Monday August 17, 2015
Today is the national holiday of Indonesia’s Independence Day. On this day in 1945 Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands. We bid our farewells to Jakarta and flew to Yogyakarta via Garuda Airlines.
Flying over Gunung Agung: at 10,300′ the active stratovolcano is the highest peak in Bali.
It was an easy hour flight and we met our local guide, Josh, at the airport. After collecting our luggage, we drove through traffic to d’Omah Hotel for lunch. Older people prefer to live in Yogyakarta because it is more tranquil and quieter than Jakarta:
We had lunch outdoors on a covered porch and were serenaded by a 5-piece string band playing local Javanese music while we sampled Rjisttafel. Literally this means “rice table” in Dutch and describes typical food created during colonial Indonesia from the 19th to early 20th century.
The view of a woman tending the rice field across the road:
Our tour group enjoying Rjisttafel:
Josh, our local guide pictured with local girls:
After lunch, the bus drove us to a small covered station where we boarded individual cyclo-rickshaws. Although I felt sorry for the strong young man peddling the bicycle, it was a blast riding along the rice fields waving greetings to the local people! It was so much fun!!!
Our tour director, Jumena:
We arrived in the village of Gesik, which turned out to be Josh’s village. We met his lovely wife and four beautiful children.
We took a walking tour of his talented neighbor’s homes and workshops. We had a glimpse of everyday Javanese life and saw how the people earned a living making batik cloth and pottery crafts.
Later we rode in rush hour traffic to the Santika Hotel in downtown Yogyakarta. After we checked in and I got my room assignment, I explored the hotel and relaxed for a while. Much later I had a light supper with Marilyn in the hotel dining room.
The hotel is modern and lovely and provides free wifi, but the wifi wasn’t good enough to download my photos onto this blog. I had to add pictures after I get home. I hoped the wifi was better in Bali. ?