Lovina, Yogyakarta, Jakarta

After a very tiring morning trekking up Mount Batur, it was time to head for Java. We decided to book our flight home out of Jakarta, firstly because it was $15 and secondly because we wanted to stop off in Yogyakarta to see Boror Budur, the oldest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. Before our bus/ferry ride over to Java, we spent a night in Lovina. Lovina was definitely more low key then Bali, but still had beautiful resorts and the same calming atmosphere as Bali. We stayed in another beautiful hostel for only $5. The room was spacious and it had a great pool. We spent the rest of the day at the local hot springs, sat by the pool and then called it a night.

$5 Hostel in Lovina...not bad
The next day, we headed for Java. The bus ride took approximately 13 hours from Lovina to Yogyakarta. This bus decided it would be fun to blast Indonesian Karaoke. Not only was the bus freezing, but we also had to try and sleep while Karaoke music was blasting in our ears. At first it was funny, but then it got to a point when I could have smashed the TV screen in front of me. Thankfully, the Karaoke finally stopped and I was finally able to fall asleep the rest of the way.

Karaoke Bus to Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta was definitely not as touristy as Bali. It was much more conservative, as there were posters reminding tourists to cover up. Since we decided to go to the Princes Palace, I was given a Sarong to cover my legs. It wasn’t until I started to notice people laughing and making funny faces at me that I realized Sarong’s are most commonly worn by Javanese males. I guess my legs were too long for the female leg covers…cool. The rest of our day was spent in a local restaurant since the heat was too unbearable.

Me rockin the male Sarong
The Boror Budur was as spectacular as I imagined. For being the oldest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia, it was very well preserved. Where as, the Pramabanan had suffered a lot more damage from recent earthquakes and weathering. All in all, the temples were amazing and worth the long journey.

Infront of the Boror Budur

Such a beautiful view

Infront of the Pramabanan
The final leg of our trip was to Jakarta, probably my least favourite place since I have been here. First, we took the night train from Yogyakarta to Jakarta which had straight up seats, people sleeping on the floor, and beggars entering the train at each stop. We were also warned not to fall asleep because people will steal our belongings. We decided to go on sleep duty, so at least one person was awake at all times. We arrived in Jakarta at 5 in the morning with no place to stay. And let me tell you, this was not an easy task. All the hostels were booked and there were drunken (or on something else) people all over the streets from the night before. We finally found a place after hours of wandering up and down the streets. Since it was my birthday, we decided to keep it low key during the day (also since there is not much to see in Jakarta) and go out at night. But little did we know that Jakarta was on probation, which meant no alcohol over 5% was to be sold in stores. We then found out that people don’t normally drink in Jakarta, they just do ecstasy instead. This is when we decided that we were going to move my birthday celebration to a later day. I think this was the best decision. Certainly not the high point of our trip, but definitely worth the $15 flight home, what a steal!

Sketchy train from Yogyakarta to Jakarta...Yikes

Shelbs and I hiding out in our hotel room in Jakarta