August 8, Wednesday

August 8, Wednesday

We left Blitar at 9 am today, what a reprieve; one extra hour in bed in the morning makes a big difference to me.  I’m just not a morning person.  Breakfast at the Tugu Blitar Hotel did not include a buffet; I opted for a continental breakfast rather than a Javanese one.   I was served 3 pieces of toast, one small croissant and a raisin roll (like a cinnamon roll, but without the cinnamon). Dry toast was very bland, but the coffee and pastries made up for it.  

Our first stop was within Blitar where the first president of Indonesia (Soekarno) was born and where he was buried.  The Indonesians have built a beautiful structure “joglo” to cover his grave (and those of his parents).  It is a popular pilgrimage site for Indonesians and they pay tribute to his memory by leaving flowers.

 The entrance to the tombs & ceremonial site

 His tomb is in the middle and he is flanked by the tombs of his parents.  The guard is on duty at all times when it is open to the public, to ensure everyone behaves.  You can see the beautiful carvec wooden ceiling.  Daniel left flowers at the three graves and seemed a bit out of sorts that I did not plan on buying any to do the same.  I don't doubt that he was a great man, but he's not my president.

 The details under the eaves is even more impressive

 The great man himself.  A true leader who managed to unify all the islands that form Indonesia and was instrumental in obtaining their independance from the Dutch.

 A map of Indonesia


This little guy posed for me on the steps leading out of the site.  His narrow pointy tail was as long as his body.

 From there, we drove north west of Blitar to the Penataran Temple, built between the 12^th and 15^th century.   Another temple?  Yes, I know.  I think I’ve seen enough Hindu and Buddhist temples to last me 3 lifetimes!   But this one did appear slightly different from the others as far as its architecture was concerned.  It is the largest Hindu Temple complex in East Java and “is being considered to be put on the World Heritage list of sites that have ‘outstanding universal value’  to the world.”    

 Penataran Temple

 The guardians at the entrance to the grounds.  The front a bit worse for wear,

 but the back is in pristine condition.

 Some of the bas reliefs on the surrounding walls, with a Naga running all the way around the base.

The main temple.  Hot high or impressive.  What sets it apart are the steps leading up on top of the temple were on each side, rather than in the middle. 

The bas reliefs around each level were well preserved, this one in pristine condition.   

The view from the top, looking back at the two shrines.

The largest of the smaller shrines was beautifully decorated with a Naga that surrounded the roof line and was being held by 8 statues.   I had not noticed it on the other side of the building when we walked by because the image was almost non-existent. 

 My first view of it made me think of eyes and eye brows

 but the other side was beautifully preserved and you can clearly see the figures holding up the Naga.

 This was the entrance to the smallest shrine.  It's almost saying "Enter if you dare !"

This is the stone that shows the date the temple was built. An incredible archeological find.

That was it for our visits today.  By 10:40 we were driving back to Blitar and continuing our drive east near the southern coast, then at Kepanjen we turned north and drove all the way to the north coast of Java to take the road leading to Tosari, a village high up in the mountains, where I will be spending the night.   The south to north drive across the island was on one of the only main roads and traffic was bumper to bumper almost half the way up.  There was hardly any break from one town to city to town; everything just blended together.  It was only 2 lanes as well, except when we drove through Malang, but since the traffic was worse there, it did not make much difference. 

 Yet another volcano on our drive today.  I wondered if it is Mount Bromo, but Daniel said we were still very far away from it.  Still, according to my map, this should be Mount Bromo.

 We passed truck after truck filled with sugar cane; off to the factories for processing.

A rare glimpse of roof lines; this was while we were driving through Malang.

2 hours to drive less than 70 km.    It was only about 30 km from there up to Tosari, but the last 15 km were up a steep incline and tortuous roads up the mountainsides.  BEAUTIFUL VIEWS through the trees.  The terracing is incredible to behold.  Potatoes, carrots and onions at this elevation; hope that I can eat some tonight for dinner.

 The roads up to Tosari.  At the bottom they were fairly straight, but as we got closer to the mountain villages they got steeper and windier.

 We are as high as the clouds.

 One of the small villages we crossed

Higher and higher up the mountain.

 Daniel points out these buildings up on the top of the next valley.  He says those are the Bromo Cottages were we will be staying tonight.

 Zoom in on the cottages.  Looks impressive from here!

 And the surrounding fields are so steep, they are almost vertical.  Can you imagine trying to maintain these, plant them and harvest them?

I’m staying at Bromo Cottages, in the village of Tosari. 


The building I am staying in actually looks more like a motel than a cottage (on the left)  and it is just basic necessities.  I’m only staying one night.  I took about an hour to type up some of my travel notes and went outside at 5 pm to take some pictures of the hotel and the surrounding views.  

The clouds had already moved in and I could not see very far any more.   I’m scheduled to get up at 3:30 tomorrow morning for a drive up to Mt Pananjakan, 2700 meters above sea level, to see the sunrise, and then to  Mount Bromo.   Won’t be much of a sunrise if the clouds are still here.

Back to the computer for another hour and a half since they don’t start serving dinner until 7 pm.  Ramadhan again.   I can hear other guests arriving in the neighboring rooms, so I probably won’t be alone tomorrow morning for my tour.   I won’t need any air-conditioning tonight either since it is quite cool up here.  There is a nice thick blanket on the bed, as well as a duvet, so I should sleep snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug.  OK, maybe that’s not such a good analogy to be using!  

 Need to layer up my clothing for tomorrow morning’s excursion.   It's going to be very early.... and very cold.