Journal Entry 28

December 24th, 2003

"Jungle Fever...or something"

 

We left Borneo back on December something-or-other, getting a night boat to Java, Indonesia's most populous island. Arriving at 3am's always a treat. Bus into town, find train station. Sit. Eat. Get ticket for 5.30am train. Noon-ish, we arrive in Yogyakarta, then immediately off to Borobudur, the biggest single Buddhist monument in the world. Had thought I'd skip it, but I was so close I figured what the hell. It was big. It was Buddhist. I'm glad I went.

Backtracked to Yogyakarta. Hectic place. Not a fan. Jumped over to Prambanan, a Hindu temple complex nearby. Very nice. Not as alive as an Indian Hindu temple. Not as massive as Angkor in Cambodia. But outstanding in its own way...incredible carved reliefs, beautiful setting, striking buildings. On a completely unrelated note, this was my biggest rock-star moment in Asia, as we got countless autograph and picture requests in our few hours' time there!

Then, another all-day hell-journey, an eighteen-step jitter by (the world's slowest) becak (pedal-bike cart) to the (wrong) train station, then a train (missed first one, next one broke down en route) and another train (almost missed it) and bemo (public van-thing) and proper van (guy tried to cheat us). Started in Solo at 7.30am. Ended (halfway across Java) in Cemoro Lawang at 9pm. I don't know why I tell about these journeys that drain the body and soul. Maybe I'm trying to drag everyone else down, too.

Things got better. For a bit. Cemoro Lawang is a little village on the crater rim leading down into Gunung Bromo, an active volcano. Next day, we hiked into the crater, across the "Sea of Sand", a dead-flat...well...sea of sand. Climbed up Bromo and peered inside the constantly-smoking cone. Then we tooled around the area, crossing ridge after ridge until we got a good view of Gunung Semoro, Java's highest volcano. It erupts 2-3 times per hour, and we stuck around for a couple eruptions, watching the dark gray plumes of smoke billowing into the clouds.

Next day, up early to catch a sunrise above the volcanos, then we spent all day getting to Bali. Two days on Bali's Kuta Beach were filled mostly with rain, but we did manage to do some surfing, and successfully contracted the fever from hell. Then moved on to Ubud to recover. Life was not good for a few days running. All ambition sapped. But it's better now. The past few days have been spent watching shows, eating good food, and tooling about the countryside on a motorbike.

And today's Christmas! Started out much better than last year's (where I opened my day with my head in a toilet in Delhi, India). Still a strange place to be spending the holidays. At least I seem to be safe from mad cow disease. Anyway, so I leave Bali in a few days.

"Luck has nothing to do with rationality or morality; by its nature it has about it a quality akin to magic, belonging to a primitive, more youthful stage of mankind's history." (-Hermann Hesse, 'Glass Bead Game')

 

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