian Ocean waves and exploring the park. We met monkeys, deer and a large lizard as we searched for caves. A local festival was in progress involving brightly decorated fishing boats. Locals and visiting Indonesians enjoying the beach and the waves. We would have liked to have hired bikes but were unable to find any that worked safely. One great memory was looking up in the sky at dusk to see the giant fruit bats (flying foxes) heading off to their feeding grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then it was on to Yogyakarta for Christmas. A massive day’s driving to get there meant we arrived later than expected at the Phoenix Hotel. The following day (Christmas Eve) we visited Prembanan Hindu Temple. On the road to Solo, 17km from Jogya, the temple was brilliant. We were the centre of attention driving up in our car and throughout our walk around the temple. Large groups of school children in bright uniforms were eager to take our photograph and speak with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same afternoon we visit the Kraton ( the Sultan of Yogya’s palace) and then walked back to our hotel along Jalan Malioboro where Cairo bought a dodgy watch. We headed out to a local restaurant on Christmas Eve passing the sumptuous buffet laid out in the Phoenix. If this is Christmas Eve, we thought to ourselves,  what will Christmas dinner be like?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had planned to be up Merapi on Christmas morning. We were picked up at 10pm from our hotel and driven to Selo on the Southern slopes of Merapi. We set off at about 1 am and the climb was instant. We managed about two and a half hours climbing but then decided the risk was too great. The temperature dropped significantly near the first plateau and it began to rain. Our guides did not inspire confidence. It was still a hazardous descent in the dark back to the guide hut. We returned to our hotel to open stockings and presents. However, to Shona’s great disappointment, no Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve’s buffet was Christmas dinner. Still trying to work this out.

Boxing Day we head for Borobudur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looming out of a patchwork of green, this colossal  1200 year old Buddhist monument was covered in tourists. We found tranquility in Plataran Villa Resort and ate lunch on a James Bond film set. We stopped at Mendut Temple to see the magnificent large statue of Buddha housed in an insignificant building, a great row of souvenir stalls and a large tree that let Lucas work on his Tarzan swing. 

 Next day we started the return journey. We found a splendid road-side service station called Pringsewl with take it or leave it dishes, delicious, magic tricks and those fish that nibble your feet.  Perhaps not as controlled (or hygienic) as those on offer to shoppers at Silverburn but only a few thousand rupiah.  Another couple of nights at Pangandaran and one of the highlights of the holiday: the Green Canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We paid 75 000 to hire a boat for 45 minutes. We travelled up the canyon until it got narrow. We then negotiated some more time, and buoyancy aids, and we jumped in to swim with the flow. Canyon filled up with other Indonesian tourists. Only time I’ve seen a traffic jam with boats. We then tried to get to a fishing village for lunch but couldn’t get the car over the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Bandung for one night and the return to Jakarta the following day.  

Happy New Year.

 

Homestay Pangandaran

Room B3 at Adam’s Homestay in Pangandaran. A great place to stay but the art work is…

2020 Olympics…

We are so proud of Lucas today. Even though he was very nervous and anxious (lots of t shirt pulling) he took  part in a gymnastics competition this morning at BIS. In the enormous gym hall, with lots of other participants (so many that we were the third tranche of spectators) he completed the rings, floor, vault and parallel bars. He achieved two 4th place finishes and a podium place (third) for his routine on the bars. Wow!