We shall be honest and say that we were not particularly looking forward to traveling in Indonesia. This isn't to say we didn't want to go, more about the type of traveling it entails. We had slowly progressed from downright chaos in India to a 'rough around the edges developed country in Malaysia. We had gotten used to buses being on time, the price of transport being on the ticket, which was exactly what everyone else was paying and also toilet paper in the bathrooms. As we read about Indonesia we became physically tired about the prospect of having to haggle hard to get a decent price, sitting on dusty hot buses for hours on end and questionable 'Did someone, or someone's family, sleep in here last night?' bedsheets.
We arrived on Surabaya, on the north east coast of Java, early in the morning having slept overnight in KL airport.
The first impressions were fine through our sleep deprived eyes and after a successful money exchange and a quick breakfast we found ourselves on a bus to the town of Probolingo. We began to relax as we were on time, had had relatively little hassle, were on the right bus and were chatting away to the locals who were a little amused at our presence. We had heard the traffic could be bad at rush hour due to a mud volcano being drilled into in recent years (just google it, quite a funny story). What we didn't expect was a 2.5 hour journey turning into a 7.5 hour nightmare. As we watched the sun go down we kissed goodbye any chance of getting to our final destination, Guning Bromo, a spectacular volcanic landscape.
We had heard nightmare stories about the tourist touts in Probolingo although we appeared to get off lightly (which included the bus stopping outside a tourist agency and letting a tout onboard to hassle us for a couple of minutes). So, we stumbled off the bus and were surrounded by tourist touts and cycle trishaw drivers, all vying for our Rupiah. We ended up spending over an hour on a trishaw looking for a hotel, eventually crashing in one about 5 mins walk from the bus station and sleeping for about 11 hours.
What we experienced next has been named the 'Bromo Experience!'
We got up for breakfast and were greeted with a very friendly hello, followed by 'You go to Bromo today?' along with questions of how we plan to get there etc...
As we left the hotel, about every 5 steps, we were accosted with BROMO! BROMO! from anyone who happened to be passing by.
When Louise went to find the loo she was approached by a policeman and asked 'Where you go?' to which she replied 'Toilet!', the policeman replied 'OK'.
We eventually found the 'public bus' parked near the bus station and we were informed that we had to wait for it to be full before we went. Happily enough we sat our bags down and waited for it to do so...........3.5 hours later there was 3 locals and a grumpy granny in the bus. By this time we were a bit fed up and we decided to speak to the driver and ask how much it was going to take for the bus to move. We eventually agreed a price and got in the front of the van. A sudden commotion behind us was the result of every local within a 200m radius piling into the back. We turned towards each other and smiled knowing what had happened and not at all surprised.
Unfortunately this was only one example of many times in Indonesia when we as tourists were abused, and we know that is a strong word, by the local tourist mafia. We read a lot about how poverty affects most people in Indonesia but these gangs that run the popular tourist routes are not the poor people. We passed dozens of people on the way up to Bromo straining under their burdens from a days hard toil in the fields. One man we saw was crippled, literally bent over from a life of hard labour yet still he was heading out for the day's work. Our fare up and down the mountain on the 'public' bus that was full of tourists would probably pay for a months work. We have tried as much as possible to be independent travellers but it is almost impossible here due to the grip these gangsters have. This made us very sad because at times we felt we really could not trust people and the reality is the Indonesian people are just simply wonderful. Anyway, we shall not dwell on this too much.
The Bromo landscape was simply spectacular. We hiked up to the massive crater edge as the sun rose behind us (why do all these places need to be seen at sunrise!!!!) and it was worth every minute and every step. The massive dust bowl of one crater housed 3 smoking volcanoes which bubbled and boiled away before us. The obligatory tours were there having been shuttled up in their cramped 4x4 but we managed to enjoy the scene set before us. We took a leisurely walk back among the fruit and veg fields all housing their own little home for their residents and then down into the crater itself.
It can only be described as something out of a wild west movie with horsemen (and motorbikes) appearing through the hazy horizon and dust twisters spinning past. We eventually found the stairs up Guning Bromo itself and were treated to a view of the crater, all smoky and threatening.
By the time we made it back to our accommodation the dust from the volcano had penetrated every crack and crevice that you can possibly imagine and we definitely deserved a nice hot shower. Didn't get one though because the price was almost double for a room with one and again the prices were quite ridiculous. We then got the 'public' bus (full of tourists) down the hillside, this included a 50 minute stop at another guesthouse to pick up more tourists as we sat in the van getting more and more frustrated. The final straw was being taken to another tourist office and asked where we were going in Bali, which we weren't at that point. We probably said too much and reacted too angrily but it was a culmination of three days of the abuse we talked about earlier.
After letting off some steam we made it to the bus station and got on a local bus, and it actually was one, to our destination. We had a wonderful, if rather warm and dusty time as we chatted to friendly college students who wanted to practice their English and lovely lady wrapped up in a wooly jumper (35 degrees remember) on her way home from seeing some family. As the sun set we piled onto a bright yellow Bemo (minibus) with our bags being held onto the roof by gravity and made it to our accommodation. A quick dinner in a local restaurant with no one but locals helped us feel more welcome in Indonesia and we were really looking forward to our next destination, Gunning Ijen.
Ijen was a spectacular and moving place for us to visit. It is an active volcano and is an excellent source of pure sulphur. The steaming crater produces a huge amount of the bright yellow material here through it's steam vents and has been mined for the last 80 years.
An army of men walk up the mountainside and down into the crater several times every day, heaving up to 120 kilos of sulphur each time. This feat is incredible enough but what makes it truly amazing is that the steam that rises constantly up though the crater is laced with sulphur, making it incredibly hard to breath. I (John) struggled especially as we ascended back up the crater, with my little backpack only weighing 4 kilos.
It really did affect me as some of these men sleep on the mountain because they cannot afford to go home everyday. As we descended and ascended the crater the air was wracked with massive guttural coughs and wheezes as men struggled to get enough oxygen into their lungs, yet still they carried on. Our guide told us that some men have been working there for 40/50/60 years, some start as young as 17. Yet the men working this job every day still smiled at us, they even joked with us and asked for cigarettes and biscuits which we didn't have. They earn what they can and take it back to their families, then return the next day for another days work. The sulphur is taken to a local factory, were the men get paid 2p a kilo, cleaned up and sold on, at a 2000% markup. Our guide also told us if anything happens to the workers the factory doesn't want to know, 'it didn't happen while they were working' is what they would say. It reinforced what we felt about the tourist gangs that populated the tourist hubs here, that they simply did not deserve the relatively large amounts of money they charge to us.
We then headed to the very popular and very beautiful island of Bali. By this time we had got travel fatigue with 8 months of moving, packing, re-packing and bumpy journeys having taken their tole so we decided to treat ourselves before we got to the more expensive countries on our trip.
We eventually settled in Ubud and loved almost every minute with it's boutique guesthouses (in which we stayed)
their foodie restaurants (in which we ate) and incredibly fantastic value spas (in which Louise was deservedly pampered).
We hired a car, which was an interesting experience coming from the UK, but we got the hang of it on the second day and were overtaking tractors and motorbikes with impending doom driving towards you.
We visited the northern coast and spectacular rice paddies in central Bali and even got lost at night on the way back, which showed us the map we had bought wasn't quite up to Ordinance Survey standards. We also experienced our first and second earthquakes, I was on the loo both times but apparently there were no connections. The first time though Louise thought I was walking back though our room towards her, charming!
We eventually tore ourselves away from Bali and made a journey by boat to the Gili Islands off Lombok which was an eventful one. We initially were very impressed, our bags were loaded onto the boat, we were given bottles of water and sweets as we departed and the journey was relatively comfortable............then the front window broke and half the sea came in with it.
We were both thoughrouly soaked but got off lightly compared to the couple ahead of us who's seats was ripped from the floor due to the impact. All was well though and we made it to the islands without further drama, we later found out that this particular company has had issues in the past and even had a boat sink in recent months. Very glad we found this out after because prior to the window breaking it appeared that one member of the crew seemed to be dedicated to making offerings to Buddha throughout the journey. We found this interesting at the time but found it extremely worrying that this seemed to be their only health and safety initiative.
We happily dived and sun bathed the days away on the Gili's before we were whisked to the airport, the brand new shining airport, that has opened after 20 years of planning.
We were loaded onto a crumbling, tatty plane where Louise found a prayer card for all religions. It suggested we pray for safety and that the pilot would do his job. We would have laughed, and we did but kind of nervously as the creaks, bangs and groans from the airplane didn't really assure us.
We left Indonesia satisfied to go but also with a sense of sadness as we knew this was the last country on our travels were we would never be bored on a bus journey or wonder 'Is that actually chicken in our food?' It was time though and we looked forward to the organisation and simplicity of Singapore as it beckoned on the horizon.
