EN - 4-day trip to Java

Since I didn’t travel for two weekends in a row, I thought that it was time to explore Asia again. So we decided to go to Java with 4 guys. On Thursday morning, September 4th, we flew from Singapore to Yogyakarta, with a transfer in Jakarta. The view from the plane was amazing, since one volcano after the other popped up between the clouds. After 6-7 hours, we reached our hotel, and we went into town to buy train tickets and to plan a trip for Friday.

At 4.00 AM, the driver picked us up to go and watch the sunrise over Borobudur from Punthuk Setumbu Hill. Unfortunately, this was a bit disappointing. It was beautiful, but due to cloudiness, we did not see the sun at all during the sunrise. Then we went to Borobudur, where we got breakfast (unfiltered coffee, one slice of bread with strawberry jam, and 9 pieces of fruit). With a less empty stomach, we then went to see the Buddhist temple in Borobudur. The temple and the view were spectacular, and the peace and quiet when we arrived were impressive. At around 9.00 AM, we departed to the next Buddhist temples: those in Pramadan. Out of the 4 temples (or Candi) that were originally there, only the main temple somewhat survived the different earthquakes that plagued them through the years. This one was very nice as well!

After the trip, I went into “Yogya” with one of the guys to explore the markets there. The street to the Sultan’s palace was packed with stores and market stalls where pushy salesmen tried to sell souvenirs and batik (Javanese art). Most of them approached us speaking Indonesian or poor English, but some of them still spoke Dutch as well.

On Saturday morning, we got out of bed in time as well, since we had to take the train to Sidareja. When we left the train there, we were literally in the middle of nowhere. The bus terminal where we were supposed to take the bus to Pangandaran was quite far from the train station, and locals happily used this situation to take tourists there on the back of their motorcycles for a small fee (this was pretty awesome though). When we finally arrived in Pangandaran it took us about half an hour to find the beautiful beach. Here, we grabbed a little bite, and then we went to Green Canyon and Batu Hiu (Shark rock) accompanied by our guide Kamal and his driver. Green Canyon was definitely the highlight of our trip! We sailed into the canyon, and at the very end of the canyon we could swim to the end of the canyon where we could jump off a cliff (pretty awesome too). In the evening, we had dinner at the local fish market (really tasty) and afterwards the driver (who spoke Dutch) dropped us off at the train station in Sidareja, where we took the night train to Bandung.

At around 4.00 AM we arrived in Bandung (tired as hell). At that time, everything was closed in Bandung. After a couple of hours, we decided to visit a hot spring spa on the foot of the Tangkuban Perahu volcano to relax for a bit. At 1.15 PM we left to the airport. However, whereas this drive would normally take 90 minutes max, it now took almost 4 hours (traffic was completely stuck). Finally, we managed to catch our flight and in the evening we safely landed in Singapore again.

I really enjoyed Java. Although the people there live in extreme poverty, most of them are really kind and happy. Traffic rules don’t exist there, and the giant holes in the road don’t make the ride any more comfortable. The nature is gorgeous, and the jungle is being alternated by banana trees, rice fields, and tea plantations. All in all: 4 unforgettable days!

Since I’m keen on keeping my blogs short, I will respond to one of the questions I got last week in my next blog (later this week or next week), and then I will explain what my school work entails! See you then!

Pictures can be viewed in my Dutch version of this blog!