TravelBio

Oddly my train was leaving not from the central Yogya station, just 5 minutes' walk from my guesthouse, but a secondary station some 25 minutes away.  Rather than lug my backpack I opted for a traditional becak ride, my first and only Indonesian cyclo experience.  Those guys sure work hard! I felt bad for the guy, who had to be at least 50, struggling to pedal while I sat there relaxing with my heavy backpack! My next destination was Probolinggo, a small city (really a large town) in northeastern Java.  There wasn't any reason to stop in Probolinggo, aside from its location near Mount Bromo.  At 2,329 meters (7,641 feet), Bromo sits in a vast "lunar-like landscape of epic proportions" (Lonely Planet).  Bromo may not be the tallest mountain in the area, but it is the most visited in all of East Java. Most trains from Yogyakarta required a transfer in Surabaya, but luckily the one I was on continued to Probolinggo.  At the train s...

I woke up at 7:30 - typically an early start for me, but not for a trip to Borobudur and Prambanan.  Organized tours visiting both sites often leave before dawn!  I considered booking a group tour since they were so cheap.  A trip to Borobudur cost less than 10 dollars, and the combined excursion was only a few dollars more. But the tour companies were only providing transport to and from.  They simply drop off the group at the temple; you pay the entrance fee and take a self-guided tour.  I was disappointed that the tour didn't include a guide, and considering tourists can get to the temples by public transport, I decided to go on my own. A city bus station; I noticed a handful of tourists were also going to Borobudur on their own The trip wasn't overly taxing, but it did take up more time.  All told the city bus, waiting at the station, and the regional bus (with stops) to Borobudur took 1.5 hours.  Add in breakfast and fig...

After so many long, arduous Sumatran bus journeys I was excited to take the train.  My expectations weren't high; I just assumed it would be better than a 20 year old broken down bus plodding though never-ending holiday traffic.  And my first Indonesian train experience wasn't just better than the bus; it was great: an air-con compartment, a smooth ride, and large, comfy chairs.  It definitely beat out Thai trains, and wasn't far off my Eurorail train experience. To my surprise the train was comfortable, clean, and fast! Whereas Jakarta is the political and economic capital of Java, Yogyakarta is its cultural capital.  Yogyakarta, or Yogya (pronounced "jogja") for short, was the capital of a powerful Javanese sultanate and even the capital of Indonesia for 3 years during the revolution against Dutch colonial rule.  Once full independence was recognized Jakarta became the permanent seat of government. Yogya is the most important tourist d...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was to take a bus from Bandarlampung, then a ferry from Sumatra to Java, and finally a bus to central Jakarta.  What I didn't realize was that the bus actually drove onto the ferry and we never had to get out!  When the bus turned the lights on I assumed we were near the ferry terminal, when in fact we were already in Jakarta! Here's a map of Java; Sumatra is the island to the northwest and Bali is to the east.  We island hopped without me even realizing it - I'm just glad I was able to fall asleep! While in Sumatra I had arranged to stay with a local host via Couchsurfing.  Well not exactly a local; he is from Singapore but has been working in Jakarta for 2 years.  To my surprise (and relief) he answered my text at 5 am and gave me his address.  The worker in Lampung told me we would arrive at 9, but I think there was some confusion and she meant the trip would take 9 hours.  Luckily I got the apart...

It didn't take long for a van to fill up in Maninjau, and soon I was headed back to Bukittinggi.  We arrived at the bus station before 11 am, plenty of time to spare for my 1 pm trip bound for Bengkulu. Bengkulu is a small city (of about 300,000) along the southwest coast of Sumatra.  It attracts very few international visitors, or even Indonesians for that matter.  Lonely Planet says it's one of the least visited parts of Sumatra.  Then why did I choose to go there?  Good question.  Partly because it was one of the only sizable towns in between Bukittinggi and the southern end of Sumatra, the direction I needed to go before island hopping to Java.  Another reason was the Lonely Planet description of Bengkulu.  No other tourists?  Sounds cool! Bengkulu is on the southwest coast of Sumatra For awhile I wasn't sure our bus was even going to make it it Bengkulu.  First of all it looked like the oldest bus at the station.  ...