Indonesia - Java

After landing in Jakarta late at night and finding somewhere to sleep, we managed to get to the train station to make our way to Yogyakarta. Somehow we got stuck there for an extra day though, so we had a chance to experience Jakarta. Filthy, Smoky, Speedy but friendly. I couldn't help thinking every ten minutes that we were back in India. The people were happy, the pollution was obscene, and the trains were crawling with people. Just another Asian Mega-city.



With all the amazing fruit in south east Asia we got into making our own breakfast. Perfect for  those 10 hour bus rides with only a few ten minute breaks. 



Some of the most amazing scenery - paddy fields in Java.



Drying clothes on the side of the train tracks! 



We had the chance to visit Borobudur - a huge Hindu temple in central Java. What an amazing monument. Lots of tourists!



Looking down from the top of the stairs. Its really great that a lot of the tourists were  Indonesians who had come from all over the country to see the monument.



Intricately impressive



1000 year old detail.



With a spectacular backdrop. 



It was actually pretty huge from this perspective. Cool place to see. 



All the carvings on the side of the monument actually told different stories. One particular carving told a story of a trading ship which travelled back and forth from Asia and Africa. In 2002 some foreigners replicated one of the ships from the drawings, and actually completed the voyage - this is the ship. 



Our sunrise jeep trip to see Gunung Bromo. (bromo volcano) Bromo is the non-grassy looking one in the middle. About  1000 years ago it erupted and blew the top half off - and now and then it has minor eruptions. However the one in the background erupts religiously every 15 minutes - only a small eruption where you see a big puff of smoke come out the top. 



Never seen so many FJ landcruisers! At least 100 - all to take the tourists up to the viewpoint at sunrise, then over to the volcano after. 



Walking over to climb up to the crater. By now it was about 6am and the place was really warming up. 



Indonesian bandits ;)



The steady trail of tourists to go up and see the crater. 



And there it is. No safety rails whatsoever. One slip and you are off - scary! But awesome too. 

So after nine days of exploring Javan Indonesia, we decided we would have to come back sometime. We caught a minivan from the volcano area at about 8am, and after about 12 hair raising hours and a ferry crossing later, we arrived on the island of Bali. Cool!