Having clocked up 388km in the four days since Trawas, our days off in the Yogya were timely. We well and truly made the most of our complimentary tea and cake buffet provided by our hotel... the three of us eating our weight in pastries, cut fruit and making the most of the readymade supply of tea and coffee.
Spending time in Yogya helped give some perspective on the trip so far. It was nice having this brief interlude from the isolation we felt from the traditional tourist trail and not feeling so alien to the people around us. We blended in for the first time since Lovina. In many ways it was comforting, yet our interactions with locals became shallower. Once again, we were just another potential sale. Initially we were impressed by one of the salesmen's use of "haere mai", but after a while, we realised that was the NZ catch-line for Yogya salesmen, as countless others used this when we said we were from NZ. We found ourselves become dismissive of locals trying to engage in conversation... if you gave them an inch they would take a mile.
We hired two scooters for a couple of days. We headed South to the beaches on our first day off, which was immensely underwhelming.
One of the rare photos of Sean, caught inadvertently in the rear view mirror
The following day we rose at 4.45am to get to Borobodur (the largest Buddhist temple in the world) before sunrise. We navigated the streets of Yogya in the dark and managed to arrive at the temple just as the sun rose. A thin blanket of fog (smog, haze) settled over the surrounding area. It was quite impressive. Being the first real touristy thing we had done on Java, it was strange to have so many tourists around. Even Sean struggled to get a photo without a tourist photobomb.
The cultural significance contrasted with the tourism aspect
We jumped back on the bikes after two days off, and headed South towards the coast. We had added to our load in Yogya with the purchase of two small nylon string guitars that were handcrafted by an old man down one of the side streets of Malioboro Road. With the guitars strapped to the rear rack, we clocked up over 100km once again, with a far more scenic ride than previous riding days. Being off the main roads, we enjoyed brief periods of silence and the tailwind once again pulled finger. Every bump in the road was treated extra carefully with the new, more fragile baggage, but we managed to arrive in Kebumen in the late afternoon with no damage, after a pleasant ride inland from the coast.
The kids. Always so excited to see us and especially so having their photo taken
The next day delivered again. We avoided a steep climb over a set of hills dividing the line between Kebumen and Purwokerto, adding an extra 10km for the day. Instead we rode through a scenic gorge toward our destination. There didn't seem to be a lot going on in Purwokerto. You could probably count the number of tourists that had visited our hotel on one hand (ourselves included). That night, we went to a local restaurant where the waitress suggested a non-alcoholic (of course) avocado and coconut drink. It was the business. Since that moment we have never looked back and discovered Indonesia's hidden gem! It was around this time we started seeing photos of NZ avocado prices. Steep! Probably a tough drink to bring into the NZ market at this time.
We headed towards Tegal on the north coast of Java. We only just made it in time before sundown.
The next few days of riding were nothing to write home about. State Highway One. Scenery lacking and traffic dense. We had our heads down for Jakarta.
Our ride into Jakarta was surprisingly easy. Though the traffic certainly thickened in some areas, we managed to weave the bikes through most of the gridlock and found side roads with little congestion. Riding in we were overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment. We'd ticked off the first major hurdle and had over 1,400km under the belt.
The National Monument in Jakarta
We had five nights in the capital, allowing ample time to find suitable boxes to pack the bikes and guitars together. We ventured through the city, with a taxi driver taking us the roundabout route to a bike shop we had loaded on Google Maps. He backed his own judgement and ignored the maps, adding 30 mins to the ride. Cheeky bastard. Our search for bike boxes was in vain on day one, with the language barrier proving difficult, and the shops we visited not having any in stock. However, our Air Bnb host, Hestri, was extremely helpful and managed to have three large boxes delivered to the apartment later that day for just 250,000 rupiah ($25 approx). You can't beat the local know-how.
The view from our apartment towards South Jakarta
With the bike boxes sorted, we could take a deep breath and enjoy our time in Jakarta. We took pleasure in roaming the streets trying the different street food stalls and the fried bread, pancakes, noodles and rice that they had to offer.
The famous avocado smoothies
We visited the Dutch Quarters, the National Monument and the Istiqlal Mosque (3rd largest mosque in the world), which was certainly a highlight. We were given a free guided tour through the 200,000 person capacity mosque, gaining a brief glimpse inside the holy life of the Javanese. Upon exiting the mosque we were greeted by a lovely Muslim lady. She was delighted by the fact that we'd enjoyed our visit to the mosque.
The Mosque. Each rectangle of bricks represents a space, facing Mecca, for individuals to pray
This interaction rounded off our Indonesian experience. With the heightening animosity towards Muslim/Islamic extremists, and the subsequent marginalisation of the Islamic community, it is easy to become caught up in the anti-Islam rhetoric. Our time on Java very much refuted the stereotypical Western opinion of Muslims/Islam. The people were extremely kind, generous and accomodating. At no point on our way through Java did we feel uncomfortable.
Walking home in Jakarta
