As the quite simply wonderful pun in this post's title suggests I now find myself on a beach in Bali surrounded by an amazing array of obnoxious tourists, on the plus side there's also a huge expanse of beach and a very inviting stretch of sea. You can definitely see why people flock here, it's just a shame that they do.
The day after arriving in Yogyakarta I got up at 3am to go to the nearby temple of Borobodur which is supposedly Java's top tourist attraction, I say supposedly because having seen Bromo straight after I'm not quite sure why. That's not to say it isn't very impressive, it is, but it's not as awe inspiring as I'd been led to believe. It was definitely worth the effort of dragging myself out of bed at such a disappointing hour though as the view of the sunrise coming over Merapi (a volcano which poses such a threat to Yogya that it's on the equivalent of the FBI's most wanted list for volcanoes) was stunning. I ended up walking around with a 25 year old Dutch couple who shared my dislike of both other tourists and the local shopkeepers who try to force their wares on you. We got on famously. The highlight of our brief encounter was the invention of a game which would best be described as "how many people selling the same crap can you get to bother a tourist". I'm proud to say I think my record of 10 people trying to sell really shit hats to a bewildered Frenchman will be hard to beat. I also particularly enjoyed it when my Dutch companions effort backfired when he tried to get lots of t-shirt sellers to come up to me as apparently "I had lots of money and I love t-shirts". Sadly for him they looked at me and declared that they had nothing in my size, however they did have lots that would fit him. It took him 10 minutes to get clear of them, a feat that probably took longer thanks to me rounding up more sellers to go and bother him. I will refute any claims that I'm easily amused however.
Some Borobodur pictures:
The temple:
Sunrise, you can just make out the shape of Merapi which the sun is just coming out from behind:
Having visited the temple I spent the rest of the day walking round Yogya. After being pestered by more Batik vendors than I care to remember I gave up and crashed back at my hotel figuring that the next few days would need me to have a bit of energy in reserve.
The next day I boarded my cramped minibus and got taken the 12 hours to Cemoro Lawang on the lip of the Bromo-Tenegger crater arriving just before 9pm. After spending a few minutes persuading someone to try and sell his hats and scarves to my fellow bus passengers I went to sleep with the help of the soft sounds of "non merci" and "I don't want a sodding hat" coming from outside my window.
What was less fun was waking up at 3am to go and walk the 5km's or so from the hotel to Bromo, a walk which would've been made easier if I'd remembered to pack a torch. As it was I followed the road out of town which I could just see by the light of the stars before reaching the bottom of the crater where I was faced with utter blackness thanks to the thick mist that lies there until mid morning. Deciding that waiting for someone with a torch was cheating I took a complete guess at the volcano's location and set out blindly across the sand with no real expectation of ending up in the right place. Thankfully more by luck than judgment after 40 minutes I ended up just a few metres right of the stairway which leads up to the crater, honestly I have no idea how. As the first picture shows walking around the crater in the dark wasn't hugely sensible but it was far too much fun to turn down:
It also meant that by the time any other tourists arrived I was safely on the other side of the crater and got to enjoy the view all by myself:
Far too quickly my time was up and I wandered the 5km's back to town to catch my next minibus which would take me to Sempol, only a 30 minute drive from the start of the trek up to Ijen. During supper this guy joined me, and yes that is a tablespoon next to him:
Ijen is supposed to be beautiful (go to google and you'll see just how beautiful), however when it's raining and misty the view is somehow diminished.
This is me posing on the crater's edge, the lake is behind me, possibly.
The sulphur which is mined by locals at the bottom. These weigh 70 kilos each and they walk for 2 hours with it on their shoulders 3 times a day, all for around $10.
You'll be happy to hear that I paid this sign no attention at all.
I probably should have as this was the walk down, in fact this was a relatively clear moment on it:
The lake:
A man carrying Sulphur at the bottom. The reason you can barely see him is thanks to the Sulphur fumes which were being blown horizontally across the crater floor:
I tried to take another picture seconds later:
Then spent the next minute coughing as the acrid fumes burnt my lungs and seemingly set fire to my eyes. I actually had to drag an Italian out of them as he was lying on the floor struggling to breathe. Maybe the sign at the top is there for a reason?
The sulphur workings taken during a clearer moment:
When I got back to the top of the crater I couldn't work out why the people at the top were laughing at me (more than usual). Finally someone pointed out that the smoke had coloured my beard bright yellow making me look like a cheap golden version of a terracotta warrior. I also smelt of sulphur, in fact 3 days later (and 3 showers and a swim) I still do a little bit. Why no one is trying to chat me up I've no idea.
I also took this picture of the coffee plantation where most of Java's coffee comes from, I'm not entirely sure why but here it is regardless:
Finally a 2 hour drive later I boarded the ferry to Bali (one not dissimilar to the beautiful boat in the picture below), where I've spent the last few days replenishing my book supply and planning the next weeks travel around Flores of which i will write more when I get the chance... The drive was relatively uneventful except for the fact that I couldn't stop coughing and my eyes felt someone was performing some very amateurish acupuncture on them. At least my bus karaoke rendition of 'in the end' by Linkin Park was warmly appreciated. I think I'm right in describing everyone laughing at me as appreciation right? Thought so.
Finally have some videos of Ijen and Bromo. The Bromo video was taken a few seconds before the photo of the crater ridge in the blackness:
Happy birthday to: Sam, Tom, Peter and Ken
Keg
The three sites near the top (Castle Rock, Crystal Rock and the Cauldron were all sensational. Sharks, Dolphins and Mantas were to be seen. The cauldron was my favourite though because not only was the sealife stunning but the currents were insane and it felt like being in a immense washing machine. Possibly.
Fruit bats:
Shots from the boat:
(the cauldron is between these two islands)
The japanese
Flori and Enke, two of the Indonesian crewmembers. I love this photo as it sums up the people perfectly:
Ricardo, one of the divemasters:
