Month: April 2018

We make plans to go to Solo, also known as Surakarta. Maybe they should call it ‘Solokarta’?

Before we leave Jogjakarta, we visit the Taru Martani cigar factory on the recommendation of our guesthouse owner.

Taru Martani apparently means ‘the leaf that gives life’. Very poetic.

Incoming tobacco is weighed.

Most of the employees are women.

The rolled cigars are pressed.

Afterwards, we spend a comfortable hour or so on the train to Solo/Surakarta.

Like most Indonesian cities, Solo/Surakarta is pretty grim. But these alleyway communities are a pleasant contrast.

People in Java like birds.

One morning, we help our guesthouse owner feed live crickets to his.

A popular method of transport are local trishaws called ‘becaks’.

We visit a few markets.

Stroll around town.

Even the ugliest of Indonesian cities have some nice areas.

It’s not uncommon to see chickens in the core of the city.

We walk around the outside of Vastenburg Fortress, the remains of a Dutch fort.

Its modern ownership is hotly contested. Goats wander around the interior.

One day, we hire a car and driver to visit Sukuh, a temple about 40 KMs from town.

A bit of a splurge, but getting here by public transport is problematic.

We get a great view of the valley. And it’s cool.

At one time, all of Java was Hindu-Buddhist, like Bali still is.

Because we already have the transport, we visit nearby Cetho temple. This turns out to be a fantastic drive around Mount Lawu. There are views of tea plantations.

Alpine vistas of mountaintop communities.

And green fields of vegetables.

Cetho is a relatively minor site, but the scenic route here makes it worthwhile.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Surakarta

We visit the House of Danar Hadi museum. This is a stunning collection of batik work belonging to a local family of batik merchants.

We can’t take photos inside, but you can see some samples – and the beautiful displays – here.

One place we can take photos is the batik workshop.

We spend a few days in Jakarta before heading to Jogjakarta and Borobodur.

In our neighbourhood, we visit the wayang kulit (leather puppet) museum.

This interesting device is a coconut-oil lamp for illuminating the screen for the shadow play.

The museum also has 3D puppets.

Jakarta is not a great city to spend time in. We describe it in an email to a friend as ‘kind of Hellish’. We make plans to leave ASAP.

On the way to the train station, we pass this mural. Some images are iconic the world over.

The Beatles and Indonesia have not always seen eye to eye. Thanks to a friend who is a Beatles fan – and who isn’t? – for the link.

We catch a comfortable, executive-class train to Jogjakarta.

First stop after arriving is the Kraton, or Sultan’s Palace. We come across a performance of gamelan music.

Nice pergola.

In another part of the grounds, we come across young men practicing Javanese dance.

We sit for an hour enjoying this.

We visit the Sonobudoyo Museum, a small gem of a museum nearby. At first we think this is an insightful installation on Indonesia, with shadow puppets appearing against an inverted Indonesian flag…

….making some kind of statement. We decide we’re just overthinking it. This museum is in much better shape (less neglected) than the Kraton.

We visit the Beringharjo Market. Lots of batik clothing around, of course.

Piles of material at Batik Keris, a more upscale batik chain.

We take local transport to Borobodur.

I visited here many decades ago. I distinctly remember renting a bicycle. It’s over 40 KMs from Jogjakarta, so I must’ve bussed it to some small town and biked from there.

Borobodur is as impressive as it was 30 years ago.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Jogjakarta and Borobodur

When we leave the Krui Surf Camp, Zane drops us at the bus terminal. We realize that we forgot to pay the remainder of our beer tab (an honours system for grabbing cold ones from the cooler). In an email, we offer to send Zane the cash. He suggests donating it to a mosque instead. We wait until we find a modest mosque that can use the money – not a giant Saudi-backed showpiece.

In Jogjakarta, we come across the tiny Nurul Huda mosque in a narrow alley.

Back to Singapore. This is not a hardship for us. You may remember our fondness for the place.

It turns out to be simpler to get an Indonesian visa here rather than go through the rigmarole of dealing with the bureaucracy in Indonesia itself. A big shout-out to Max and Jade from the Krui Surf Camp for providing step-by-step instructions. Merci, Max and Jade! We stay at the recommended Chinatown hotel, too. It’s great.

We use our one full day in town to visit the zoo. We normally don’t go to zoos in non-Western countries because they’re usually concrete monstrosities full of sad, neglected creatures.

Needless to say, this is not the case in Singapore. It’s one of the world’s best.

All of the environments are spacious and well-planned.

We think it’s significant that the info about rhinos is prominently displayed in Mandarin as well as English. Where the text says ‘some people’, what they mean is ‘Chinese people’. Very timely, as the Chinese seem to view any creature precious and rare and on the absolute cusp of being snuffed out as a handy source of ‘traditional medicine’.

Strangely, this doesn’t apply to pandas. We wonder why not? We’re sure if you tried draining the bile ducts of pandas, you’d have a sure-fire cure for baldness.

The zoo has both Borneo orangutans and Sumatra orangutans, of which there are fewer than 5,000 left.

This handsome fellow is a channel-billed toucan, from South America.

As with many creatures here, he doesn’t mind being close to people.

A pair of pelicans groom themselves.

We marvel at the good behaviour of Singapore school groups.

Elsewhere in Asia, kids are absolute hellions in public places, where they scream like banshees in echo-ey museums and race around without interference from indifferent staff or their own indulgent parents.

The zoo has an impressive reptile house.

The zoo has several examples of animals in unenclosed spaces. Like this gibbon.

And this cotton-top tamarin.

The next day, 2-month Indonesian visas freshly stamped, we fly to Jakarta with Lion Air. This is our 16th flight in six months. (19th, if you include the flights from Ottawa to Bangkok.)

We stay in the Kota Tuas area, the site of the original Dutch city of Batavia.

The square is popular with young Jakartans as a meeting place.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Back to Singapore

We mentioned that at the Singapore Zoo, many creatures don’t mind being close to people.

This includes the wilder creatures. We come across this snake dropping from a bush on a quiet side path.

Afterwards, we try looking up what it may be. No luck. Hope it wasn’t poisonous.

It’s time to say goodbye to Krui. We feel so at ease here in Zane’s place – easier to say than any of the three other names that it’s known by.

We’ll miss the beautiful ocean, and watching surfers from the tree house.

Most of all, we’ll miss the relaxed ambience and family-like groove that is so easy to slip into here.

Our little group is joined by John and Martina, a hybrid USA/Slovak couple, to round out our mini-United Nations.

We’ve learned more about surfing and its attractions in the last 11 days than in our entire lifetime. The world needs less Donald Trump, more surfing.

We rent a scooter on an overcast day and drive up the coast.

Mealtimes are a social event. Nita and Lisa keep everyone well fed.

On another day, David, Maria and I rent scooters and make our way to the nearby waterfalls.

It’s a bit like the Amazing Race getting there. We wade through rushing waters.

Hike through somebody’s cow pasture.

We arrive for a cooling dip at last.

Another attraction at Zane’s is puppies. There are adult dogs around. They are not actually Zane’s – they come to the property because they are treated well here. A neighbour comes by with a gunny sack of puppies and leaves them. Everyone knows that Zane is a soft touch.

They bolt under the porch and gradually venture out to explore.

We’re not even sure how long we’ve been here. We have to leave to get our Indonesian visas extended. We’ll miss the sound of the sea outside our window. (Accompanied by barking puppies.)

If any surfers read this, you should make your way to Krui, Sumatra, and stay at Zane’s. But only if you’re not an asshole.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Goodbye to Krui

Without a doubt, what makes our stay here so special is the character of Zane.

He has such obvious affection for the people of his adopted country. He’s a fair and honest man in a part of the globe that is often neither fair nor honest. He’s the perfect bridge between his western guests and the Indonesian way of life because he’s at ease in both worlds. He is a surfer to the core.

Zane went to Bandar Lampung for a few days to visit his family. In his absence, it’s as if the soul of the place was missing. Everyone – guests and staff – is so happy to see him back. People are always dropping by for a chat or advice. Kids love him.

Zane is one of those rarest of creatures – a man who is comfortable in his own skin.

From Bukittinggi, we take a shared taxi to Padang airport. We fly from Padang to Bandar  Lampung – via Jambi – then take a seven-hour bus trip next day to Krui.

Krui is little-known on the farang circuit – except to surfers.

The few foreign visitors here are all surfing people. We can see where their passion comes from.

From what we can absorb, surfing is part art, part science, and part lifestyle philosophy. My misfortune to be born 1,000 kilometres from salt water.

‘Surf’s Up, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm
Aboard a tidal wave
Come about hard and join
The young and often spring you gave
I heard the word
Wonderful thing
A children’s song’

– The Beach Boys, ‘Surf’s Up‘ (alternatively, a stripped-to-its-essentials version. )

(This song has little to do with surfing, apart from the title. I just like the enigmatic lyrics.)

Krui is not an easy place to get to. But once we’re here, it’s extremely pleasant.

Our guesthouse has several names, for example  ‘Mutiara Alam’ (Nature’s Pearl), ‘Hotel Zandino’, and ‘Krui surf camp’.

Stumbling across it was a happy accident.

It’s owned and operated by Zane, a transplanted Californian from San Diego who has made this place his home for more than 25 years.

The other people here are Max and Jade, a lovely young Mauritian couple, and David, an adventurous young South African who has been crewing on yachts. (All surfers, of course.) There’s a relaxed atmosphere that threatens to trap us here for a while.

Eddy, Zane’s majordomo, climbs a coconut tree for some refreshments….

…then he hacks off the tops.

David and I enjoy the fruits of Eddy’s labours.

Our accommodation faces the ocean. Delicious meals are included. Beer is freely available. (Not a thing to take for granted in this conservative part of Sumatra.)

We walk everywhere, which makes us conspicuous. Everybody in Indonesia rides scooters at all times.

The sun sinks into the Indian Ocean at the end of our first day.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Krui

One of the best places to hang out is the tree house. Not only does it overlook the ocean, it overhangs the ocean.

It’s also a good place for a sundowner.

This is the view of the beach from the tree house. Whenever we’re by the ocean like this, Chris Rea’s ‘On the Beach‘ runs though my mind like a soundtrack. Hell, the whole album is a classic. Takes me back to my silo-building days.

We eventually wrest ourselves from the sloth-inducing grip of Lake Toba and head for Bukittinggi.

Still in Tuk Tuk, we discover that chickens love Marie biscuits. We throw a few crumbs to a sociable hen. She returns with her friends and mobs our veranda. There goes the rest of the pack. And some cream crackers to boot.

We fly to Padang (via Medan) rather than face a 16-hour bus ride to Bukittinggi. Getting to the local airport is a journey in itself. At the airport (and elsewhere), Maria is requested to feature in family photos by complete strangers. This never happens to me.

On the flight back to Medan, we pass this volcano emitting a puff of smoke. It might be Mount Sinabung. No guarantees.

Bukittinggi is a hill town. Like Lake Toba, it’s cooler than the plains below.

Our guesthouse is surrounded by mosques. (Technically, so is every location in town.) At prayer times, it’s like a titanic Battle of the Muezzins. The reception desk provides complimentary ear-plugs at check-in.

For lunch, we have a nasi Padang, elbow-to-elbow with the townsfolk in a popular eatery. Nasi Padang is basically rice and a dozen or so side dishes.

A park in town overlooks the Sianok Valley

In town, we visit the ‘Japanese tunnels’. This roomy network of tunnels was built – using slave labour, of course – during the Japanese occupation of Sumatra. Interestingly, the gardens outside have a recent statue/memorial to Japanese soldiers. There is no English information, but it looks sincerely flattering.

Possibly because the occupation paved the way for the successful post-war independence struggle against the Netherlands. Apparently, the modern government won’t let the death of four million Indonesians due to the Japanese occupation stand in the way of saying ‘Thanks!’ for getting rid of the satanic Dutch.

One day, we hire a guide and a driver and tour the area surrounding BT.

We walk through beautiful rice paddies.

We stop in a plantation that grows things such as turmeric, cloves, and cinnamon.

Cinnamon, in case you don’t know, is made from the bark of the cinnamon tree.

The proprietor climbs a papaya tree to provide us with a snack.

They’re juicy.

This is where chocolate gets its start.

We visit a couple of villages, Rao-Rao and Balimbing, that have many Minangkabau-style houses. Similar to Batak houses around Lake Toba. But different.

Notice my new hat – my third since we began this trip six months ago.

Balimbing is also a rice-farming centre.

We come across a small enterprise of women producing some kind of biscuits over a wood fire.

Like many places the world over, women seem to do most of the work. Men spend their time hanging out in groups, playing games, smoking, and gossiping.

Sight or Insight of the Day – Bukittinggi

During our motorized tour, we stop for lunch at the Pondok Flora restaurant. Besides a pleasant outdoor setting, the property has several resident birds of prey.

This professorial-looking owl isn’t shy about being around humans.

Another owl.

And an eagle.