Grand Final Weekend in KL (Candice: 29 Sept, Nat: 30 Sept – 2 Oct)
Although Candice left a couple of days earlier, this really was a weekend trip for me. Kuala Lumpur is only a couple of hours flight from Jakarta and is a welcome distraction every now and then for some good food. Although I have never really liked KL, it’s so much cleaner than Jakarta it almost feels like being in Singapore! We decided to catch up with some friends to watch the AFL Grand Final at a pub, an event hosted by the Malaysian Warriors Australian Rules Football Club. Thankfully much to the delight of everyone assembled Geelong thrashed Collingwood.
Bandung (29-30 Oct)
Asia-Afrika Street in Bandung
We’d been talking about going to Bandung for ages but kept putting it off. There’s an executive shuttle bus that leaves from almost right outside our front door and so one day we just booked tickets and went for the weekend. Leaving on the Saturday morning at 5.15am after a long dose of karaoke the night before probably didn’t help but at least we got two full days to play around with.
Bandung's art-deco buildings have seen better days
Bandung is the fashion capital of Indonesia and attracts hordes of local and international tourists for it’s “cheap” shopping. We couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about as the prices weren’t that low. The city has its drawcards but apart from some art deco buildings in the city and the shopping, there aren’t many places of interest and the museums are mediocre. Thankfully the day trips outside Bandung are amazing. We were able to get public transport to Tangkuban Prahu volcano and back. It took up a whole day but was worth it. There weren’t a whole lot of non-Indonesian tourists there which meant the souvenirs were tacky. It was colder than Bandung but not cold enough for fur coats and hats!
Candice at one of Tangkuban Prahu's active craters
The hotsprings
The eerie mountain mist and foliage made it look like something from LOTR
Waste not, want not. We'll just have to use it again.
Pulau Tidung (12-13 Nov)
Having already been to Tiger Island (Pulau Macan) with our expat friends earlier this year, it was time to try an Indonesian equivalent in the Seribu Islands. Pulau Tidung was about a tenth of the price and we managed to squeeze in a weekend trip with some of my Komnas Perempuan workmates.
Getting on the boat at Muara Anke
Children on the narrow streets of Tidung
It was a truly Indonesian experience and while we had a great time I don’t recommend Westerners come here if you’re not prepared to forego certain comforts you may be accustomed to. The electricity on the island had been out for almost a month but the tour agent hadn’t bothered to tell us that our ‘air-conditioned’ accommodation would actually be an oven.
There are about 2000 people who live on the small island and motorcycles are everywhere; no cars though as the laneways are too narrow. The island is probably only 50 metres wide but is a few kilometres in length. Technically it comprises two islands joined by a man-made bridge – and it’s definitely worth a weekend exploration.
Candice and Andy on the way to snorkelling
Sunset
Baduy (18-20 Nov)
The Baduy people are a small indigenous community that live only about 170kms from Jakarta in Banten. Ethnically and linguistically Sundanese, the Baduy have lived in relative isolation for at least 400 years. They are accorded a special status by the Indonesian government and live in a large forest reserve. The Baduy shun modern technology such as electricity and machinery. They are culturally forbidden to use modern vehicles and must walk barefoot everywhere. Often they will walk for days to cities like Bandung and Jakarta to sell their wares.
The Baduy village we stayed in
The population of less than 10,000 people are separated into two clans: the Inner Baduy (Baduy Dalam) and the Outer Baduy (Baduy Luar). The Outer Baduy villages form a ring around the Inner Baduy villages and are tasked with protecting the latter from outside influence and visitors. The Inner Baduy only wear white or black traditional cloth and safeguarding Baduy culture, rituals and sacred sites. The Outer Baduy on the other hand usually wear blue or black traditional dress. It was common to see young Outer Baduy males wearing modern dress – some even had Blackberries (who knows how they charge them without electricity). Some live on the fringes and are permitted to use vehicles. School is forbidden for all Baduy and very few can speak Indonesian.
An inner Baduy father and son acting as porters
Some of our group pose as Baduy women walk by
The river which is the source of everything
We were privileged to be able to visit the Outer Baduy for a weekend with a cool travel group we’ve discovered called Road Less Travelled. We stayed in an Outer Baduy village but unfortunately non-Indonesians (including Indonesian Chinese) are forbidden from visiting the Inner Baduy. We did however meet many Inner Baduy people who travelled through the village we were in.
Anjee and I opening durian of which were not in short supply
The naturally-formed hanging bridge which took 50 years to grow
And no our life isn’t just about travelling but we want to showcase some of the cool weekend trips one can do from Jakarta.
Krakatoa
island we were greeted by our first Komodo dragon that was sunning itself by the entrance to the island. The guides on the island took us around with a stop off at the kitchen used by the rangers. Underneath the kitchen were heaps of Komodo dragons. They are not fed by anyone but they apparently come because they can smell the food. After this we went on a big tour of the island and saw the nests in which the female Komodo dragons lay their eggs. We eventually came to a watering hole where three wild buffalo were bathing. Lying near by, quietly, were two Komodo dragons waiting for their opportunity to bite and kill the buffalo.
die but the Komodo dragon will wait patiently and then gorge itself on the buffalo. Komodo and Rincah are actually quite big and way too large to walk around in a day. There are even villages on both islands which existed before the whole area was gazetted as a national park. The locals have
a bit of a shock to the system after seeing all the wealth in Jakarta. We trekked through rice fields and forest to get to the waterfall while a hoard of local children followed us and taught us words in their local language, Manggarai. The waterfall was beautiful and freezing and well worth the trek. Once we trekked back to our staring point we sat down and some of the other people who were with us shared their food around with the local children. It was amazing to see the children break biscuits in half and share them with the other children. No one asked us for money and no one tried to sell us anything. They were a group of people who were as intrigued to see us, as we were to see them.
