Well ive been back almost a week,finally got rid of the belly..aaah
Well this was my fourth bali/indo trip,first solo trip,first solo-java trip,first wet season trip,and second for last year...yay
Mmmmm gotta love that first breath of bali air mmmmm flavours for the nose.
Raced of the plane to beat the que...mission accomplished (no wait)and somehow even lucked out on getting my bags quick,(checked bags for planted drugs and chalked X)..witch was a good thing as the plane was late and my fav bemo driver was waiting,and I didn't have any accomadation booked,straight to poppies 2 and booked into an old cheap fav,suka beach inn,35,000rrp a night clean sheets,ceiling fan,shower,western toilet,basic breakfast and nice gardens all I need,although a pools getting made so maybee wont be so cheap for much longer?
Okay in keeping with tradition first night is a big night straight to paddys and the bounty good night but only half as many people out as in the dry.
relaxed for a few days,okay got over my hangover,and booked my flight to joja-java,where my girl lives.
crossed my fingers and took the cheap option flying lion air/wings about 160,000rrp
wasnt to bad at all and alive to tell the story.
And got a taxi from Joja to Solo about 110,000rrp
Was my first trip to Java and Solo and stayed with my girl(whom im now engaged too) did most of the touristy things,kraton,markets,bike tour with visits to batik factory,gong makeing,traditional bakery,roof tile makeing,rice biscuit,arak distilary...and also a trip to the mountain with waterfall and temples,one of witch a hundred or more ballinesse were over at preparing for dance and ceremonie.
But the best part of my trip was just living with a javanesse family for ten days,great food,I tried every food and fruit i could(helped shop at the morning food market)living was comfortable but very basic,no shower or running water,just a well and laddle to wash(mandi)
And the faimly house is only small two rooms and two beds between 5(6 with me)
My girl speaks very good english but her parents don't so my indonesian was very streached,while she was at work(radio announcer)
I spent a lot of time wondering walking around looking solo,I was actually very suprised by the Javanese,there is sometimes a lot of negativity when they are talked about,generally because they come to bali to make money i guess, but i found the exact opposite,no bad vibes(that I have felt in sumbawa)or negativity and always felt safe even at night and new years.
When shopping I often made mistakes in understanding ammounts but was never ripped off and often suprised and how much cheaper than bali things were,many things are fixed price too, at a very low price(real price)
During the ten days I saw about 10 westerners, but even so i was never stared(unlike many places in indo) at or barely even glanced at or hassled,just the odd friendly person who could speak a little english,or the classic halo mister..offcourse
I must say it is rare to find anyone who speaks more english than halo how are you?...but being with my girl was a dream,everything cheap and easy especially when we went down the coast for a few days searching for waves...found a great spot(lips sealed)
Oh I nearly forgot I wanted to try as many bizare foods as i could.
frogs(kodok)-delicious whole just like chicken.
Dog(angeing)-sate wasnt so great bit like beef,but it was from a dodgy warung.(there's not many dogs on the streets in solo)
I had heard you can also eat cobra snake(ular) there too...so one day as were cruising on the scotter with papa,seing the sites,he took me looking for cobra,one cobra warung was out so off we go to the next on the other side of town.
It was just a little warung that just sold cobra and cobra bits of peices,many photos on walls and cobra skins heads,bottles of venum ect around the place.
Anyway out comes the man with a bag and out comes the cobra held by the tail,standing up swaying just like in the movies,a few minutes latter it's pinned on the table head cut off,hung up in front of me,skinned,filleted,and dicced up spices mixed in with a light sauce and fryed...I skipped drinking the blood,and papa declined my offer of half the bowl(I just wanted a taste,not a whole cobra) anyway it wasn't to bad,bit grissly/chewwy tasted more like the spices than anything and washed it down with some rice,thought I better not be rude so I ate every last bit and every last grain.
I think it cost about 10,000rrp and 15,000rrp for a cobra skin wallet :)
only visited yogakarta(joja) briefly before I boarded my plane for a meal,must check it out next time looks great for shopping,buskers are a pain in the but though,and it is a lot more tourisity,heard more expensive but still cheaper than bali.
Anyway just quickly back in Bali did some sightseing to some places in the hills id never been and tanah lot,a bit of shopping and even visited a balinesse friends girlfriends house that was intersting.
Anyways back in July with family and friends for my big day...I saved looking at Borobuor until then too...looks insane
:)