Bali

Kuta Aug 8-11 Ubud Aug 12-14 Gunung Batur Aug 15 Lovina Aug 16-18 Java Aug 19-23 Candidasa Aug 25-Sep 3

Mt. Bromo is an active volcano with steam coming out from the caldera. It has a really eerie look about it ...the volcano itself, is a barren landscape with dust devils whirling all around. The area is very dry, windy, and incredibly dusty! The volcanic ash is a very fine powder ...and it gets into everything. We stayed at the Lava View Inn, which is right on the lip of the crater. We didn't want to do anymore sunrise volcano climbs, so we left after breakfast. We walked from the inn down into the crater. The crater has a Hindu temple right in the middle. It took about 1 hour to walk down into the crater and up the lip of the caldera. We looked down into the volcano and saw lots of steam! We finished our volcano climb by throwing a "sacrificial" bouquet of flowers into the caldera.

The mountainous area surrounding the volcano is very green and just about every available inch is used for growing cabbage, carrots, onions, peppers, and other crops. I was feeling energetic, so I decided to do a 2 hour hike to Mt. Pananjakan - it's higher than Mt. Bromo and has a viewing area at the top of the volcano. The hike led me through a lot of farm area ...some of these farm homes had incredible views of the volcano.

That evening, we took a very "adventurous" public bus ride down the curvy, narrow moutain road to Probolinggo. The public bus was a mini-van sized bus. At one point I counted 25 adults, several children, and 1baby on the bus. It was so crammed that 4 men were hanging outside the open door with one foot inside the bus. Just when you think they can't possibly fit more people on ...they do! In Probolinggo we transferred to another mini-bus and did an 8 hour overnight (nerve-wracking) ride to Yogyakarta.

Having survived our overnight mini-bus odyssey (turns out executive bus means you don't have to get out and push when the bus stalls), we were ready for a little comfort. The Prambanan Guesthouse was our oasis. The rooms were spotless, the beds were comfortable, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. It was a great value at around $9.77 US (including a good breakfast).

Java is about 90% muslim. There are loud speakers all over the city of Yogyakarta ...turns out these loud speakers are from all the different mosques. They use these loud speakers (and they are LOUD) for the call to prayer 5 times a day ...starting at 4:30 a.m.!! The call to prayer sounds like a belly-aching ghost or dying cow ...it was pretty annoying.

Another thing we noticed were the becaks (pronounced bechak). Becaks are bicycle carts designed to transport people. There seem to be thousands of becaks all over the city ...you really can't walk more than 2 feet outside your hotel before the becak drivers start offering you rides. The becaks are very inexpensive and they can be a fun way to see some of the sights around the city. Warning - once you hire a becak, that driver is yours for the rest of your stay ...he will camp out in front of your hotel and wait all day for you. These drivers make very little money and they rent the bikes, so we did keep our becak driver employed as often as possible. The drivers are usually very friendly and a good source of information about the city.

While in Yogyakarta, we visited the Sultan Palace. It used to be quite a site in it's day, but now it's a bit run-down ...nobody lives there (except, perhaps the old palace guards... we're talking oxygen-tank type old).

We also visited the Hindu temple of Prambanan. The Hindus and Buddahists were here long before the Muslims. Prambanan has 3 main temples - Brahma (the creator), Shiva (the destroyer), and Vishnu (the protector). The temples are all decorated with carvings from the Hindu methology ...basically stories of battle. We watched the sunset that evening on a hill overlooking Prambanan.

The main reason for our trip to Yogyakarta was the famous Buddahist temple - Borobudur. I am not a "temple person" (Lon is into temples more than I am), but Borobudur was my favorite so far. It really was spectacular! The temple has hundreds of peaceful buddah statues all over it. Lush, green mountains surround the temple. We did a sunrise tour ...I am also not a "sunrise" person, but this was definitely the best time to visit the temple. There were no crowds. Also, a low morning mist surrounded the temple ...this made the scene even more dramatic. You just couldn't help but feel "good" here! I can see why Buddahism is so popular ...no war or battle stories, just a focus on inner peace and being a better human being.

That same evening, we went to the Ramayana Ballet. This is the typical Javanese dance which tells the Hindu story of Rama. The costumes were really impressive and the dancing was quite acrobatic. It was very entertaining!

We only spent a couple of days in Java. We found Java to be a little more laid back than Bali, but not as pretty. Java does have it's scenic areas, but Bali is much more colorful ... you can even see this in the sarongs they wear. It appears that Bali has a better economy. So, we took a 22 hour bus ride from Yogyakarta, Java to Candidasa, Bali (east coast of Bali).