Java to Bali - not my favourite journey

I now needed to get to the next island in the Indonesian chain. The Cemoro Lawang sexy bus dropped me outside a private bus shop - with (of course) someone there to "meet" me. He was trying to get me on his bus to the ferry port (for 50,000 Rupiah), where I could get across to Bali. I really wanted to get the train - and was convinced it was cheaper. The bus guy said that the train station was far, far away. The problem is you're never quite sure if they're just saying that to get you on their bus, but it's not a problem - I can get a local bus across the town. This, also according to the bus guy, was not possible. Now I know this isn't true - there's ALWAYS a bus to somewhere from somewhere! I asked a few local drivers but didn't get much sense. After 20 minutes the bus guy came back and said he'd take me to the station for 10,000 - I agreed. It wasn't so far away - maybe 10 minutes drive. I booked a ticket but had to wait until 4pm for the train to arrive. The ticket was 30,000 - so in total I've only saved 10,000 Rupiah by not catching the bus - and I have to wait for two hours! The moral of this story? Stop being so stubborn and GET THE BUS THAT'S OFFERED TO YOU!!

In the station I needed the toilet. A guy who was hanging about said it would cost "dua ribu" (two thousand). I paid and sat back down, then noticed two other men sitting with him, all looking at me and laughing. Someone else wanted the toilet and asked how much to which he replied "Satu" - meaning one. I know I know I know, this is peanuts - one thousand is nothing - but, tired from an early start and with a very sore knee, I was annoyed (more by the sniggering than the money). I went over and tried to say that I heard the toilet was one thousand for a local but two for a tourist? They just sat there grinning at me, saying "dua dua". I sat back down, plugged myself into my mp3 player, closed my eyes and waited for the train.

The train took 5 hours to get to the ferry port (another reason to get the bus!). At the port I decided to find somewhere to stay as it was now nearly 10pm. I walked up and down the main street, but there was nothing in my price range so I got on the ferry. The ferry was small, and had an extremely loud karaoke system in the lounge! Thank you mp3 player - sometimes I have no idea what I would've done without it on this trip. Occasionally looking out of the window it seemed like we were going around in circles. I went outside to see what was happening and we were going around in circles. The driver was trying to park at the car ramp but couldn't. We would approach at bad angles, but instead of adjusting it the driver would pull completely back and go around for another attempt. No joke: this went on for 30 minutes! I'm guessing the driver was a trainee.

At the port in Bali there's nothing but organised tour buses at this time (midnight) - I needed to get to the capital (Denpasar). The next bus wasn't until 7am. I considered sleeping on the grass verge but decided that A: I wouldn't be able to sleep and B: my stuff might get robbed if I did nod off. I met a man who's uncle had a hotel nearby and they did me a good rate, as It was late. He took me there on his motorbike. The hotel room was posh - aircon and a massive plush bed! This, I was utterly glad to see - and I slept like a baby.

Next morning and my knee was fine, like nothing had ever happened. I walked out of the hotel and was confronted with a giant Buddha - how I missed you! I got on the Denpasar bus - this journey would cost me 30,000 and take 5 hours. On the bus were 3 young Balinese lads. They seemed highly amused by my presence and whispered to each other then snickered while glancing at me. They then were taking pictures 'secretly'. I know there's a language barrier but did they think I was completely stupid? This went on for about an hour - I ignored them - once again plugging myself in! I don't mind if people talk to me, or ask for a picture - I like meeting people - but when it's done like this it's just weird!!

Monywa, Myanmar

The overnight bus from Lashio to Monywa (6,000 Kyat) was ridiculous! We stopped at a usual restaurant at midnight and everyone deserted the bus to get some food. Half an hour passed and most people had finished eating and were watching some bad Burmese karaoke TV. By 1am a few people got back on the bus and went to sleep, I couldn't sleep. At 1:30am I had a look for the driver but couldn't find him anywhere. 2am came and I tried to ask people what was happening but no-one could explain what was happening, or if they even cared! 3am came and went - no driver still. People either eating again, watching TV or sleeping on the bus. I tried to get some sleep but still couldn't. I was bored of this restaurant now, and bored of not being able to sleep so I sat outside, watching other coaches come and go. 4am - still nothing. It wasn't until 5am when the driver appeared from nowhere, started the engine and sounded the horn several times like he'd been waiting for us all along!! Everyone got on without question and off we went. I still, to this day, have no idea what happened there. I've since explained it to people I'd met and they said it was odd, but maybe the driver was sleeping.

Now I had to catch a local bus to get into Monywa town. With 30 minutes to go a Burmese girl got on and sat next to me. She immediately put her head on my shoulder and seemed to sleep. Wired from lack of sleep and hyper-aware of all the locals that had now turned around to look I smiled and looked out of the window, accepting that I was now a headrest - although I can't imagine my bony shoulder being particularly comfortable. At journeys end the girl woke up on cue, smiled at me and left the bus. I asked a tuk-tuk driver to take me to the cheapest place in town. I knew there weren't many options, few tourists come here. He took me to hotel Shwe Taung Tarn which was a lofty $13 a night for a big double room with balcony overlooking a smelly, man-made, mosquito infested swamp!

My own swamp

Bags dumped I wanted a look around and left the hotel. Within one minute a local student came up to me on his motorbike and asked if we might have some food together so he can learn about England and practice his English. His name is Zeya and took me to a delicious local noodle joint. He wanted to know everything about anything that was happening in England, especially business and banking - the two things I'd rather forget about when travelling! He was fully preparing for the coming fortunes of Myanmar.

After another sleepless night, this time from being a mosquitos pincushion. Zeya picked me up on his bike and we drove out to the Moenyinsambuddhae temple, containing no less than 600,000 Buddhas of various sizes. Visitors can replace broken or stolen images with newly cast ones for 200 Kyat - I chose one and chose a nice place to put him.

1..2..3..4..5..6..7.. (five years later) ..599,999... 600,000! Yep, you're right.

My Buddha

Norris McWhirter would be proud as we then rode past the worlds largest reclining Buddha and up to the worlds largest standing Buddha (470ft high!) - you can see it from a LONG way away! Inside the standing Buddha is pretty much a thirty-storey building, containing seven levels of Buddhist hell, some earthly levels, some heavenly levels then, in the head, there's Nirvana - but ironically you can't go there as it's not complete. Each level contains paintings related to that scene and are designed to teach lessons of life. The hell paintings are gruesome and fascinating; watching families tell their kids the stories behind the picture maybe even more fascinating.

...rumble...

...clang...clang...

...doof...doof...

...Sssssss...

Phayao, Thailand

We get on a ridiculously groovy bus in Chiang Rai and make the pleasant 5 hour journey to Phayao. I have my head hanging out of the window like a dog for most of the journey so my face feels like I've had plastic surgery on arrival. Looking for accommodation we bump into a buxom happy lady selling nicely hand painted bookmarks and postcards. She helps us out loads (to the point of us following her like sheep while she motorcycles in front) so we buy a couple of thing from her to say thanks. Phayao is nearly off the tourist radar so there are no guest houses or dorm's. What is does have though is (one) concrete monster of a hotel (say prison) with bags of character. It's called Tharn Thong and I suspect that this may be the only place to stay here. Walking into reception is like going back in time with 80's wood styling and furnishings abound and colours to match. The absolute highlight must be the switchboard. I won't describe it so look at the picture down the page - epic - I would like one in my home. The receptionists , who seem a little bewildered that we're there, offer us a clean and functional room for a bargain 170 Baht. It has the essential feature in the old style analogue phone that connects to the epic switchboard.

I love to mooch about and Phayao is amazing for this, almost perfect. There's lots to see in every day things. We thought about hiring a bike from the hotel but they all had punctures and no pump so we stroll off in a random direction. There's a group of local men gathered and a pretty Thai girl in a red and white outfit shouting down a microphone; turns out she's selling power tools. Around the corner there's a little man making what look like "chromozones" in what appears to be his living room. His wife is also happily tidying in the background so we say hi and grab a bag - and they're delicious.

There's lots of Wat's here, in various states of repair, all un-touristic, with monks slowly going about their business. Inside they're nothing special at all with old sofas pushed around the edges; I like this, it gives them a homely feel. The quiet roads are lined with spacious wooden houses with little gardens and driveways, there's an obvious pride in the town.

Panel from a Wat - with mosaic tiles missing

Wat Sri Khom Kham is a curious place. Slightly out of the town on the main road. Inside the main building is a giant sitting Buddha with a lap width of 14 meters. Around the edge are small electronic Buddha's in glass boxes, all in the different poses depending on what you want to pray for. You pop a coin in and something is shouted at you. We had a look around the back at the monastery where the young monks were pretending martial arts with brooms; until Anna walks past and they stop and giggle to each other. Further round there's a Buddhist depiction of hell (Naraka) in sculptures. I've not seen anything quite like this, containing endless suffering (until rebirth) and nudity in equal measures.

With some giant dark clouds approaching we head back and get to the lake in time to shelter under some trees. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in the north and has a sunken temple in the middle. We didn't visit it but you can pay a local to take you out in his rowing boat (motorboats not allowed). I'm not sure how you would actually see the temple from the surface but you can see it on a Google earth satellite image. With the rain now coming through the trees we run to a bandstand, populated by someone who's been removing some speakers from a huge stage with the picture of the king on it. I nip to a little stall and grab 3 Changs for us to wait the rain out. Questioning him wasn't easy, he spoke broken English, but Anna reported that he'd blurted fluent English when I went to get the beers!? (I'll check with her and update). The weather cleared and we saw a large fire in the distance and also the first other westerner we'd seen, with his Thai girlfriend. 

Long live the king

Serpent on the lake

Post-storm sunset

We'd read about a falang pizza place on wikitravel and my cheese craving was driving us to find it. It took 20 minutes (with some pictures of the St. Georges cross (Jubilee?) drains) then it melted into view: brick oven pizza! My mouth was already salivating by the time the friendly waitress from a southern US states greets us and we quickly order a half-and-half. One half being a cheese extravaganza and the other a meaty pepperoni. No beer is sold here and we ask if we can grab one from a shop and drink it at the table. We get a flat no. The pizza is tasty and is munched in a few minutes (I greedily had Anna's last slice). It contained genuine mozzarella and other "real" cheeses (it's been a while for me). My only preference is that I would like a thin or thick crust choice ;) About an hour later I get the very satisfied feeling of chronic indigestion and the cheese-sweats. Bliss. I shall be updating the wikitravel entry with some of this information when I get a moment.

Hoi An, Vietnam

The journey down the coast up the Hai Van pass is possibly one of the most beautiful coach journeys I've ever been on. Out of the right windown the rolling green fields roll up to peaking hills to the Laos border and on the left the sparkling blue coast winds as far as the eye can see. It leaves you uncertain which way to look! Top Gear described the journey (and road) as one of their all-time favourites.

The train would be equally as nice I'm sure

We checked into the only remaining hotel in Hoi An, the Dai Long ($15 for an a/c double) for the first night, as it was a public holiday and swarms of Vietnamese descended on the town!  It's a picture postcard shopping mecca. You can have anything you want, handmade, in a day. Hundreds and hundreds of shops line the streets offering to put something together for you from your description, a picture, website or from their own catalogues. It's not really my scene, this shopping thing. Ask anyone that knows me! It's not that I dislike shopping, more that I have no idea what to buy so get fed up. There's one person who really helps me, to the point of me giving her my credit card and her choosing £500 worth of goods, which get delivered to my door (no, it's not my mother). I was thinking about buying a suit here but I've lost 10kg since I started travelling, and a fitting now would be inaccurate when I get home and pile that western fat back on. Talitha had some cute leather shoes made almost identical to a picture on a website. They certainly look well made (they're still going strong one month later) so I feel I should give props to the makers;

Shopping aside there's not much else to do. There's eating and drinking of course and Hoi An has many beautiful restaurants set in French colonial buildings but they don't financially benefit the long-term budget traveller, so we eat in the tasty cheap set meal joints (with bia hoi for 4000dong!). At night the town is beautifully lit up with lanterns hanging everywhere, on the bridge, the river, draped amongst the flowers on the colonial buildings and up the high street. It's not so much a backpacking destination, it's more for couples and families, but it's worth a stop even if only for one night.  

We hire four motorbikes. They are key here, giving you the freedom to visit one of the many beaches up the coast. We avoid the town beach and have a quick swim at An Bang. We then decide to find some even quieter beaches further north but all of the land north of the open beaches in Hoi An has been bought by foreign million dollar resorts, although they don't seem to have built anything yet, or started to build something but didn't finish. We find one derelict looking building around 8km north of Hoi An and wheelspin the motorbikes over the sand for a closer look. Steve, a friend of Emily, heads in first when a security guard, with gun, appears from nowhere. Time to leave. Even further north security men sit in little huts on the roadside sadly preventing us getting to these beaches. In the end we give up and head back to Hoi An. Shame that someone, looking for a little quiet beach, can't just turn up and have a swim, or bathe for an hour on this beautiful coastline. 

The next day Talitha stays back to write her blog so me and Kylie share a bike and Steve and Emily share a bike. We scoot off and get lost around some back roads, then head north on the main road to Da Nang. About 10km up the road Steve's bike gets a puncture, right outside a "garage" (some guys house!). He repairs it quick-time and we're off again.

Mr. Fix it

We're approached by a seemingly innocent lady on a moped, telling us that we're near the marble mountains and we can park in her shop if we like. With no beaches about, and having read about the marble mountains, we follow her and park in her shop which sells a million marble carvings from the tiniest Buddha to the biggest horse statue (complete with realistic penis) which are all ship-able to your home country. We get a ticket and head past a stupid plastic penguin bin (wtf?) up the stairs to the top of the tourist mountain where there is a rock temple and some ancient carvings of Buddha in caves with various sharp and slippery rocks to clamber on (and thorn trees to put your hands on) to get to the summit, for some fantastic views.

Back down and collecting the bikes we of course had to "just look" in the ladies shop. Despite the  impressive array of marble goods I don't purchase anything as it adds quite a bit of weight to the long-term travellers backpack, and I already have various Buddha souvenirs.

The ride home in the afternoon sunshine was irresponsible bliss with clear fast stretches of road and whooping overtaking, fast accelerating, cornering and braking (occasionally delivering Kylie's breasts into my upper back) then cruising into the town to return the bikes, have a quick shower then straight on the night bus to Na Trang (shudder!)

Bodh Gaya, India

I must quickly show you this image from the railway station in Varanasi I took as we were about to catch the train. It kind of screams India!

Me and Bryan grabbed a second class train to Gaya. The train was heaving, meaning we didn't get a seat, and barely had room to stand in the corridor between carriages. The Indian personal space zone is almost non-existent, and you get used to having your head in armpits after a while. This was taken to the next level for Bryan on this train though, with a young Indian chap standing full frontal, with arms outstretched either side, faces not 5cm apart! The look on Bryans face was a picture, but unfortunately it was SO tight in the cabin that I couldn't get my camera out of my bag. After a compact and baking five hour journey we step off the train at Gaya.

Bodh Gaya is still an hour away on a local bus and it's midnight so we decide to stay here for the night. Walking around looking for somewhere to stay it seems an unwelcoming place, with expensive hotels - nothing in the backpackers budget. There's usually staring parties in India but I think we were the first westerners to ever decide to walk around here. We met a lost looking Spanish guy called Xavier, who decided to hook up with us. His English was so bad I have no idea how he survived in India. We eventually found a cheap room in an Indian hotel, possibly called Gautama (Bryan - can you confirm?) - which is Buddha's family name. We're led through corridors that looked like they were still under construction and into a room with two double beds and enough floor space to throw some blankets down. I had a nice and cool nights sleep.

Next day up and out early. Trying to get a bus was near impossible. As soon as one came hoards of people ran towards it and squeezed into every opening. People would throw their bags into the windows to claim a seat then barge through everyone to the front - while all this was happening the bus hadn't actually stopped! We decided against this carnage, and grabbed a tuk-tuk. Bodh Gaya is almost like a theme park. There are Buddhist temples from all countries here - Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Tibet, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Burma etc. and also a giant sitting Buddha. It's really good to see the different styles in such a short space of time as they're all quite different.

Buddha as depicted in the Japanese temple

 The Bodhi tree where Buddha sat and reached enlightenment is big, to the point of branches having to be being propped up in certain places. It's surrounded by a gold cage so you can't get close to the trunk. Right behind the tree is a huge Hindu temple which ruined the experience for me a little. It's still impressive but It seems rushed, the carvings aren't so good and in some places non-existent. Inside the temple is a large gold Buddha. It would've been much better leaving the grounds open, with the tree being viewed from all angles and distances, and keeping the historic sculptures and artefacts. Still, it's a calming place and we spent a good 30 minutes sitting around the tree, thinking, collecting leaves and avoiding the scorching hot slabs!

I love the chai in India, and the coffee isn't bad. Both are served in tiny cups and the caffeine kick is minimal. After complaining about this, and that I'm bored of cola, and hate red bull, Bryan turned me onto the wonders of mountain dew. All that caffeine in one delicious drink? (20mg more than cola) Surely that's not possible! I'd heard of it but assumed it was like sprite or 7up, and as it's not available in the UK had never had an opportunity to try it. I'm pretty hooked on it. I know this because they don't have it here in Vietnam (as the time of writing this blog entry) - and I miss it! Anyway... yea... awesome stuff. And while in India there was a special edition going around: Mountain Dew NEON! I think the difference is just the bottle but in the sunlight it looks awesome;

*heavenly noise plays*

Dambulla, Sri Lanka

A long winding bus down the mountain from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy with an interesting chat to a South Korean architect living in Colombo, then a quick bus change and north to Dambulla for a one night stop, just to see the rock temple.

outside

Inside

A giant gold Buddha greets you atop the Buddha museum, which contains various Buddha in various forms donated from different countries and other small exhibits. You then head up to the rock face, maybe 200m up stairs in the baking afternoon heat, passing fruit stalls, beggars and gift shops selling offerings and monkeys that point at their mouths asking for food and scratch you if you don't supply - little buggers!

give me food!

My shirt at the top looked like it'd been dipped in a bucket of water. At the top you take your shoes off (as always) and hop about on the hot rock towards the nearest part of shade. The caves in the rocks are FULL of Buddha's: statues and pictures everywhere, no surface untouched. There are pure white ornate entrances around the caves with pathways to each cave. The view from the top is amazing, back over Dambulla and the green valleys beyond.

I sat about with the monkeys for a while trying to cool down a little before the walk down. They're fascinating to watch. One was grooming the other, picking fleas off and eating them. The one that was being groomed was watching the groomer, intently, studying it's face. I wonder what it was thinking?

Headed back down and had a walk about the town and grabbed a haircut inspired by the monkeys. Not much to the town: a main road down the middle with some shops and a huge wholesale food market in the middle. Back at the guest house (Healy Inn) I had some chilli cashew nuts and water, got into my mosquito net base with the kindle and read for hours and hours.

Weherehenea, Sri Lanka

I didn't stay in Weherehenea. I literally had all of my worldly possessions with me as I was travelling from Mirissa to Tissamaharama. I'd read about this temple so hopped on the 349 bus in Matara and the friendly bus conductor informed me when to get off, or I would still be on the bus now i'm sure!

The temple was deserted apart from some Monks and a man cleaning the dome. Shoes off and a scorching barefoot walk into the concrete grounds (100 rupees) reveal the enormous sculpture.  Quite something! This is the biggest Buddha on the island at 50m, and that's in the sitting (meditation) pose! If I was to ever have a sculpture of me I would want it this size.

 

Another 200 rupees and you can walk down into the tunnels and up into the building surrounding the Buddha. It was nice and cool underground. Every inch of wall or corridor has a painting or sculpture of Buddha - you wouldn't forget even if you tried. Eventually you get under the giant Buddha and to the stairs to make your way up to the top, with various viewing platforms along the way to look at Buddha's various parts. I particularly like the feet, as sat in the lotus position.

At the top the view is fantastic. Not only of the Buddha and temple grounds, but the countryside in each direction. I took quite some time relaxing up here as there was no-one about. Lovely!

You can see all of the photo's here