Second Sunshine and the Borobudur Temple

I had sensed that so many things were yet to be accomplished, with so little time and so little rupiahs left in my pocket on my second day in Indonesia. It meant a whole lot even more when the location of Merbabu Hotel was a maze, I thought.

The moment I found out where the hotel was, after being lost right away from Tugu station to street after street, to those small alleys, I was approached hastily by a travel-and-tours pitchman. If you get to see him, you can't see him any air of credibility. Physically, he’s not typically someone who really means business, if you know what I mean. But he was convincing enough that we negotiated anyway because the sun was already up for hours, and it was almost 7AM, and he seemed to be seriously with clean intentions. The minimum number of persons in a van was two. But there was no one else at our agreed timing that fated morning, but me and my kicking feet only. So the whole thing arranged would cost me 400,000 rupiahs for a whole day trip to already three sites – Borobudur, Mount Merapi and Prambanan (my personal itinerary). I thought a roughly 55 Singapore dollar equivalent trip was fair enough since I was about to spread distances away from the city for hours. Nevertheless, I told him to just wait for me outside of the alley near Jalan Sosrowijan, as I needed to ‘semi-check-in’ first.

Merbabu is a 21-room 1-star hotel, quite popular among backpackers, for it is just footsteps away from Malioboro Street, Yogyakarta’s shopping district. So you get to feel the pulse of the hustle and bustle of the city as you step out on the road.

I went to the receptionist, introduced my name, yes, as the boy from Agoda, as on their whiteboard. Merbabu’s check in time is 1PM, so I had to wait for a few hours. But the receptionist, who looked more of an old grumpy owner (nah, he’s not really), suggested to leave my belongings inside the reception area. Brilliant, I thought, so I could tour lightly, leaving more than half of my pack. Then, I asked where I could book for a trip to those three sites mentioned. He handed me over a Bromo Tour & Travel leaflet and told me to wait for a while as if he’s looking for someone outside. He came back with someone who’s going to arrange my tour (later I would know he’s the owner of Bromo Tour & Travel). Finally, everything’s on the go for the day, yes, exactly for 400,000 rupiahs, exclusive of entrance fees. And I saw the pitchman scratching his head (seriously hoping he had a fair share after that).

I was introduced to my driver Baim. What surprised me was that he spoke without a heavy accent and had a good command of the English language, one of the good things about the tour.

At 7:20AM, we speeded our way to our first stop – Borobodur temple. Excitement was painted all over my face, and I just wanted to screech at that moment because I knew the temple was within my reach. That same adrenalin actually stemmed a long time ago from when my uncle gave us a Reader’s Digest book that features Borobudur. That was the first time I got to know about the temple.

While listening to a local radio, MYMP’s ‘Especially For You’ was suddenly played, which jolted me with surprise.

We arrived in the biggest Buddha temple in the world, after exactly one hour and paid for a parking fee of 5,000 rupiahs.  Entrance ticket for international visitors is 15 US dollars or 135,000 rupiahs. Everyone, save the locals, has to don the sarong/sarung.

I left the temple 3 hours later, forgetting my driver who told me he would wait for me for 2 hours. Ha ha. I was just awestruck seeing what I thought I could only see on pages of books. Sure, the sight of an 8^th century temple was so commanding, as if lording over the plains of Central Java.

I was on my way to accomplishing the rest of my Second Sunshine mission!

the temple and its garden

read the procedure in visiting the temple:
1. enter Borobudur temple park from east entrance.
2. go up to the temple from east gateway and walk around clockwise every stair (called pradaksina).
3. go down the temple from south, west or north gateway; exit Borobudur temple park to north gateway.

foreigners donning the sarong/sarung

Carved reliefs

Statues

Stupas

Traveling on a Night Train from Bandung to Yogyakarta

If you have plenty of time exploring a certain country, traveling on a train overnight is one smart move. It does cut costs, not alone for your transportation, but also a big chunk on the accommodation. Sleeping on a train saves costs for a hotel.

Last January 19, I was heading to Yogyakarta from Bandung through the cheapest mode I knew, via a train. The train service for the 8PM schedule was Lodaya Malam (malam means night). I took the Business (adult) class for 110,000 rupiahs. Please check the Kereta Api website before traveling, because it's possible your target date could have no available train scheduled. Also, from there, you could already budget your transportation expenses  – posted there are the fares for every train service with different classes - Executive, Business, and/or Economy classes.

True to what Rick Warren tweeted, ‘I've heard 1000s of great singers traveling the globe but Indonesia & the Philippines seem to have the most.' At the waiting lounge of the train station, a band was playing not just local songs but also English ones. It’s a great treat for travelers bound for long distances at night.

Arrival time in Tugu Station, Yogyakarta or Jogjakarta or simply Jogja, as in my ticket, should have been 3:41AM, but with the frequent stopovers, as observed while half-asleep, we arrived at 5:45AM – two hours late than anticipated. But it’s alright, arriving in broad daylight only meant a safer road as I crept into the streets of the city before checking in the hotel.

My trip from Bandung to Yogyakarta is the longest travel by land I’ve ever had.

Short Trip from Jakarta to Bandung

My flight to Jakarta was grounded on the runway at Singapore Changi Airport last January 19. I didn’t expect that. I should’ve known better that Changi is such a busy port, which could have heavy air traffic cum ground delays. The plane finally took off thirty minutes after it was supposed to. 

We arrived in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (in Cengkareng, Jakarta) at around 11AM, (Western Indonesian time - GMT +7, 1 hour late of Singapore time). As I exited the terminal, after immigration and baggage check, many booths offered travellers taxi services. A girl from one of the booths waved her hand; so curiously, I approached her and asked how much it was going to Bandung. It was a whopping 780,000 rupiahs by way of taxi! Convert, convert, convert! It’s roughly 110 Singapore dollars for a 3-hour trip! So I just smiled, refused the offer politely, and walked to the exit. I had always known I could get a rate of less than 100,000 rupiahs.

I chanced to first see X-Trans, one of the shuttle (van) services offering transportation to Bandung (the other is Cipaganti), so I immediately booked a ticket departing at 1:45PM. Cheaper than taking a taxi, it’s only 90,000 rupiahs.

I had a (supposed) long time waiting, though, for it was only 12 noon. I had lunch at A&W restaurant munching over a crispy chicken sandwich (hamburger) with a tasty soup of carrots, pork, and tomatoes, and Coke (damage: 51,000 rupiahs). 

Making use of the draggy time, I went strolling outside of the curvy airport, taking pictures. Looking like an obvious tourist, someone from airport security greeted me ‘moshi moshi’. I nodded, giggled inside, and a smile spread wide on my face. 

I got weary-tired, so I kept walking back and forth, passing the X-Trans booth for the third time, when one of the staff came running telling me we’re leaving, even though it’s only 12:45PM. Great, they scrapped my 1:45PM ticket and printed out a 12:45PM ticket. I had no idea why, no question asked, all I knew was that I had just escaped boredom. I just wanted my feet moving already.

Just when I thought everything would turn out perfect that day, rallying labor unions blocked the Cikarang toll road causing us an hour of stagnation that searing afternoon. Wow, it didn’t speak shy of my 1:45PM ticket that went to the bin.

There were a series of beautiful sceneries on our way to Bandung that helped ease the traffic jam experienced earlier.

We arrived in Bandung (stopped at Oncom Raos) four hours later. I asked my co-passengers Rita and her daughter, Tiara (a medical student in Solo) the way to Bandung train station - they had been waiting for their son (an accounting student in Bandung) to fetch them. The pair didn’t have any idea since they were only there for a vacation, being natives of Sarawak. However, they asked if I wanted to come with them because her son was driving. Bingo! I said, yes, of course! They drove me to the train station for free, and I was up waiting for my 8PM train to Yogyakarta via Lodaya Malam (Night) train.

There were more good souls during my solo backpacking in Indonesia as you would know later.

Balloons Don't Fly Away All by Themselves

When you free someone close to you for reasons you have known all along spell of his/her happiness, you free a big part of yourself, if not the biggest you realize you could never keep until the very end. But it’s not a bad thing after all. You have simply removed yourself from a sea of uncertainty, false hopes, bitterness, and being unfair to yourself. And the grandest of things, is that you have just found the ticket to your salvation.

It’s not an easy personal decision, perhaps, but over the days, months, or years, the only choice there is, is to grow apart from each other, and as optimism does nothing but miracle, move on to where you should be – in a far better place where you could finally pick yourself up, despite having let go of what could be once a prized possession.

Yes, a possession that evaporated over time.

Just like the balloons that could never be yours forever to keep, and in ways ironic as they seem, you appreciate them more as they soar great distances away from you. Untie and see them fly away freely to reach their highest, than to be with you forever unhappy and dying bit by bit.

Image: National Museum of Singapore