Archive for Indonesia and Journal
Yogyakarta
Posted by: | CommentsYogyakarta was a Royal City with grand buildings and monuments. The Kings of Yogyakarta were called Sultans and were held in great respect and affection. They wielded significant political influence and do so right up to the present day. So thousands of Indonesians visit the Sultan’s Palace in Yogya and admire the Royal artefacts on display in the museum. The item which most attracted our attention was a gold chastity belt for men. The spiked tube on a gold chain made Allan wince just to think about it. On more mature reflection we were baffled by its purpose in a strongly male dominated society but we couldn’t get any good answers.
As before in Indonesia we fell easily into friendly conversation with the many people we met. In Yogya we chatted at length with a nurse and her family who were eating lunch at a table near ours. She loved Scotland and we were persuaded to sing ‘Loch Lomond’ there in the restaurant. At our hotel we discussed our travel plans with a man and his family who had the adjacent room. He shared detailed electronic maps on his laptop and gave good local advice. At a road side café we fell into conversation with an Imam, a Muslim religious leader, who was also intrigued by Scotland. Again we were engaged in a very friendly free flowing conversation. We really found Indonesia to be a very friendly country.
Being an ancient Royal City Yogyakarta is surrounded by important historical sights. These include the impressive Buddhist stupa at Borobudur which is justifiably a World Heritage Site and one of the Wonders of the World. Nearby are the massive and beautifully carved Prambanan Hindu Temples towering into the sky. Built in 832 AD the six main temples were surrounded by 224 minor temples. In May 2006 a massive earthquake damaged the main temples and three were closed to the public. Restoration work however is now complete and the temples are once again open to the public.
We really enjoyed our week in Yogya and the many people we met, chatted to and exchanged addresses and telephone numbers with. This was where we left Java and headed off to Bali.
Vanity
Posted by: | CommentsHaircuts – (or how I attempt to feed my vanity)
Unless you are willing to join the hippy trail or adopt the unkempt backpacker look haircuts become a necessity after several weeks of travelling. Allan toyed with the idea of dreadlocks but gave that up when he realised you had to have a significant amount of hair to which to attach them. I decided to try to stay reasonably tidy although I did flirt with the idea of colouring the hair a bright purple (a thirty second moment of madness). Vanity, however, does not allow me to adopt the colour of hair that nature is trying to impose on me.
How to find a decent hairdresser and communicate my tonsorial needs in an unknown culture, with no knowledge of the language was a challenge. The scarecrow look that my hair takes on if not trimmed frequently does not sit easily with me. Something had to be done.
My first “on the road” haircut was in Ayutthaya in Thailand. Hairdresser number one greeted me warmly, her beautifully coiffured poodle jumping up and down excitedly demonstrating her owner’s skill. No English, no signs of hair colouring products and a beautiful canine frizz as an example. (Did I want to be white and fluffy?). I backed out smiling.
My second choice seemed more promising- no English but a shade card to choose from. It should be noted at this stage that the natural colour of Thai hair is black, very black. I chose a colour, pointing to my eyebrows to confirm that I wanted mid brown colour. Eagerly my hairdresser set to work. The dyeing complete out came the scissors and crunched their way through my hair. Was it rust I heard or just extreme bluntness? Eventually the deed was done and the creation unveiled (I put my glasses on). A raven haired scarecrow stared at me from the mirror. “Beautiful” said the hairdresser mustering up a long forgotten piece of English. Still the magnificent creation cost me only about £2.50 and it would grow out.
“Beautiful” said the Thai hairdresser
Eventually as nature competed with chemicals I developed a magnificent piebald look with a white Dulux would be proud off forming a cap beneath the black. In Bogor Indonesia I sought out another hairdresser. This time a professional looking salon in a modern shopping mall. Still no English,yet another country where the natural shade is unremitting black. This time I pointed out a light brown optimistically called light blonde. The result – BLACK! The cut was done by a pleasant young man. It was more professional than before but not quite a short as I wanted. I was wary about gesturing “shortness” with finger and thumb coming together in case the lad mistook my meaning and was offended. Still this time there was a hint of brown in the black and the tidier cut merited the extra expense. £6.
The result – BLACK!
Who knows what the next visit to a hairdresser will bring. Maybe I should go for the purple after all.
Java
Posted by: | CommentsIn some places you feel anxious and on your guard and with each encounter you become slightly more wary. Our experience in Indonesia, so far, was quite the opposite. The people in Sumatra had been absolutely delightful and those in Java were equally friendly, supportive and helpful.
On a crowded local bus from Jakarta to Bogor we chatted with Andi Adamhar and asked about hotels there. Not only did he give us excellent advice but walked with us from the bus station and helped us onto local town transport. Then he shook our hands, wished us well and disappeared. Our interest in Bogor was an immense botanical garden with lovely walkways through centuries old tropical trees and exotic plants. I know we had previously crashed through Indonesian and Malaysian jungles but it was nice to find out more about the trees we had seen. These gardens had been set up by Sir Stamford Raffles, the man who founded Singapore.
At Bogor the surrounding volcanoes were distant hazy shapes. They formed the huge backbone marching along Java, most dormant but some still venting smoke and gases. Our next destination was Bandung, the third largest city in Indonesia, overshadowed by the Tangkbuhan Prahu volcano. The road there passed through lovely rich green rice fields spread out before a range massive dark conical volcanic mountains. It was a pleasant bus journey, being entertained by guitar and drum duos singing traditional Javanese songs. Mr Ferry Rukmana, a friendly fellow passenger sensibly advised us to give each singing group only a “small small” amount of money. Good advice because a new group joined the bus at every village. We were also joined by orange salesmen who managed to sell an entire sack of oranges to the passengers as we went along.
Tangkbuhan Prahu volcano is a national park with a road going up nearly to the main crater which was still venting sulphurous steam and noxious gases. From there we walked down to the smaller Domos crater with bubbling gurgling mud pools and ponds of boiling water splashing up. Margaret’s new boots were a definite asset for her on the climb back up to the main crater.
Relaxing in an old Dutch Tea House set high up on a wooded hill overlooking bustling Bandung we discussed our onward trip to Yogyakarta with Purmono Abimanyu. He suggested we break our journey at Pangandaran, a coastal town highly regarded by the locals. So it was that the next day we were on another local bus heading to the south coast of central Java. The small town was on a peninsula with a rocky beach on one side and a wide long sandy beach on the other. Here we watched the fishing community drag long fish filled nets out of the water and up onto the beach for sorting. Having spent over a year advising the Fisheries Department in Cambodia we took a kind of professional interest in the proceedings.
Fahmi Mulyono, a fisherman, told us about a tsunami which has devastated the community in 2006 killing 700 people including his parents and uncle. Mercifully his wife and children had been spared although they lost their house and belongings. Compensation from the government allowed him to buy a new boat and start rebuilding their lives. All too soon we were on an early bus out of Pangandaran heading to the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta.
