Deciding to travel to Indonesia was the easiest part of our journey. The complicated thing came when we started to organize the route. We only had three weeks for our trip. And everything we read about that country seemed so fascinating to us that it was really hard to decide which islands of the 17,000 that Indonesia has to visit. After many laps and taking into account that we prefer to travel calmly we decided that our trip would be limited to four islands: Java, Bali, Sulawesi and Gili Meno.
Temples, volcanoes, rice fields and beaches were places that were part of our list of essentials. You had to calculate distances and see the transport options to verify that our idea was feasible. Little by little and as the trip began to shape, traveling to Indonesia was becoming a reality. A destination that we knew almost nothing about. It was like a blank book in which I pointed out places that were unknown until then but that something told me that I had to visit.
That was the case of Mount Bromo, one of the most impressive places on the island of Java. I had never seen it in photos. I had only read about it and I am infinitely happy to have decided to visit there. Despite the hours by car and early morning is a place that I think it is essential to visit if someone decides to travel to Indonesia.
Another fascinating place was Tana Toraja, in Sulawesi. A place lost in the ancient Celebes Islands that offered us the opportunity to meet the Toraja. One of the towns with the most unique funeral rites that you can imagine.
Bali was almost the island to visit. Traveling to Indonesia for the first time and not spending a few days on this island is almost inconceivable. Of course, we forget the beach of this tourist island and we opted for Gili Meno. It is a small and quiet island that at that time began to awaken tourism. Although today it seems that the Gili Islands have become fashionable, Gili Meno remains the least tourist of the three.
Those were the chosen islands. In each one of them we had clear which places to visit. We contacted from Spain with an Indonesian agency. We passed our idea and they gave us a budget for internal flights, transportation (private car on each island, ferries and buses) and accommodation so good that we decided to hire them. It was great, because we chose hotels, and they got us all at a better price than I found anywhere.
When packing our bags to travel to Indonesia, we had to take into account the different activities we had planned to carry out. We could not forget the swimsuit for the beach. Comfortable and cool clothes to visit the islands. And above all, a good mountain footwear for the ascent to the volcanoes. Still, we were light on luggage. In Indonesia it's hot and with a handful of shirts and shorts it's easy to spend a lot of days.
Travel to Indonesia three weeks
Days 1 and 2
We left Madrid knowing that we had a long day ahead. From Barajas we fly to London and from there to Kuala Lumpur. Another flight took us to Jakarta, at that airport we were going to link with the final flight of the trip that would leave us in Yogyakarta. The latter was delayed several hours and we did not know where to put ourselves. We were exhausted and we did not see the time to get to our hotel. When we finally arrived at our destination it was already night... The night of the day following our departure from Madrid.
We went directly to the hotel, the Dusun Jogja Village Inn, a beautiful place surrounded by rice paddies and far from the urban center. Perfect to relax. We went out to dinner and in a street stall we ordered some beers and nasi goreng. For much less than we could imagine we had a great dinner.
Day 3
Our first day in Java is dedicated to tour Yogyakarta, the cultural capital of the island. That day we visited the Kraton or what is the same, the palace of sultans. We also passed through Taman Sari, a place that was a park for the sultan and his entourage. In it there were palaces and pools for the enjoyment of the palace people. Very close to there are one of the places I liked the most in the city: **Passe Ngasem. It is a market full of life famous for the birds that are for sale. You can also buy beautiful cages or colorful fish. There are even areas in which the protagonists are fruits, and others perfect for a batik.
In the afternoon we got to Kota Gede. This part of Yogya is famous for its silver industry. The truth is that we did not like the place nor did I find anything original to buy as a souvenir. Before finishing the day we went to visit the tomb of **Sultan Agung. It is a place of pilgrimage, but no objection to the entry of tourists. Of course, before you have to rent a dress like those used in the court of Javanese or not allowed entry.
Back to the hotel we went out again to have dinner at a simple place called Via Via and run by a Belgian living in Java.
I'll soon be sharing rest of the days, adventures, experiences & every moment that we lived there...