Cats and dogs [edited!]

Edit: I just saw that by some copying and pasting my story was a bit messed up and the order wasn't right... I fixed it now (so you might wanna read the story again ;) ) and.... added pictures!!

Why did I all of a sudden decide to go to Indonesia? Well, while traveling you meet a lot of fellow travelers and exchange experiences, and I heard so many positive stories about Indonesia. When people asked me if I was planning to go there I used to answer "No, I have to do that once on a seperate trip, since it's such a huge country". But after a couple of more positive stories I started thinking about if and when there will be a next possibility for me to travel for a longer time and visit South East Asia again. You never know and since I was close anyway now, I took it into consideration. It feels a bit like tourists from outside Europe wanting to see Europe in 2 or 3 weeks. Indonesia has over 17.000 island which all have a slightly different culture so if you only visit one or two, you haven't really seen Indonesia. But I guess this doesn't mean you shouldn't go there. And secretly, I also liked the idea to change my travel plans just because I can ;)

So I checked flights to Indonesia (not too expensive) and started to read a bit in the Lonely Planet. When I came across 'Cianjur adventure' recommended there, I immediately knew I wanted to go there so I sent an e-mail and when they had accommodation available I confirmed and booked a flight. One of the best decisions so far!

Cianjur is a smaller city in West-Java, a bit higher up in the mountains and not really touristy. I stayed with a local family, of which the man started this homestay after having traveled a lot himself. He has a team of guides which can show you around Cianjur in different tours and for the three days I was staying there I had my private awesome tour guide :) We really became good friends in those days and had a great time! The first day was a tour to a rural village, where farmers live next to a small path up the hills living their simple but happy life. Well they seemed to be very happy, have a smile for every passenger and are extremely welcoming. The bamboo huts that they're living in all have this kind of 'terrace' (or just outside extension of the floor) where passengers can rest for a bit. There are chickens, cats and dogs running around everywhere, often with their babies (here baby animals are born all year around since they don't have a season like spring). I learned a lot about the different trees that are growing there (for spices such as nutmeg, it's why the VOC had been so interested in Indonesia) and food that they are harvesting (rice, brown sugar...) Also the other tours I did were impressive but I won't describe them all here but in stead add some pictures. The people in Cianjur are so surprised to see a 'Bule' (=westerner) here, once saw a priceless face of a little girl after she saw me passing by on the back of a motorbike. They all say 'hello' or 'hey mister' (they don't care if you're a guys or girl ;) ).
Indonesia is clearly less developed than Malaysia. Where in Malaysia everyone drives a car, here everyone has a motorbike and there are much more motorbikes on the road than cars, which makes the traffic quite crazy. Usually there is more than one person on a motorbike or a lot of baggage, once I even saw a whole family with both parents and three kids on one motorbike!

Bamboo hut in the rural village

Rice fields in Cianjur

Floating village
(with also a fish spa, where I put in my feet waiting for the fish to nibble my skin: tickly!)

You can see almost anything carried on a motorbike. In this case bird cages with birds.

After three days I headed to Yogyakarta by train. Had to leave the homestay at 4:30 in the morning, to arrive in Jogja at 3 pm. There I couchsurfed at a girls house in a village just outside Jogja. It was very interesting to stay there since she has such a different life then I do. She is 22, has been married for 3 years and lives together with her husband. Waking up so early became regular for me, since my host usually started her day at 5 (that's after the first prayer). Even if you want to sleep longer you will wake up by the loud prayer of a mosque which is always near (this was the case in Cianjur as well, since Java is mainly Islamic).





My first full day in Jogja I went to the temples of Borobudur, which are actually a Buddhist remainder. I really felt like I was the attraction, in stead of the temples. I think I have been on twenty pictures with random people there and also gave some interviews to school children. Bizarre. 

This day I was so stupid to leave my phone at my hosts house and without a phone I feel disconnected, disarmed, disabled... I didn't arrange a time to meet my host yet and also I would have liked to read some more about the things I was visiting in Jogja that day. Luckily it turned out fine as I found internet, could reach my host and arranged a meeting time and point, and just used tuktuks to bring me to the tourist attractions. The next day my host invited me to a meet up with her friends and after that her family. Such a nice way to really see the daily life of the locals and learn about there customs, culture and religion. I really enjoyed :) I ate rice and fish with my hands for the first time and oh, the real Indonesian bathroom is also interesting. Taking a shower by taking a bucket of (cold) water out of a sort of bath and just shower yourself with it and using a squatting toilet with manual flush were all new to me ;)

A day with my host's family
Her grandma was so cool, she really loved to talk to me although she couldn't really speak English, and I loved to talk to her as well. Before we left she asked me please not to forget her, haha :) Well, I won't.

The next day I was already leaving Jogja and went on a 3 day tour to the Bromo and Ijen vulcanos. Desiana (my host) helped me with booking the tour and I was picked up at the travel agency at 7:30 for an 11 hour ride to the Bromo vulcano. What a trip! The driver drove like crazy in his minivan in which there were me and 3 other tourists (an Australian couple and a Dutch guy). Half of the time he was driving on the right side of the road (while they are supposed to drive left) because he was the fastest on the road. Many times a saw a truck just coming straight to us and so close, before our driver got back to the left side again. I was waiting all the time until we reached the highway, but we never did. There are so many people living in Java that almost everywhere you're in an urban area, with really bumpy roads. I was so glad I survived after all these hours! After a short night of sleep we left the hotel at 3:30 in the morning, to see the view of the Bromo vulcano at sunrise. Well, it was totally worth it! So beautiful! After that we did also climb the active Bromo to have a look into the smoking crater. After another crazy ride of 7 hours to Ijen and again a short night, left at 4 am to climb mount Ijen. On our way up we were guided by one of the miners working down in the crater. They are mining for sulfur under unbelievable conditions. They go down the crater in the sulphur fumes, process the sulfur and walk up with 70-100 kg on their backs, and this twice a day. They carry so much because they are paid by kilogram, 5 cents for every kg. Incredible.

Sunrise near the Bromo vulcano

Three peaks, you can see the smoke coming out of the active Bromo vulcano

Processing sulfur in the Ijen crater

This tour was a bit chaotic for me, as tourists that booked from different travel agencies were put together in the same vans, were split up again and with some others left at the same hotel, so all the time you were in slightly different company. Some people had to pay extra during the trip to include jeep rides, admission fees etc and for others it was included. Since I didn't really know what exactly was included in my tour I just went with the flow and luckily it turned out fine (and I didn't have to pay so many things extra). After Ijen we were dropped at a local bus going to Denpasar, Bali and on this bus only me and one French guy from the tour were left. We got off the bus too early, but luckily we found another bus going the same direction immediately (too bad my French friend left one of his bags in the first bus, but was able to find it back eventually, luckily!).
In Denpasar I met other tourists going to Ubud and we shared a ride. When we arrived, suddenly there was this man trying to convince us to stay at his homestay and showed the rooms to me and an Austrian couple. A bit more luxurious than I really need, but it was really nice to have my own double bed to rest a bit after the hectic tour. And Ubud is beautiful! Very different from Java, since Bali is mainly Hindo, as opposed to the Islamic Java. In the South there is Kuta, the 'Salou for Australians' and I'm happy I didn't go there because apperently it's completely westernized and just a beach/party location. Ubud is a very artistic little place with galleries and nice shops everywhere and if you go outside the center, you can reach the green and quiet rice fields. A real bliss!


So my time in the internet cafe is finished, so I'm finishing my story as well. I'm sorry, it's again a blogpost without pictures since the internet was too slow to upload them in time. Hope they will follow soon!

Refreshing Cameron Highlands and some pictures

I promised you some pictures, so let's start with that.

Petronas twin towers, Kuala Lumpur

Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur

Many monkeys on the stairs up to Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur. Be careful, they might steal your bag or your food / ice cream ;)

Dutch square, Melaka

Can you read it? Grave in Melaka

Sunset in Langkawi

There's a lot of street art in Georgetown, Penang

Also Penang has some nice beaches. Batu Ferrenghi, Penang

Together with my Chinese friend Jen,  who I met in Penang, I went to the Cameron Highlands as I already mentioned in the previous post. Next day, we were joining a tour organized by the hostel with some Canadians, an American and a British.

Indian food is the best! Lunch with Jen in Penang

We were picked up in the morning with a minivan, by our amazing tour guide. He was such a nice guy! First thing in the morning (and I woke up late so hadn't eaten any breakfast) was a hike through the jungle to see a Rafflesia flower. This is the biggest flower in the world, and blossoms for approximately one week. To reach the flower we had to cross muddy rivers, climb under and over trees and try not to fall down on slippery paths, but we made it!

Rafflesia flower, Cameron Highlands 

Drinking bamboo water - very clean and refreshing, Cameron Highlands

After the jungle trekking we were dropped off at a Chinese restaurant for a well deserved lunch (we were all so hungry!). We also ordered 'strawberry white coffee', so good!

Our next stop was at the tea plantation, tea factory and tea house, after that a visit to the butterfly and reptile farm and after that we even had time to go to a strawberry farm before returning to the hostel. A full day of new experiences :D

Tea plantation, Cameron Highlands

Now I'm back at KL for just this afternoon. Actually I decided to change my plans and go to Indonesia, because during my travels I heard so many nice stories about Indonesia! First I thought I would need much more time for Indonesia since it is so big, and I would like to visit it once on a seperate trip, but since you never know when your next opportunity will be to travel for a longer time, I decided just to go there now. My flight to Jakarta leaves tomorrow at 7:50 so I have to be at the airport very early. Because of this, because I ran out of cash money and don't want to go to the ATM again and because I'd like to try it once, I'll go to the airport tonight and just sleep there. Curious how this will be.

Malaysia

It's been a while since my last Blogpost so I haven't told anything yet about Malaysia. Before I thought I would fly to Borneo soon after my arrival in Kuala Lumpur (KL), but I met fellow couchsurfers for a daytrip to Melaka and a group of friends going to the island Langkawi and Penang that I could join, so actually I am still in the peninsula / mainland of Malaysia. But I enjoy being so flexible and traveling in a relaxed pace.

My first impression of Malaysia was not very good, as on my way to my hostel I was followed by half-toothless man who grabbed my ass and asked me what I costed, but the people I met later proved that this was just bad luck and not representative for the country.

KL is just a big city with some very tall buildings, many many cars (the Malaysians never walk), almost no sideways and an all year round hot climate. It has huge fancy shopping malls, the famous Petronas twin towers, but also shabby apartments, many street sellers and brown-yellowish rivers. Quite different from Japanese cities.

I liked Melaka better. This is a smaller town with all touristic spots within walking distance from each other and an interesting history. The Portuguese, Dutch and British all left their mark, for example in the form of 'Stadthuys' at Dutch square. Together with a German girl and Malaysian guy (always useful to have a local with you ;)) we explored the city, tried some nice dishes and did some shopping.

In Malaysia there are 3 main ethnic groups. The Malay (Muslim in general), the Indians and the Chinese. This is why you can find Chinese temples, mosques and hindu temples. Also you can find each of the population's food or unique mixtures.

In KL I met a Nigerian guy who could show me KL's nightlife, and I especially liked the fancy sky bar at the 36th (?) floor with a swimming pool inside (unfortunately not allowed to swim there when the bar is openes) and a nice view on the twin towers. With him and his friends I flew to Langkawi which is an island with tax free status (so they came there just to party and enjoy cheap alcohol) but during the day I wanted to see more of the island so an hour after I left the hostel I was actually sitting on the back of a motorbike with an Italian guy. These are things you only experience when you travel alone :)
We checked out some nice beaches but I also just enjoyed riding around, since the breeze was quite refreshing.

From langkawi I took the ferry to Penang, famous for its food and street art and a very enjoyable island. I met some nice fellow travelers, watched a beautiful sunset at the beach and ended up in the reggae bar 3 nights in a row. From Penang I took a minivan (we thought it would be a big bus but turned out not to be) to Cameron Highlands, together with a Chinese girl. Here its much cooler, only around 20 degrees and I very much like it for a change. Tomorrow we're doing a kind of adventure tour so hope to see more of the area then. Tonight I've just visited the might market (everywhere they have night markets and in general lively nightlife, just as the fact that they van a little India and a Chinatown in every reasonably sized city). "nice for you" "shopping" "come have a look" "I can make discount for you" "cheap cheap" is what you hear everywhere when walking through the nightmarket. Copied dvd's and fake Louis vuitton bags (or any other famous brand stuff) is what you can see everywhere.

The hostels here are quite simple, but luckily quite clean as well. Most of them don't have computers for guests to use so I haven't had the chance to upload any photos yet as I still only have them on my camera. But I promise I'll try to upload some soon!

Wonder how you all are, back in Holland or anywhere else. Hope you all survived the storm?

Traveling back in history

Following capitals, I was traveling back in history. After Tokyo, my next (former) capital was Kyoto. I arrived there on a saturday, when the Japanese had a long weekend-holiday (saturday, sunday & monday). For this reason, the touristic sites were packed during these days! I was queueing to make a picture of the temple at Golden Pavillion, really.

Nevertheless, Kyoto is an amazing city! It is filled with old tradition, many temples, a neighbourhood with old wooden houses were geisha's live and the city is surrounded by mountains. I was supposed to meet with someone from couchsurfing again, but due to difficult communication (not having internet all the time) that failed. But next day there was a couchsurfing meeting at the river side and finally could meet this guy there and he showed me around Gion, this Geisha-district. It is nice to have a personal local guide, who can explain you a bit more about the culture. At one of the temples I visited, a student from Kyoto university offered me a free (private!) English tour and guided me through 'the mother of Buddha's womb', which is a pitch dark track underneath a temple, leading to some holy stone that when you turn it, will make your wish come true. Actually during this trip I have been to places/ done or touched things that all promised me that my wish will come true. I don't even know what to wish for more!

The first two days I stayed at K's house hostel, which is a big hostel chain, but didn't have this personal touch. OKI's Inn however, where I stayed the following two nights, was lovely again, run by a young couple really keen on meeting foreigners, in a narrow shopping/market street. I rented a bike there and saw so many things on one day! Compared to Tokyo, the public transport in Kyoto is quite crap. Only buses (where you enter at the rear and leave at the front where you also pay as you get off the bus) with queues to get on the buses that therefore are packed.

So I was happily riding my bicycle, but walked the path of Philosophy in the morning, running uphill along a small river, in a fresh morning breeze but with the sun already burning on your skin, announcing a hot afternoon. At the end of this path I reached the Silver pavillion. Again a beautiful temple but actually I was more impressed with the garden around it! Japanese gardens are so well designed and are very beautiful. In this garden you could also take a stairs after which you had an amazing view over Kyoto.

I met again with my Mexican friends and we saw a Maiko (geisha-to-be) dance, among other traditional Japanese performances. Next day I had my second hangover in Japan, again after drinking with them haha. Also, by coincidence, I bumped into the German guy I met in Gero and we had dinner together.
But talking about people I meet, the Japanese people are so nice! They are also very interested in foreigners I think, and even though they usually hardly speak English, they try to have a conversation with you. Today in the train there was a lady that gave me little presents and taught me how to make origami birds, without knowing more than 10 words in English, and this is just one example.

Back in history again, I went on to former capital Nara, where I only spent one morning because I had to head to Hiroshima. I went to the island Miyajima with the well known gate in the sea, and climbed the top of the mountain which offered me a great view!
This morning I saw the impressive Peace Memorial park and museum about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The mayors of Hiroshima have been sending over 200 letters to every government that performed nuclear tests asking to refrain from doing that. Last letter in May this year, addressed to Obama.

Now I'm in Osaka, didn't see the city yet, but tomorrow I will have some time to get around here, before at 23:35 my plane will depart to Kuala Lumpur. I feel a bit sad to leave Japan already, I definitely could spend more time here, but new adventures are waiting and I think things will be very different in South-East Asia! Here everything is so clean, well organized, I haven't spent a night in a bad hostel, the Japanese are very trustworthy and everywhere it's very safe. I will miss it.

Bamboo groove, Kyoto

Golden Pavillion, Kyoto

Path of Philosophy, Kyoto
(reminded me of Philosophenweg in Heidelberg)

Maiko's dance, Gion, Kyoto

Garden in Nara

Deer do also visit temples in Nara

First I took the bullet train to Hiroshima...

... then had to hop on a tram like this

The famous Torii at Miyajima

View from the top of the mountain at Miyajima

A-bomb dome, one of the few building that was still standing after de bombing, and they left it in this condition. Other buildings had just vanished.

Japan alps

I left Tokyo last Sunday after only 3 hours sleep (the party was very good, a bring-your-own-booze-party organized by some expats) and actually I felt a bit sad about it. But what I visited next was awesome as well, although very different from Tokyo.

I went to Matsumoto, known for it's beautiful castle, and indeed IT IS beautiful. I stayed in a Japanese style hostel for the first time, sleeping on a futon bed (which you have to make yourself from a thin matress, another softer layer and then sheets and blanket). Apart from the castle, I didn't see much from Matsumoto, because I went on a day trip to Kamikochi for a walk in nature. Autumn is a popular season because of  the nice colours of the trees, but unfortunately I'm a bit too early and only a few trees have turned color (beginning at the top of the mountains and progressing downwards). On the other hand, the temperatures are very pleasant with on average 25 degrees celsius in the afternoon.



Matsumoto castle by night

At Kamikochi

Kamikochi

Then from Matsumoto to Takayama, which has an old traditional city center and where yesterday and today the autumn festival took place. At least it was supposed to be two days. Yesterday, however, due to rainy weather almost all activities were canceled. They have traditional floats of over 300 years that they don't want to be damaged by the rain. But I met some nice people in the hostel where I stayed and we enjoyed the day walking around, tasting a lot of traditional foods at the morning market and many different kinds of sake at the breweries (never thought there are so many differently tasting sakes).


Eating Hida beef in Takayama (Hida is the region around Takayama).
I was so hungry and it was so delicious that I could eat it all :P

The Japanese indeed eat a lot of rice. For breakfast, lunch and dinner (although you also have many other options for dinner, like different kinds of noodles), but also they make rice-wine (sake), rice sweets, rice salty snacks... Almost the same thing for soy beans actually ;)


Lady at Takayama morning market selling flowers

Last night was my first night to sleep in a real Ryokan. It's a traditional Japanese hotel and it had natural hot springs (both inside and outside) at the hotel which you could use 24 hours a day. It was a great experience! I got a kimono to wear, soaked in natural hot water both in the evening and next morning, had my own tea in my room and got a delicious Japanese breakfast. And of course slept on a futon in my room with tatami mats on the floor (google if you don't know).



Does a Kimono suit me?

Onsen (natural hot spring) at Ryokan in Gero

Today I returned to Takayama and this time the weather was great and I could enjoy the festival and also went to see traditional farm houses in an open air museum. Now I'm just relaxing in the hostel with lovely owners (a couple with a very cute 1 year old son). Tomorrow I'll head to Kanazawa (to stay there just for one night) and then to Kyoto.

I was also searching the internet a bit to start reading about Malaysia/Borneo but I still get lost a bit in all the information since I don't know anything yet about what you can do/see there. So I'll postpone again....


Me and Claudia (from Chili) in front of one of the traditional Takayama festival floats



Chichimae (Lion's dance)



Takayama festival floats

Old farmhouses

Best of Japan

I promised to give this title to the blogpost with the following picture:

Best of Japan!

One of my first days in Japan and I have already tasted the finest sushi of Japan, made in front of our eyes by the sushi master that you can see on the picture.

I met Kikusa after more than 24 hours of traveling (the last part, finding a specific train station in Tokyo, went surprisingly well) and after not having seen her for two year. The first minutes I couldn't really believe I was actually seeing her here, in Tokyo, but after a very short while it felt so naturally again and because of her soon I felt very relaxed to be in Tokyo.

I cannot describe everything I experienced, noticed and did in the first days because it's just too much. But I'll try to give a short summary.

The day I arrived we didn't do too much because of course I was tired and jetlagged, but we did grab some amazing Japanese food and I took an amazingly relaxing bath (just what you need after long travel). Next day we woke up very early to go to Kikusa's family's house where her mother prepared us some traditional Japanese breakfast. Kikusa's family was so friendly to me, really amazing people. Then we headed to Nikko by car to see a bunch of beautiful shrines, had another Japanese meal and relaxed in a natural hot spring bath (like!!). This is a real Japanese experience and highly recommended :)

After coming back to Tokyo (actually not Tokyo, but Saitama prefecture, where both Kikusa and her family live), Kikusa's father took us, including Kikusa's mother and sister, to Japan's best sushi restaurant. I thought I had eaten sushi before in the Netherlands, but that is all uncomparable to what I have eaten here. Extremely fresh, made with love and with an amazing service! Oyshi (means delicious)! Although Kikusa had to act as an interpreter for most of the time, we could really have nice conversations and a lot of laughs. Thanks to them again.

Next day: the real Tokyo. Old next to new, modern next to traditional, quiet next to crowded and so forth. And with Japanese everywhere ;) I think pictures will explain.

This is just a (quite random) selection of pictures that I took.

On Friday, Kikusa had to work again and I was on my own. Felt a little weird, but I was very glad that I already had got a feel of Tokyo and could find my way around a little bit. But what an enormous city! There's not just a thing like 'the city center' because Tokyo consists of 23 neighborhoods, all with their own character, sightseeing spots and people. First I searched for my hostel, dropped my luggage and went wandering around in the neighborhood. In the evening I decided to go to the couchsurfing event taking place that night and met some nice fellow travelers. Walking back to the hostel and had a skype chat with Ewoud (for me it was 3 am, bit weird to be on the phone at that time, but in Japan it's 7 hours later than in The Netherlands).

The hostel is serving breakfast, which is very nice. Not only because of the food, but also because it is the perfect occasion for meeting other guests. I met two Mexicans with whom I could enjoy Tokyo today. Half of the things we visited I had already seen in my previous days, but anyways I had good company :)

Ok I'm finishing up again. Probably we'll be going out to party in half an hour (a thing I didn't do yet while in Tokyo). I could write so much more but I just don't have the time for it (yet). Tomorrow I'll leave Tokyo already and will take the bullet train for the first time, to Matsumoto. Maybe on the go I'll be able to write more.

I'll end with some more photos.

Eating soba

Tokyo Tower

Some very colorful shop

Shibuya crossing on a rainy day

Shibuya crossing on a rainy day

When in front of a shrine/ temple: throw a coin (5 or 50 cent are best, because the numbers are pronounced the same way as the word 'luck'), clap your hands twice, fold them together and pray, bow again.

Child in traditional clothing (I don't know about the ceremony)