Pan Asian travels--Indonesia through the eyes of a friend

no words needed here

I have known Kamalika Jhum Chattaraj since I was 4..she was my first best friend in this lifetime. We lost touch after our families moved to different towns. A school reunion in Bombay brought us back together in 2010. We have been meeting at least once a year since then for a couple of days. However, this is the first time ever that both of us really connected as adults and as children …so much synergy, so much understanding, so much laughter, so much heart to heart, so much listening to the same song throughout the trip…..(Raabta is scintillating!)…am so glad I found you Kamalika Jhum Chattaraj
Indonesia…a country with friendly, soft spoken and really nice people...clean country,huge traffic jams on great roads and absolutely no honking…..for a person from Bombay…this was so peaceful. Some stuff I was fascinated by are the beautiful batik paintings, the volcano called Tanguban Perahu, the gorgeous houses at Bali, the color of the sea, the amazing Kecak dance program, the so very graceful Ramayana ballet and the Borodudur temple at Jogjakarta.

You would be surprised to know that outside the airports in Indonesia, NOBODY, absolutely NOBODY speaks any English or any other language than their own..Bahasaa. If it hadn’t been for Kamalika and her mastery over Bahasaa in the short time that she has been there, we would have been so stuck. This advert is so contextual and am sure teaching English in Indonesia will be profitable…alternative career option .

I was carrying a lot of rupiah (Indonesian currency) on me...this is 100000 rupiah (IDR) equivalent to approximately 500 INR. But in the first couple of days my heart would skip many beats when I had to pay for something like dinner in some lakhs…took me a couple of days to get  oriented.

All you really need to connect is a smile

 

Beautiful batik masks at the Tanguban Perahu. Indonesian batik has been designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO

The Denpasar airport, Bali is just by the sea and is a lovely landing

The itinerary..Jakarata-Purwarkarta-Bandung-Bali-Yogyakarta-Puwarkarta-Jakarta 

 

Some images of Jakarta that I carried back are these women with flawless skin in really really high heels, huge malls, crazy traffic jams…and of course Kopi Luwak…I was horrified when Kamalika pointed out at this coffee joint and shared the story behind it: Kopi luwak / civet coffee, refers to the seeds of coffee berries once they have been eaten and egested by civets ). Also known as cat shit coffee. Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs if the civets choose to eat coffee berries containing better beans. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten. The civet eats the berries for the beans' fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. I have tried different types of food in Indonesia..this one was just not my cup of tea..err sorry…coffee

Ramada Bintang Hotel, Bali…beautiful resort styled hotel. Unfortunately we were so busy exploring Bali, that we did not have the time to explore this beautiful sprawling property. The musical instrument is called Rindik.This is a traditional instrument built from bamboo. It’s sound comes from beating the bamboo with a small stick (thought this is somewhat similar to a xylophone?). Used by hotels to welcome guests to the restaurant or celebrations 

This is a typical type of wood that we came across…a natural design…the locals create lovely handicrafts with this wood..you can also see a musical instrument called the Angklung made of bamboo tubes. Each of three or more performers in an angklung ensemble play just one note or more, but altogether complete melodies are produced. A popular musical instrument in SE Asia that originated in Indonesia

 

The Caladera of the volcano — at Tangkuban Perhau

Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. Borobudur means monastery on the hill. The Borobudur Buddhist temple dates back to the 8th/9th century. The temple was used as a Buddhist temple from its construction until sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries when it was abandoned. It was re-discovered in the 19th century and restored in the 20th century. The ten mounting terraces of the entire structure correspond to the successive stages that the Bodhisattva has to achieve before attaining enlightenment.

 

The Ramayana Ballet Performance is in front of the Prambanan temple…the temple is beautifully lit up at night. Graceful Javanese dance movements accompanied by an orchestra. We were mesmerized — at Prambanan Temple

Started the day by dressing up like local

Balinese flower girls….great fun at the photo shoot

At the kecak dance performance…at Ubud…a dance form where a set of 50 or more men sit around and chant to create music to which the other performers dance to…enacting the Ramayana …there is no other music and this is for a good 1 hour...the performance ended with a fire dance and this performer jumped on wooden logs that we burning bright not just once but many times over….we were mesmerized

 

Time to multi task…shopping and exploring traditional Balinese homes…the entrances are beautifully done up and the entire home including the guest house, temple etc. We could multi task because most the traditional homes have been converted into business places for selling jewellery, gorgeous paintings, wood craft et al

Perfect example of a traditional Balinese house being converted into a studio…seen some stunning paintings.

Getting onto the Flying Fish…a water sport where the inflatable rubber boat will be dragged by a speed boat and at some point the rubber boat (where we are holding on for our dear lives) will fly in the sky…once you get over the fear of a the boat bobbing at top speed on the rough sea, you will really feel great when the boat is in the air…amazing experience…Jhum thanks for continuously asking me to keep my eyes open to enjoy the feeling

Nasi Goreng the traditional Indonesian meal tasted distinctly different and delicious and the full moon night as seen from the hotel room made sure that yet another holiday gets a perfect ending