Java : the volcanic island

We left Jakarta and its pollution to visit the rest of Java Island. Java is the most active volcanic island in the world and has 126 volcanoes. Impossible for us to hike all of these volcanoes but we chose 4 of them, all different:

We started with Papandayan volcano, south of Jakarta. This volcano erupted in 2006 and is still active. We went there with motorbikes (we were not the drivers) and we spent then half day there to walk (and swim…). It’s an easy hike of about one hour and then you walked on an almost flat floor. It’s a good start if you’re not use to do long hikes and it is also a good opportunity to get close to the sulphur sources. Sulphur is a volcanic mineral which smokes smell like egg… not really a nice smell !

We also passed some hot springs (hot enough to cook an egg, as water was boiling… ) but in some other parts, cold water meets warm water and we could have a nice bath there, we really liked it.

Our trip (veryyyy long by bus) brought us then to Yogyakarta in Central Java. This cultural city is the capital of “batik”: traditional fabrics made with hot wax and different layers of colours. We did couchsurfing in a very special place: We were hosted by Allison, her 2 year old son and her flatmates (an indo-Dutch couple with 2 children) and they have the particularity of welcoming everyone who asks for a bed. In their house they have more than 10 mattresses on the floor… It’s perfect to meet new people (we were about 10 couchsurfers when we were there) but it looks more like a hotel than a real couchsurfing… We still spent a nice time in Yogyakarta. 

We visited the biggest Buddhist temple of the world: the Borobudur temple. It is very impressive and well conserved.

During this visit we met Salomé and Quentin, a French couple in holidays with whom we quickly discussed. Together we decided to climb the Mount Merapi: the most active volcano on Java and one of the most difficult to climb (on Java). The next day, we started our hike with a guide at 1AM…. The trek takes approximately 4 hours and we wanted to be at the summit for the sunrise…But we were not sure to be fit enough…Fortunately, we were all almost at the same level of fitness and with the motivation of each other we can do everything (or almost….).

Hiking at night with head lamps and still fresh air is really nice… and it also permits you to arrive at the summit just before sunrise… So we had to keep going if we wanted to be on time. The path is really steep and slippery! Fortunately we could count on the support of everybody to go ahead! And when we arrive at the “Plateau” (just before the last part of the crater) after 3.15 hours climbing we were really happy! Our guide did a small fire to give us some energy before the last (more difficult) part!

But because Salomé has fear of heights, Quentin and she decided to stop at the plateau. Romain and I continued hiking, but the last part was more climbing than hiking! First we had to walk in sand, so when you do one step you go back from two…. And then it was a lot of rocks, so we had to use our hands also to go up!!! But what a nice feeling when we arrived at the top! It as a 9km trek with a 1600 m of vertical gain in 4.15hours!!! But it’s really cold at 2900 m above sea level at 5.30AM…

Fortunately the sun came really fast to give us some warmth! Soooo nice to see the sunrise from here…. 

Unfortunately it was time to go down… and if the way up was difficult, the way down was worst… But we finally arrived at the village where a delicious banana chocolate pancake was waiting for us!!!! Hmmm Yummi!

As we were now trained ( ;-) ) we decided to climb Mount Bromo. We took the train (economic class…) to go there !! 8 hours with no space for the legs and very straight seats… checked!! But it gave us the opportunity to meet Laura, a German girl in holidays who hosted us in her hotel room for free because she had two your beds in her room.

We waked up a 3AM. Laura took the 4x4 and we went on foot (it’s free and it’s more freedom…. And more calories burnt) We first climbed to the first (and lowest) view point to see the sunrise on the mount Bromo.It’s an easy hike to here, but then, to avoid paying the entrance fees for the Bromo, we took the free option: A 20 kilometres hike, with 8 km in the “desert volcanic area”. It was really impressive! And we were really proud when we arrived at the summit of Mount Bromo after all these efforts and still all our money in our pockets ;-)!!!

We even had enough energy to run down in the ashes…

 Okay, the way back up to the village was a bit difficult so we slept from 2PM till 2 AM!!! (Why 2AM??? Because I think we like it… so we did another hike at 2 AM to see to sunrise from the second (and higher) viewpoint !!! What a lovely sunrise!! We highly recommend you to go to Bromo, with free version or even with 4x4… it really worth it!

At last but not least, we visited the sulphur collectors of Mount Kawah Ijen. To go there we decided to rent a motorcycle: the road to go is new, so the scooter is the cheapest option. If you make a stop in Banyuwangi to go to Ijen, then we advise you to rent your motorbike at Tripoli agency. This new agency is very reliable and the boss has a lot of advices about almost everything ;-)… And of course, if you think of driving at night, take a jacket and even gloves because it’s really cold on bikes at night in the mountains…

We left from the hotel at 1AM. It’s one hour drive until the bottom of the volcano and then 1.30 hour on foot to arrive at the summit of the crater and 30 minutes to go down the crater near the sulphur « mine ». So we left early to get a chance to see the “blue fire”: the blue smoke produced when the sulphur gas under pressure meets the air. But we can only see it during night time!  

We started the hike at 2 AM. Compared to Merapi it’s really easy! 1hour and 30 minutes later we were at the crater’s border. From here we had a great view on the blue fires…but we wanted to be closer. We followed the path taken by the sulphur collectors down to the crater. When we reached the bottom, we needed to breathe with our masks and our scarves because the smoke was really dense… Our eyes were also burning…. And when we looked at the workers there, they were only with t-shirt and jeans and sometimes no mask…. And they have to carry more than 80 kilograms on their shoulders… 

One more time, this volcano is different from the previous ones we did before. And even if we couldn’t see the sunrise from where we were, the sun brought nice colours on the volcanic lake of the crater!!! Really nice before driving back to the hotel (and having a huge breakfast).

After all these night hikes, we need some rest… Next destination Bali and its beaches, its diving sites, its French school…

Jakarta : Just a big city…. But so nice people !!!

Good news, Sitta, a CouchSurfeur from Jakarta will host us for few days in this huge city. We ae so lucky we met her, her family and her friends… Because apart from going in freezing shopping malls or breathing the pollution while waiting in traffic jam, there is nothing to do and see in Jakarta !!!

Sitta is Muslim (like the majority of Indonesian people; Indonesia is the biggest Muslim community in the world with 245 million habs) and she wears the veil, but a lot of Indonesian women don’t. (The society seems to be open minded regarding some “muslim rules”. Sitta lives with her family in a popular area of Jakarta. As in all traditional houses, we eat on the floor, and the shower is cold and only with a bucket! We had a dinner with Sitta and her family; it is so much generosity!!! Her mum prepared several different meals, and everybody takes what he wants! It was really delicious! We spent a really nice time there, and we will keep the memories for a long time.

Sitta works as teacher in a primary school, so she gave us the opportunity to come with her and assist the flag ceremony on Monday morning. We went to school with motorcycles. I was behind her, and Romain behind her brother. I don’t like motorcycles…. But here in Jakarta I hated it!!! Sitta is a good driver (luckily) but the trafic is very « unusual » : cars, motorbikes, bikes, bus, pedestrians, etc, are « mixed » together from left to right and from front to back.. They all seem to know what they do but when you are not use to it, like us, it seems very dangerous! Anyway, we arrived at school in one piece in the early morning (6.30 AM)!!! Some of the children came to welcome us: here as a respect sign, younger people don’t shake hands with older people ; they take your hand and put it on their forehead. Afterwards we were received by the headmaster of the school and Sitta’s colleagues. 

Around 7AM the flag ceremony started:

All children with their uniforms and caps, stand in rows by age and sex like an army regiment. The headmaster “starts” the ceremony. One boy comes in front of the others and starts a “military choreography” followed by everybody. Three other children started to pull up the flag while the chore sang the national song. But the ceremony is not finished, the children continue with some military steps, some read some school rules and finally the headmaster holds a speech (she welcomed us in the school).

 The ceremony lasts more than half an hour and for some of the kids, it’s hard to stay quiet… Few of them get punished but for us, everything seemed to be quiet and well organised! So impressive!!! (if you want to see how it is, wait for our video about Indonesia, and you’ll see by yourself).

Before entering the classroom, teachers « control » the pupils : hands, nails and ears have to be clean !!!

This Monday morning, Sitta has a training outside of the school, so she “gave us” her class for the day, and one of her friend came with us to help with translation! Incredible, during few hours we were teachers!!! We presented ourselves and then we started playing.

The playground was reserved for the sport lesson so we stayed inside. Children did a circle and started to sing (a song). At the end of the song, the last kid had to choose a fruit name (ex. Banana). Then, the song starts again but this time the last kid has to go out of the circle and gets the name of the fruit selected before (banana). He has to remember this name for the rest of the game! Children keep singing until everybody got a fruit name. The last remaining child is then blindfolded and try to catch his friends. But when he catches someone, ha has to remember his fruit name…And if you are 4 to 8 people it can be fine but if you are 25, it’s a hard job…(it seems to be complicated but if children with 10 can play, you can also understand… just read again what I wrote ;-) )

During the break, we saw some young girls playing « wolf », boys playing football (as usual) and few other playing « power cards » (don’t ask me how it works… but they seemed to love it) !

After the break, we attend a mathematics lesson. Wahou, with 11, they already learn a lot of things that we only learn with 13 or 14… (sorry I don’t know the specific mathematics terms in English ;-) but if you look at the black board, you’ll know what I mean) !!!

 Like what we saw in Africa, children often speak all at the same time to answer a question…. But they also chat a lot… We found that authority was missing… Children talk (loudly) together, they stand and laugh… Other children without teachers walk and play in corridors and look inside the classroom… and the teacher doesn’t say anything! Comparing to their “military” flag ceremony it’s very different.

We spent a great time in this school and we were warmly welcome by the headmaster, the teachers and of course the children ! We enjoyed it!

We also had the opportunity to meet the children of Sitta’s neighbourhood. This time, nobody to translate but the children are so curious, that we don’t even need to speak the same language to communicate. We were affected by them because we gave them some bracelets and keyrings and as « thank you » they gave us another bracelet and a hair clip…. Of course these two gifts are now on Pomme Pidou.

At last (but not least) we ate a real Swiss cheese fondue at Sitta’s home ! Sooooooooo lovely, we’re still thinking about it!!

As you can see, we didn’t really speak about Jakarta itself but more about people we met… It’s a good summary of the city : nothing special there, just a huge city with traffic jam, pollution, shopping malls… and that’s it ! So it’s not necessary to make a stop there…except if Sitta hosts you !!!

Singapore or the temptation island !!!

We spent 5 days in Singapore : this small city-country south of Malaysia! 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a host from Couch Surfing… So we found a small guest house where beds where in « capsules ». Really nice ;-); instead of sleeping in a dorm, each bed is in a “box”, and we were lucky to get a double bed above all other “boxes”. Only disadvantage: you still hear your neighbour snoozing!

We were really surprised when we looked at the prices : everything in Singapore is expensive, sometimes more than in Paris : you pay 2,5 Sing Dollars for a bottle of water (more than 1,50€) !!! So we didn’t do a lot of attractions in Singapore but we walked a lot (25 km in one day… Our record!)

Singapore is a modern, clean city… Well known to be « the fine-city » where everything is forbidden… It is true : Smoking, littering or spitting in a public area can cost you up to 1000 SGD (700€)! As we are non-smokers, we don’t spit and we don’t litter, we didn’t have to worry about it… but about not crossing a street when the man is red, it was more difficult for us ;-) (You know, we are French…. ;-) ) But we were really nice and we always waited for the green man… (I’m proud of us!!) 

The city has also more traditional parts such as China Town where you can find everything and nothing or Little India where women dress in colourful sari. In the modern parts of Singapore you find some sky crappers and in Marina Bay the Merlion stands, famous sculpture of a lion with a fish tail! And of course we had a walk in the very famous Orchad road (always compared with the Champs Elysées… But we can tell you that the French avenue is much better, here it’s only a succession of luxury malls)

To escape from the city and find some green spaces, you have to go to Gardens by the Bay : it’s a nice garden, free to visit and the futurist big trees seem to be coming from Avatar !!!

The zoo offers also a good venue to discover wildlife of all over the world. Animals are well kept, and they have big spaces to live in! We recommend it.

Another place to visit is Sentosa Island. This artificial island has all major touristic attractions such as Universal studio, the Aquarium, museums, a Merlion Statue, a panoramic tower, beaches…. And a lot of restaurants! Of course everything is expensive there, so we only visited the island on foot. We didn’t even take the cable car between the island and Mount Faber. Instead we walked there on foot…and we couldn’t resist to ring the happiness bell !!!

Singapore is a nice country…. But you also need a “nice” budget….

PS: sorry we don't have a good internet connexion, so we cannot had all pictures.. please look here if you want more : https://www.flickr.com/photos/96572247@N02/

Malaysia : The conclusion

Malaysia is a very interesting country which offers a variety of different landscapes and activities : sea, mountains, jungle, modern cities…. And a huge cultural melting pot !!!

The country is independent only since 1957 (but Malaysia of today exists only since 1963) and is proud of its identity. Everywhere you can see flags : on official buildings, in cars, in the streets, in private houses, in schools!!! You can’t miss that you are in Malaysia !

We couldn’t stay long here to discover all that the country has to offer but here is our small conclusion!  

After KL : Jungle trek, diving and caves …. Enough to loose calories!!!

City is nice, but we prefer nature… it’s quieter… or maybe not…

Our first stop after KL was Cameron Highlands, a mountain area, well known for its tea plantations. We did 2 jungle treks: steep, muddy but very nice!! And in addition to the physical exercise, we get recompensed by the beautiful view on the tea plantations! Tea is harvested by hand. Harvesters have only sharp “scissors” to cut the leaves. But as the plantations are on steep ground, the work is very difficult…

We were hitch hiking !!! and it worked!!!

In Cameron Highlands we also tried to visit a school. Unfortunately we couldn’t play with the kids are they were training for their spectacle!!! But we visited the school premises and we saw them playing traditional instruments. This school has high standards : clean rooms, beamers, huge library… And (as a majority of schools here) everybody has to take off his shoes when entering a classroom. Some of the girls are veiled, and some others not; everybody is mixed. Uniforms have always to be worn!!! School in Malaysia is free only since 3 years; “primary” school lasts from 6 to 12 years old and finished with an exam to enter the secondary school!

We then move to the ocean, where a water temperature of 27 degrees was waiting for us!!! That’s why we could dive only with a short wetsuits! Really lovely, especially in the middle of turtles, scorpion fish, clown fish…. We wanted to stay longer… but money is always the limit ;-)

So we went to Niah to visit “painted” caves. 20 km walk, with 881 steps (one way). The walk is very nice, you can spot a lot of bats and birds. Their nests are collected to be eaten by the Chinese…. We didn’t try and we don’t want to !! With our headlamp we walked inside the dark part of the caves to finally reach the painted cave (more than 30000 years ago). Unfortunately the paintings are mostly erased and only pictures show us what was there! Anyway it worth a trip !

Near Kuching we tried to spot some orang-utang in a rehabilitation centre but we couldn’t spot any (because it is fruiting season now, and apes have something else to eat…)

Malaysia is a beautiful country with a lot to discover.. We couldn’t do as much as we wanted to… So let’s come back later!!! For now on we go to Singapore!!