Bandung, 16th Dec 2014, Tuesday
I had been in Bandung since 12th to congratulate Willy Eka Chandra on his FYP viva session and my sisters came on 14th. Willy is one of my best
partners since high school, he studied law in Universitas Parahyangan in Bandung.
Had been being great company to us in previous four days, he brought us to wherever we wanted to visit in Bandung including Tangkuban Perahu and Lembang floating market. Willy would ride on his motorcycle and I rode on his friend's.
6.00 am
The reason why I started to write on this day is we had to say goodbye to Willy, we need to walk on our own. So I thought I should write down the entire story, it must be challenging series recalling we will go to a place we've never been with very limited resource. With a backpack for each of us, we walked out from Rancabentang Residence (to cut cost, we rented a room in Willy's dorm for 75k per night), went to Indomaret outlet at the opposite of UNPAR's campus to purchase train ticket bound for Semarang which was scheduled on 9.30pm on this very same day.
Had been being great company to us in previous four days, he brought us to wherever we wanted to visit in Bandung including Tangkuban Perahu and Lembang floating market. Willy would ride on his motorcycle and I rode on his friend's.
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| Willy and his thesis |
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| Went uphill with motorbikes |
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| Tangkuban Perahu, Bandung |
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| Lembang Floating Market, Bandung |
6.00 am
The reason why I started to write on this day is we had to say goodbye to Willy, we need to walk on our own. So I thought I should write down the entire story, it must be challenging series recalling we will go to a place we've never been with very limited resource. With a backpack for each of us, we walked out from Rancabentang Residence (to cut cost, we rented a room in Willy's dorm for 75k per night), went to Indomaret outlet at the opposite of UNPAR's campus to purchase train ticket bound for Semarang which was scheduled on 9.30pm on this very same day.
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| Rancabentang Residence, one of dorms behind UNPAR Bandung |
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| Indomaret makes purchasing railway ticket very convenient |
Our plan for this day is to visit Kawah Putih, the legendary white crater in Bandung with public transportation. The problem with public transportation in Indonesia is the absence of one dedicated public transportation channel. Most of them are managed privately and separately, hence it is tough to track its route and security being one of the most concerns.
We took "angkot" (city public transportation vehicle in Bahasa Indonesia) Ciumbeluit - St. Hall line (3000 rupiahs) to the first crowded T-junction down the hill where UNPAR is located. We went on to next angkot Cicahaeum - Ciroyom line to reach Dago (Simpang Tiga Dago) for 2500 rupiahs. Next, we took on big old Damri Bus towards Lewit Panjang Bus Station for 4000 rupiahs.
8.30 am
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| Dago-Lewit Panjang Damri Bus |
8.30 am
From Lewit Panjang Station we took on white Mitsubishi Colt L300 van towards Ciwidey for 12k rupiahs per head. Before the van took off, a little girl came on to the van with portable loudspeaker on her waist, danced along popular Indonesian song "Sakitnya Tuh Disini by Cita Citata", I suppose she was not even 10 years old. Most of the passenger didn't give her money, because there were too many of them, took turn to sing, dance or play some self-made musical instrument in the same van. The distance from Lewit Panjang to Ciwidey took 1.5 hours.
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| Lewit Panjang-Ciwidey White Van, Bandung |
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| Crowded in the van |
10.30 am
The condition in Ciwidey Station was chaotic, there were a lot of angkot drivers would offer you package to kawah putih, which was not legal in truest fact. Be careful when you choose which one to believe. According to online source we read, to go to Kawah Putih, one can take on angkot from Ciwidey for 10k rupiahs, stop at the Situ Patengang Gate then ride the Ontang Anting for 15k rupiahs towards Kawah Putih. However, in the end we met other three backpackers who were planning to go to the same destination and decided to rent a whole angkot for 250k rupiahs instead. The driver was kind, he took us to visit both Kawah Putih and Situ Patenggang then come back to Ciwidey for the price we paid. Trust me, both of them worth a visit, they were beautiful! It's more recommended to rent whole angkot because I rarely saw an angkot on Kawah Putih, most of the people go with exclusive tour bus or drive their personal car. It's easy to find way up but coming back down would be pain in ass. However, you must be in a group of at least six, hence the price paid individually is not too costy. The duration from Ciwidey to Kawah Putih took 45 minutes, subsequently from Kawah Putih to Situ Patengang took 20 minutes.
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| Angkot in Ciwidey |
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| Kawah Putih (White Crater), Bandung |
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| Situ Patengang with three other travellers |
9.30 pm
We waited in Bandung Train Station for 4 hours, the train took off towards Semarang on 9.30pm. That was the first time we took on a train in Indonesia, our own lovely country. Surprisingly, service inside the train was equally good to those in overseas. Train station in Bandung was not huge but clean. However, the attitude of certain passenger was still remain improper. For instance, gentleman sat next to me lift his legs up and put them on the seat in front of him, which is exactly next to where my sister sat. He made our night on the train very inconvenient.
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Public Transport in Bandung
UNPAR -> UNPAR T'Junction : Angkot Ciumbeluit-St. Hall Line IDR3000
UNPAR T'Junction -> Simpang Tiga Dago : Angkot Cicahaeum-Ciroyom Line IDR2500
Simpang Tiga Dago -> Lewit Panjang Bus Station : Damri Bus IDR4000
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| Harina Train bound for Semarang |
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| Interior of train, clean and comfortable |
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| Our backpacks |
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Public Transport in Bandung
UNPAR -> UNPAR T'Junction : Angkot Ciumbeluit-St. Hall Line IDR3000
UNPAR T'Junction -> Simpang Tiga Dago : Angkot Cicahaeum-Ciroyom Line IDR2500
Simpang Tiga Dago -> Lewit Panjang Bus Station : Damri Bus IDR4000
Lewit Panjang St -> Ciwidey (1.5hours) : Colt L300 White Van IDR12k
Ciwidey St -> Kawah Putih (45mins) : Angkot Rental IDR250k (6 people)
Kawah Putih -> Situ Patengang (20mins) : Inclusive Angkot Rental IDR250k
Situ Patengan -> Ciwidey St (1hour) : Inclusive Angkot Rental IDR250k
Bandung -> Semarang Tawang St (8hours) : Harina Train IDR160k
Accomodation in Bandung
Rancabentang Residence : IDR150k (2 nights, 3 people)
Estimate spending = IDR280k per head
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Semarang, 17th Dec 2014, Wednesday
5.30 am
We arrived at Semarang Tawang Station, were amazed by the historical station building which collaborates both Holland and Java culture into one captivative architecture. We had no clue at all about this town, therefore we opened Waze and walked around the town while looking for guest house and breakfast. We found a cheap guest house in Pecinan the chinatown of Semarang, however room only available on the next day therefore we reserved a space and kept on looking for other direct available guest house.
We arrived at Semarang Tawang Station, were amazed by the historical station building which collaborates both Holland and Java culture into one captivative architecture. We had no clue at all about this town, therefore we opened Waze and walked around the town while looking for guest house and breakfast. We found a cheap guest house in Pecinan the chinatown of Semarang, however room only available on the next day therefore we reserved a space and kept on looking for other direct available guest house.
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| Semarang Tawang Train Station |
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| Griya Handayani, Pecinan Semarang |
8.30 am
As the sun started to rise up into middle of the sky, weather was getting hotter. We were exhausted, we couldn't find any cheap guest house on the way we've walked through but those prestigious hotels. We took a moment of rest on the bench in the area of Simpang Lima, the busiest location in Semarang where five protocol roads converge into one junction. At this moment, one becak driver came to us and offered to take us to the cheapest guest house nearby for 15k rupiahs, we were hesitated but chose to believe him at the end, we had literally no other option. I would say we were lucky in believing in him, we were brought to a guest house in small alley nearby named "Griya Kencana" which costed 100k rupiahs for a night (double bed). The guest house was considered big with 28 rooms, clean, comfortable and convenient especially it's located nearby Simpang Lima, the heart of Semarang Town. Recommended!
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| Walk, walk, walk and walk |
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| This gentleman offered us a ride to cheap guest house |
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| Griya Kencana, Simpang Lima Semarang |
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| Griya Kencana Business Card |
4.00 pm
We were exhausted and slept for the whole morning towards afternoon. On the afternoon, we went to visit Lawang Sewu, estimately 700m walk from Griya Kencana. Alternatively, one can take on Trans Semarang to reach Lawang Sewu (Halte SMAN 5). The bus stop nearest to Griya Kencana guest house is "Halte Gramedia", about 200m walk. Entrance ticket into Lawang Sewu was very cheap, only 4000 rupiahs per head.
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| Halte Gramedia, Trans Semarang Bus Stop only 200m from guest house |
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| Lawang Sewu, Semarang |
Semarang, 18th Dec 2014, Thursday
7.30 am
We went to visit Sam Poo Kong this morning, the popular temple which collaborates Chinese culture and Muslim religion in Semarang. We took on angkot Johar-Sampangan line to reach Kaligarang for 4000 rupiahs per head. The angkot can be found in front of "Halte Gramedia", the nearest bus stop from Griya Kencana guest house. When we reached Kaligarang junction, we walked across a bridge with river beneath for about 150m and found Sam Poo Kong temple. How coincidentally, I met my high school mates in this temple, Christo, Andre and Mundi. We've never met each other for four years! They were studying in Yogyakarta, came to visit Semarang for couple days.
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| Coincidentally bumped into high school pals |
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| Sam Poo Kong, Semarang |
11.00 am
We crossed the street in front of Sam Poo Kong temple and took on to public city bus Karjadi-By.Manik line towards Watugong Pagoda. There was no specific stops for this kind of bus so we told the driver we wanted to go to Watugong and he charged us for 10k rupiahs per head for half an hour travel duration. The moment we reached Watugong, rain started to fall heavily therefore we took shelter under the pagoda for nearly 2 hours long!
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| Watugong Pagoda, Semarang |
2.00 pm
We planned to pay a visit to Jepara the next day and online source said the ticket must be purchased in Terboyo inter-city bus station. We waited for Trans Semarang bus on the bus stop 100m away from Watugong Pagoda for quite long. Apparently, there were no others waiting but only us since this is quite far from downtown. Two buses passed by without stopping and take us on board, the second bus conductor shouted to us "Hey, this bus stop platform is not operated yet!". Only we realized, we waited on the wrong bus stop, we should wait on the smaller bus stop located about 50m away. We were so disappointed at that moment, we thought the bus could have just stopped at the bigger stop and take us on board, it's not a railway automated vehicle anyway. However, we understood that the driver must follow existing procedure. It took 1 hour from Watugong which located at the south to reach Terboyo Station which is at the north.
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| Trans Semarang Bus |
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| Waited at the wrong bus stop |
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| The correct bus stop (so tiny!) |
4.00 pm
We were disappointed by Terboyo Station, it was old and neglected. A lot of random guys came to us to offer service towards so called "everywhere you want", there was no dedicated central ticket counter. We decided to head back to downtown with Trans Semarang bus and cancelled Jepara plan for the next day. We went to visit Kota Tua, the historical site in Semarang with Dutch-Indonesia architecture. We had lontong tahu gimbal at the small stall next to artistic Semarang Post Office, took picture at the famous Immanuel Church and ate the legendary lumpia (spring roll) at an old shop in Gang Lombok. Subsequently, we went to the guest house that we've booked the room in previous day in Pecinan. The name of guest house is Griya Handayani which cost 120k rupiahs per night. At this moment, we just realized that "Griya" means "house" in local accent. All of those, Kota Tua, Pecinan, Gang Lombok are located in a district, walk-able. On the evening, we went to have dinner at roadside stall in front of the guest house and purchased train ticket towards Solo town in Indomaret convenient store. The train ticket from Semarang to Solo only cost 10k rupiahs per seat!
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| Lontong Tahu Gimbal |
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| Lumpia Semarang, a famous old vendor at Gang Lombok Semarang |
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| Lumpia (Spring Roll) Semarang |
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| Famous old-fashioned post office in Kota Tua, Semarang |
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| GPIB Immanuel Church, Semarang |
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| One of old and artistic buildings in Kota Tua, Semarang |
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Public Transport in Semarang
Simpang Lima -> Griya Kencana : Becak IDR15k (3 people)
Halte Gramedia -> Kaligarang : Angkot Johar-Sampangan Line IDR4000
Sam Poo Kong -> Watugong (30mins) : Bus Karjadi-By Manik Line IDR10k
Watugong -> Terboyo St : Trans Semarang IDR4000
Terboyo St -> Kota Tua : Trans Semarang IDR4000
Semarang Tawang St -> Solo Balapan St : Kalijaga Train IDR10k
Accomodation in Semarang
Griya Kecana Guest House 024-8456366 : IDR100k per night (3 people)
Griya Handayani Guest House 024-40270842 : IDR120k per night (3 people)
Admission Ticket
Entry Tiket Lawang Sewu : IDR4000
Entry Ticket Sam Poo Kong : IDR10k
Estimate Spending = IDR130k per head
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Accomodation in Semarang
Griya Kecana Guest House 024-8456366 : IDR100k per night (3 people)
Griya Handayani Guest House 024-40270842 : IDR120k per night (3 people)
Admission Ticket
Entry Tiket Lawang Sewu : IDR4000
Entry Ticket Sam Poo Kong : IDR10k
Estimate Spending = IDR130k per head
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Semarang -> Solo, 19th Dec 2014, Friday
5.30 am
We woke up early in the morning, washed up, and departed towards train station after having free breakfast provided by guest house. We walked to Semarang Tawang train station, closer than we thought initially. Before entering the train station, we took a last quick selfie with this artistic building in Semarang. Train was supposed to leave on 9am, however we're surprised by the announcement which said the departure would be delayed for three hours due to technical problem. We didn't blame for what happened, there are always consequences behind inter-city train ticket as cheap as 10k rupiahs!
3.00 pm
We arrived at Solo Balapan train station, we were totally clueless so we randomly walked towards the right hand side of the station in expectation to find some cheap guest house. Right hand side seems more crowded. About 500m walk, the hungry stomach led us to go into "Lombok Ijo" restaurant which serves javanese food. There was a guest house-like in front of this restaurant, we did not have much expectation on this hotel because it's named "Hotel Gajah Mada" which indirectly clarify itself must be hotel-priced. Without giving any give up chance, after the lunch we went in to "Hotel Gajah Mada" to know the room's rate. We were surprised when the clerk said "60k rupiahs for room without AC and 170k rupiahs with inclusive AC". We all smiled and without any doubt, we took one room without AC, three single beds and inclusive bathroom for only 60k rupiahs. The cheapest we've got so far!
6.00 pm
It rained everyday lately, especially on the evening. After wash-up and quick nap, we walked under heavy rain for three kilometers guided by waze, were looking for the popular Serabi Notosuman. There was no becak around, because of heavy rain, no one comes out literally. We were exhausted when we reached the destination, and surprisingly disappointed with the fact that Serabi Notosuman only operates from 6 to 11 in the morning daily. At the end, we had pork satay in a small shop nearby and it was surprisingly delicious. After that, we visited Solo Paragon Mall because it's not ideal to visit Solo town square under that heavy rain weather.
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Transportation in Solo
Hotel Gajah Mada -> Srabi Notosuman : Becak IDR15k (two ways, 3 people)
Hotel Gajah Mada -> Solo Balapan St : Solo Trans Bus IDR4000
Solo Balapan St -> Yogyakarta Tugu St : Sidomukti Train IDR20k
Accomodation in Solo
Hotel Gajah Mada : IDR60k per night (3 people)
Estimate Spending = IDR50k per head
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Solo -> Yogyakarta, 20th Dec 2014, Saturday
8.00 am
Before the departure to Yogyakarta, we rented a becak to have Serabi Notosuman, the renting fee costed us only 15k rupiahs two ways, considered as very cheap! Subsequently we went back to Hotel Gajah Mada, packed up our things and headed to Solo Balapan train station with Solo Trans public bus. The Sidomukti train bound for Yogyakarta departed on schedule, costed 20k rupiahs per seat.
11.00 am
Rain fell heavily when we arrived at Yogyakarta. It was the most desperate moment for us, we walked under the heavily poured rain for nearly three hours looking for cheap guest house. It was tough to find one because most of them are fully booked (it's about to be new year holiday season) and costed in range of 300k - 400k per night. Everything started to get worse and we started to blame each other indirectly.
2.00 pm
Starving stomach led us back to a noodle shop nearby Malioboro, the crowded tourist junction in Yogyakarta. We decided the last option is to stay in a "real" hotel which would cost us about 400k rupiahs per night. After the lunch we decided to give our last shot in discovering cheap guest house within Yogyakarta downtown center. Luck was on our side apparently, in the most desperate moment we found a guest house called "Candi Losmen". It was strategically located on the street between Malioboro and Yogyakarta Tugu train station, the street name is "Jalan Pasar Kembang". This guest house was not noticeable, one may think this is a normal citizen's house with small open-garage in front. The sign board which says "Candi Losmen" was very old and tiny, hanged in front of that small garage. The room was rated 200k rupiahs per night for three people with inclusive bathroom. It seemed like only one staff was working in this guest house, with two old men who always sit in front of the guest house and there was no one staying in this guest house but only us. The rooms are all locked from outside except ours. The house was a little bit old, seemed neglected and dark. It was quite creepy at that moment apparently.
6.00 pm
There were so much to see along Malioboro Street, merchants are promoting their best textile product along this historical kilometers long street in Yogyakarta town's center. On top of being tourist centre, Malioboro Street is considered as central district of Yogyakarta government. Coincidentally this was the visiting day by Jokowi, President of Indonesia to Yogyakarta. The whole Malioboro street was full with tourist and polices escorted for Mr. President's safety. It was an extremely tiring day indeed, although the guest house was not as convenient, we had no choice but to sleep well on this night.
Yogyakarta, 21st Dec 2014, Sunday
7.00 am
From Candi Losmen guest house, we went across the Malioboro street and waited for Trans Jogja bus in Malioboro bus stop. We took bus 3A and stopped at PKU Ahmad Dahlan bus stop then changed to bus 2B towards Jombor. Trans Jogja has flat rate, 4000 rupiahs for one time ride regardless of the travel distance. From Malioboro to Jombor took around 45 minutes long. In Jombor bus station, we took on bus Cemara Tunggal which runs from Jogja to Borobudur. The duration from Jombor to Borobudur was one hour and costed 15k rupiahs.
In Borobudur bus terminal, one can choose to walk for 800 m or take on a "delman" (horse drawn vehicle) for 15k rupiahs to reach the heritage site of Borobudur. The entrance ticket into Borobudur costed 30k rupiahs each head for local tourist. Double the price for international tourist.
12.00 pm
It was a sunny day initially, dark clouds came out of nowhere and surprisingly gathered right on top of Borobudur. Rain fell heavily after that, luckily, we bought three rain coat in Malioboro the night before. We expected this because of the experiences in past two days. Due to heavy rainfall, we decided to spend some cash and let delman rode us back to Borobudur Bus Terminal. Going back to Yogyakarta was taken the same way but shorter duration. Trans Jogja bus from Jombor to Malioboro was quite straight forward, while its counterpart turned a big round across the city.
5.00 pm
We had gudeg on the evening, legendary cuisine that one has to try if they stepped their feet onto Yogyakarta. Then we went to purchase Batik textile product along Malioboro street and took becak to see the legendary twin banyan trees in South Town Square. There were rumors which tell if one can walk across between those two trees with eyes closed, his/her dream will come true. Me and my third sister tried and we passed! My second sister didn't want to try. The renting fee for becak to send us here and back to Malioboro was 40k rupiahs.
Yogyakarta, 22nd Dec 2014, Monday
7.00 am
We had our breakfast at the corner of Malioboro junction, exactly at the opposite of Tugu Train Station's main gate. The temporary stall located on the pedestrian sells fresh milk and Soto, famous Indonesian cuisine consist of yellow colored soup, chicken and noodles. This stall is always full of customers on the morning, at least that's what I observed within these two days.
8.30 am
Visiting Prambanan Temple is today's agenda, it can be reached with Trans Jogja Line 1A, bound from Malioboro Bus Stop towards Prambanan Bus Stop (the last stop of line 1A) with numerous stops between, no transit is necessary. The duration from Malioboro to Prambanan with Trans Jogja took about 1 hour, costed 4000 rupiahs per head. From Prambanan Bus Stop, one has to walk about 1.5km to reach the main gate of Prambanan Heritage Site, along the way, there is no place for you to hide from toasting sunlight or one can choose to use becak for 15k rupiahs alternatively. The entry ticket to Prambanan Heritage Site is 30k rupiahs for local tourist, double the price for international tourist. The Prambanan temple is incredibly fabulous.
11.30 am
After enjoying the beauty of Prambanan to its fullest, we walked back to Prambanan Bus Stop. The bus stop was extremely crowded, while we had to go to Airport immediately to catch up with Sir Yacob who would be joining us for the trip from this point onwards. Hence, we decided to take the fastest but fairly economic alternative, becak to take us to Airport for 40k rupiahs. Yogyakarta Adisucipto Airport is situated about 9 km from Prambanan Heritage Site. Complete group was established with the presence of Sir Yacob with his huge yellow luggage (he just came back from business trip in China by the way), we then went to Condong Catur Terminal with cab (actually accessible with Trans Jogja but we didn't know that until we saw a lot of Trans Jogja Bus stopped by the terminal).
3.00 pm
We bought the ticket bound for Purwokerto City for 70k rupiahs per seat and departed from Condong Catur Terminal with Sumber Alam inter-city service van. Purwokerto is hometown to Sir Yacob, although he has moved to Pekanbaru for several years (not to mention he stole my third sister's heart from us ^^ they are in relationship), his sister still remains in Purwokerto staying with his brother in law.
The traveling duration from Yogyakarta to Purwokerto took approximately 7 hours. Driver occasionally stopped halfway and picked up random passengers to increase his personal revenue. We arrived at Purwokerto on late night, Sir Yacob's brother in law picked us up and took us to his home, we would stay in his house for next several days which saved us a lot of cost! Sir Yacob's sister is called Yessi, while his brother in law is called Ivan.
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Transportation in Yogyakarta
Malioboro -> PKU Ahmad Dahlan : Trans Jogja Bus 3A Line IDR4000
PKU Ahmad Dahlan -> Jombor : Trans Jogja 2B Line IDR4000
Jombor -> Borobudur Terminal (1hour) : Bus Cemara Tunggal IDR15k
Borobudur Terminal -> Borobudur Site : Walkable 800m/delman IDR15k (3 people)
Malioboro -> Alun Alun Selatan (South Town Sq) : Becak IDR40k (2 ways)
Malioboro -> Prambanan Bus Stop (1 hour) : Trans Jogja 1A Line IDR4000
Prambanan Bus Stop -> Prambanan Site : Walkable 1.5km / Becak IDR15k (1 way)
Prambanan Bus Stop -> Airport : Becak IDR40k (3 people)
Airport -> Condongcatur Terminal : Trans Jogja IDR4000 / Cab IDR40k (4 people)
Yogyakarta (Condongcatur Terminal) -> Purwokerto : Sumber Alam Van @IDR70k
Accomodation in Yogyakarta
Candi Losmen, Jl Pasar Kembang No 5, Malioboro : IDR200k per night (3 people)
Admission Ticket
Admission Ticket Borobudur : IDR30k for local / IDR60 for foreigner
Admission ticket Prambanan : IDR30k for local / IDR60k for foreigner
Estimate Spending = IDR 300k per head
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Purwokerto, 23rd Dec 2014,Tuesday
Ivan's house is located at the uptown of Purwokerto called Ajibarang, it requires half an hour drive to reach the downtown. Worry not, the best part is, he let us use his car. Again, this saves us REALLY a lot and it made us too convenient as backpackers. We had tahu kupat and mendoan (half-cooked fried tempeh) for breakfast in downtown, 1000 rupiahs for a piece.
Next, we went to Batu Raden recreational park (45 minutes drive from Purwokerto), entrance fee is 7000 rupiahs per head. There were seven waterfalls within the park in total, however the entrance ticket only covers fee to visit the first waterfall which is relatively small. Extra cost will be charged if one wants to visit the six rest, we decided not to pay the visit.
On the afternoon, we drove to Kota Sokaraja (half an hour drive from Purwokerto) to have getuk goreng (cassava+brown sugar) as light appetizer before our lunch, it costed 12k rupiahs for half kilograms. Next, we traveled to Tambak Banyumas (one hour drive from Kota Sokaraja) to enjoy its famous duck satay, there are several restaurants offer the same dishes in that area. We went in to one of the biggest restaurant called "Sate Bebek Pak Encus", it cost 23500 rupiahs for a normal portion (10 sticks of duck meat satay). Although I personally don't like to eat duck meat, I ended up ordered the second and third dishes. Obviously they are famous without no reasons!
Purwokerto & Cilacap, 24th Dec 2014, Wednesday
Earlier on this day, Ivan and Yessi were busy preparing to celebrate Christmas which falls on the very next day. We drove to downtown Purwokerto to start our pre-Christmas adventure. Adventure started with, of course, breakfast ^^, we had Sahoun (noodle-like, white in color) in one of the legendary Sahoun food cart. The small conventional food cart is located on the pedestrian at the corner of cross junction. Do not judge from that tiny food cart, it usually sold out before sun moves to middle of horizon. One has to come early in the morning to be able to experience how Sahoun tastes like, sometimes, in fact most of the times, one has to line up in queue! At first glance, Sahoun doesn't seem interesting to me, the noodle is purely white in color while its soup is totally transparent. However, when I had it in my mouth, mystery solved, I'm not wondering why it's legendary anymore!
Before mid day, we departed towards Cilacap, the closest city from Purwokerto which faces directly to Indian Ocean. It's quite disappointing when we arrived at its famous Teluk Penyu Beach, nothing much on the considerably dirty seashore but wooden fisherman ships on dark muddy sea water.
However, an opposite island (Nusa Kambangan) catches our attention, an old fortress (Benteng Karang Bolong) was located on that island too, built by Portuguese in past centuries. We were approached by a middle-age gentleman one of the local boat operators, he offered us the two types of round trip boat service to the opposite island where Netherlands Fortress is located :
1. 100k rupiahs : boat will sail to the main gate of heritage site, passenger needs to pay for entrance fee per head in order to enter and visit the fortress.
2. 150k rupiahs : boat will sail through alternative way to the back door of heritage site, passenger do not have to pay for entrance fee in visiting the fortress.
Second option sounds great and adventurous to us, we then knocked it down to 120k rupiahs. At first, we were grateful for taking the second option as we were sailed to an extremely authentic beach covered with white sand, reminded me of the island in Cast Away movie. We walked down from that small boat which can only occupied by 8 people and explore the heritage site on our own. The whole fortress system is comprised of smaller building block within thick forest, not to mention the heritage site was not taken care seriously hence it's a little bit horrific. It's quite confusing as we walked on our own and distance to the front gate is relatively far. That's the reason why legal visitor needs to pay for both entrance ticket and tourism vehicle renting fee. Trust me, it's a better choice to enter the heritage site officially from the front gate. Four of us always stick together and try to explore whatever the fortress provides without going too deep into the thick forest. We went back to the white sand beach and called the operator to pick us up back to mainland.
Purwokerto, 25th December 2014, Thursday
The first word that came out from mouth today was, "Merry Christmas!!!"
We literally didn't go out much from Ivan's house on this Christmas day. Sir Yacob, Ivan and Yessi went to church for almost half a day. This is in fact a lazy day, a day for us to take some rests before continuing the not-so-convenient-anymore adventure. We played some shooting game on front yard, Ivan loves to go hunting in the woods, he has all complete equipment to be a professional hunter, not to mention a hunter dog who barks a lot!
I slept a lot today, remembering we need to be at Purwokerto Train Station to catch midnight train back towards Yogyakarta. It was extremely tough to wake up on 2 am in the midnight but I made it! Ivan sent us to train station just on time, our train departed to Yogyakarta on 3.30 am. It takes about 2 hours from Purwokerto to Yogyakarta by train, 110k for each head.
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Transportation in Purwokerto & Cilacap
Purwokerto -> Batu Raden (45mins) : Ivan's Car Free of Charge
Purwokerto -> Sokaraja -> Tambak Banyumas (1.5hours) : Ivan's car FoC
Purwokerto -> Cilacap (1hour) : Ivan's car FoC
Teluk Penyu Beach -> Nusa Kambangan : Fisherman Boat IDR150k (2 ways, 4 people)
We woke up early in the morning, washed up, and departed towards train station after having free breakfast provided by guest house. We walked to Semarang Tawang train station, closer than we thought initially. Before entering the train station, we took a last quick selfie with this artistic building in Semarang. Train was supposed to leave on 9am, however we're surprised by the announcement which said the departure would be delayed for three hours due to technical problem. We didn't blame for what happened, there are always consequences behind inter-city train ticket as cheap as 10k rupiahs!
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| Train ticket Semarang-Solo, only IDR10k per ticket |
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| Quick selfie in front of historical Semarang Tawang Station |
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| Kalijaga train towards Solo |
3.00 pm
We arrived at Solo Balapan train station, we were totally clueless so we randomly walked towards the right hand side of the station in expectation to find some cheap guest house. Right hand side seems more crowded. About 500m walk, the hungry stomach led us to go into "Lombok Ijo" restaurant which serves javanese food. There was a guest house-like in front of this restaurant, we did not have much expectation on this hotel because it's named "Hotel Gajah Mada" which indirectly clarify itself must be hotel-priced. Without giving any give up chance, after the lunch we went in to "Hotel Gajah Mada" to know the room's rate. We were surprised when the clerk said "60k rupiahs for room without AC and 170k rupiahs with inclusive AC". We all smiled and without any doubt, we took one room without AC, three single beds and inclusive bathroom for only 60k rupiahs. The cheapest we've got so far!
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| Solo Balapan Train Station |
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| Hotel Gajah Mada, 500m from Solo Balapan Train Station |
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| A room with 3 beds, only IDR60k per night |
6.00 pm
It rained everyday lately, especially on the evening. After wash-up and quick nap, we walked under heavy rain for three kilometers guided by waze, were looking for the popular Serabi Notosuman. There was no becak around, because of heavy rain, no one comes out literally. We were exhausted when we reached the destination, and surprisingly disappointed with the fact that Serabi Notosuman only operates from 6 to 11 in the morning daily. At the end, we had pork satay in a small shop nearby and it was surprisingly delicious. After that, we visited Solo Paragon Mall because it's not ideal to visit Solo town square under that heavy rain weather.
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| Delicious pork satay, Solo |
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Transportation in Solo
Hotel Gajah Mada -> Srabi Notosuman : Becak IDR15k (two ways, 3 people)
Hotel Gajah Mada -> Solo Balapan St : Solo Trans Bus IDR4000
Solo Balapan St -> Yogyakarta Tugu St : Sidomukti Train IDR20k
Accomodation in Solo
Hotel Gajah Mada : IDR60k per night (3 people)
Estimate Spending = IDR50k per head
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Solo -> Yogyakarta, 20th Dec 2014, Saturday
8.00 am
Before the departure to Yogyakarta, we rented a becak to have Serabi Notosuman, the renting fee costed us only 15k rupiahs two ways, considered as very cheap! Subsequently we went back to Hotel Gajah Mada, packed up our things and headed to Solo Balapan train station with Solo Trans public bus. The Sidomukti train bound for Yogyakarta departed on schedule, costed 20k rupiahs per seat.
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| Srabi Notosuman in Solo, since 1923 |
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| Solo Trans Bus |
11.00 am
Rain fell heavily when we arrived at Yogyakarta. It was the most desperate moment for us, we walked under the heavily poured rain for nearly three hours looking for cheap guest house. It was tough to find one because most of them are fully booked (it's about to be new year holiday season) and costed in range of 300k - 400k per night. Everything started to get worse and we started to blame each other indirectly.
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| Tugu Train Station, Yogyakarta |
2.00 pm
Starving stomach led us back to a noodle shop nearby Malioboro, the crowded tourist junction in Yogyakarta. We decided the last option is to stay in a "real" hotel which would cost us about 400k rupiahs per night. After the lunch we decided to give our last shot in discovering cheap guest house within Yogyakarta downtown center. Luck was on our side apparently, in the most desperate moment we found a guest house called "Candi Losmen". It was strategically located on the street between Malioboro and Yogyakarta Tugu train station, the street name is "Jalan Pasar Kembang". This guest house was not noticeable, one may think this is a normal citizen's house with small open-garage in front. The sign board which says "Candi Losmen" was very old and tiny, hanged in front of that small garage. The room was rated 200k rupiahs per night for three people with inclusive bathroom. It seemed like only one staff was working in this guest house, with two old men who always sit in front of the guest house and there was no one staying in this guest house but only us. The rooms are all locked from outside except ours. The house was a little bit old, seemed neglected and dark. It was quite creepy at that moment apparently.
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| Losmen Candi, a cheap guest house in Malioboro |
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| Room can accomodate 3 people, not so comfortable but cheap |
6.00 pm
There were so much to see along Malioboro Street, merchants are promoting their best textile product along this historical kilometers long street in Yogyakarta town's center. On top of being tourist centre, Malioboro Street is considered as central district of Yogyakarta government. Coincidentally this was the visiting day by Jokowi, President of Indonesia to Yogyakarta. The whole Malioboro street was full with tourist and polices escorted for Mr. President's safety. It was an extremely tiring day indeed, although the guest house was not as convenient, we had no choice but to sleep well on this night.
Yogyakarta, 21st Dec 2014, Sunday
7.00 am
From Candi Losmen guest house, we went across the Malioboro street and waited for Trans Jogja bus in Malioboro bus stop. We took bus 3A and stopped at PKU Ahmad Dahlan bus stop then changed to bus 2B towards Jombor. Trans Jogja has flat rate, 4000 rupiahs for one time ride regardless of the travel distance. From Malioboro to Jombor took around 45 minutes long. In Jombor bus station, we took on bus Cemara Tunggal which runs from Jogja to Borobudur. The duration from Jombor to Borobudur was one hour and costed 15k rupiahs.
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| Yogyakarta Cemara Tunggal Bus, Jombor St - Borobudur St |
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| Electronic admission ticket into Borobudur Heritage Site, 30k per ticket |
12.00 pm
It was a sunny day initially, dark clouds came out of nowhere and surprisingly gathered right on top of Borobudur. Rain fell heavily after that, luckily, we bought three rain coat in Malioboro the night before. We expected this because of the experiences in past two days. Due to heavy rainfall, we decided to spend some cash and let delman rode us back to Borobudur Bus Terminal. Going back to Yogyakarta was taken the same way but shorter duration. Trans Jogja bus from Jombor to Malioboro was quite straight forward, while its counterpart turned a big round across the city.
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| Dark cloud gathered on top of Borobudur |
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| We have all prepared |
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| Rode on delman back to Borbudur St, IDR15k |
5.00 pm
We had gudeg on the evening, legendary cuisine that one has to try if they stepped their feet onto Yogyakarta. Then we went to purchase Batik textile product along Malioboro street and took becak to see the legendary twin banyan trees in South Town Square. There were rumors which tell if one can walk across between those two trees with eyes closed, his/her dream will come true. Me and my third sister tried and we passed! My second sister didn't want to try. The renting fee for becak to send us here and back to Malioboro was 40k rupiahs.
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| Gudeg Yogya, image source : www.tripadvisor.com |
Yogyakarta, 22nd Dec 2014, Monday
7.00 am
We had our breakfast at the corner of Malioboro junction, exactly at the opposite of Tugu Train Station's main gate. The temporary stall located on the pedestrian sells fresh milk and Soto, famous Indonesian cuisine consist of yellow colored soup, chicken and noodles. This stall is always full of customers on the morning, at least that's what I observed within these two days.
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| Malioboro, one of the most famous district in Yogyakarta |
8.30 am
Visiting Prambanan Temple is today's agenda, it can be reached with Trans Jogja Line 1A, bound from Malioboro Bus Stop towards Prambanan Bus Stop (the last stop of line 1A) with numerous stops between, no transit is necessary. The duration from Malioboro to Prambanan with Trans Jogja took about 1 hour, costed 4000 rupiahs per head. From Prambanan Bus Stop, one has to walk about 1.5km to reach the main gate of Prambanan Heritage Site, along the way, there is no place for you to hide from toasting sunlight or one can choose to use becak for 15k rupiahs alternatively. The entry ticket to Prambanan Heritage Site is 30k rupiahs for local tourist, double the price for international tourist. The Prambanan temple is incredibly fabulous.
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| Quick selfie at Prambanan Temple |
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| Histrorical and intellectual architechture for centuries |
11.30 am
After enjoying the beauty of Prambanan to its fullest, we walked back to Prambanan Bus Stop. The bus stop was extremely crowded, while we had to go to Airport immediately to catch up with Sir Yacob who would be joining us for the trip from this point onwards. Hence, we decided to take the fastest but fairly economic alternative, becak to take us to Airport for 40k rupiahs. Yogyakarta Adisucipto Airport is situated about 9 km from Prambanan Heritage Site. Complete group was established with the presence of Sir Yacob with his huge yellow luggage (he just came back from business trip in China by the way), we then went to Condong Catur Terminal with cab (actually accessible with Trans Jogja but we didn't know that until we saw a lot of Trans Jogja Bus stopped by the terminal).
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| Trans Jogja Bus, convenient public transport across Yogyakarta with IDR4k flat rate |
3.00 pm
We bought the ticket bound for Purwokerto City for 70k rupiahs per seat and departed from Condong Catur Terminal with Sumber Alam inter-city service van. Purwokerto is hometown to Sir Yacob, although he has moved to Pekanbaru for several years (not to mention he stole my third sister's heart from us ^^ they are in relationship), his sister still remains in Purwokerto staying with his brother in law.
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| Sumber Alam Van towards Purwokerto, IDR70k per seat |
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Transportation in Yogyakarta
Malioboro -> PKU Ahmad Dahlan : Trans Jogja Bus 3A Line IDR4000
PKU Ahmad Dahlan -> Jombor : Trans Jogja 2B Line IDR4000
Jombor -> Borobudur Terminal (1hour) : Bus Cemara Tunggal IDR15k
Borobudur Terminal -> Borobudur Site : Walkable 800m/delman IDR15k (3 people)
Malioboro -> Alun Alun Selatan (South Town Sq) : Becak IDR40k (2 ways)
Malioboro -> Prambanan Bus Stop (1 hour) : Trans Jogja 1A Line IDR4000
Prambanan Bus Stop -> Prambanan Site : Walkable 1.5km / Becak IDR15k (1 way)
Prambanan Bus Stop -> Airport : Becak IDR40k (3 people)
Airport -> Condongcatur Terminal : Trans Jogja IDR4000 / Cab IDR40k (4 people)
Yogyakarta (Condongcatur Terminal) -> Purwokerto : Sumber Alam Van @IDR70k
Accomodation in Yogyakarta
Candi Losmen, Jl Pasar Kembang No 5, Malioboro : IDR200k per night (3 people)
Admission Ticket
Admission Ticket Borobudur : IDR30k for local / IDR60 for foreigner
Admission ticket Prambanan : IDR30k for local / IDR60k for foreigner
Estimate Spending = IDR 300k per head
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Purwokerto, 23rd Dec 2014,Tuesday
Ivan's house is located at the uptown of Purwokerto called Ajibarang, it requires half an hour drive to reach the downtown. Worry not, the best part is, he let us use his car. Again, this saves us REALLY a lot and it made us too convenient as backpackers. We had tahu kupat and mendoan (half-cooked fried tempeh) for breakfast in downtown, 1000 rupiahs for a piece.
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| Tahu kupat / mendoan |
Next, we went to Batu Raden recreational park (45 minutes drive from Purwokerto), entrance fee is 7000 rupiahs per head. There were seven waterfalls within the park in total, however the entrance ticket only covers fee to visit the first waterfall which is relatively small. Extra cost will be charged if one wants to visit the six rest, we decided not to pay the visit.
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| Batu Raden Recreational Park, Purwokerto |
On the afternoon, we drove to Kota Sokaraja (half an hour drive from Purwokerto) to have getuk goreng (cassava+brown sugar) as light appetizer before our lunch, it costed 12k rupiahs for half kilograms. Next, we traveled to Tambak Banyumas (one hour drive from Kota Sokaraja) to enjoy its famous duck satay, there are several restaurants offer the same dishes in that area. We went in to one of the biggest restaurant called "Sate Bebek Pak Encus", it cost 23500 rupiahs for a normal portion (10 sticks of duck meat satay). Although I personally don't like to eat duck meat, I ended up ordered the second and third dishes. Obviously they are famous without no reasons!
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| Sate Bebek Pak Encus IDR23500 per dish, Tambak Banyumas Purwokerto |
Purwokerto & Cilacap, 24th Dec 2014, Wednesday
Earlier on this day, Ivan and Yessi were busy preparing to celebrate Christmas which falls on the very next day. We drove to downtown Purwokerto to start our pre-Christmas adventure. Adventure started with, of course, breakfast ^^, we had Sahoun (noodle-like, white in color) in one of the legendary Sahoun food cart. The small conventional food cart is located on the pedestrian at the corner of cross junction. Do not judge from that tiny food cart, it usually sold out before sun moves to middle of horizon. One has to come early in the morning to be able to experience how Sahoun tastes like, sometimes, in fact most of the times, one has to line up in queue! At first glance, Sahoun doesn't seem interesting to me, the noodle is purely white in color while its soup is totally transparent. However, when I had it in my mouth, mystery solved, I'm not wondering why it's legendary anymore!
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| Open on 9am, sold out on 11am |
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| Sahoun Ayam Pak Kartim, Purwokerto |
However, an opposite island (Nusa Kambangan) catches our attention, an old fortress (Benteng Karang Bolong) was located on that island too, built by Portuguese in past centuries. We were approached by a middle-age gentleman one of the local boat operators, he offered us the two types of round trip boat service to the opposite island where Netherlands Fortress is located :
1. 100k rupiahs : boat will sail to the main gate of heritage site, passenger needs to pay for entrance fee per head in order to enter and visit the fortress.
2. 150k rupiahs : boat will sail through alternative way to the back door of heritage site, passenger do not have to pay for entrance fee in visiting the fortress.
Second option sounds great and adventurous to us, we then knocked it down to 120k rupiahs. At first, we were grateful for taking the second option as we were sailed to an extremely authentic beach covered with white sand, reminded me of the island in Cast Away movie. We walked down from that small boat which can only occupied by 8 people and explore the heritage site on our own. The whole fortress system is comprised of smaller building block within thick forest, not to mention the heritage site was not taken care seriously hence it's a little bit horrific. It's quite confusing as we walked on our own and distance to the front gate is relatively far. That's the reason why legal visitor needs to pay for both entrance ticket and tourism vehicle renting fee. Trust me, it's a better choice to enter the heritage site officially from the front gate. Four of us always stick together and try to explore whatever the fortress provides without going too deep into the thick forest. We went back to the white sand beach and called the operator to pick us up back to mainland.
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| Fisherman boat bound for Nusa Kambangan |
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| Karang Bolong Fortress, Nusa Kambangan, Cilacap |
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| Pangandaran Beach, Nusa Kambangan, Cilacap |
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| Aye Aye Little Captain! |
Purwokerto, 25th December 2014, Thursday
The first word that came out from mouth today was, "Merry Christmas!!!"
We literally didn't go out much from Ivan's house on this Christmas day. Sir Yacob, Ivan and Yessi went to church for almost half a day. This is in fact a lazy day, a day for us to take some rests before continuing the not-so-convenient-anymore adventure. We played some shooting game on front yard, Ivan loves to go hunting in the woods, he has all complete equipment to be a professional hunter, not to mention a hunter dog who barks a lot!
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| With great gun comes the great responsibility :D |
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| Sir Yacob with the hunter dog |
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Transportation in Purwokerto & Cilacap
Purwokerto -> Batu Raden (45mins) : Ivan's Car Free of Charge
Purwokerto -> Sokaraja -> Tambak Banyumas (1.5hours) : Ivan's car FoC
Purwokerto -> Cilacap (1hour) : Ivan's car FoC
Teluk Penyu Beach -> Nusa Kambangan : Fisherman Boat IDR150k (2 ways, 4 people)
Purwokerto St -> Yogyakarta Tugu St : Train IDR110k
Accomodation in Purwokerto
Ivan's house in Ajibarang (30mins from Purwokerto) : Free of Charge
Admission Ticket
Admission ticket to Batu Raden : IDR7000
Estimate Spending = IDR157k per head
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Yogyakarta, 26th December 2014, Friday
Arrived at Yogyakarta on 6am in the morning, we walked towards Malioboro which is located just beside Tugu Train Station. Several merchants have started unloading goods for sale, we went in to Indomaret convenient store to have some light breakfast at the same time brainstorming how are we going to deal with that yellow huge luggage Sir Yacob took along. After screening for sometimes, finally he found Tugu Train Station provides daily locker rent service. Locker size is varied, big size locker to accommodate traveler luggage cost 25k per day, considered cheap!
Accomodation in Purwokerto
Ivan's house in Ajibarang (30mins from Purwokerto) : Free of Charge
Admission Ticket
Admission ticket to Batu Raden : IDR7000
Estimate Spending = IDR157k per head
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Yogyakarta, 26th December 2014, Friday
Arrived at Yogyakarta on 6am in the morning, we walked towards Malioboro which is located just beside Tugu Train Station. Several merchants have started unloading goods for sale, we went in to Indomaret convenient store to have some light breakfast at the same time brainstorming how are we going to deal with that yellow huge luggage Sir Yacob took along. After screening for sometimes, finally he found Tugu Train Station provides daily locker rent service. Locker size is varied, big size locker to accommodate traveler luggage cost 25k per day, considered cheap!
After got rid from that bulky luggage, we continued to walk towards Keraton Yogyakarta, the palace of Sultan of Yogyakarta (In local dialect, Sultan refers to ruler of a kingdom/country, a King). Entrance ticket into Keraton Yogyakarta is 5000 rupiahs per head, it showcased the series of life starts from the first King until the current ruler.
Next, we walked to visit Vredeburg Fortress, a medium-age modern fortress built in era of Netherland imperialism. Entrance ticket to this modern fortress cost 2000 rupiahs per head. This fortress has changed its function over century from a war protection building to a museum which showcases comprehensive history series of Yogyakarta.
All of mentioned heritage sites are located within area of Malioboro, so do not take cab/becak to go from one site to another, unless you have no more energy left because there are plenty things to see in between these sites. Check google map to decide if it's walkable. After spending almost whole daytime to go through complete history of Yogyakarta by visiting Keraton and Vredeburg, we walked back to Tugu Train Station pick up the bulky luggage. We need to be at Yogyakarta Airport before 9pm to catch flight towards Bali. Decided to go to airport with cheapest alternative, Trans Jogja. We walked to Mangkubumi Bus Stop, another bus stop opposite of Tugu Train Station. We chose Mangkubumi Bus Stop because Malioboro Bus Stop is definitely very crowded on this hour, however was disappointed by the fact that Mangkubumi Bus Stop doesn't operate after 3pm onwards. Walking back to Malioboro Bus Stop would be as far as walking towards Santika Bus Stop on the other side, whose direct access to Airport without any transit. We walked for about 1 km before reaching Santika Bus Stop, we are lucky in deciding to go for Santika Bus Stop because you can encounter legendary monument of Yogyakarta on the way. We took off to Trans Jogja line 1B, it took 1 hour to reach Airport without transit on this line. Trans Jogja applies fix rate for any line and any destinations, that's 4000 rupiahs per head per trip. The airplane took off at 9pm, Lion Air cost 500k rupiahs per seat from Yogyakarta-Bali.
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| Keraton Yogyakarta Palace |
Next, we walked to visit Vredeburg Fortress, a medium-age modern fortress built in era of Netherland imperialism. Entrance ticket to this modern fortress cost 2000 rupiahs per head. This fortress has changed its function over century from a war protection building to a museum which showcases comprehensive history series of Yogyakarta.
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| Vredeburg Fortress, Malioboro, Yogyakarta |
All of mentioned heritage sites are located within area of Malioboro, so do not take cab/becak to go from one site to another, unless you have no more energy left because there are plenty things to see in between these sites. Check google map to decide if it's walkable. After spending almost whole daytime to go through complete history of Yogyakarta by visiting Keraton and Vredeburg, we walked back to Tugu Train Station pick up the bulky luggage. We need to be at Yogyakarta Airport before 9pm to catch flight towards Bali. Decided to go to airport with cheapest alternative, Trans Jogja. We walked to Mangkubumi Bus Stop, another bus stop opposite of Tugu Train Station. We chose Mangkubumi Bus Stop because Malioboro Bus Stop is definitely very crowded on this hour, however was disappointed by the fact that Mangkubumi Bus Stop doesn't operate after 3pm onwards. Walking back to Malioboro Bus Stop would be as far as walking towards Santika Bus Stop on the other side, whose direct access to Airport without any transit. We walked for about 1 km before reaching Santika Bus Stop, we are lucky in deciding to go for Santika Bus Stop because you can encounter legendary monument of Yogyakarta on the way. We took off to Trans Jogja line 1B, it took 1 hour to reach Airport without transit on this line. Trans Jogja applies fix rate for any line and any destinations, that's 4000 rupiahs per head per trip. The airplane took off at 9pm, Lion Air cost 500k rupiahs per seat from Yogyakarta-Bali.
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| Tugu Yogyakarta Monument |
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Transportation in Yogyakarta part II
Luggage locker at Tugu Train Station : IDR25k per day
Malioboro -> Keraton Yogyakarta Palace : Walkable
Malioboro -> Tugu Yogyakarta Monument -> Santika Bus Stop : Walkable 1km
Yogyakarta -> Bali : Airplane Lion Air IDR500k
Luggage locker at Tugu Train Station : IDR25k per day
Malioboro -> Keraton Yogyakarta Palace : Walkable
Malioboro -> Tugu Yogyakarta Monument -> Santika Bus Stop : Walkable 1km
Yogyakarta -> Bali : Airplane Lion Air IDR500k
Admission Ticket
Admission ticket Keraton Yogyakarta : IDR5000
Admission ticket Vredeburg Fortress : IDR2000
Estimate Spending = IDR532k per head
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Bali, 27th December 2014, Saturday
Everything in Bali is well-planned, we rented car+driver+accommodation in advance. The driver picked us up on 12 midnight as soon as we landed in Bali and took us to designated guest house in area of Kuta, named NB Guest House.
The tariff of NB Guest House as below,
Standard (Queen size bed, toilet is inclusive) : IDR 250,000 per night
Extra bed : IDR 150,000 per night
Airport pick up service : IDR 70,000
Phone No. : +62361-3439988
Address : Jl. Bhinneka Jati Jaya Gg. Turi No. 9, Kuta, Badung, Bali
Website : www.nbbaliguesthouse.com
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| NB Guest House Business Card, Bali |
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| Standard Room in NB Guest House, Bali IDR250k per night |
Car+Driver Rental : IDR 400k (includes fuel)
Phone number : +62812-3612995 (Mr. Gede)
It's not a good option to get around Bali without renting a car, or at least motorcycle. There is no dedicated mass public tranport to take you go round the town. Renting car+driver is good choice for those who want to explore Bali comprehensively. The driver would take you the the edge of the island where you can enjoy the legendary beach of Bali and up to top of mountain to enjoy the breeze of nature of this legendary island of God.
We visited 7 places today :
- Nusa Dua Beach - Free entry
- Geger Beach - IDR 2,000
- Pandawa Beach - IDR 10,000 -> Best seashore I've ever seen!
- Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Site - IDR 50,000
- Warung Liga (Pork Ribs Restaurant) - IDR 100,000 per dish
- Padang-padang Beach - Free entry
- Uluwatu Sunset Viewpoint - IDR 20,000
We had our lunch in one of the most popular restaurant in Bali which serves Balinese roasted pork rib. One portion costed about 100k, considered expensive to local tourist but it definitely worth a bite! From outside, this restaurant looks like a small house with traditional door, but when I walked in I was stunned. The interior was terrific, can feel the sense of modern-traditional collaboration and it's full of customers!
The only place that I think doesn't worth the price we paid is GWK, the entrance fee cost a piece of blue cash note, however nothing much can be visited because certain area is apparently under renovation.
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| Nusa Dua Beach, Bali |
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| Ceger Beach, Bali |
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| Pandawa Beach, Bali |
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| The best seashore I've ever seen, Pandawa Beach in Bali |
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| Garuda Wisnu Kencana GWK, Bali |
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| Pork Rib Soup IDR100k per dish, Bali |
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| Roasted Pork Rib IDR100k per dish, Bali |
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| Uluwatu Sunset Viewpoint, Bali |
Bali, 28th December 2014, Sunday
I was attacked by influenza, my body as painful but have to persevere! We were brought to Bedugul this morning, a Hindi Temple which is located at the corner of a lake, surrounded by white clouds and green mountains. This place is cool in temperature as it is located on highland, a totally different side of Bali (which is usually assumed as sunny and hot seacoast paradise). Entry ticket costed 10k per head, an excellent place to take awesome photographs!
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| Bedugul, Bali |
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| Temple on the lake, surrounded by white clouds and green mountains |
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| Bedugul located on the highland in Bali |
Next we went to Taman Ayu, an Hindi Temple heritage site. However, it was a little bit chaotic along the entrance to this site, street vendors crowded both sides of entrance pathway. The site management was unsystematic too, we paid 10k per head for entry, but we saw some of tourists didn't pay to walk in. We took a very short walk around the site, it was extreme hot day and there was not much to see in this site anyway. Lunch for this afternoon is famous Babi Guling a must try Balinese cuisine, we had it in a small stall on the way to Tanah Lot, price is considerably cheap about 30k per dish.
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| Taman Ayu, Bali |
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| Babi Guling, one of most favourite cuisine in Bali |
After had our stomach filled, we visited Tanah Lot. It's amazing to see a temple stands up so robust on piles of rocks, and together they arose from hitting waves. Entry fee to Tanah Lot is extremely expensive considering to what it has to provide, only 10k per head. Due to tight schedule, we left Tanah Lot before seeing its legendary sunset.
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| Tanah Lot, Bali |
Travel Bus from Bali-Malang : Gunung Harta 0361-814999 @200k per head
There are two options to get on to Bromo, through Probolinggo and Malang. After repeatedly reviewed information from internet and people we encountered in bus (including the driver), we decided to stop by Probolinggo since the bus departed from Bali must go through Probolinggo before it touches down at Malang City. Besides, most blogger says Probolinggo is closer to Mount of Bromo anyway.
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Transportation in Bali
Airport -> NB Homestay : Pick up service Mr. Gede 0812-3612995 IDR 70,000
Get around Bali : Car+Driver Mr. Gede 0812-3612995 IDR400k/day (includes fuel)
Bali -> Probolinggo (8 hours) : Gunung Harta 0361-814999 Bali-Malang Bus IDR200k
Accomodation in Bali
NB Guest House (Standard+Extra Bed) 0361-3439988 : IDR400k per night (4 people)
Admission Ticket in Bali
Admission ticket Nusa Dua Beach : Free entry
Admission ticket Ceger Beach : IDR 2,000
Admission ticket Pandawa Beach : IDR 10,000 -> Best seashore I've ever seen!
Admission ticket Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Site : IDR 50,000
Admission ticket Padang-padang Beach : Free entry
Admission ticket Uluwatu sunset point : IDR 20,000
Admission ticket Bedugul : IDR10k
Admission ticket Taman Ayu : IDR10k
Admission ticket Tanah Lot : IDR10k
Estimate Spending = IDR730k per head
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Probolinggo -> Bromo, 29th December 2014, Monday
"Probolinggo... Probolinggo...", says the driver, his voice woke up most of the passengers from their comfy sleep. We were surprised, the sky was still so dark and bus stopped at a serene cross junction next to Monument of Probolinggo which was illuminated by few streetlights. We hesitated but the bus driver re-claimed that is Probolinggo and he showed us the direction towards Probolinggo Bayu Angga Bus Terminal, we had no choice but to grab our belongings and walked down from the bus. There were no other passengers get down at Probolinggo but only us. It was so silent, we can't see anyone (of course, it was three in the middle of night!). Bus driver said the terminal is 'walk-able' so we followed that instinct under drizzle. On the halfway, we took short rest at the Alfamart at the same time tried to make sure we are on the right track. After walked for about 1.5km, we encountered a temporary police station and the police apparently had no idea about bus which bound for Bromo Mount. We decided to wait at the police station and continue to search when sky gets brighter.
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| We were dumped onto an unknown place on 3am in Probolinggo |
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| Waited in this police station for more than an hour. Thanks police officer! |
When the sun started to light up the dark sky on 5.30am, only then we realized that we were waiting at the front gate of Bayu Angga Bus Terminal. The police station was temporarily set up in front of bus terminal. Finally we found the minibus bound for Mount of Bromo, it was blue isuzu Elf, these minibuses usually have their own base station and is located just next to the bus terminal entry gate. The price to Bromo is IDR35k per head, minibus will depart only when it's full-seated (15 passengers).
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| Blue Isuzu Elf (Probolinggo Bayu Angga Terminal - Bromo), IDR35k per seat |
While waiting for other passengers to come over, we had our breakfast in nearby foodstall. At the end, we waited for 4 freaking hours, it may not be the right travelling time, only two other backpackers came and joined our waiting. It's extremely easy to start the conversation between budget-travellers, their names are Silfy and Melka. After long hours of waiting, we started to discuss and decided to rent the minibus instead of uncertain waiting. After negotiated with the driver, we pushed the renting price down to 600k, there were six of us including Silfy and Melka so each one of us paid 100k. As bonus inclusive to price we paid, driver took us to Madakaripura, a waterfall located half an hour from Probolinggo. Entry ticket is 3k per head, it was worth the visit. One has to go through a long valley sandwiched between series of high cliffs to arrive at captivative heaven-like waterfall.
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| In the end, we rented a whole van to Bromo |
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| Small alley sandwiched by two steep cliffs on the way to waterfall |
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| Madakaripura Waterfall, bring raincoat unless you want to get all wet |
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| Entrance to Madakaripura Waterfall site |
From Madakaripura waterfall we continued our trip in minibus for 45 minutes to arrive at Ngadisari Village, the closest village to Mount Bromo. The driver (Pak Erwanto) drove us to find most suitable homestay. To cut down cost, six of us decided to stay all together in a 450k sharing room in "Subur Homestay" which consist of 2 queen size bed and a couch. Room is a little bit crowded but can allocate 6 people, best suited if you're looking for a low budget group stay.
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| Subur Homestay, IDR450k per night (6 people) |
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| Ngadisari Village, one of the villages closest to Bromo Mount |
Distance from Ngadisari Village to Bromo Mount is extremely close, I suppose it's 'walk-able'. However, best option is to rent a Jeep, it will take you to visit several sceneries incuding Bromo Sunrise Viewpoint which is legendary, Bromo itself and Teletubbies Hill. Afraid if run out of Jeep we reserved it in advance via Pak Erwanto, his friend runs a Jeep and charge 800k per rental which I think is a little bit expensive. Worry not if you don't manage to book Jeep in advance, later I found out Jeep base point is located just next to Bromo Heritage Site Entry Gate. There are a lot of Jeeps ready for rent, just make sure not to reserve too late especially on holiday season.
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| Jeep base point at Ngadisari Village |
Bromo, 30th December 2014,Tuesday
Morning activity in Bromo needs to start extremely early, as early as 2am. If you're the one that definitely needs to take bath in the morning, then be prepared for the freezing water. I still clearly remember I suffered from heavy influenza and migrane after my freezing bath on this morning. Jeep came to pick us up and departed to sunrise viewpoint at 3am sharp, sky was still solid dark and there were a lot of other jeeps going towards the same direction. Some of time, we need to stop due to heavy jeep traffic especially at the entrance gate which is considered small. Duration from Ngadisari Village to sunrise viewpoint takes about 45 minutes. From drop-off point we walked for about 500m to reach the hilltop, sky was still dark therefore flashlight is necessary. We were surprised by the crowd on the hilltop, everyone was so enthusiastically expecting the sunrise even when it's still too early. One thing I found funny was initially all of us headed to wrong direction, piece of advice is make sure you're looking towards (yes you got it right) East! Smartphone can do this job as perfect as real compass does. Sun started to show itself at 4.45am, trust me it was truly amazing. I've never seen this kind of scenery in my life before. As if an orange fireball came up slowly between series of mountains, turning the firmament from sapphire color to light blue with lilac intervention in the process between. The perfection of this scenery is enhanced by Mount of Bromo which stands robustly on the right side, the sun slowly shone upon it and creates one of the world's most remarkable natural scenery. A lot of foreigners came here just to experience this invaluable moment with their own eyes.
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| Sunrise Viewpoint, Bromo |
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| Bromo Mount, Indonesia |
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| Capture the moment before leaving Bromo Sunrise Viewpoint |
After we had enjoyed the scenery long enough, we moved forward to next destination which is Mount of Bromo itself. It takes about 45 minutes drive from sunrise viewpoint to Mount of Bromo. Jeep dropped us off at the downhill of Bromo, which is in form of vast layer of sands expanded from one end to another, forming scenery like Mongolian desert, weather is very cold due to its high altitude. From drop-off point, one has to walk for about 750 meters through ocean of sand with dramatic landscape on both sides, followed by 500 meters of hiking track along slope of Bromo and a long staircase to reach the peak. Alternatively there are a lot of horses ready for rental to ride you across slope of Mount Bromo except the last part, you have to climb the staircase yourself. Although everything is provided here to lead one to peak of Bromo, it's still a mini challenge to reach the top as one may feel difficult to breath due to low air pressure at high altitude, not to mention the strike of sunlight may result in dilemma on our skin between hot UV and cold surrounding temperature. Path towards the peak is so narrow that everyone crowded into that small alley creating a long line of queue along the slope, so be careful when you climb up the staircase and don't take the shortcut (some of tourists insist to climb up through sandy steep slope next to staircase to avoid traffic) unless you're a professional hiker. However, by the time I reached the top, it feels like every effort made is ultimately worthy. Vast sea of sand as if without edges combined with blue clear sky, decorated by hills and mountains in between them create a scenery whose beauty can't be explained by words and sentences. After climbed down the staircase, to experience all facilities we chose to rent horses to ride us through downhill towards drop-off point, 40k per ride.
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| A quick selfie with captivating natural scenery |
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| Sandy hiking track along slope of Bromo |
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| Narrow staircase to the peak/crater |
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| View from the top |
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| Horse for rent, IDR40k per ride |
Subsequently we were brought to Teletubbies Hill, the last station to end trip of Bromo. As how its name tells, this station really looks like those hills we got to see in the Teletubbies TV program except there was no Teletubbies and the Sun Baby :)) A great spot to take photographs. We were brought back to our homestay in Ngadisari Village, packed our belongings and headed back to Probolinggo. For once again we rented the minibus from Pak Erwanto to cut the time of waiting, going downhill costed us 330k, much cheaper than the price to go uphill due to lesser fuel consumption.
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| Teletubbies Hill, Bromo |
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| Partners in Bromo (four of us + Melka&Silfy) |
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Transportation in Bromo
Probolinggo -> Madakaripura -> Ngadisari Bromo : Rental Van IDR600k (6 people)
Bromo Tour Package : Rental Jeep IDR800k (6 people)
Bromo slope -> Jeep drop-off point : Horse IDR40k
Ngadisari -> Bayu Angga Terminal Probolinggo : Rental Van IDR330k (6 people)
Bayu Angga Terminal Probolinggo -> Surabaya (3hours) : AKAS Bus IDR25k
Accomodation in Bromo
Homestay Subur (Ngadisari Village) : IDR450k (6 people)
Admission Ticket
Admission ticket Madakaripura Waterfall : IDR3000
Admission ticket Bromo : IDR27500 for local (recent update from official site)
Estimate Spending = IDR460k per head
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On the same night we were brought by uncle to have dinner in Royal Garden Restaurant in Surabaya Supermall. In truest fact it was too exclusive, recalling how we had gone through previous days during the trip. Surabaya marks down the final point of our budget trip, we had nice sleep in our uncle's house and had our flight back to Pekanbaru (home) early in the morning on the next day (31st December 2014). It was new year eve, and we celebrated the last day in 2014 with big family in Pekanbaru.
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| Happy New Year 2015, Kedai Kopi Gundaling & Khakaya Baking House Pekanbaru, Indonesia |
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After 15 days of backpacking trip around Java&Bali, we :
- Realize how beautiful Indonesia is.
- Love our country, Indonesia more.
- Witness how huge the potential Indonesia owns.
- Have ever been to eight cities across whole Java Island : Bandung, Semarang, Solo, Yogyakarta, Purwokerto, Cilacap, Probolinggo and Surabaya, apart from Bali itself.
- Spent IDR2,639,000 each for this 15 days 9 cities backpacking trip, excluding food and departure/comingback airticket.
- Realize how good to be home.
- Tanned, really a lot!
- Suffered from sinusitis indication & parotitis for several weeks (only me).
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| After the trip, I suffered from parotitis for two weeks |
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SEE ALSO : 8 Things We Did in Sekinchan
SEE ALSO : My Adventure 48 Hours Without Cash in Hatyai
