Bandung the fabulous Bali and Bandung again

  After that bit of fun in Surabuya  it was the waiting game for my flight back to Bandung, in the morning.

When I got to Bandung  I got to spend time with a few friends before heading out to Bali in two days time.  Jaspreet, David, Richard and Mina all agreed to go to the hot springs with me.  I had been talking about it for ages, and David got the ball rolling and Jaspreet provided the car and some of the booze.  It was a great time.  We went at night because it is supposed to be better.  And it was a lot of fun.  It was in the mountains, and there were only a few people up there.  After splashing around and relaxing we headed back to the city.  First we had to get food.  So we stopped for nasi gorang and then headed home.  The rest of my time in Bandung was spent eating almost passable Korean food, chillaxing, and seeing Robocop.

The flight to Bali was delayed, and when we got to the airport they didn’t know what time we would be flying out.  So all I could do was check in and wait.  I hate waiting.  To make up for their (Airasia) incompetency they bought everyone a McDonalds meal.  I hate Micky D’s, but I took the food and tucked it in my bag.  Beggars can’t be choosers and I was voluntarily poor, and the food would help me out with my budget.

Once I got to Bali I got to sleep.  And my sleep was amazing.  I booked myself a very nice hotel.  I had a balcony, a swimming pool, and a bar.  What more could a girl ask for?  I guess the same price I would have paid in Java but, this is Bali baby.  The land of tourism; everything is going to be much more expensive than Java.

Actually Bali was so hyped that when i got there I was pretty disappointed.  It was supposed to be great beached and super cheap.  and I found neither of those things to be true.

When I got up in the morning I kind of explored the little neighborhood I got dropped off in.  It was well into the night when I got in, so I hadn’t really seen a thing.  I was amazed at all the colorful flowers and bit of rice I saw on the streets.  In the mornings it is custom to give offerings to the gods.  The majority of the people on Bali are Hindu; or more specifically Balinese Hindu.   This is much different from the rest of Indonesia, who are majority Muslim.  

 After a bit of exploring around my hotel I asked for directions to the beach and got pointed in the general direction.   I walked all along the beach in Kuta.  It was disgusting.  There was so much plastic and garbage everywhere.  Sometimes the water was discolored and smelled like sewage.  In front of the fancier hotels they had people cleaning up the garbage and raking the beach, and I think more people did that later as well (I tend to go for long walks at 8 in the morning).  Someone told me I had just come during the wrong season; that the way the currents, winds and storms were working was bringing all the trash from the surrounding sea to Bali.  I think I could buy that.  Asia isn’t real well known for disposing of their trash properly.

  

 I noticed some graffiti on the street that was great.  I think Bali has many problems with tourist not respecting the people and the culture.  It must be hard to separate the money that tourist bring in from the trouble makers.  This article on Bali growth may give you some insight why people are starting to get upset, regardless of all the money tourist are bringing to Indonesia.  This also might explain why there is so much trash on the beaches.

Japsreet and Richard, who I had met in Bangdung were coming to Bali as well.  We were to meet that night, with Richard’s cousin and a few of Jaspreet’s friends.  The place was called Potato Head.  So I tried to figure out where it was during the day, so I could find it again later.  I found where I thought might be close and just plopped down on the beach and had a few, over-priced, beers and a nice chat with the local selling them.  That night me and the almost o-jek driver had a hell of a time figuring out where it was.  I say almost o-jek driver, because I just asked a guy at a shop where I could find an o-jek (motorcycle taxi), and he just closed up shop and jumped on his scooter with me down the street.  I had my cowboy hat on, I was feeling pretty cool.  When we did find the club it was super posh, with security guards and several floors of different dinning and drinks.  It even had a pool and bed/sitting areas with lots of fluffy pillows.  Neither Jaspreet nor Richard had arrived yet, so I plopped myself down and enjoyed the view.  

When they did finally show up no one was really in the mood to pay 5 USD for a beer, when it usually cost 2 USD for a large one.  So we went out on the steps to sit in the sand and drink the beer that Jaspreet had brought for everyone.  You obviously can’t dink mini-mart beers inside the establishment, and we got a slap on the wrist when we had tried.  The girls that Jaspreet had came with were Jetlagged, only just getting in from England that same day.  So they didn’t stay long.  Richard and his cousin stayed a little while longer and then offered me a ride home. Yippee!! Way better than paying for a taxi even thought it was a bust night.  We all talked about maybe meeting up somewhere else on the island later, but of course plans never worked out like that.  *shrugs* It would have been nice to see them again before I flew out to Australia. 

The next day I went to Ubud.  I had heard from my friend Josh that Ubud would be a good place to just walk around and it had a monkey temple, which is pretty cool.  I got a mini bus out of town and arrived at my hostel The Happy Mango Tree.  This was the cheapest hostel and pretty chill.  It had a lot of surrealist art around too, which I appreciated immensely.  The Happy Mango Tree was a bit outside of main street, surrounded by newer houses and rice patties, which meant it was quiet.  It was also close enough to the down town area that I could walk there in about 10 minutes, which was great.  I love walking, and I defiantly stretched my legs while I was there.  I was determined to walk everywhere, and I did.

 So monkey temple.  It was pretty cool.  I’ve seen a lot of monkeys in my travels.  So, even though they are quite cute and all, they don’t phase me anymore.  The best part of the monkey temple was the complex its self.  There were ancient carvings of protector dragons, lizards and the ancient gods.  The monkey’s were very well behaved.  The vendors outside the main gates were selling peanuts, but I declined.  Evey said she had been bitten by a monkey, so I didn’t want to take any chances.  Touching wild animals is never really a good idea anyway.  After seeing the main temple complex I went on a “forest hike” but it was just a trail through the back part of the park.  It had a sign that said “Beware Wild Monkeys!” but the monkeys here were just as disinterested in me as the others in the temple.  

After that morning fun I headed over to the market.  More like I passed it and thought I needed a few things.  My pants had magicly disappeared from the drying rack in Kuta, so I knew I needed at least to buy some of those, and a gift.  I always need gifts for people because I’m constantly crashing on people’s couches, couch surfing through the website or wwoofing.  It just seems polite to show up with a gift, and how much more special is that gift if it comes from your travels.  

 

I managed to haggle me some pants and a beautiful batik silk scarf.  The scarf I haggled down from 500,000RP to 50,000RP.  That’s about 50 USD to 5 USD, that is a big price difference.  I knew she had bought it from a mass produce store somewhere, because all the scarves are the same at all the little stores.  It blows my mind how much people are willing to pay for these things.  

After that fun I headed toward the art center way on the other side of town.  It took me about an hour to walk there, and it was worth it.   I got to see all sorts of Balinese artwork, traditional and modern.  The lawns were manicured and they even had a little café, that you got a free coffee from when you finished your museum walk.  I loved it.  I took a picture of one the pieces I would like to emulate in my work.  The way it deals with textures, detail and layering is amazing.  Hopefully I can create something as intricate and beautiful as this.

 

On the way to the art center I saw a taco place.  Richard had text me earlier in the day and had me drooling over the tacos he had in Kuta, so I decided I needed my fix in Ubud.  The place was expensive (as all western food is) but delicious and pretty darn accurate to American-Mexican food.  I scarffed it all down.  Wherever I go, I manage to find some passable Mexican food.  I love it.  Later I discovered that it was owned by the same guy as the one in Kuta.  Small world.

That night a few girls from the hostel and I went to the Kecak dance, a two part show that was put on everynight in Ubud.  This is an almost  traditional dance of Bali that was created in the 1930s.  It was the traditional trance dance, blended with more entertainment qualities in order to please more and more tourists that were visiting the island.  It is an amazing “monkey” dance, performing the story of Rama and Sita.  The costumes were absolutely gorgeous!  They were so intricate and so was the face painting and body paint.  The majority of the singing is done by the “monkeys,” men in checkered skirt/cloth coverings.  These men would create wonderful chorigraphed sounds a and movements adding to the storie being told.  I enjoyed watching one man in particular.  He seemed to be one of the older men, and he was the most animated.  You could tell he loved his job while others, like the younger boys, seemed to only be there for the shear number quality of the monkeys.  The “monkeys” sat in a circle creating a stage for the show to begin.  One of the monkeys would lead and everyone else would take their que from him; when to start sound effects or hand motions and when to shut up.   The performance of Rama and sita was entertaining all by it’s self.  There was dancing, play fighting, stand offs and death.   

The next part was the trance dance.  This dance was not as disturbing as the first dance I witnessed in Yogyakarta.  It was still a bit strange though.  The man in the trance seemed to be a horse…. Man.  He had a horse made out of palm and other natural materials between his legs.  It was quite impressive and better than any of the wooden horsy sticks we had as children.  Before the horse man came out one of the monkey’s from the last performance lit a cocnut shell bonfire in the middle of the room.  The shells seemed to hold embers for quite a long while.  The man started riding or danincg around the coconut shells and then suddenly runs right through it and kicks the embers all over the room.  Assistants hurry to sweep up the embers into a pile again while the man continues his crazy dance.  He does this for a good 15 minutes, running or dancing through the embers.  It was quite impressive that he couldn’t  feel the heat.  At the end of the performance, he knelt down at the end of the room and people gave him money and offerings.   I was feeling sick, so I went home to sleep it off.

The next day I was off to Lovina.  It was supposed to be a place to watch dolphins and dive.  I didn’t want to really do any of those things, I just wanted to hang out in a real relaxed place.  But I met a few nice people while doing that.  This was lucky because it rained quite a bit.  

When I first got there the bus dropped me off near all the fancy hotels.  Lisa and I, another girl my age, started looking at the hotels at the same time.  I’m sure the bus drivers get some kind of commission if people book at those hotels, but I wasn’t biting.  I lugged my bags to the main street and waved down an o-jek for hotel shopping.  He took me around to a few overprices places and then he made a mistake by bringing me to a hotel right next to Harri’s homestay.  This was recommended in lonely planet as super cheap and really nice.  So I went next door and enquired about rooms.  They had one, so I booked in.  The o-jek driver was less than pleased, but I ended up renting his scooter from him the next day.  So it was fine.

Betty was the owner of Harri’s, a German lady in her mid 40s.  She was a real sweetheart, made sure everything was perfect for me.  Later that day while wandering around I met Lisa again and we had a few drink with a couple of Indonesian boys.  The next day I took the scooter for a ride up into the mountains to the hot springs.  The hot springs were pretty, but luke warm.  It’s not as exciting without other people to spend time with either.  So I didn’t spend much time there.

Then after that it was all just riding around on scooter with no real direction.  That was kind of a bad idea.  I was looking for beaches but I couldn’t find any.  I must have headed in the wrong direction.  I did find some fun dead end streets though.  After my failed beach attempt I went back to my homestay and decided it was beach time.  I chatted with everyone and their mother.  I always try and be polite to the vendors, even though they are annoying.  I didn’t buy anything from the shops or the people walking around with jewelry but I did get a massage from one lady.   I knew I had drinks with Lisa later, so I only stayed on the beach for a little while.  Drinks were fun, Lisa brought along a friend and then repaired my  jeju glass necklaces.  Fricken awesome!!!  Those necklaces mean so much to me.

The next day it was time to head over to Kuta again.  After a three hour bus ride I was able to meet up with Jaspreet before he caught his flight out.  We went out for Chinese seafood!  It was delicious in a spicy red pepper sauce.  Then he wandered around and tried to help me find a hotel, in the end I went back to my original hotel.  I sunbathed drank a beer and just waited for the next day’s flight to Bandung and then to Kuala Lumpur.

Bromo, the volcano hike, and Surabya

 To get to the famous Bromo volcano hike I had to first get to Malang to catch a bus to Probolinggo and then catch a mini bus to bromo town and national park.  So I got all my gear together and got a night train to Malang.  I booked accommodations, so I could sleep as soon as I got in.  I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping on the train.  I got in at 5:30 am and my hotel was really close so I just walked over and then took a good long nap.  The hotel was an old Dutch villa and supplied a wonderful breakfast option of eggs and toast or nasi gorang.  I opted for the Indonesian breakfast then headed out to see the town.   

My main goal was to book a tour to a Bromo and Ijen trip by myself.  This was hard to do.  Basicly being a lone traveler means that you spend heaps and heaps to do the tours and because it was the off season I couldn’t even join another tour group. There just weren’t any.  Oh well.  I guess I’ll just have to figure it out on my own.  I ended up taking the early morning bus to Probolinggo.

Nothing leaves on time in this country, when they fill up, that’s when things leave.  I got to the bus station around 7 and waited a half an hour for the bus to leave.  When I got to Probolinggo, I was asked by everyone and their mother if I was going to Bromo and if I wanted a ride.  I knew they would charge outrageous prices to get up the mountain, so instead I found the cheap semi-public minibuses.  For these we had to wait two more hours until the minibus was almost full to leave and then got charged extra on top of the fair because it wasn’t completely full.  

The drive up the mountain was beautiful.  Along the way we went through so many little towns and saw rice patties on the sides of mountains.  It looked almost impossible to get to the crops let alone tend them.  Indonesian people are quite innovative. 

 When we got to Bromo there was a surprise entrance fee of 75,000, about 15 USD. Come on man!  I and the other foreigners went to the park office instead of paying the driver for a ticket, just in case we were getting ripped off.  That irritated the driver, but he eventually took us and we got an official looking entrance pass.  After that bit of hub bub I checked guest house prices and found café lava.  I had been looking online about how to do Bromo without a tour and this place had turned up quite a bit in blogs and general discussions.  It was a cute little guesthouse with internet, western food and informative representatives that told me the best time to go up the mountain and about how long it would take.  I decided on the sunrise hike, so going to bed early was essential.

 

I thought maybe I would need a flashlight, but the general store in town was closed.  I found out in the morning that my cell phone light worked well and didn’t drain my battery.  The hike was only about an hour.  So I woke up at four and followed the path everyone seemed to be taking.  Everyone, again, asked if I needed a ride, but I politely refused.  An hour hike is nothing, but it was off season.  I’m sure these guys needed the money.

The walk was pretty interesting.  The first part of the walk was just a dirt road that led down into sand dunes or, I guess, you could even call it a dessert.  Walking through the dessert was peaceful.  It was a wide expanse of nothing.  At this time in the morning you could see the grey of the false dawn a speckling of stars and little else.  I also saw motorbike lights and 4x4 coming down different paths to go to Bromo.  At the end of the dessert walk was where I met a little scariness.  I could hear a pack of dogs in the distance, but not too far, barking.  I thought it was probably wild dogs, but then I reminded myself that people walk through here all the time and there are tons of people traveling to Bromo first thing in the morning.  They probably belong to one of the natives who live out here.  Once I got past that bit of scariness I had to walk across old river beds and up a windy path to the base of the volcano.  Here people were selling coffee, snacks and ramen.  I also was asked if I wanted to ride a horse up the rest of the way.  I knew it wasn’t far, and also the guide would be walking as I was riding.  To me that seemed a bit silly.  I know how to ride a horse without a guide and also how to walk. 

 

 After a bit I got to base of the volcano and the stairway up to the rim, the hardest part of the hike, and climbed my way up.  It was just about dawn and there were about a dozen people who had gathered.  The sunrise was pretty, even if it was a tad bit cloudy.  The view, on the other hand, was stunning.  You could see for miles and the terraine was beautiful as it was diverse.   I am glad I woke up early. 

The crater was steaming, but not glowing.  The fumes were noxious when the wind was blowing in the right direction.  I coughed and didn’t want to look in to the wind, it stung my eyes a little until I figured out where to stand.  The way back was much less exciting.  I saw more of the Indonesian horseback riders though, and they seemed pretty nifty.  

To get back down to Probolinggo I had to pay more than when I came up, because we had less people on the bus.  From there it was easy to get  a bus to Surabaya.  I got a bit lost coming out of bus station and then the, o-jeck didn’t take me to right Dunkin Donuts that was next to my hostel.    This was totally my fault; I should have looked up my directions better.  The o-jek driver also seemed like he had cerebral palsy… twitchy, but got me where I told him to go. 

 

 In the end I got a taxi and again we went completely in the wrong direction, but I did get there eventually.  I got irritated with the taxi driver, but we ended up being friends.  The hostel, Da Rifi, was quite nice. It had a cluttered but homey, defiantly lived in, feel. It seemed like the son pretty much ran the show.  He was nice and full of conversation. Also super cheap!

 
 

 Surabaya is boring, but not as boring as Malang.  It had a lot of shopping and a cigarette museum.  I did need to pick up a few things for myself, so I went shopping for a bit and then tried to figure out how to get to the Sampoerna factory.  Sampoerna cigarettes are probably the most popular cigarettes in Indonesia.  They are a version of a clove cigarette, but I would say a bit milder.  I personally don’t like them.  Clove cigarettes give me headaches.

The factory was pretty sweet and free.  I even got a tour guide to show me around for a bit.  She showed me the first store that the creator had, and then the slow process to him becoming a cigarette giant.  They even showed me the making of boxes and if I had been there during the day, the factory floor in full swing.  It was pretty cool and I wished Evey had come with me.  She loves those cigarettes and would have enjoyed to trip to their factory.

Temples, cooking, and celbrations galore in Yogyakarta

Temple day! 

I booked a tour with via via to visit the smaller temples then get dropped off at Panbanan temple complex.  The girl giving the tour was a college student, she had been working with the company for about 5 years on and off.  She really seemed to enjoy what she was doing and was super informative.   

 So on to the hidden temples:  Did you know that  there are two different types of temples in Indonesia?  I’m sure there are a few more than two, but the majority of the ancient temples are Hindu and Buddhist.  You can tell them apart by the tops.  One is bell shape and that is Hindu, a square shape is Buddhist.

The first temple we visited was for vishnu’s wife (laksmi) that was found in the 60’s by a farmer.  He found one of the corner pieces when he was plowing and slowly more and more pieces were found.  The temple was all over the place, so experts had to come in and piece it back together.   The locals didn’t want to sell their land around the temple.  So only part of the temple complex is restored today.  Archeologists think that the surround farm lands have more of the complex hidden.  

The next temple we visited was a monastery, with no floors.  The floors were the only thing made of wood, so of coarse they rotted out a long time ago.  You could tell it was a place of learning because the structure is two stories; giving a teaching space and a living space.  Also it had carvings of all the different teachings that would have been built there.  

The last hidden temple we went to was  a wedding present to a royal couple.  The couple was one of the attempts to unify the people so one was Hindu and the other  Buddhist.  I found this temple complex the most fascinating.  You could see all the differences in the religions and it was huge.  There were piles of stones that had yet to be put back together.  My tour guide said it took about a year to reassemble one of the small buildings that dotted the courtyard.  Also here we saw a great meeting room.  The roof and walls had long ago rotted, but the statues were still intact.  Well almost, most of the heads were missing.  I noticed this inside the restored temples as well.  Often the heads are missing.  My guide informed me that they were stolen and sold to collectors.  The society that owns and maintains the complex has replaced the heads several times, but in the end they always get stolen anyway.  

Prambanan is so huge you could rent bicycles to go around the complex or take motorized train.  Unfortunately it was also a bit pricy.  20 USD, that is 4 or 5 times more expensive than anything else I had done.  When entering they present you with a black and white sari and tea.  The sari is for the foreign visitors (who are required to pay more).  The designs on sari is traditional batik and design of the Yogyakarta region.

I wandered around a bit and eventually headed to where the crowd was gathered.  This is the most famous of the temples (prambanan).  You can go in, but you have to wear a hard hat and only 50 people are allowed in the temple at a time.  It was raining at this point.  But it was rainy season in Indonesia, so I was used to it.  I had a poncho and an umbrella.  After the main temple it was more of the same, and not as interesting without a tour guide.  My tour guide had to wait outside for me.  

 I walked around a bit and heard some music and what looked like dancers.  I caught the tail end of a trance dance.  It was quite weird.  The guy was dancing and seemed to be performing a story of some kind, but he was completely out of it.  He danced crazily and seemed to have convulsions throughout the story.  Other dancers were using their hands to “kill” him with knives and and convulsed as if it really hurt.  By the end of the dance he was so out of it he couldn’t even walk by himself and had to helped.  It was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen.  After locating my guide we went back into the city via another country route. 

 I loved seeing all the different houses and more of the agriculture.  On the way back we pasted pigeon races.  This was quite bizarre to me.  When I think of pigeons I think of little notes attached to their feet or pigeon pies (don’t look at me that way.  I read way too much.).  This was a similar concept to messenger pigeon.  The pidgins are released some ways away at the same time.  The owners then wait in a different location, but a location familiar to the pigeon.  The pigeon that gets there quickest and also lands correctly wins.  It was pretty cool.  The locals looked like they were having a great time.

I got back to the hostel and Claudia was waiting for me.  We were both a bit exhausted from our day (she did the sunrise temple tour) but decided to go out to Malioboro street later.  We heard it was a pretty cool place to go.  When we both were refreshed we headed that way in bicycle tuk tuk.  The first one we go was an old man and he could hardly take Claudia and me down the street (where he thought we were going).  The next guy haggled with us and we eventually got the prices down to something not quite so rip-off-ish.  

Mariobolo street is basicly a night market.  On the way there and back we passed horses with dyed manes and fully decked out tuk tuks with neon lights and brightly painted signs.  One we arrived we could hardly walk, there were so many people and shops.  We started wandering.  I had a goal: shoes.  I had bought some tennis shoes early in the week but now I was looking for hiking sandles.  I think mine died in India somewhere.  But of course we got side tracked.  Claudia was in a shopping mood.  So we picked up some traditional batik and then looked at funny hats and a few other things.  We also found a shoe store between all of our wanderings, and I got my sandles for 9$!!! Score.  After all that we were hungry.  We walked and walked and walked and came to a mall.  Instead of getting Mcdonalds, like so many people there, we hit the basement and got some fried noodles and soup.  It was a good night.

The next day was my cooking classes.  I asked specifically for the morning class so I could go to the market with my instructor and see where everything came from.  The market part was exactly what I expected.  After living in Asia and touring around so much you get used to all the craziness and less than sanitary conditions you buy things in.  After the market I got a coffee while my instructor got things ready.  She brought a friend to keep us company.  It was good.  Sometimes just two people can have a bit of a lag in conversation, but a third person can make all the difference.  We made Gulai nangka (jackfruit curry) a side dish, and Ayan Bumbu Rujak (Indonesian curried chicken).  The most interesting part of the recipies to me was using the mortar and pestel to crush all the spices together.  I had never done that before.  I guess in the western world we would just throw it all in the food processor.  But I really feel like the flavor came out so much nicer in a mortar and pestal.

After cooking I did manage to find a pedicure place.  After all the hours I had spent the last few months on my feet, it was great to just relax and get them looking nice again.  That night Claudia and I had made plans to go to the puppet show.  Before the puppet show I was advised to try a dish specific to Yogykarta, nasi godeg.  So we headed out to find it and it was interesting.  I was told it was gogin to be disgusting.  It’s made from jackfruit that has been slow cooked, spiced and sweetened.  I thought it was good, but not something I would eat everyday but good.  

 Claudia and I showed up early, so first we headed out a carnival we saw across the street.  At this point it was pouring.  So we were sharing an umbrella and laughing our heads off as we splashed around and just enjoyed to carnival.  

 The puppet show was great!  Because it was off season there were only a few tourists there to see the show.  It was nice, like having our own private showing.  The musicians and the puppet master were really nice as well.  The musicians encouraged us to help them play the drums and wooden xylophones.  I found it a bit awkward trying to figure out when to hit the notes, but it was still good fun.

  The puppets were so beautiful and diverse.  The story we stayed to watch was intricate.  About betrayal and family, women and men fighting, death and a victor.  It was a traditional story used to teach about morality.  It was all in Indonesian so after an hour we both were a bit bored.  We headed out early.  Claudia had a flight to catch in the morning and I had plans to go back to the sultan’s palace to see the celebrations for Muhammad’s birthday.  But when I got back, I sat down outside my room to enjoy a beer.  A few of the other guests were in the dining area chatting, eating, drinking and invited me over.  I’m glad I did.  They were friends from secondary school and took this trip every year.  I really enjoyed myself hanging out with a new group of people.    

Muhammad’s birthday was amazing.  I have never seen something so exotic and fun.   I had gotten there a bit late, so I just barely caught the end of the opening ceremony.  There were tons of people dressed up.  It seemed to me that they may have been different parts of the military dressed in traditional garb.  Whoever they were they were fabulous.  They even let me take my picture with them.  :)  They had a parade and bands and offerings of food shaped into huge towers.  The offering were brought to the mosque and the rest of the public celebrations were held inside the palace.  There was entertainment everywhere.  Vendors, historical sites, museum exhibits, traditional music, singing and more puppeting.  I ended up walking around a bit, sitting and listening to the music, then I wandered outside for a bit.

The carnival Claudia and I had seen the night before was in full swing.  It had tons of shops, people and just interesting things to look at.  I loved the hermit crabs with brightly colored shells.  It was so hot walking around looking at everything that I ended up buying a fan.  I feel like I have sweated more in Indonesia than any other country I have been to.  One thing I did not like was the traffic getting out of the celebrations.  It was wall to wall with people walking, tuk tuks and cars.  I was trying to get to the bird market that Claudia had told me about the day before.

 The bird market was interesting, but at the same time a bit cruel.  There were all sorts of animals not just bird.  I saw owls, bats, lizards, multicolored chicks and of coarse your run of the mill birds like ducks, chickens and canaries.