Full of Beans, Roasting in the Heat, Loving Java

It is hot and humid, temperature often in the 40s, humidity always in the 90s. Cycling towards Surabaya in 47 deg heat is a test of how quickly you can spot an air-conditioned coffee shop or store. Suddenly the wind picks up and the temperature plummets to a cool 33 deg. It is going to rain – find shelter quickly! These things focus the mind as you ride, never a dull moment.

There are days on the road where I chat to no one except shop assistants when I stop for a cold drink and to replenish my water. I was sitting at an Indomaret (my favourite store in Indonesia – they are as ubiquitous as 7-Eleven in Thailand, Wikipedia says there are more than 18000 of them) when this lovely lady, Surya, came to chat to me and she kindly bought me a drink. She said I looked hot!!

She has a roadside stall nearby and came over to talk as she does not have much opportunity to practice English although she is pretty fluent.

Then a few hours later, I stopped at a roadside stall for fresh pineapple. One of my real pleasures of cycling in Asia – the pineapple is juicy and sweet. Fatimah arrived to buy pineapple, we had a long chat and, of course, a photo-shoot.

But as always – it is onwards ever onwards – so fond farewells and off I go.

Surabaya was the first big city I visited in Java. Once agan I was lucky to find a good place to stay. “Ikiru to Live” is a small family run hostel not too far from the centre of Surabaya. There are good restaurants and coffee shops and a nice supermarket close by so it suited me well for two days.

Things to do in Surabaya? Not much. They have an old Russian submarine, pained green and converted into a museum situated within the Heroes Museum complex.

Rosa recommended an ice-cream shop which I think is the best attraction Surabaya has to offer

Yuvi, at Ikiru to Live, and her staff, Robi and Ija really looked after me well. I was in a quandary because now I am nervous about the mountains of Java and it seemed to me that the only route to Yogyakarta had an enormous mountain in my path. Yuvi’s mom came to the rescue and suggested routing through Surakarta and then skirting the mountain by going North to Madiun. It was with much relief that I set off for Surakarta the next day.

Surakarta, also known as Solo, turned out to be more than I expected.

I was only there overnight so I found a small, inexpensive hotel, checked in and went for a walk. Surakarta has a strong Dutch influence, I saw a dilapidated fort shaped like the Cape Town Castle that was definitely Dutch architecture and many signs, statues and menus are in Dutch.

There was not much to else to see or do (I did have a delicious Durian Ice-cream) and I was bored so I Googled “Beer near me”

Oh – a side note – Java is a very conservative country and beer (or any alcohol) is not easily avaiable. I had quite a few dry days in Java!

“House of Beer” popped up and was only 6 km from my hotel. A quick Grab motorbike ride away and I was happily sipping a pint of Leo when along come this big Aussie who introduces himself as Darren. It turns out that he owns the pub and several other businesses in Surakarta. He was soon joined by his friends and I was invited to sit with them and listen to the live music.

It was a quiet evening, we had a few beers and some supper. All nice and gentle….until one of the ladies suggested we go to the new karaoake club “Sixth Sense” in downtown Surakarta

Then the party started…….

But then – we had to celebrate Santa Claus being there…..

What a delightful evening. My philosophy on my journey is that the answer is always “YES” so even though I wanted to start cycling at 06:30 in the morning, I went along, had a fantastic time, made good friends and managed to be on the road by 09:30. Not bad.

Even though I left later than anticipated, it is only 70 km from Surakarta to Yogyakarta and it was a fairly easy ride. I had booked to stay in Losmanos hostel, which had favourable reviews on Hostelworld, so I navigated directly there arriving in heavy rain, dripping wet but happy to be in the city I have been cycling towards for 2 weeks.

I enjoy staying in hostels where the other travellers are friendly and festive and the owners encourage fellowship. Aldo and Aldo run a low-key hostel with basic but good amenities. One evening we all enjoyed a barbecue together around the pool, good food , good fun, good friends

One of the reasons for having Yogyakarta high on my list was because of the temples. The Borobudur Temple is a Unesco World Heritage site and is on par with Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I really wanted to visit it but fellow travellers confirmed that visitors are only permitted to walk around the walls. The temple itself is closed to the public. As it is a long drive and expensive just to walk for half an hour around the perimeter, I declined that tour and joined others going to Candi Barong in Prambanan. Unknowingly, I had cycled right past this temple on my way into Yogyakarta. The Candi Barong Temple is magnificent. We hired a guide who brought the temple to life with his knowledge and explanations, especially of the friezes carved into the rock. This is a hindu temple and there are 3 Buddhist temples on the same site. There were hundreds of local tourists and school groups there and, as the only Westerners, we spent ages posing for group selfies!

I enjoyed Yogyakarta, definitely the most interesting city I have visited in Java. I wanted to cycle to Jakarta but my visa was due to expire in just a few days so I had to catch a bus to Jakarta. I just had enough time to find a box for Bobbie, pack her and fly out the next day. My original plan was to fly into Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and cycle to Da Lat. For several days I attempted to obtain a visa for Vietnam but was thwarted by their payment gateway. I could not pay for the visa no matter what I tried. I wanted to apply at the Embassy in Jakarta, they said the visa would take 4 days to issue but I only had 2 days left in Indonesia. I had to make a quick decision to fly to Bangkok and cycle in Thailand because I could enter the country without applying for a visa. You get 45 days on arrival at the airport (with the right passport)

This all worked well so farewell Indonesia – I enjoyed my time and made good friends. See you all in Thailand