Selamat pagi! Good morning!
We have had a very busy several days and not a lot of time or internet access to keep up with the blog as we would like. More detailed postings are being prepared, but here is a brief outline of what we've been doing and hopefully some photos (depending on how long this wi-fi connection lasts).
After arriving in Bali in the wee hours of Sunday morning, we got a little bit of sleep and then headed out to spend our morning on Kuta Beach. After relaxing under the trees, surrounded by sellers trying to entice us to buy everything from manicures and massages to ice-cream and sarongs, we ate lunch outdoors and then headed to the airport for our short flight to Yogyakarta. Arriving in Yogyakarta, or Jogja as it is universally known here, we were met by our Indonesian travel agent and all-around CAN-DO man, Mas Ali. He took us to our hotel where we met up with my (Bethany's) parents who have lived in Indonesia for 20 years and who have been helping with everything from translating to bargaining and arranging the itinerary. We ate dinner, walked the busy evening street of the Malioboro area and did a quick bit of shopping before succumbing to jetlag and hitting the hotel.
Monday found us first at the oldest market area in Jogja, where we not only saw tables full of spices, fruits, rice, and vegetables, but fresh meat, fish and chickens...intestines included! The clothing stalls were jam packed with batik and colorful styles and we all spent a good hour shopping and bargaining and generally enjoying ourselves. Next we went to an upscale batik boutique where we were able to try our hand at making our own batik designs. Note: manipulating a stylus full of hot, liquid wax is harder than it looks. We stayed there for lunch and were treated to an amazing display of culinary treats. Photos don't do the flavors justice. After lunch, it was off to Universitas Gajah Mada, the oldest and probably most well-known university in Indonesia. They have about 40,000 students, and also welcome a good number of international students as well. Perhaps some of our group will find a way to come back and study here in the future. :) Finally, we went outside the city center to an area where artisans make pottery and stone carvings. After returning to our hotel and eating dinner, everyone still had a yen to shop some more, so we took becaks (pedicabs) down to our favorite store. Sitting in an open pedicab and weaving through the crazy traffic was a cultural experience in and of itself.
Tuesday was a day for experiencing a lot of high culture (ie, the arts and history). We began our day with a visit to the Indonesian Institute of the Arts where we were hosted warmly by their faculty and international office. They took us on a tour of the campus, introduced us to students, let us sit in on a traditional dance class and treated us like honored guests. One of our students who is a violinist had a mini cultural exchange when she was offered the violin of an ISI student to play a few bars. We really enjoyed our morning with them. (Although, the humidity and heat certainly were draining). Next we had a date with a sultan. Or at least to see his palace. Our tour of this working palace included the information that although one of the previous sultans had 21 wives and 47 children, the current sultan has only 1 wife and 5 children. What this says about cultural change, we can only guess. We also made a quick stop at the sultan's "water palace" which was a bathing and swimming area for him and his harem. Given the heat level, we were looking longingly at the water pools and wishing that we could hop in as well. We ate lunch en route out of the city at a little cafeteria style place that is frequented by university students. Then we visited the ancient Hindu temple complex of Prambanan. I'll leave the full description of this to a future blog posting, but suffice it to say, it was very impressive. Getting back to the hotel, some decided to take the free hour to relax but others still hadn't had enough shopping, so it was back on the becaks, into the traffic and back to the store to grab some more deals. Our culture day culminated in a very nice dinner at an open air complex followed by a performance of the epic story Ramayana in full costumes and live gamelan orchestra.
On Wednesday we said goodbye to Jogja and headed out of town to Borobudur, an ancient Buddhist temple which is built like a large pyramid with ten levels. Again, the full details of this visit will come later. Despite the incredible heat (no shade because the temple is not a building), we were in awe of the scale, size, age and level of detail on this massive stone structure built with no cement. We also made friends with a group of local high school students there for a field trip and will be seeing ourselves all over their Facebook pages in the near future with the photos we took together. Leaving Borobudur, we drove across the valley and into the foothills beneath Mount Merapi. It is an active volcano that experienced a big eruption just under two years ago in October 2010. Despite this, the surrounding vegetation today is back and covering the mountainside with rice, vegetables and other crops. We had lunch at an overlook mountain pass and then took an exciting ride through the winding narrow roads to the outskirts of Salatiga, the city where we will spend the rest of our time here. Everyone was delighted to check in to our lodgings, a retreat center located outside the city on the mountainside. Nature surrounds us (birds are chirping up a storm as I write), we have fantastic views of the city and valley below and the air is COOL! Mas Ali brought us a feast of exotic fruits and local "take-out" last night which we enjoyed in the open air in front of a bonfire. And just to top off the experience, we made sure to sing a few rounds of kumbaya complete with guitar. Our group is becoming like a little family, and it will be hard to say goodbye at the end.
Today we will be heading into Salatiga to visit a rice paddy field, a duck farm, some small businesses and other local visits. We will be having dinner in the home of an Indonesian family, which should be a unique and special experience. Stay tuned for more as we have the opportunity and internet time to share with you.
