Considering that there are only two of us that came over here from the home office aside from the boss, and that we’ve been too busy working, sick, dissuaded by Jakarta’s impossible traffic jams, and/or too sleep-deprived to get out and make friends, I’ve come to spend a good deal of time with my co-worker. I’ll refer to her as CT (Co-worker / Travel companion - because I'm sooo clever) to keep her true identity hidden.
CT loves the show The Amazing Race. She actually auditioned to be on it with her sister, and based on everything I’ve since learned about the two of them and the show, I frankly can’t understand why they didn’t make it. I had never seen the show until the evils of Indonesian food-borne illness struck me down. Then, to help pass the time between bathroom breaks and sleep sessions, I downloaded and watched an entire season. Thanks to that valuable time investment and her many anecdotes, I’ve quickly gotten up to speed on what it’s all about. In case you’re not familiar, Wiki can help:
CT loves the show The Amazing Race. She actually auditioned to be on it with her sister, and based on everything I’ve since learned about the two of them and the show, I frankly can’t understand why they didn’t make it. I had never seen the show until the evils of Indonesian food-borne illness struck me down. Then, to help pass the time between bathroom breaks and sleep sessions, I downloaded and watched an entire season. Thanks to that valuable time investment and her many anecdotes, I’ve quickly gotten up to speed on what it’s all about. In case you’re not familiar, Wiki can help:
By November I was finally starting to feel human again. We’d been here nearly two months and hadn’t traveled anywhere yet, thanks to the aforementioned reasons that also prevented us from making any friends. When we realized on a Thursday that the following Monday was an Indonesian holiday, we wasted no time requesting off the Friday in between. We had no idea where to go, but since we hadn’t been anywhere yet, choices were abundant. It just so happened that many people had mentioned to us that Yogyakarta was worth visiting, it is on Java (same island as Jakarta) so it’d be quick and easy to get to, AND, most importantly, the current season of Amazing Race had JUST been there.
CT's sister is also a huge Amazing Race fan, and fortunately for us, seems plenty willing to look up Amazing Race facts and text us clues and travel tips at all hours of the day and night. We don't get the Amazing Race in our budget apartments cable lineups, so we've relied on her more than a few times to help guide our last minute travel endeavors.
Following are the main highlights of the Yogya trip:
To get to Yogya, we took the 8-hour train trip rather than a short
flight in order to view the scenery, which we'd
been told was well worthwhile.
It was lovely, however it poured the entire time.
3-4 hours of this probably would have been sufficient.
flight in order to view the scenery, which we'd
been told was well worthwhile.
It was lovely, however it poured the entire time.
3-4 hours of this probably would have been sufficient.
We walked around. A rare and wonderful treat.
You can't really just walk around in downtown
Jakarta, unless you count inside a shopping mall.
We came across some well-painted and idle
becaks so I hopped in for a quick pic.
You can't really just walk around in downtown
Jakarta, unless you count inside a shopping mall.
We came across some well-painted and idle
becaks so I hopped in for a quick pic.
Spent time at Taman Sari instead of the main Kraton (palace),
which was closed for the holiday by the time we found it.
I really don't mind sometimes not reaching the intended
destination if the rest of the trip itself is fun. This place was
interesting enough in that this was the Sultan's pleasure
palace, filled with pools and waterways for him and his
harem to enjoy separate from the main palace.
harem to enjoy separate from the main palace.
Walked blind-folded between the two large banyan trees
in the square south of the palace, as it is supposed to bring
good luck. We didn't have real blindfolds to work with so
we had to get creative and take turns tying CT's bag
around our heads.
in the square south of the palace, as it is supposed to bring
good luck. We didn't have real blindfolds to work with so
we had to get creative and take turns tying CT's bag
around our heads.
Visited Prambanan temples, the largest hindu temple
complex on Java, and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
complex on Java, and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Visited Borobudur, an enormous Buddhist monument
that is Indonesia's most popular tourist attraction,
an UNESCO World Heritage Site, AND a recent stop
on the Amazing Race. CT's sister texted us the AR task there
(counting different types of Buddhas), but due to some
construction and confusion, we were unable to complete
the mission. Enjoyed exploring and climbing to the top
all the same.
that is Indonesia's most popular tourist attraction,
an UNESCO World Heritage Site, AND a recent stop
on the Amazing Race. CT's sister texted us the AR task there
(counting different types of Buddhas), but due to some
construction and confusion, we were unable to complete
the mission. Enjoyed exploring and climbing to the top
all the same.
* NOTE: I've decided to anonymize myself by slightly smudging all pics of me on this publicly accessible blog, in case I decide to write while intoxicated and/or otherwise say things that may be used against me in the future. If you want to see my smiling face untouched, log into my password protected Smugmug account, where I'll eventually have a much larger collection of pics from all my Indo adventures.
The real highlight of this trip, however, was visiting Jomblang Caves. We chose this destination for the simple fact that the Amazing Race stopped here. Unlike many of their stops, this is not at all something that is on the beaten tourist track. It’s not in guidebooks, local travel shops and agencies are unfamiliar with it, and you can’t find tour guides on the internet who run trips here. I suspect this will rapidly change now that it has been featured on international television, however in the meantime it created a perfect challenge.
Luckily we met two very friendly and helpful young women in the small travel agency next to our hotel who made it their mission to help us. It just so happened that, despite this being a heavily Muslim country, these two were Mormon converts and had sponsors in Utah who’d paid for some very effective English language courses. The girls called around until they found someone familiar with the particular caves we sought, and eventually got in touch with some guys from a caving club nearby there. They negotiated price and details, and since it was a 1.5 hour drive from Yogya and the cavers didn’t speak English, the girls drove us there, and one of them joined us on our trip into the caves.
Luckily we met two very friendly and helpful young women in the small travel agency next to our hotel who made it their mission to help us. It just so happened that, despite this being a heavily Muslim country, these two were Mormon converts and had sponsors in Utah who’d paid for some very effective English language courses. The girls called around until they found someone familiar with the particular caves we sought, and eventually got in touch with some guys from a caving club nearby there. They negotiated price and details, and since it was a 1.5 hour drive from Yogya and the cavers didn’t speak English, the girls drove us there, and one of them joined us on our trip into the caves.
I'm pretty sure the gear and techniques we used to rappel down and ascend back up will kill someone at some point if this venture continues. Luckily we were told the place had been recently purchased by an investor who plans to set up a formal guiding service. In the meantime, our makeshift guides put CT in her harness (regular climbing harness), and didn’t even bother to double back the buckles. Although they used a multitude of anchors, several were of frayed webbing tied with granny knots. CT had no previous climbing experience, and I’m not sure how exactly she would have made it through with the non-English speaking “guides”, who clearly had no experience actually working as guides, if I didn’t chime in and provide some explanations. However, we hadn’t come all this way to not actually make it down into the Amazing Race caves, so I made a few adjustments here and there and we forged ahead. My pictures do not do it justice, but it was absolutely fantastic. And pretty sweet to know that we were among the first Yogya tourists to venture there.
Since it happened to be the Eid al-Adha holiday, we also had the unique pleasure of watching many cattle and goats being gathered, slaughtered, and butchered in public places in the middle of the city and many villages we drove through along the way. Unlike our Thanksgiving, where we stuff ourselves silly but are perfectly happy to get the dead bird from a store, the actual act of slaughtering (sacrifice) is key to this particular observation.
Before we departed for our day of caving, the travel agency girls relayed to us that it would be about 2 hours plus travel time. It ended up being over 10. When we were in Yogya proper, we never actually made it into the Kraton. When we were on our way to Prambanan, our taxi broke down and we had to get out and walk the rest of the way. All things that probably would have eliminated us on the real Amazing Race. So I’m very happy to just be on our own little un-timed pretend version. One of the best aspects of travel is often figuring out how to get places, not knowing who you might meet, not knowing at all what to expect along the way or once you get there, and being able to relax and enjoy it. But when you finally get there, and you’re like “okay, now what?”, it’s great to be traveling with someone whose sister will jump on the internet and text you some kind of crazy challenge to complete. A bit absurd, perhaps. But I foresee a few more Amazing Race-themed excursions in our future…
