Next stop after Makassar, flying to Surabaya, merely a transit though. And I was glad I only booked one night as my mom told me, when we were there, she had no good memories of Surabaya as it was there where they had to leave for Holland and she remembered her rocking horse that she had to leave behind. Right away, we noticed the difference in surroundings. It was a big and busy city. There was a mall next to the hotel and we found a hair salon! My mom had wanted to get her hair cut in Indonesia since the day we landed. And so she did while I was stuck video chatting to one of the staffs best friend who moved to Holland years ago. Hair looked great and we went back to the hotel. Again, a great pool with good views all over the city. And finally Happy Hour...which was cancelled because the bar was under construction. It was very different from Makassar, as we saw no green and heard a lot of traffic and police cars.
We went to the train station the next morning to take a 4-5hour train ride to Yogya(karta). I told my mom before we went to sleep that we were taking a train the next morning and she liked the idea! Every day is a new experience for my mom and I see how she is always looking around and is amazed by how people go about their daily routines. She also mentioned a few times that it's too much or a lot with all she sees and so I'm not sure, even now at the end of this trip, if she's processes all of it.
The train ride to Yogya was nice, at the beginning I asked my mom what she thought of it and she had noticed the poverty, the poor side of Indonesia that she hadn't seen before. The seats on the train were very comfortable btw and staff passed by a few times to sell drinks and food, because nothing in Indonesia can be done without a full belly. The views got a bit more diverse as well, which also showcased the contrasts between rich and poor right next door to eachother.
We went to the train station the next morning to take a 4-5hour train ride to Yogya(karta). I told my mom before we went to sleep that we were taking a train the next morning and she liked the idea! Every day is a new experience for my mom and I see how she is always looking around and is amazed by how people go about their daily routines. She also mentioned a few times that it's too much or a lot with all she sees and so I'm not sure, even now at the end of this trip, if she's processes all of it.
The train ride to Yogya was nice, at the beginning I asked my mom what she thought of it and she had noticed the poverty, the poor side of Indonesia that she hadn't seen before. The seats on the train were very comfortable btw and staff passed by a few times to sell drinks and food, because nothing in Indonesia can be done without a full belly. The views got a bit more diverse as well, which also showcased the contrasts between rich and poor right next door to eachother.
And then there it was, our first meeting with our driver for our 4nights in Yogya and eventually also our transfer to Semarang, Ari. There was an instant connection and it turned out Ari was also born in Semarang. As our driver there, he knew what activities we had planned whilst in Yogya. He was very bad at keeping secrets though (as he called it, I called it surprises) and so it became a very funny ordeal. I managed to keep most of them for my mom though! On our first night, we both found our favourite satay (my mom likes goat and I like chicken). Ari picked us up after dinner to see a Wayang show (puppet shadow play) which I've seen bits and pieces of (demos) at the pasar malams I always go to with my mom in Holland so seeing it here was cool.
Oh yeah and the place we stayed at was amazing. I looked forward to this the most because I knew my mom would LOVE it. It was an upstairs 'villa' as they call it, all in traditional Indonesian style with a huge balcony and surrounded by, let's say an -oases- of peace. Trees, fishpond, swimming pool. The only downside was the 4am mosque prayers 'blasting' through the speakers each morning which woke me up, my mom didn't notice any of it and was sound asleep (the other prayers were during the day).
The activity for our next day, another one I was really looking forward to, also to tell my mom that morning, was a batik workshop! We both loved the idea but soon found out that it took a LOT more work than either of us imagined. It was a fun day though and the results were very nice!! We headed back to the hotel by Grab, super cheap!! And I went in for a dip since we had a few hours to kill. My mom mostly sat on the balcony listening to the radio that was in the room and that she had brought outside. After a while, we decided to go to Malioboro street at night in search of souvenirs and what not. It was fun and this one guy kept following me with bags. I saw a bag I liked but since we are a bit taller than them, the length of the straps was too short. So this guy kept popping up at different parts of the markets with different bags. Unfortunately, they were all the same and so I didn't buy anything from him. We took a 'becak' back to the hotel. I had discussions with my mom about taking a 'becak' before we even went to Indonesia. She had seen this documentary stating it was very bad for the people cycling one, carrying the heavy load of passengers and all. I told her it might have been like that in the past, but not anymore, but I couldn't persuade her. She then told me she did want to take one of the horse and carriages which I didn't want to do, feeling bad for the horses. We settled on a motorized 'becak' :)!
The activity for our next day, another one I was really looking forward to, also to tell my mom that morning, was a batik workshop! We both loved the idea but soon found out that it took a LOT more work than either of us imagined. It was a fun day though and the results were very nice!! We headed back to the hotel by Grab, super cheap!! And I went in for a dip since we had a few hours to kill. My mom mostly sat on the balcony listening to the radio that was in the room and that she had brought outside. After a while, we decided to go to Malioboro street at night in search of souvenirs and what not. It was fun and this one guy kept following me with bags. I saw a bag I liked but since we are a bit taller than them, the length of the straps was too short. So this guy kept popping up at different parts of the markets with different bags. Unfortunately, they were all the same and so I didn't buy anything from him. We took a 'becak' back to the hotel. I had discussions with my mom about taking a 'becak' before we even went to Indonesia. She had seen this documentary stating it was very bad for the people cycling one, carrying the heavy load of passengers and all. I told her it might have been like that in the past, but not anymore, but I couldn't persuade her. She then told me she did want to take one of the horse and carriages which I didn't want to do, feeling bad for the horses. We settled on a motorized 'becak' :)!
Another day, another surprise! Hey mom, guess what? We're going cycling today! This was quite the adventure but so much fun. We stopped by a kroepoek factory, a locals bank, rice fields, brick making and some other stuff. I even worked with some of the locals, taking grains of plants and moulding my own bricks! The local back consisted of cows, which was also very interesting to see. And it was a hot but super fun day. And that wasn't the end of it! After a few hours of rest, Ari picked us up to go to the Borobudur. My mom told me this was one of the things she wanted to visit but once there she right away refused to go all the way to the top. It was simple to much after the bikeride. Luckily we had a guide with her that took it 'floor' by 'floor' and she made it to the top!! The history was quite interesting and impressive but other than that, I mostly liked the views J. My mom unfortunately didn't recognize anything of an earlier visit when we were there. We slowly made our way down and went back to our hotel for a good night sleep!
Today's surprise; Prambanan visit + sunset and Ramayana Ballet with a buffet dinner overlooking Prambanan by night. Since we didn't have to go until later that day, I decided to again, relax at the pool. My mom joined me a bit later and we made a few funny pool pictures! It took a few hours to get to Prambanan and we again had a guide. A young girl that was learning Dutch. After that we walked around the complex, there were more temples. And we then headed back to Prambanan for sunset where I told my mom that we also would go for a buffet dinner and Ramayana ballet. We had a reserved table outside on the grass across from Prambanan, which at that time was beautifully lit up! We also had VIP seats at the ballet, which meant big cushioned chairs with arms (that could use replacement) unlike the non-VIPS, who had to sit on stone benches with or without a separate pillow.
Because I was in contact with our driver Ari, a lot, we had discussed our next plans and destination. He had arranged to be our driver to Semarang since we'd had so much fun in our time together. He also told my mom he would be happy to stop by the hospital she was born in. Ari was born in the same hospital. I texted Ari after we had discussed this with my mom and asked him if he could maybe also try and find my mom's old house. And he was happy to do so if we left in time but I'll tell you more about that in my next blog J!
Cheers,
T.
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