hello,
i read many jbrs before going to bali and got many information from this forum, so i will try to write my first jbr about my first trip to bali, lombok and java. i will keep myself short, because i am from germany and it's not that easy for me to write in english.
i just finished school and i am going to study in oktober, so i thought that that would be a good time to make holiday for 5 weeks. i choosed bali, because it's cheap, peaceful and totally different to europe.
after buying two very good guide books (lonely planet + stefan loose) i became interrested in lombok, too.
i made some notices on my trip, that's why i know what i did every day.
this jbr is not for people, who want to know where you can buy the cheapest t-shirts, sunglases or dvds, because i did not spend much time with shopping.
first day
started from frankfurt at 3pm (9pm at bali time) with brunei air. the flight was very very hard, because i thought we only go over brunei and didn't know that we go over bangkok, too. i could not sleep in the plane and was so tired in bangkok, that i nearly slept in the airport and nearly misst my next flight. after arriving in bangkok it took another 3 hours to brunei and from there another 2 and a half hour to denpasar.
i arrived at 4pm (bali time) in bali.
when i stepped out of the plane i was shocked by the heat and the humidity. i thought i could never stand the heat longer than 2 or 3 days. i was very down because of the jetlag and my only wish was a cool hotelroom.
i walked out of the airport, but did not want to take the first taxi. i thougt it's not so far to walk to kuta. so i tried. after 20 minutes i was so wet that i gave up walking. a guy with a motorbike drove me to my hotel. my hotel ( masa inn, poppies1) was realy nice, clean and quiet, but not cool. of course i did not book a room with climatization.
i walked around in kuta and was shocked by the traffic and the crazy driving skills of the locals.
second day
the first nights were not very easy, because of the heat, but after the first day my jetlag was gone.
i took a taxi to jimbaran. from there i went on to ulu watu by public bemo. i was really impressed by the cheap transport prices. ulu watu was great. beatiful scenery and atmosphere. saw the first apes.
i chartert a bus to jimbaran. walked along the beach, looked at the fishermen, had my first conversation-problems with a fisherwoman. very funny.
third day
booked my flight to lombok for the next day.
lay on the beach for the rest of the day. eat the first passion fruit of my life. sit on the beach and looked at the sunset. got to know two pot-smoking locals, who were very "friendly". had an interesting talk with them.
fourth day
left my hotel in the morning to fly to lombok. it rained the whole night and i think i slept for about 2 hours.
my first accomodation in lombok was the santai beach inn north of sengiggi. very nice sasak-shelters for 50.000Rp. Great, quiet and hippy atmosphere directly on the beach. i get to know a friendly funny couple from new zealand and another one from australia. this was the place where i met the most interesting tourists of my whole trip. a must to stay when you go to lombok.
walked along the empty beaches and felt like robinson crusoe. got to know some locals, who were sitting on the beach. they invited me to eat ricecake with them, although they could not speak one english word and i could not speak one in bahasa indonesia. so everybody was happy and smiling, without speaking one word. a great experience. i've never seen so friendly people.
fifth day
because of the lower traffic on lombok i rent a motorbike. i drove through many small villages, where everybody was waving his hands and i was the same attraction for them like them for me.
drove through the rain forest and had amazing views over the jungle and the rice fields.
got to know 3 germain students, who study one semester in surabaya on java. like me they want to climb gunung rinjani on the next day.
sixth day
the three students and me leave the accomodation in the morning to climb together gunung rinjani on 3 days. we drive with the bus to senaru, from where we wanted start our climb on the next day.
we took a look at the waterfall in the afternoon. when we were eating in the evening, suddenly everybody was jumping on the chairs. at first i did not know what happend, when i realized that a scorpion was running under the table. one of the locals killed it with his shoes.
seventh day
we start our 3 day trip to gunung rinjani early in the morning. we are 6 people. the 3 students, 2 porters and me. the porters are really crazy. they do the hardest job i have ever seen. they carry water, pineapples, sleeping bags and tents for about 6 or 7 hours every day. every porter carries about 30kg on one bamboo stick.
after 7 hours walking through the rain forest with an amazing scenery, we put out the tents. we eat mie goreng by the fire while the sun sets and i learn the first words in bahasa indonesia. the easiest language i know.
the night is really hard. the two girls share one tent, while the guy and me share one, too. we are both much too big for the small tents and i can not catch much sleep.
eighth day
we get up by sunrise. after breakfast we go on with walking. after about 1 or 2 hours we come to the rim of the crater.
it's the most amazing view i have ever had in my whole life. you can see the whole crater with a big lake inside with another smaller volcano inside. i cannot describe the view.
after staying there and enjoying the view for a while we walked down to the lake to the hot springs. we stayed there for some time and relax, after we walk up to the rim again. we put out our tents, eat and watch the sunset again.
nineth day
the second night in tents is a bit better than the first one. after breakfast we prepare ourself to go down. with bubbles on the feet and hurting legs we walk down for about 6 hours. the whole trip was unforgetable and a great experience.
we go back to our first accomodation again, where we stay for one night. we want to travel in lombok together.
tenth day
we charter a bus and drive to kuta-lombok together, where we find a good accomodation for 20.000Rp. we rent 2 motorbikes and visit beatiful white empty beaches with light blue water. we relax and have a good sleep after three hard days.
eleventh day
my friend and i want to try surfing for the first time. with a local surf-freak we go out with the boat. while the two girls stay on the boat we try to catch waves. after 1 1/2 hour on the open water i have caught 3 or 4 waves. it's really hard but great fun. while i fall off the surfboard i cut my foot on corals.
we have a great fish-dinner.
twelfth day
we leave kuta-lombok and drive to lembar, the harbour of lombok. my friends have to go back to surabaya, while i want to stay one more day on lombok. we quit, but want to meet again on java and climb gunung bromo.
now i am traveling alone again and visit gili nanggu. a very small island with one accomodation. it's too quiet for me, so i go back to mataram the biggest city on lombok. i find a small hotel near a moshee.
i get to know a poor local family, who invites me to eat fish with them.
thirteenth day
i fly back do bali. i go with bemos via denpasar to ubud. i am very interested, because i've heard so much about it, but when i arrived i am a bit disappointed by the big traffic and the masses of tourists. i do a big walk through the rice fields, which was recommended by the lonely planet guide, but do not find the right way.
in the evening i go to see the kecak and fire dance. it's nice to see, but very commercial and the atmosphere is destroyed by the flash-lights of the cameras.
forteenth day
i do the pejeng-and-bedulu-walk, which is also recommended by the lonely planet guide. see a big ceremonie with some kind of dancing from the outside of the temple. very interesting. take a look at ubuds market, which is really nice to see.
fifteenth day
i leave ubud, because i want to visit pura besakih and danau batur. i have to go to klungkung first and change the bemo there. before i leave klungkung to besakih, i take a look at kertha gosa, a nice temple-pavillon surrounded by water. i go back to the bemo terminal and leave to pura besakih. because of the ceremony, i have to take a guide. very nice to see the temple and the people joining the ceremony with big fruit offerings.
after one hour or so go with a local guy to penelokan near danau batur. it's very cold hear and the weather is still very bad, but i want to climb gunung batur on the next day.
i go down to the lake to find an accomodation. after finding a place to stay, i take a look at my room, where i find another dead scorpion on the ground.
everything is very strange here in the mountains. to go up the mountain i have to book the trip over an organisation and pay 30US$. also the people are very strange and unfriendly here.
sixteenth day
a guy wakes me up at 3.30am. florence, a girl from hongkong, and i are the only one with our guide. the climb is not that hard and with one other small group we are the first who arrive on the top. it's very cold and we have to wait one hour until the sun rises, but it's too cloudy to see anything of the sunrise. we take a look at 3 craters, which are still smoking. i had a very nice talk with florence, but the trip itself was very boring and the worst but most expensive i did in my holiday.
i leave penelokan very tired and go with the bus to singaraja and on to lovina. i stay there at SRIs homestay, which is a very nice homestay directly on the beach with nice atmosphere and friendly people.
in the evening i get to know the staff of the homestay. we drink arak-beer, which is only good for getting drunk and nothing else. the two guys play guitar and its a lot of fun.
seventeenth day
i stand up at 5.30am to go out with the boat and watch the dolphins, but the sea is too rough so that i can't see any. very nice sunrise.
i get to know ketut a very friendly and beatiful balinese girl, who works at the homestay. we have a very interesting conversation about religion and her three-month-stay in germany, where she has seen snow for the first time.
with the motorbike we go together to see the gitgit-multi-tier-waterfall, where we go swimming. it's nearly like in the beach, the movie with leonardo di caprio.
we drive on to bedugul, a very nice town with a famous market, where you can buy strawberries. after that we walk through the botanical garden and eat tuna in the evening.
goodbye lonelyness.
eighteenth day
i wake up at 5am to join a ceremony with ketut. i get to know her family and get the clothes (sarong, sash, shirt, and the thing for the head) from her brother. we go to her family temple, where the ceremony is. a real experience and very interesting. after that we change clothes and go to the hot springs near lovina and to a buddhist temple.
we join another ceremony in a big temple in singaraja, but we are so late that there are not so many people any more. but also very nice to see. great day.
nineteenth day
on the nineteenth day we drive together 3hours with the motorbike to her sister in nusa dua in the south, where we notice that her sister is not home. we go back about 4hours in the rain. i have the spiciest meal i ever had, with 35 chilies for about 8 persons. what a great day.
twentieth day
we go to amed, a small town in the east with nice views over fields and forest in the mountains. we visit a stone temple by the sea before we go back to her families house.
we wash clothes in a small river and i get to know samy, a 12 year old girl. an unbelievable child.
together we eat rice with sweet water snakes. i was very surprised when i heard that we are going to eat snakes, which are about 40cm long, but it tastes really good. i never thought that i would ever eat snakes in my lifetime.
twentyfirst day
we drive with the motorbike to danau bratan again, paddle with a boat to ulun danau bratan and go back to lovina through munduk. that's enough for the the day.
twentysecond day
we drive from lovina through bedugul, pacung, jatiluwih and tanah lot. a wonderful route with the most beatiful views over the rice fields. tanah lot and the coast is beatiful too, but also very touristy. after that we go to nusa dua again, where we visit her sister again. it's her birthday and we are invited for dinner. i have to make many photos with the people there, who are about 2 meters shorter than me. very funny photos. we sleep together with two other girls and two other children in one room.
twentythird day
go back from nusa dua to lovina and enjoy the rest of the day. in the evening i get to know frank, the german owner of my homestay. he lives in yogyakarta and stays only 2 days to take a look of his homestay. i tell him my plan of going to java for a couple of days and he says that i can visit him when i come to yogya. he lives in indonesia for five years now.
twentyfourth and twentyfifth day
we relax, enjoy the day, hear bob marley (mostly "3 little birds") and i learn speaking bahasa indonesia, which is quite easy compared to other languages. life can be so beautiful.
in the evening we eat chicken with the guys from the homestay. they play guitar and we drink arakbeer.
i tell ketut that i will leave to java on the next days and she says that she would like to come with me.
twentysixth day
we leave together in the morning to catch the bus to gilimanuk. from there we go with the ferry to ketapang in java, from where we drive about 6 hours with the bus to probolingo. we arive at about 9pm in probolingo. i want to stay in probolingo for one day, because i want to meet my friends from germany there on the next day and go with them to gunung bromo.
first we have to find an accomodation, which was not that easy. the first and second hostel we looked at, where very bad and expensive. we came to the third hostel, where we could not stay because we were not married.
finally we found a nice hostel to stay.
we hear that we cannot climb gunung bromo, because it had an eruption one day before.
twentyseventh day
we leave with the train to yogyakarta.
when i planned my holiday in germany, i did not think of going to java, because i thought it is too big and too hard to travel around there. i just wanted to see bali and lombok. after talking to some people on bali and lombok on the first days, i got interested in going to java too, but did not know anything of that island. after staying nearly one month on bali and lombok, where you can reach nearly every town in two or three hours, i got used to the distances there. i was shocked when the man at the train station says that it takes about 7 hours from probolingo to yogyakarta.
going with the train is a whole adventure. every 5 minutes someone comes selling something to eat or playing guitar.
we sit alone in a train-cabine when someone comes and tells us that it's securier to sit in a cabin with many people, because of robberies. we change our cabin. one hour later a girl is ripped off. someone snatched her bag and jumped off the moving train.
we arrived in yogyakarta very tired in the evening. my first impression of yogya is not that good. too many people, too much traffic, too loud, too big. but we find a very nice and quiet accomodation with pool.
twentyeight day
we get used to the traffic very quick and take a look at the city by becak. with the bus we go to borobodur, the biggest buddhism temple in south-east-asia. there are many local tourists and it's very commercial, but very nice and impressing too.
after visiting borobodur we want to see the kraton, but it's closed. so we take guide to lead us through the old watercastle taman sari near kraton. from here you have amazing views over the roofs of yogya.
on hour way back to our accomodation, we take a look at the big bird market.
we phone frank to meet him on the next day.
twentynineth day
it's ketuts birthday. we stand up early to go to the big market beringharjo market before we have breakfast with frank at his house. the market is in a big building over three floors. it's one of the most amazing things i've seen on my holiday. it's so nice, interesting and colourful.
we have very good german breakfast (no banana pancake) with frank. he tells us many things to see around yogya.
in the evening we go to the big hinduism temples in prambanan, to see a ramayana ballett. great.
thirtyfirst day
we rent a motorbike in the morning.
on our way to the coast named parangtritis, we take a look at goa cerme first. frank told us of this huge cave. we take a guide for 20000Rp. and walk for three hours with torches through the water in the cave. in some areas of the cave the water is about 1meter deep and it's quite difficult to walk with your camera, because the roof is very low. in other areas you have to crawl. there is not much to see inside the cave, but there are many bats inside and it's so adventurous. you feel like you are the first human visiting the cave.
after the goa cerme we go to the very rough beach-coast parangtritis. it's sunday and the beach there is a very big attraction for locals. it's so crowded, although you cannot swim there, because the sea is too rough.
thirtysecond day
we drive to the small town imogiri near yogyakarta, where the royal cemetery is situated. the old ruler of mataram, sultan agung(1613-1646) and other sultans are buried here. accidentally on the same day there is a big muslim ceremony and the sultan of solo will come to imogiri and visit the cemetary. so when we come to imogiri it is full of muslims and policemen. everybody is walking to the cemetary and the nearer we get there the more people are there.
the cemetary is up a hill, but because of the big crowds we have to park our motorbike down. we walk for about 20 minutes when we notice that we cannot come in without being dressed like a muslim, so we walk back to the guy, where we put our motorbike. he rents us some clothes. we look really funny.
we walk up to the cemetary, which is filled up with people. everybody wants to see the sultan of solo. to see the graves of the sultans, we have to change our clothes again. now i wear a sarong, a sash, a muslim shirt and something for the head. i am a real attraction for the locals, because there are no other white tourists.
the graves are really interesting. we sit with about 15 other praying people in a very small room with many candles next to the casket. it's very impressing.
we do not wait for the sultan, because it would take 2 hours more. so we drive to hinduism temples in prambanan again, to see the temples by daylight.
we go shopping on the marlioboro road and buy some clothes for samy.
thirythird day
we drive to kaliurang on the sloves of gunung merapi and do a long walk through the rain forest, where we find some caves.
in the evening we drive to imogiri again to try gurah. gurah is an old healing method, which detoxicates your body. you get two drops of medicine in your nose and then your body dehydrates, while getting a massage. it is interesting to try once, but not very relaxing. you should do that every half year. although i think it's healthy, one time is enough for me.
we leave.
thirtyfourth day
in the morning at 0:30 o'clock we leave with the train to surabaya. we arrive in surabaya at 6am. at 9am we take the next train to the harbour in banyuwangi. from there with the ferry back to bali and then to lovina.
we arrive in the evening in lovina.
thirtyfifth day
we just relax and hear bob marley.
thirtysixth day
we drive to the market in bedugul, where i buy a didgeridoo and a elephant made of wood.
in the evening we celebrate ketuts birthday and drink arakbeer by the fire. wonderful and sad atmosphere.
thirtyseventh day
ketut and i drive with the motorbike and the lugage (my 20kg rucksack, and the didgeridoo) to the airport. after about one hour a big pickup behind me wants to get ahead of me. i drive as left as i can, but he strikes me on the steering wheel. we go down with about 40km/h. i see everything like in slow motion. the didgeridoo roles about 15meter over the street and we draggle on the asphalt. the pickup does not stop, but goes driving on.
two people come to help us directly. we are lucky, because we only have some abrasions, but my hands hurt a lot and i cannot move my left one. ketut is a bit shocked, but can drive on. the motorbike is just a bit scratched.
we go on to the airport, where we say goodbye.
i take my flight at 3pm.
i never expected that it would be so great. that trip was more than a holiday and i will try to come back as soon as i can.
that days were definitely on of the best days of my life.