August 1, Wednesday

August 1, Wednesday

Today I start my 11 day excursion across the island of Java in Indonesia.

At 8:30, my driver Dodi and my guide Daniel arrived to pick me up and we drove out of the city to the Indonesia Miniature Park (165 hectares).  Sounds Disney like, but was not at all.  It is a complex of areas where they have set up 34 different areas representing the 34 provinces of Indonesia.  In each one, there is a display of their traditional houses, their art work, traditions, clothing etc.  Many of the provinces have their own traditional dialects as well.

I wanted to walk around part of the complex and Daniel showed me a few of the larger compounds: North & West Sumatra, Irian Jaya, Bali & Java.

 Traditional houses from Sumatra.  This one is so large there has to be a family "group" living in it.

 It looks more like a hotel

 Check out the hand carved wooden latice work.   It looks like lace.  BEAUTIFUL.

 Some of the houses are smaller and are up on stilts

 This one has a neat roof line

Check out the long boat.  All hand cut from a single tree.

 Check this one out.  Really colourful right?

 This is a close up of the detail on that house.  IT IS ALL CARVED ! !   And painted with various colours.  Can you imagine how long it took to do this?

 By the way, that picture was just the side of the house.  This is how BIG it is.  AMAZING.

 Houses from other areas within Indonesia have a completely different architecture

 A statue on a pond.  It is such a narrow boat, how could they keep it upright without flipping over?

This type of gates is supposedly used all over the islands in Indonesia.

In the middle of the park there is lake with islands in the shape of Indonesia’s main islands:  Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan (Borneo), Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku and Papua.

The lake where each island represents an island of Indonesia

 The Bali complex was especially beautiful
 
 They use a dragon on their gates, not a naga.

 And this was part of the Java complex, a HUGE open temple building

 And again the wooden carving is so ornate. This one had a series of panels and doorways.

A miniature of the Borobudur Temple which I will be visiting at some point during my Java excursion.

At one point, while we were driving from one area to another, we passed a reptile museum and Daniel asked if I wanted to go in to see the snakes and crocodiles.  Just as I was starting to say “no, I’m not really interested in seeing those” he said KOMODO DRAGON. ......  Stop the car!      “Oh yes please, I would love to see the komodo dragon.”    We walked all the way around the area to the back of the compound (and yes I did stop to see the snakes, turtles, crocodiles

 a horned iguana

and even a baby komodo dragon behind a glass case)
We finally reached the larg pit where the Komodo Dragon was located

 With my zoom, I can just catch its upper body in the corner of the stairwell
 I was trying to make noises to coax it out so I could get a better look and picture. One of the custodians came up to us and tried to get him to come out as well, but no luck. Then the guard and Daniel spoke to each other and the guard motioned for me to follow him.
 We went down the stairs, under the cement platform, where there was another viewing area through dirty windows; but the guard did not stop there, he continued on to a door that led into the pit! And there was the komodo dragon not two feet away from me behind lying across the bottom of the steps and making it difficult for the guard to open the door.

I  snuck my camera around and took a blind picture towards where his head was.  The guard then shoved the komodo enough to open the door wider, and the dragon finally went up the steps.

Finally, I had a picture of all of it.  It is as big as a huge crocodile, but the legs are A LOT bigger.

When both the komodo dragon and the guard had reached the top of the stairs, the guard motioned for me to come up and touch the dragon. Oh crap! Another emotional moment… do I? don’t I? “Aline, when are you EVER going to get the chance to not only see a komodo dragon, but to actually TOUCH ONE?”     
Me,   myself   and    I had a bit of an argument about it in my head and I finally rationalized that other than getting scratched by its claws how badly could I get hurt? It seemed quiet enough with the guard. 

OK,  I DID IT !

 “ A member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae), it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 metres (10 ft) in rare cases and weighing up to around 70 kilograms (150 lb).  They take about eight to nine years to mature, and are estimated to live for up to 30 years.”      Juana, you were right, this part is for you and I’m glad I did not know before I went in to pet the Komodo Dragon:  “Animals that escape the jaws of a Komodo will only feel lucky briefly. Dragon saliva teems with over 50 strains of bacteria, and within 24 hours, the stricken creature usually dies of blood poisoning.”  Though the web site did continue to say that most Komodos in captivity have lesser strains due to their diet and care.

It was like touching a turtle shell, very hard carapace.  I felt like I was touching an ancient dinosaur.  (Message for Renée or Jolynn to pass on to Dash:  “I thought of you today.  I think you would have loved to touch this dragon too.”

So emotional !  Not like crying tears emotional, but shaking all over emotional, like when I touched the tigers in Thailand.  Definitely a “pinch me, is this real” moment.

After spending 1 ½ hours there in total, we were on our way to our next stop in Bogor, to visit the Botanical Gardens, 60 km south of Jakarta.    The gardens were designed by a Dutch botanist and officially opened in 1817.

When we arrived in Bogor we drove past an area filled with deer; hundreds of them grazing on the lawns behind the 19^th century Presidential Palace on the same grounds as the botanical gardens.  I could not get a good picture through the gates that surround this area and thought I would be able to get a good picture from within the gardens, but it was never meant to be.  I never saw them again.    


I think I mentioned earlier that I am here during the period of Ramadhan (Indonesian spelling); a holy period for people of the Muslim faith.They fast from dawn to sunset for one month.I knew this already and figured that at some point I would probably have a problem finding an open restaurant, but I had planned on ensuring that I always had snacks in my bag to tide me over, as well as water or juice.What I did not know about Ramadhan is that they cannot drink any liquids either during the day, not even water.Well I don’t know about you, I don’t usually drink a lot of liquids when I’m home, but when I am visiting and walking around I need to drink a lot of liquids.My guide, who had been walking along with me all morning, did not take one sip of water, while I was guzzling down my small bottles (I drank three today). So when we arrived at the gardens, my plan was to tell the guide that I would wander around on my own and meet back with them at whatever time they had set for our departure.Surprise !He has organized for one of the volunteers at the gardens to take me around on my tour and provide information.WOW ! That’s like walking around with John P explaining everything.How great is that.

The gardens contain more than 15,000 species of trees and plants and about 400 types of palm trees. I did not see many flowers in this garden, but there were lots of types of bamboo.

 One of the paths in the Bogor Botanic Gardens

 Beautiful huge flower / leaf ?  No idea what it was;  many of the plants did not have signs and I did not have a paper and pen with me to take notes as my guide took me around.

 At one point I felt something on my neck and tried to whisk it away.  Daniel took it off my shoulder and showed me this beautiful stick insect.

Giant Bamboo !  I feel like a munchkin beside this.

 The Presidential Palace (out of bounds, could not get any closer, or go to the other side to see the hundreds of deer).

 The lilie pond.


The five ethical precepts of Buddhism ( 5 fingers, but one hand):  abstain from taking life, abstain from taking what is not given, abstain from sexual misconduct, abstain from false speech, abstain from fermented drink that causes heedlessness.

 The path along the pond.  

Established by the Dutch in 1817, this is not a flower garden, it is more of an arboretum, filled with 15,000 species of plants from around the world, including 400 species of palm trees.

The roads in Java so far are great, we are on huge divided highways, most of the toll roads and Dodi the driver speeds us along. People who drive on these highways “appear” to obey traffic laws and stick to their own lanes, but once you are off these and on to regular roads or city streets…. forget it. It’s like being back in India… utter chaos. The only thing that is different is that the Indonesians don’t honk their horns. They either sit patiently in their cars and wait for traffic to start moving again, or pass recklessly either on the right or left side, at crazy speeds, trying to pass other vehicles (cars, motorcycles, pedestrians, small commuter mini-buses, carts pulled by small horses, you name it, it’s on the road).

 A large divided highway on the outskirts of Bogor

 And then we hit reality !   This is the traffic I would see from now on.  CRAZY !

But they do love their monuments, on almost every round-a-bout I saw.

This afternoon we are heading for Bandung, via Puncak Pass which has spectacular views of tea plantations on the mountain slopes. 

 In the high mountains and Puncak Pass

 Tea plantations grow on all the slopes

 Looks a little bit like Italy in this shot and these could be vineyards instead of tea.

 Fresh tea lives picked from one of the bushes

I see all sorts of interesting things during our drive.  There were hang gliders jumping off the mountain at Puncak Pass and we watched quite a few of them go all the way down and land in a far away field.   And then there were these: 

 This guy is carrying dozens and dozens of eggs.... ON HIS MOTORCYCLE !   I wonder if they will be pre-scrambled when they finally get to market?

 This guy was carrying large stones from a quarry, but his truck was overloaded and the back gates were ready to burst open at any moment.

 This guy was carrying a huge load of onions / shallots to market.

And the modes of public transportation were interesting as well:

 This little van is a commuter van / taxi.  The door is propped open even as he is driving down the road to make it easier for people to get on and off !   Now there's an accident waiting to happen.

 and check out these taxis !   I am NOT KIDDING.  The locals use their horse and carts to ferry people around.  Whatever works.


I’m staying 2 nights at the Sukajadi Hotel in Bandung.  The hotel does not have restaurants close enough for me to walk to in the dark (we arrived after 6 pm) so I opt to have dinner at the hotel.  Nothing to write home about, but it is hot and it is filing since I did not have lunch today.   It's Ramadhan and all the restaurants are closed during the day !

July 25, Wednesday to July 31, Tuesday {Indonesia}

July 25, Wednesday   to    July 31, Tuesday    {Indonesia}

This is the day I leave Singapore and fly to Indonesia.  This will be my 25th country so far.  

My flight out leaves on schedule and we arrive on the Island of Java and the city of Jakarta in late afternoon.  11 hours behind Ottawa local time.   Missed the office to obtain the travel visa on the way to the Immigration desk, so after waiting 10 minutes in line, I was sent back to where I missed the office, got my 30 day tourist visa and went back to the back of the line.  20 minutes later I was through without a hitch and looking for a taxi.  I had exchanged by remaining Ringit for Indonesian Rupiahs the Singapore airport, and gotten change in Rupiahs from my travel visa ($25 fee out of my $50 US).  I had enough to pay for the taxi ride which was almost $100,000 Rupiahs.   Thank God the exchange rate is about $10 to each 10,000 Rupiahs.

Although I had printed out a map from Booking.com when I made my hotel reservations, my taxi driver did not seem to know how to read it.   We eventually got there, but through a very round-about way.

The drive in from the airport is absolutely crazy with traffic.  I think I'm back in India; doesn't matter that there are only 4 lanes, there are more than 6 cars across !

Jakarta has beautiful monuments everywhere; expecially on their round-a-bouts.

 I’m staying at the Merlynn Park Hotel.

 The view from my room



 The lobby area below and on the 5th floor

The restaurant on the 5th floor

Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands spread around the equator between Asia and Australia.  It’s major islands are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.   It consists of 33 provinces, 6 of which are in Java, Bali is a 7^th. 

The island of Java (Jawa in Indonesian) has a population of 135 million (to Canada’s 34 million!)  13^th largest island in the world, it has 44 volcanoes, 20 of which are still active.   Put all of that population on an island that measures 1050km (650 miles) long and up to 210km (130 miles) wide, with the bulk of the people living in Jakarta (population over 9 million). The city of Jakarta is the capital city of post populous city in South East Asia and is spread over 661 square kilometers. 

The first thing I read in the tourist brochure was that it is not easy to get around in Jakarta; no kidding, they don’t have a metro system!  It also indicated that taxis were cheap and the best way to get around, but the traffic is extremely slow and the drivers don’t want to use their meters, so you get charged much more than you should. 

 Streets of Jakarta go from this in an older part of the city

 to this,  nice housing area where everything is behind secure gates

 They are digging up the ditches at the side of the roads since they are cluttered with garbage debris.  Since there are no sewers to catch the water when it rains, they really need these ditches to work.

 Modern parts of Jakarta.  Love the architecture.  We really have to start doing better with ours.

 Looks very outer space looking.  No idea what it is.

 Sometimes the traffic moves fairly well, sometimes it doesn't.

MoNa (Monument National) about 1 km from my hotel
The notes from this week are going to be extremely short, since I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING while I was here.  First:   Ramadhan has started.   Second:  I’m hearing strange sounds from the streets below at night (hopefully fire crackers and not gun shots).   If you want to travel anywhere in Jakarta, you have to do so by bus and they are ALWAYS overcrowded.   I took a short walk just as the sunset one night to find a convenience store to purchase some juice and soft drinks, and did not like the look of things.   For some reason I’m not confident about walking these streets, although my hotel is located close to a main boulevard. 

I don’t have access to the internet from my room since the hotel charges $10/hour and when I log on to do any research or to post to my blog, I’m usually on for about 3 hours.  There is free connection from the hotel lobby and from the restaurant levels on the 5^th floor, but I end up with bites all over my ankles each time I’m down there.  They look like sand flies or midges, and they bite and sting like crazy.  Deet does not seem to deter them either, so I’ve got swollen bites all over my lower legs again and on my arms.  Also, on most days the internet keeps cutting out.  It took me 2 hours to post 1 day of travel photos into my blog yesterday.  

My research on the Internet has paid off however and I’ve managed to book a solo tour through the Island of Java, on my way to Bali.   I leave on Wednesday August 1 and arrive in Bali on Sunday August 12.  I’ve also looked up some Indonesian phrases to help me

hello = Selamat;   Welcome = Salamat datang  or   Sama sama;     Good bye = Sampai ketemu;

please =  silahkan;   thank you =  Terima Kasi    or   Marku Sukmo

Yes = Ya      No = bukan       Hati hati = be careful !     

{During the drive through Java I kept seeing a yellow diamond shaped traffic sign with a big exclamation point on it  “ ! ”    When I asked what it meant I was told it meant “caution” or “be careful”  or  Hati Hati !} 

I’ll keep trying to catch up on my blog postings for June & July while I’m here, but I have to go to the lobby or the 5th floor to have the wifi connection.  Unfortunately I get bitten by these tiny little flies that REALLY sting, whenever I go down there.

July 24, Tuesday

July 24, Tuesday  

Had another lazy morning before finally getting started on my last full day in Singapore.   Took the MRT to Harbour Front.   My breakfast was long gone, so I purchased some sushi rolls and an anti-oxidant drink called “The Fat Buster” made with fresh star fruit, apple and beet. Delicious.  After eating this while sitting outside, I was able to locate the Ticket counter for the Cable Car up Faber Mountain, or down to the Disney-like amusement park Sentosa.    When I got to the ticket counter however I found out it would cost me more than $40; about the same amount I had paid for the Singapore Flyer.   Not worth it, so I decided to climb up instead.  An enquiry at the information counter of the Harbour front Mall helped me navigate through a few buildings, back down to the underground, and across to the other side of Harbour Front to the trail going up the mountain.

 The cable cars from the WaterFront Mall

 That's really high up

 Taking the path up the mountain.  Looking out for monkeys
Although it was quite a climb via a series of staircases and trails, most of it was under the shade of tall trees which created a tunnel almost all the way up. The other benefit was that the tunnel effect also created a draft of wind, cooling things down considerably for me. I’m in much better shape than I have been in the past and was panting, but not completely out of breath by the time I reached the upper levels

 Huffing and puffing, I'm almost there.

 The view from the top of Mount Faber

Beautifully landscaped, all along the crest of the mountain

 Beautiful view of the harbour below.  Do you see the red sign, and the pier on the right of it?  That's where I started walking from to get up Mount Faber.

 And I finally spot the famous Lion Logo of Singapore out in the distance

 Really beautiful.  There is even a tall ship out in the harbour

 and in the other direction, I can see all the commercial ships in the harbour

 Going back up the path to the bus stop

The flowers are beautiful, even though I have no idea what they are.  They drape the trellises all the way along the road.

I walked around a bit and took some pictures and noticed that there was a bus stop up there.  Great, I could pay the $1.10 and ride the bus around the top of the mountain and then back down to the harbour front. The sign said that the buses were running every half hour, and I figured that they would leave the bottom of the mountain on the hour and ½ hour, so one should be by within 10 minutes.  I waited 20 and went back to check the bus sign.  Crap…. It only runs on weekends.  Oh well, the original plan was to walk up and back down again, so back down I went.  Took a lot less time as well, and no signs of any monkeys.

Back down the path, on the lookout for monkeys.  There is no one else anywhere in sight.

I used the MRT to get back to my hotel area, and decided to try to locate a hair salon since I was in bad need of a professional cut, regardless of the cost.  Entered the Bugis+ Mall, which I had not explored yet, and located a salon on the 3^rd floor.  The staff were all young guys and they were very pleasant and had me laughing the entire time I was there.  They were quite impressed by the fact that I was travelling by myself.   The cut turned out to be a bit shorter than I would have liked, but my hair and nails are growing so fast here that it didn’t really matter.  It’s a cute cut and will keep its shape as it grows.

I took advantage of the restaurants in the mall and had a very nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant.  I love these since I know I will get some fresh vegetables with my meals, which isn’t always the case at other ethnic restaurants.

 My meal includes dumplings, miso soup and sea food and veggie stir fry.
I had spotted an amazing Italian Gelato outlet just beside the restaurant and went over for dessert.

Who could resist?

So much to choose from.  I would have liked to be able to buy some tiny cups of at least 6 of their flavors, but I restrained myself and only selected the “very berry” so that I would get another dose of antioxidants.  (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.)

It was 6:30 by the time I got back to the hotel with a full tummy and a new hair cut.  Pretty good day.

Sept 6, Thursday (UPDATE)

Sorry I'm so late updating my blog.   I'm now in AUSTRALIA.  I was in Darwin for 11 days, but the hotel where I was staying had no internet and there was no free internet available at any cafés.   When I publish my blog, it takes me hours if the connection is not good.

I am now in Alice Springs for the week and will be able to play catch-up.

Love to you all who are following my travels.

Aline

mesmenard@gmail.com

July 22, Sunday & July 23, Monday

July 22, Sunday   &    July 23, Monday

July 22, Sunday

Second day of my 2-day pass on the Hop-on / Hop-off buses.   Caught the red route line across the road from the Hotel Rendez-Vous and drove past the Little India area and then Arab Street (I can walk to both of these destinations from my hotel) and hopped off at the Millennia Walk shopping centre, the last stop before the Singapore Flyer where all the tourist busses start and end their routes.  There would be a 45 minutes wait for the red route bus and only half an hour wait for the orange route bus.  I browsed through the mall only long enough to locate a bakery to purchase a lunch on the run and made my way on foot to the bus stop at the Singapore Flyer.  The orange route bus left at exactly 1:30 and I was off the bus again at the China Town stop 10 minutes later.

 Lots of green spaces in Singapore

 Old Fire Station.  Looks like candy!

 Older building, refitted to give it a modern look.  I like it.

 Lots of water canals in the city as well

 Arriving near the China Town area.  Colourful buildings and everything is CLEAN.

 China Town markets

and here again, older buildings have been colourfully restored.

While I was in the area, I also visited the Sri Mariamman Temple,  oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, very colourfully decorated as well.  (No photos allowed inside)

 Looks like space is limited in apartments here as well.  Laundry langing outside highrise buildings.

I figured that one hour would be sufficient time to walk around and I would catch the next bus when it came back around. The only problem with that plan was that the red route only ran every 2 hours and the orange route’s stop wasn’t anywhere near where I finished my walk. I ended up missing the orange route connection and by this time I was again soaked from sweat. Although it was only around 3 pm, I decided to call it a day and go back to the hotel. Finding the nearest MRT station wasn’t too difficult, only 2 short detours in China Town and I was on my way by metro to the Dhoby Ghout station near my hotel. Well, 15 minute walk from my hotel, but still close enough to avoid a 2nd metro switch. It also gave me the chance to walk a bit of the famous Orchard Road with all its expensive shopping malls.  

 One of the many Orchard Street shopping malls

 The historic Rendez-vous Grand Hotel. 

 The streets near my hotel

 Local market on the street behind the Ibis Hotel

 Just like on TV, they have all the new gadgets for sale

 Lots of people around, makes getting back to my hotel a bit more difficult.

 A big happy Buddha statue outside a temple behind my hotel

and you can buy inscense sticks as well

By 4 pm I was back in my room resting. My poor aching feet have never been the same since that foot massage in China. I will need some physiotherapy to set things right again. 


July 23, Monday

This is going to be a day of rest for me.  I spent time reading Romeo Dallaire’s book and pondered the UN’s lack of action during the Rwandan genocide.  Too much red tape, too many people not willing to make decisions.   Sound familiar?  Same thing seems to be happening in Syria, 20 years later.  The Asian expression of “Same, same but different” seems to apply.

I went out and found a nice restaurant to have an early dinner.