Yang ke dua di Indonesia

My second visit to Indonesia started this time in Jogjakarta were I met Jimmy one night in a cafe. His desire to practice English and my interest in his stories about life in Indonesia bound us together for 3 days. On my birthday his motorcycle took us to the zoo and a famous Hindu temple nearby Jogja. Thomas joined us at night when it was time to eat the birthday cake and later the cobra for dinner.

On Bali I stayed in quiet Lovina in the north, to escape from the tourist bomb in Kuta in the south where right now lots of Europeans spend their holidays and Indonesian’s as well.
Lovina is very quiet and early every morning you can admire dolphins that come close to the island. This makes it a very peaceful place. Only, when I arrived at the hotel a crab welcomed me with his two big claws!

Here I found the friendly Hindu way of life again. Each time again it is a surprise to feel the happy emanation of this religion. (contrary to other religions where people always try to convert me). And to make this peaceful time complete, I swam with two dolphins. They are however much stronger than I expected.

Comparing Indonesia with the other southeast Asian countries and my memories of last year, I think the Asian smile is the biggest here. Together with their hospitality and always wishing you a good day (even if you are not looking their way and if they suspect you to be from the Netherlands people even say it in Dutch) makes it a country hard to leave.

To Gili Air, one of the bounty islands between Bali and Lombok, I came by boat. It was said to be a faster boat than the ferry, but in fact I came 2 hours later than expected and totally sick because of the high waves. A smaller boat brought the passengers into the harbour, in the dark and that made me feel as if we were refugees. But I suppose refugees don’t carry 2 million rupiahs in their pocket which I did because there are no banks at Gili Air.
I dropped my backpack at (Gecko)internet Cafe to meet my travel mate again but he wasn’t there and I started looking for a room which was like looking for a needle in a haystack. So, just as I was seriously considering sleeping on the beach for the first night, the owner of Gecko Cafe offered me to clean up his bamboo cottage in the garden he normally used for family and friends. Although it was only meant for the first night and it was like sleeping in a igloo, I stayed there for the rest of my stay on Gili Air for only 25.000 rph/ a night with my micro thermo sleeping bag.
The first 3 days I watched rural life on Gili Air from my little terrace without leaving it at all. Only the nasi corner was able to get me out of there to eat a Nasi/Bami goreng, Bakso or the delicious Martabak.
By coincidence I met Jan nearby my bamboo cottage.: a fireman playing poi on the beach who came every day from Lombok by boat to Gili Air to sell the tennis ball-on-a-string for practicing the poi play. Because I already bought such balls in Bangkok with the purpose to learn the game one day during my trip, it looked as if this meeting was arranged for me. After some instructions from Jan on the beach during his pause and some practice at home, I learned it amazingly faster than I expected! (*see picture)

Gili Air allows no cars on the island, only horses and a bicycle to move faster. This made it a silent Island. Only the birds and chickens with their little ones, some goats as neighbors and the mosque with the chant calling people to their prayers filled the day. During the night when I expected to hear only the sound of waves and the silence, a rooster started making noises that awakened other roosters on the Island and they all started a quartet together.
Other activities were walking around the Island during the glorious sunrise or sunset in 1,5 hours (or jogging it in 45 minutes) or looking for tropical sea gems. Also snorkeling nearby the coast was fun and it made me realize you don't need to dive deep to see beautiful coral life.

I left Gili Air for Bali this time by ferry via Lombok to prevent a second catastrophe of seasickness. Jan waited for me in the harbour of Lombok for a last goodbye and to transport me with all my luggage on his motorcycle to the bus station.

On the ferry to Bali I met a travel couple with whom I looked for a room in Kuta which turned out to be another impossible mission. One of the friends decided to take a room de luxe and offered me a sleeping place for free! During a swim in the pool at midnight and looking at the stars when an airplane came over I said for fun ' this is my flight' , not knowing that I was really missing it because of misunderstanding the notation of the departure time: 12.45 AM instead of 00.45 AM.
So, the next day after a nice sleep I had to wait at the airport the whole day till the last moment before departure for a possible empty seat on the next flight.
But it didn’t bother me much because I didn’t really want to leave Indonesia and I spent my time in the office of the air company by checking my mail at one of the computers till the lady told me to check in 10 minutes before closing boarding time! After a run and skipping some queues and a big smile at the immigration where a nice man started a talk with me which I had to cut off, I arrived on time at my destination: the flight to Hong Kong.



Pictures as soon as possible!