Day 121 - Jakarta, Java

It occurred to me that in both my previous entries that I'd not really mentioned much about the things I'd seen since coming here. Kuta, I can quite happily skip over because I mostly sat by the pool, swam in the pool or read by the pool. To be honest, unless you're into surfing, buying flip-flops or getting tattooed the only thing to do is watch the sunset from the [overcrowded] beach.

Ubud was a different kettle of fish; it is a town famous for its artists and there are literally hundreds of wood carvers, stone carvers and painters. So much so that there are even tours of their villages so you can see their work and, of course, be sold it. Luckily I avoided visiting so won't be lugging home an 8 foot Buddha hewn from lava rock.

We had a good walk round Ubud and its environs and even managed to find ourselves winding through some paddy fields which was all very nice. Hot and sticky, bit nice. While out in the town we were sold a couple of tickets to a typical Balinese dance show by a man dressed in very ornate Balinese costume. It was very entertaining and took place in the grounds of the old palace which had a very tropical feel to it due to all the trees overhanging us, the short bursts of rain and the odd power cut. The dancers were great but I'm sure one of the 'girls' was the bloke that sold us the ticket earlier. I knew there was something odd about him, I just didn't twig at the time.

While there we also hired a car and driver for the day. It sounds extravagant but actually only cost us a little over £20 for nine hours. Bargain! We saw loads of the island and many of the main attractions. The guide book was right, though, in the fact that you're just constantly hassled (sometimes quite aggressively). At one particular temple, Pura Besakih, we walked through the entrance and were sprung upon by "Tourist Information" who insisted that we wear a sarong in the temple and pay him Rp5000 for the opportunity. I suddenly found myself being decked-out in one before I could say "Bukan, terima kasih"*. Rich got quite shirty with them and marched off while I was unceremoniously disrobed of my new [least-favourite] garment. Beckham I ain't! As we walked on he was shouting at us, and being genuinely quite miffed, "On your head be it, it's your responsibility", etc., etc.

We got to the temple and saw that there was no requirement for a sarong at all because tourists are not even allowed in. I'm glad we stood our ground but it was funny seeing all the other tourists suckered into wearing them.

From Yogyakarta we managed a few more temples, namely Borobodur and Puri Prambanan which were both pretty spectacular. Borobodur is a huge, multi-tiered structure built around a hill and is about 118m long on all four sides. It's massive and is made up of millions of blocks of intricately carved black, volcanic stone. Every face is covered with Hindu style reliefs and the whole lot is topped with dozens of Buddhas sitting in what looked like giant carved bell jars. Despite the numerous signs to the contrary, hundreds of kids were clambering all over it. It's taken decades to restore and I can't help thinking that they'll have to start all over again in another 100 years or so. Wherever we go it always seems to be the locals who have the least respect for their heritage.

Currently, as I'm writing this, we've just left Pangandaran which is a sleepy sea-side town on the South of Jakarta. It was hit by three tsunami waves in June 2006 and it's tourist trade has never really recovered. The town was destroyed and the evidence is still very much there in the flattened houses and piles of rubble. The Government tried to help the people living here by giving those affected a handout of Rp15,000,000 (about £950) in order for them to rebuild their homes but many of them decided to buy themselves motorbikes instead. Again, like Kuta, there's little to do but surf, swim or get a tattoo from one of the dozens of grubby little 'scratchers' that line the coastal road. Not a souvenir I fancy coming back with.

We did manage to book a day trip out to The Green Canyon and at the time the woman said to us that it would be in a car rather than motorbikes. It hadn't occurred to either of us that it would be anything else given the shocking state of the roads and drivers here. On the morning of the trip, however, what should turn up but two eager looking moped riders, puffing away on fags and inviting us to join them by patting the back seats of their bikes! We looked at the bikes, looked at each other, shook our heads and said in perfect unison "We booked a car". Off they went again, our two little would-be hell's angels and moments later one of them returned with a brand new Suzuki people carrier. We were whisked off in air-conditioned comfort with a very chatty driver who loved to tell us ALL about Pangandaran. His mood changed very quickly though after he showed us round his mate's place who was a puppet maker and tried to sell us one of his toys. We couldn't be less interested in buying one and that obviously meant our driver would miss out on his little bit of commission.

Tough.

At the green canyon our driver took a ticket, deli-style, and we waited for our boat to arrive while 'enjoying' an over-sweetened coffee. Our number came up and we clambered aboard our little boat. The trip down the river was quite pleasant and after ten minutes or so we arrived at the end of the canyon in all it's green and cascading watery loveliness to join the other hoards of boats crammed with tourists.

Time for a spot of lunch after that at which point the driver perked up a bit. I think it was the idea of having a little kip for an hour or so while I tucked into seafood nasi-goreng and Rich has sausage and chips with cheese. So him!

Now we're hurtling towards Jakarta on a bus, trying to avoid eye-contact with anyone in case they try practicing their English on us. I really don't fancy getting into a conversation here as it inevitably ends up with someone trying to sell me something. It's not easy to walk away when you're wedged in a bus seat.

Bye for now...

* "No, thank you"