Java

Its been a while since since I have blogged but life has been busy and is continuing in this vein seems my lot in the latter half of 2014!! ( I notice hubby has not completed his Journal of French travel yet either so I am obviously not alone in this!)

I am now on my merry way to the UK where I am guest guiding on a Sacred Sights tour and in the interim have had the opportunity to visit my youngest daughter in Java where she is currently studying at Gadjah Mada University in Jogjakarta. Hubby and I had a whirlwind week with her trying to fit in all her many favourite places....and it was wonderful!

Jojakarta is a city I am sure better described by my daughter,  as it would definitely take months of living there to understand its nuances, take in its overwhelming bussi-ness and find the little gems that adequately expose its big heart. But we were lucky to have her knowledge guide us and what I saw I really loved!

I loved the city itself which at first hits you like a ten ton truck going very fast! Its full of people all going somewhere - (mostly on Scooters and Motor bikes), little warungs with tantalizing food smells and along side these some pretty majestic buildings towering into the sky... the air is hot and thick and above it all looms the impressive and brooding Volcanic Mt Merapi...with its ever present reminder of the fragility of life.

I loved the friendly people, the soft gentle voices, the way my daughter slips into this world effortlessly.
I loved the food, a vegetarian paradise of tempeh and exotic fruits! I struggled with the obvious poverty in places and the toilets were a challenge at first because they prefer water and washing to paper which is actually quite a sound thing but largely unfamiliar to me. However I think I have that down pat now!

We took a jeep up Mt Merapi at dawn and with the Full moon going down on one side of us and the sun rising on the other it was quite a magical moment. Smoke wafted out of its volatile peak and we drank sweet coffee in the cool morning....feeling as if we had been transported to another time. Our guide was quiet and didn't say much when we stalled almost vertical on the rocky mountain side.....quite matter of factly he just suggested we get out and walk now...phew....I had visions of that little red jeep rolling into a backward flip and all of us bouncing like poppets under it!

We did dawn in Borobudur at the top of the Buddhist temple there and enjoyed some of the best food and hospitality I have ever enjoyed anywhere at my daughters friends place Rumah Dharma ( if you ever travel to Java this is a must stay, see and do  !) The next day we were taken to  The Hidden Temple...and truly if someone didn't take you there you would never find it! Our guide was very helpful and very knowledgeable and very good at holding back his amusement at my challenged attempts to climb delicately through rice paddy terraces as they snaked their way up the hills.....which we did for nearly two hours in mid day heat....argh...all well and good but when i saw the 800 steps or so that still had to be dealt with when I finally got to the end of the rice paddies I nearly gave the temple a miss!!!! Glad I didn't though as it was beautiful and peaceful and the whole experience was culturally such a buzz ....to be in a village setting and see the farming techniques etc. was a memorable experience.

We spent a day relaxing on a typically tropical beach, shopped in Marlioborough st. and in the big shopping malls, saw batiks being created, drank Luwak coffee, and in a beautiful night to remember saw the Pramadan Ballet performing  Ram and Sita's story from the Ramayana, under the stars and moon and framed by the Pramadan Temple....... exquisite.

By day we walked through the Pramadan temple itself and saw my daughter's University which was beyond my imaginings...its huge and daunting and a town unto itself! Hubby braved the back of her scooter and came back white faced! We swam together in our hotel pool and we tried to pack as much time into our limited time as was humanly possible!! So many good eats, so much stimulation, so many stories.....I will be back!!!!