Solo Travel Adventure Number 1!: April and May 2015

Balikpapan, Borneo

Balikapapn is now a large city (population 600,000) which derives much of its wealth from its offshore gas and oil - in fact it was bombed by both Japenese and Allies during WWII because of its strategic importance. I decided that probably the only real taste of Borneo 70 years ago, would probably be found in the jungle which can't have changed much, so we headed off for the day with a car and local driver. We certainly found some jungle and I was delighted: in one place we even managed to get up into the canopy on a series of rope bridges which swayed some 100ft above the jungle floor. h yes and our car got completely stuck in the yellow clay/mud and we had to be towed out - for a while we had thought that the road contractor was going to push us out with his huge piece of machinery! After that we headed to the mangrove swamps and were pleased to spot some crabs foraging in the mud - not just any old crabs mind you - these were the most electric blue crabs I could have imagined! However, the real thrill of the day was spotting a rare (listed as Endangered with only 1000 left in the wild according to Mr Google) Proboscis monkey high in the trees above the swamps - a real treat!

First view of Borneo!

Impenetrable jungle? Yes with those spikes!

Well and truly stuck in the mud!

The rope bridge in the jungle's canopy

The strangest crabs - one huge and one blue!

The mangrove swamps

A rare Proboscis Money - well the back of one anyway!

Borneo's jungle.

From Kampung Naga to Kalimantan

I know it does not take much to confuse me, but I really am not at all sure about the exact demarcations of Borneo and East Kalimantan, but whichever way you look at it, we are off to Balikpapan tomorrow ... which is in East Kalimantan ... on the island of Borneo! I think! My Father was there during his time with the RAF and so I want to go and paddle in the same waters and breathe the same air despite knowing that it will have changed beyond all recognition in the last 70 years. The flight will only take a couple of hours at most and once again as we are staying within Indonesia, there will be no customs requirements. I have very much enjoyed Java and feel some sadness that I have not managed to explore more of it as I understand that each region is quite different.
The real Java highlight has definitely been the visit to Kampung Naga the traditional village where I felt so completely accepted and at ease. The way of life seems so simple and although they live at subsistence levels, their willingness to share is quite overwhelming. As there is no electricity in the village everything is cooked on wood burning fires in the houses which have remained much the same for over 600 years. Toilets are shared between a few houses and consist of bamboo shelters over 'fishponds' from which there is no smell whatsoever as fish are kept to keep these large pools clean. There is no litter in the narrow alleyways and as the village is situated in a small valley, overcrowding is avoided by a strict inheritance system, with all children moving out when they marry and only the youngest returning once the parents have died. The home-made sweets I was given, wrapped in leaves, were simply delicious and the musician of the village gave me a very special memory indeed when he gave up his time to teach me to play some of the beautiful local instruments which he had made: our exchange of words was non-existent, but the sharing of smiles and laughter made the communication complete;we then played together with other members of the village dropping by to join in at odd times. My time here reminded me of the feelings I used to get in Gellifor when I was working in my vegetable plot - total contentment and absorption in the moment.

Java

giant lily pads

Iguana? Monitor? not sure but it was enjoying the park with us!

And then the rains came!

Large spiders here too!

The temple was worth the four local bus rides to get there!

Our homestay was very pleasant indeed

The flight took just two hours and of course there were no immigration procedures as I am still in Indonesia which has the fourth largest population in the world - I had no idea! First impressions of Jakarta, the capital? Very big, very crowded and very chaotic! My New Zealand friend joined me and so we began to explore one his jetlag had eased (well it did take 24 hours to get here!). We found the National Monument after walking through a noisy Sunday market in the park and decide to come back on Tuesday when hopefully there would be less of a queue - there was! Over the next few days we visited the old working harbour (fascinating), toured a fishing village (crowded with narrow alleyways and teetering properties on the waterfront), Entered the world's third largest Mosque (allowed onto the second floor from where we could view the proceedings once we had donned suitable clothing) and toured Taban Mini (Indonesia in miniature - huh? It covers over 200 hectares!) riding pillion: so a great start to Java really! After this we took the commuter train to Bogor and stayed in a beautiful home-stay with a lovely hostess: over the next few days we explored some Botanic gardens and rode four local buses (people carriers with the seats re-arranged really - no coaches or mini buses in service here) to a remote temple in the mountains. Our next destination was Bandung, once the capital of Java, where we took a commercial tour to an active volcano (in the mist and eventually in the monsoon too!), visited a floating market and attended a traditional music and dance performance (the latter was fabulous - colourful, noisy and great fun - with a finale involving the entire audience being taught how to play a bamboo instrument called an Angklung. Today we have journeyed further, this time on a long distance train for just under 3 hours to arrive in Tasikmalaya. as an aside, I have been very impressed with the trains here - very clean, punctual, no standing allowed and with security on board too - very cheap too: todays 3 hours cost around twelve pounds each and we travelled in an air-conditioned carriage with reclining seats, adjustable foot-rests, a pillow, plenty of legroom, toilets (OK not western style) and regular visits from the very pretty uniformed trolley-dollies! Lovely! So here is a quick 'postcard' from Java:

Jakarta as seen from the roof top pool of our hotel

Traditional wooden 500T vessels in the harbour - these travel to Borneo in 3 days!

Fisherman and their families live on these craft

Village homes by the waterside

floating market

herbs and spices for sale

Cleaners are seen everywhere - except the streets!

Crater of the volcano ... in the mist.

horses sheltering from the downpour

rice terraces

Javanese puppet

Sundanese peacock dancers

spreading rice to dry

Approaching the hidden traditional village

Rice baskets cover every horizontal surface - sacks weigh 50-70kg

Back breaking work for the elderly in Kampung Naga village

Bali

So where do I begin to bring things up to date after four magical weeks in Bali? This is just going to have to be a round up of the highlights I think and I am bound to get things in the wrong chronological order, forgive me!

The first two weeks were shared with my good friends Marion and Sue who flew out to spend the Easter holidays with me in a cottage in Seminyak; my daughters Rebecca and Felicity joined me for the second two weeks of the month. The 'cottage' had to be a compromise between all the priorities of five very different people and ultimately I think we were all pleased with our quite oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of a very touristy area in walking distance of the long, clean, sandy beach. The property was very large and in Balinese style with lots of wood throughout its two floors: each bedroom had its own huge bathroom and there was also a living space with day-bed, a kitchenette and a dining area as well as a terrace/balcony upstairs and a secluded garden to the rear. Every one we met was kind and helpful and we made numerous trips away from the tourist-traps - the Gili Islands, cliff top temples, jungle temples, beaches, spas, volcanoes, rural unspoilt villages, markets, paddi terraces, caves and an elephant sanctuary as well as spending two days on/in the water when Bex did her first Padi course in the same waters as Fliss and I snorkelled with a guide, over coral reefs and a 1940s wreck - fascinating. We probably ate too much (particularly the ice cream from the shop we found where they made their own!), sat in the sun too long and laughed too loudly at times ... but boy, did we enjoy ourselves! So here are just a few of the 1,342 photos I took in April!