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Hi guys,
How's it going? I'm writing this from Pangandaran, a quiet beach place in southern Java in Indonesia. Since my last post I have been in Malaysia, Singapore and now Indonesia.
I arrived in Melaka in southern Malaysia, and found that the President of Austria was visiting. I guess all the important people had arrived on the same day. I met 3 Canadians who I had travelled with in Laos and KL so found the hostel and then we went for a walk. Melaka is really cool and the area I stayed in was completely different to the crazy big city-ness of KL. The streets were narrow and the buildings were really small but had a big attraction to them. After walking around for ages, most of the shops were closed for Diwali, I went on a boat cruise to rest my legs, I had done a lot of walking, it was ok, saw some nice things! In the evening a group of people from the hostel were taken to an indian restaurant where we ate roti and dhal for 2 ringgit, which is like 40p!! I went there the next day too, good food and so cheap!
The second day in Melaka, I came across the more modern part and discovered the malls. Me and Andrew, one of the Canadians, decided to watch a film at the cinema, it was just over a pound for a ticket so we ended up watching 2 films, before trying out archery, which was cool. The local food in Melaka was a lot nicer than KL and I would definitely recommend visiting here if you go Malaysia.
I got the bus to Singapore the next day, and when I arrived I was a bit disappointed. I had expected to see a load of futuristic stuff, but was shocked to see litter and lots of it. I managed to save a lot of money during my time in Singapore, as Jules, another Canadian, her cousin lived there so we stayed with him for 4 nights. I didn't really like Singapore, there's too many rules, although it is really clean and completely different to countries it's near. They even have air con on the underground which is amazing. Why can't London do that??! There isn't much to see in Singapore and I ended up visitng malls again. On my second to last day I broke my own record of visiting 6 malls in a day in KL, by going to 10 on Orchard Road in Singapore. I spent 6 days in Singapore, and I was bored by the 3rd day!
I did have a Singapore Sling, the famous thing to do at Raffles Hotel. It was quite pricey but it's what you'd pay for a cocktail in London. The good thing about Raffles is that you can throw stuff on the floor, so the floor was covered in monkey nut shells. It's quite liberating to be able to litter as it's forbidden to litter in the streets, so it was nice to get one over on the law, although the floor is completely covered.
I think it's obvious I'm not a big fan, and I was glad to leave for Indonesia, mainly because I had started to get a McDonalds habit in Singapore as everything was so expensive and it was cheap at lunchtime. I did find an indian place in Singapore that sold roti and dhal, a recurring theme, for $2, which is really cheap, so had that a few times. Can someone please tell my gran I had that loads, because it will get me loads of brownie points!!
I caught a flight from Singapore, which is 1.5 degrees north of the Equator (random fact!) to Jakarta on Tuesday. I was shocked to find my big backpack had increased by 4kg, so decided to have a bit of a clear out in Indonesia. The flight was really quick and took an hour and a half. It's the first time I have ever crossed the equator, which for me was really cool.
Landing in Jakarta was a shock, as having been in Singapore, it was like the opposite end of the scale. I was mobbed as soon as I got past customs, people tried to drag me to taxi's and just a lot of chaos. I finally sorted out a taxi to the area I was planning on staying in, and during the drive I thought to myself I've missed the chaos and craziness of asia, Singapore is just a completely different place, and landing in Indonesia afterwards, I was a bit nervous, like when I first landed in Bangkok in August, but it soon turned to excitement and I thought to myself I'm really going to like it here.
I arrived in the backpacker area, and it was just a small narrow dark road. It took me ages to find a room, everywhere was full so I ended up paying a bit more for a room than I wanted. That night I was bitten loads by mosquitos. During my travels they usually bit my ankes and arms, but Indonesian mossies started to bite my neck which was well out of order! THe next day I chenged rooms to a cheaper room, and it has to be the most basic room I've ever stayed in. It was a tiny room with just a bed, that had the most useless mattress ever, adn a fan that blew no air. It's surprising that I got no sleep that night.
I only stayed in Jakarta 2 nights, so I visited the National Museum and just walked around in the day. I didn't really like Jakarta, you're probably thinking I hate everything all of a sudden, but read on and you'll see it changes!!
I was planning on going Yogyakarta in central Java but after reading my Lonely Planet book I found a place in the south on the coast called Pangandaran, and what appealed the most was the cheap surf lessons so I decided to go there. This involved getting up super early, and getting th TransJakarta Express which is a set of buses that have a special lan so it's faster to get around and avoid the traffic jams. I was near the centre of Jakarta, and the bus station was south east of the city. My route on these buses involved going north and changing, then going further north and going east a bit. I had no idea where I was going, but luckily found my next change and then got to the bus station. The bus I had, had no air con, or fan, so the only thing I could do was open the window. THis was a 9 hour bus journey that had people smoking on it, it was like going back 15-20 years in England! The journey was fine though and I arived in Pangandaran and managed to get a room in a recommended guesthouse which is really nice.
My first full day here I did a surf lesson, so spent most of the day learning how to paddle and then trying to stand up on the board, It's tiring, I'll say that. Falling off and getting back to start point was difficult as you had to fight the waves. I definitely improved although I did have a board the size of a boat. I know the basics so next time I'll just hire a board but it's good fun and a good workout, although I did get a few bumps and bruises.
Today I went to see the Green Canyon, which is a canyon that has emerald coloured water flowing through it. The trees overhang the river and drip with water. It's beautiful and you swim a long way down, which is hard work, especially when you have to swim against the current. There's a rock that you can jump off. It's 5 metres high, so I jumped off it. It's only then that I realised how high it was, the speed I was falling was fast and it seemed like ages before I hit the water, and when I did I hit it hard. Good fun though. I also saw some baby turtles and picked a big one up, wow they are heavy. It started flipping out and I hear they have a severe bite so I put it back sharpish... I definitely recommend Pangandaran, it's chilled out and hasn't become a full blown tourist destination, which adds to it's appeal. There's so much to do and the beach is really nice, although it has black sand. I wish I had longer here but I just don't have the time, but if you get the chance to come here definitely do it, it's one of my favourite places I've ever been to.
I'm off to Yogyakarta tomorrow, where I hope to see Borobadur, which is an amzing temple, and also I want to see Merapi, the volcano that keeps erupting. I've been told I can go 20km away from it so I'm olanning on doing that. I'm working my way east through Java, and want to go to Bromo, which is more volcanoes, craters and mountains that look like the surface of the moon, and then I'm going to Bali, where I plan to fly all the way east to Flores to see Mount Kelimutu and work my way back to Bali as I fly out to Oz on December 15th.... not long to go! My plans will probably change a few times between now and then, but I really want to surf more, do some diving. and see Komodo dragons....
I can't believe it's almost Xmas. The Argos Xmas ads must have been going for a good month I'm guessing. It's strange seeing Xmas stuff in Singapore, it's boiling hot but they have decorations and Santa in snow, like it ever snows round here. It's crazy but it's nice not to have it so much in your face liek you do back home.
As I'm writing this a horde of mossies have begun eating away at me and I can't stand it anymore. I have loads of photos, unfortunately internet isnt the best here so you may have to wait a while but some are definitely worth the wait.
Until next time, take care.
- comments
Ranj Good to talk to you yesterday, I could tell you're having a great time and not missing home (too much!). Keep safe and continue with these blogs, great read, proud of you!.
DV7 Well 5 metres isn't that high tbh I've jumped off a 10 metre rock before so u lose :P It's good to hear that ur enjoying urself bro!! Take care man and altos me sometime wen u get the chance mines always on and urs isn't LOL The 3rd day!! The 3rd bombaclart day! Ahha
Mark Bowles Good to hear you didn't slice the baby turtle open and eat its beating heart. xxx