Greetings from East Java, Indonesia!
We arrived in Malang, JAVA yesterday afternoon (6/29) after a long (7 hour) drive from the coastal city of Banyuwangi. Since my last posting we have taken a ferry from Bali, a pedi-cab ride to a Chinese Temple, visited several local markets to experience the wide variety of different local delicacies and wondered about the domestic cats in cages at the bird market. It was sad to see so many animals and birds in cages - they are kept as pets here. I felt really bad for the siamese and other cats that had more fur than a critter should have on their body in these tropical temperatures. Then there were the baby monkey and turtles....blue freshwater lobsters... The flower market was basically a greenhouse on the streets. Lots of plants that we use for houseplants in CO are used in the gardens around Java. We had a very interesting tour of a plantation at our hotel in Kalibaru that grew coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, tobacco, papaya, and many other organic crops.
My traveling companion Elly has met up with her sister, cousin and nieces and they are exploring the houses they once lived in near Malang. I've taken a break to catch up on email and journalling. We had a little hotel swap this am after a few cold showers and a very noisy evening (street traffic) at the Splendid Inn next door. An old dutch colonial house, the family wanted to meet there for the reunion, but the place hasn't been upgraded since it was built many years ago. Tonight we will stay in luxury at Hotel Tugu where I am accessing free Internet service and will soon explore the many Asian antiques.
This afternoon I will visit a few temples in the area and tomorrow is another free day - maybe I'll get a massage and laze around since the rest of the trip will be shuttling from town to town, hotel to hotel, trying to see as much as we possibly can.
Next stop will be Mount Bromo where we get up at 'o-dark hundred' - take a jeep some distance, then ride horses across a sand of sea to see the volcano. Should be fun! I'm looking forward to the cold mountain air!
Until next post....
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1 comment:
Sounds like you need a little break. Can't believe how much you fit into your trips. Very weird about the animals in cages. the plantation sounds cool, I've never thought of how they grow all those spices. Thanks for blogging - you know we all love to hear about your travels.
Save travels,
Janis
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