Thursday, April 22, 2010

San Diego Glory Hole 2010

overly welcoming atmosphere in Java

It is only 4 days I am in Java, Indonesia, and I have the impression of having seen billions of things. The capital, Jakarta, has nothing remarkable, except the kindness of its inhabitants. Looks like a great Western city with skyscrapers, clean streets, I even saw a Carrefour! Except that closer inspection shows some precarious bamboo houses hidden everywhere and open sewers, to recall that we are still in a developing country. The traffic is intense, especially 2 wheels which are legion. There are generally fewer people in the streets in India, no one harasses the few tourists, the atmosphere is much calmer and not against a single second. Every 100 meters someone says hello, including the police, some wonder if all goes well and if you please you Indonesia. A pleasant surprise, I thought I would have to fight for a minimum they leave me alone, and not even bin. It is very hot and humid, weird telling me that a week ago I was fighting against the elements in Hokkaido. Otherwise, there is not much to do in Jakarta. I fought with the Indian Embassy to finally denied my tourist visa: / Too bad, I went for a tour of India, I must postpone my visit to the North-East of the country to other holiday. After this failure, I took a train to Yogyakarta in central Java island. The 8 o'clock train, I discovered the beautiful landscape of rice fields, palm trees and mountains in the background. Rice cultivation extends over hundreds of kilometers, and you see hats "Chinese" there colored tunics and bustling.

Enchantment arrived in Yogyakarta. The tourist district is composed of two tiny streets, pedestrian, very quiet and very green, with options birdsong and cries of children playing. In fact everything is green in Java, in addition to the dense vegetation surrounding the houses and balconies decorated with plants. I started with the shopping mecca of tourism Yogya, namely, the street Malioboro. A straight street lined on one side of the shopping mall, another tiny souvenir shops and rickshaw that offer their service. Down the street, the sultan's palace, Kraton, built in the 18th century. The current Sultan still resides there. I did not find exceptional architecture is pretty basic and all exhibits only focuses on the life of the sultan. The portraits of the sultan. The stripes of the Sultan. The spoons of the Sultan. The fact remains that the palace is nice, a dozen buildings is disseminated. Around 10 o'clock I was treated to a mini concert of traditional music provided by some of the 1,000 employees of the Sultan. I then headed to the area bordering the palace, where stands a bird market. Just side, the Water Palace is a small recreation area established by the Portuguese in the 18th. There are two or three large basins blue sky surrounded by white walls, with short walks around. Arches decorated with guardian spirits can pass from one to another basins. I entered the palace through a tiny entrance unofficial, when I lost in the maze of the surrounding neighborhood and I did not have to pay the ticket (it reminded me of the Peloponnese Mythos, stakeholders include: D ).

1h Bus Yogyakarta is a huge Buddhist temple in the 8th century. Lost for 1,000 years, it became very damaged by time and covered with volcanic ash. The British have conducted a site cleanup in the 19th century, the Dutch have partially restored in the early 20th century, and Indonesia took over with funds from UNESCO in the 70s. This temple with a square base, known as Borobudur, has no interior. It is a succession of steps by which wind around a hill. Each floor is a large open hall square, richly decorated with hundreds of Buddhas, demons, and frescoes depicting how to pass the earthly world and vicious all the way down to peaceful nirvana at the top (for short). Reached the summit, after turning around a dozen times to climb the temple floors following the journey of initiation and well explore everything it reaches peak stupas each containing a large Buddha. With background in the jungle and mountains is a beautiful place. Cons by young Indonesian tourists are dozens and all want a photo with a specimen MINIMUM West. In this case myself. I asked countless times, and if the Indians have sometimes a certain restraint, a certain shyness, Indonesians not! It surprised me most from the girls that I found surprisingly free and enterprising. Again, we do not feel pressure or religious tradition in this country yet very practical (at least on the island of Java). People are Zen is very significant.

Today I did a hike on one side of the imposing Merapi volcano erupts regularly and smokes constantly. Only a few roads, relatively low and away from the toxic cloud are open. I went with an Indonesian woman met on the train, a lawyer who already have Western friends that regularly accompanies there. Finally this is what she told me. She brought me up on a scooter and we walked a few hundred yards into the forest before it loses its way. Fortunately a young birder in search of prey came by and helped us find the path. Meanwhile, our friend lost the keys to the scooter. I returned our steps with the type but find two keys in a forest full of ferns and ultra steep, it is really a sport. After an hour or two we decided to give up. Guards the corner we have restarted the machine tampering with the cables, and we joined a locksmith that we redid the keys for 2 euros. So far I have not walked this volcano, so finally, but by returning to the same place 3 times. We did get to see an impressive lava cooled from 2006. A poor guy in his haste had forgotten to lock the door of the bunker where he took refuge where he left his skin.

I continue tomorrow around East Java, to reach the island of Bali after tomorrow. On the way another volcano, Mount Bromo, waiting for me. This time I will go with a true guide, there will certainly be less unexpected, but at least I can enjoy a bit of nature:)

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