Training Log Archive: Kez

Run up Legion st, then down Kuta beach. Still feeling the culture shock of hitting Bali... No 4am wake up from the local mosque but didn't get a good dose of Incense running around the streets.
On the foodie front I feel a bit dejected hitting Kuta with maccas, pizza hut etc etc but spirits soon lifted when I found my favorite local fruit salad cart on the beach... picked up some take away and maybe I'll be back over lunch when they do their traditional Gado Gado :o) Also saw the locals hitting some food carts for there breakie of rice, vegetables, meat and spicy sate sauce.

Kuta day..
Got into into the vibe by hitting the beach and succeded to turn into a lobster. Did a bit of body surfing, caught some ripper waves. Kuta is one nice beach break!
Walked around the shops a little before a massage. One weird but awesome experience.. Not your standard I am sure. Found a little sign outside a house and organised for a 5 oclock massage. When I arrive she was just coming out of the shower and got welcomed into the family lounge room by the son. It ended up being a big family affair with all 3 working on me at once. Great convo, we were watching Badminton.. Indo was playing and winning so they were pretty excited. Great family and super proud of Bali, disappointed I m not seeing the rest of the island... invited back for a tour with the father on the back of his scooter.
Polished off the true experience drinking Bintang with 3 Poms then Arak cocktails with Simone and Veira over the football.

Dark walk to Gunung Bromo for anticlimax sunrise with a fair bit of cloud cover around. Still it was a pretty cool moonscape landscape, smoke and sulfur smell out of volcano was pretty intense. Then did a bit of running around sandy lava rock planes in the Tengger massif basin. Lungs struggled a bit, probably a combo of the 330 wake up and 2300m altitude.

More driving and driving. Got to the Java-Bali Ferry around sunset for a rocky trip across the water.
Hitting Bali is a real culture shock, its really strange! It's feels like a different country, living standards just sky rocketed
No more people sleeping and eating on the streets, no more smog, no more pot holes and psycho driving, no more beggers
After 2 hours driving the island we hit Kuta..
Culture shock 2 for the day! I didn't realise there was another state of Australia... I think its called bogan-ville-Kuta.
Staying with Henry (Londoner) I meet on the bus and 2 Swiss girls Simone and Veira. I feel rather embarrassed to be an Aussie here

Quick one through jogya burbs and a stroll through the early morn mkts. All the street vendors getting there daily suply. Felt slightly better about meat stds. Long day in mini bus arriving at mtns 7pm. cool to hear ill be home with a new pm. Less cool we missed wc ko

What a bus ride and I am still alive to write about it. Mini bus from Yogja to Mt Bromo, it was a bit of an epic, departed at 9am arrived at 10pm. Roads were absolutely chaos and it didn't ever look like we left the city and saw any country side I think we only traveled about 300km. I now now how 250mill people live in this country and the majority in Java. Mini bus contained a Czech family, 1 American from Orlando and 2 Swiss girls.

Highlights
1. Drinking 1/2 litre of Pilsner Urquell at 10am and home made plum brandy after lunch
2. Managed to convince the American to order a dish without meat over lunch... after a blank stare and "I guess there is no reason why you have to have meat"
3. Being the front seat passenger, I swear I could have touched some on coming traffic, it just so dodgy, it feels like it must be some kind of computer game. 2 lanes mean you can have a scooter and a bus going one way and the same oncoming, its tight! Apparently the toll on indo roads is 35 per day.. Remarkable I only saw 1 scooter collision, lucky neither had a whole helmetless family riding on it.
4. Petrol refill was hilarious... motor running, drivers burning ciggy hanging out of car vent while he was texting on his mobile.

Run south aroynd and through kraton. Old part of city.. streets relatively quiet which lucky since side walks dont exist here. Not too hot either butooks like another warm 32 developing

Didnt get up to much today. Down the main st for some more wicked fruit salad then later lunch. Even went to the mall and dept store because i needed some peace from friendly locals. Also meant i relaxed and read around hostel. Action is happening tonight as im off to open air ramayana ballet at ancient prambanan hindu temple.
2 rats just bolted past hostel floor :-\ ... nice ill keep an eye out for them in tonights cuz.
Ballet was cool although no idea what was happening. Top moment was whem half the stage was on fire! Also temple looked wicked

I dont think most ozzies or my self before truley realise how full on Muslim indo is. Probably has to do with bali being only non Muslim (hindu). So i woke up at 4am to the loud speaker of the mosic next door singing then hum of pray.. beautiful powerful and scary. Good wake up for 5am depature to sunrise on borobudur, biggest buddist temple and 800ad . Awesome. Got pretty happy snappy with mt merapi in background. Back by 10 and change of plans. Thurs 2 day tour to denpasar via bromo volcano. Indo food redeemed itself over lunch with a tropical fruit salad and savoury dressing of tamarid chilli and peanut, pretty sure a dash of msg altho it could be salt, my suspicion is msg is there equivalent.
More scams. 3 friendly offers in 12hrs to take me to special batik art gallery.. managed to dodge. And found out later by another friendly ocal this is yogyakarta marfia ripping people off. Got sent in direction of school of art and i confirmed with another local. Got tour by master / teacher on how its all done and with artists painting. purchase of 3 paints! They were excited.. i spend more then it worth.... they deserve 2 academies for acting and directing! Splendid performance.
Walking around had Becak bike drivers offering 10000 $1.25 for 1hr work.:-( ive stopped bargaining if i think its cheap anyway... pennys mean a lot more to them!
It was a interesting day.. and i like fhis country more then ever before. Afternoon prays are now singing across the city

7.5 hrs in train to jogjakrta centra java .. rice fields . Banana coconut trees galore very specy with mtns too. This place is pumping with tourists ans nightlife. Got a nicer room.. basic but extra few dollars save on medical bill for random disease.
Nice to be away from smog. Traffic jams and scooter tyre/repair shops. Smells bit better too. Dodgy stomach after breakie but hoding tight so far.
Time to check out the town ans grab a bintang over the footy

Woke up with a numb pain in the head.. even after the big sleep.. decided a coffee was in desperate need.. got iced one from supermarket before a local cafe served up nice java style. Chilled out day walked past calital monument, got ticket for jogjakarta tomoz then flea mkt in cikini. Forked out for lunch.. 8 bucks.. gado gado and botawi sotk ( beef soup) dinner nasi goreng. Over indo food.. not fresh:-\ learnt today that it is less fun but more effective to avoid and shut up around taxi dricers and friends. Abusing them and shouting to f off just wasnt workin