Java: More than a cup of joe

Bali was awesome. There are pictures on facebook and I will try to blog about it at some point. Perhaps when I'm back stateside.

I went back to Singapore for all of 3 days because I had to give my presentation on my research and attend the closing ceremony. Except I got back to Singapore and got really really sick. I don't know when I've felt so bad (figure skating regional championships when I was 14 is the only time that came close). So I missed all of it, and spent the whole time in bed. Finally went to the clinic worried that it might be Malaria, but the Doc said it was probably just a bad case of stomach flu. He ordered lots of rest and fluids. So what do I do? hop a flight back to Indonesia of course. I didn't mean to. Not exactly. See I already had a flight out for the next day, and I tried to cancel it, but after half a day on hold with Air Asia I got fed up and said screw it. So I threw my meager belongings into my backpack, turned in the keys to the apartment in Singapore where I've been living for the last two months, and taxied out to the airport.

I thought I was going to miss the flight for sure, but as it turned out it was running very late.

* * *
I stepped out into Jakarta and knew that I couldn't deal with it. The plane was inexplicably an hour and a half late. Then there was customs and visas and lines. Then there was the hike to the bus, all the while fending off taxi drivers hassling me. Then there was a storm. It poured. There was traffic. It took over an hour and a half to get from the airport to Jakarta. As I emerged from the bus to darkness, smog and pouring rain, cab drivers yelling at me to hire them, children yelling at me to let them hold umbrellas over my head for a fee, and men yelling at me because I was a woman, I decided I'd had my fill of the city. I ran across the street to the train station and bought a night train ticket into Yogyakarta.

My main desire for visiting Jakarta was the nightlife. It was supposed to have some of the best clubs in SE Asia. Huge techno powerhouses that opened thurday night and didn't close until monday morning (In my head, they look like the club in the Matrix II). But in my current condition, i could barely walk, and was definitely not going to be dancing the night away anyway. And while the rest of Jakarta seemed fascinating, it was not high on my list of things to see in my short time in Java. From the bus ride looked exactly like you would picture Jakarta would look: poor, dirty, crowded. skyscrapers and slums and card board shacks (think slum dog millionaire).

The train ride was ok. 8 hours. From 8pm to 4am. I paid for first class (still only $35 US) hoping to get a sleeping berth, but there were none. Still, it was air conditioned (freezing actually) and the chairs reclined a bit and I was able to sleep on and off. 3:30am came and I decided I'd better stay awake so that I didn't miss my stop. Around 4am, the train stopped. But no one got off. I looked around. No announcements were made. I was just about to get up, when the train started moving again. I decided it must not have been my stop. 30 minutes later, I decided it probably was. The next stop was Solo, I knew, which was about 45 minutes away from Yogy. I asked the man next to me, who confirmed my fears. Still, not the end of the world. Solo seemed cool and I could always get another train back to Yogy in the afternoon. around 5am we finally stopped. I got out at Solo. ...only to find out that it was in fact not Solo but Yogyakarta after all. Go figure.

I walked down to the backpackery center of town, down to a place I heard was good but the rooms were all booked for the night, and no one was leaving at 5 am. Still, they offered to let me sleep on the roof top. Which was really nice of them. Still a bit on the sick side, I really really wanted to lay down. I slept for a few hours, and went back downstairs. 8am but still no vacancies. I walked around to some other hostels. All booked. Maybe I should have looked at 4am. But what can you do. The first place said that I have dibbs if anyone checks out. In the meantime, I plan on exploring the city. Yogyakarta is the old-school-cultural center of Java. Full of markets and tuk tuks. They even still have a sultan! I'm going to visit the palace this afternoon. I figure if no beds open up, I can see if they'll let me sleep on the roof again. And if not, I can always take the train into solo and try my luck there.

Either way adventures are sure to be had!