After the best wedding anyone has ever had, we were off to Indonesia for three weeks—barely enough time to scratch the surface, I know, but scratch the surface we did. We went to Java, Bali, Nusa Penida, and the Gili Islands, just 5 islands out of Indonesia’s more than 17,000. Obviously there is another trip to Indonesia in our future, one with more time for Bali, time in Lombok and Komodo (home to the famous Komodo dragon!) and who knows what else. But for now, out 2.5-week itinerary and its details, all in the blessed 90°F/30°C heat, day in and day out 😉
Java: Jakarta and Yogyakarta
Our first stop was to Jakarta (cheap flights I had found 8 months in advance!) and we spent 2 days there. There is not much admiration for Jakarta nor online nor in the guidebooks, and though I agree that it is a huge, bustling city, with all the pollution and noise that comes with 10.5 million people living in close quarters, I quite enjoyed its museums and the culture and history those provided. We started our day at the Taman Fatahillah, or the old town square, where the Jakarta History Museum and the National Museum are, then went to the Mesijd istiqal, the largest mosque in Asia, and the Jakarta cathedral—across the street from one another—before continuing on to the National Monument, or Monas, which you could ascend in a creaky elevator, and the Fine Arts Museum and the National Gallery, which was mostly closed for renovations. We also stopped by the Kota Kasablanca, or the Kasablanca Mall, mainly because of its name, but also because of the huge selection of dinner restaurants for dinner.
Next was Yogyakarta, much smaller than Jakarta, but with a lot to offer in terms of sights to see. It is located in the middle of Java, more or less, and is surrounded by lush rice paddies and UNESCO Heritage sites. Our first day we set off to see the rice paddies on a guided tour that also included a trek down to a waterfall. It was a hard but rewarding day, all I can say is bring sunscreen—I went through three 100-ml bottles of it during this trip alone. The next day was also one with a full itinerary: Punthuk Setumbu lookout point for the sunset, then the “Chicken temple” (I promise that is what they call it), because it was built in the shape of, you guessed it, an enormous chicken, Mendut temple, which I loved because of the giant tree in its courtyard, and finally, the two great UNESCO Heritage sites, Borobudur and Prambanam. Both are temple complexes, with Borobudur being the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and Prambanam being a historic set of Hindu temples. Both were very, very majestic, and of course, wonderfully picturesque. Our final full day in Yogyakarta was spent in the city center, our last chance to visit museums before beading to beachier places. We started the day at Keraton Jogja and Keraton NGayogyakarta Hadiningrat, the palace complex of the royal family, which also had an interesting exhibit on the role of women in Yogyakarta, both from the royal family and everyone else. We also visited Taman Sari, the famous pools of the royal family, which are maintained as a historical site and were lovely to visit. My favorite museum was the Sonobuduyo Museum, which was divided into different sections of Indonesian life, such as the home, music, art, clothing, etc., and was the most informative place we visited. The National Museum was closed for renovation, and so we ended the day at Jalan Malioboro, a famous shopping street, where we bought lots of souvenirs.
Bali: Sanur, Seminyak, and Nusa Penida
As you are probably well aware, everyone talks about Bali incessantly, so of course we had to make a stop there as well. I can’t tell if everyone talking about it is right, and it is the “last paradise” as the welcome sign in the airport claimed, or if its popularity has led to it being the island most prepared for tourism. All I know is, the prices of everything doubled, a sure sign of never-ending tourism. But aside from all of that, Bali is indeed beautiful. We wanted beaches so we skipped Ubud (a pity, saving it for the next time) and stayed first in Sanur and then in Seminyak, mainly swimming and relaxing, even renting jet skis one afternoon (my first time!). We also went to Pandawa beach, only made accessible in the last few years—before that, visitors had to rappel down to its white-sand, clear-water beaches. Bali has so much more to offer than beaches, and we will definitely be returning in the future.
Next was Nusa Penida, an island off the coast of Bali that is a popular day trip known for its striking cliff-top views (you’ve probably seen them on Instagram, for example). We did a guided tour that began with 3 hours of snorkeling at three different coves around the island, then went to three popular stops for photos: Broken Beach, Angels Billabong, and Kelingkling beach, perhaps the most famous of the three. It was another long but entertaining day, with lots of time spent in the sun.
The Gili Islands: Gili Meno and Gili Air
We spent 3.5 days in the Gili islands, a set of three tiny islands sandwiched between Bali and Lombok, and I meant for those days to be relaxing after all the trekking and island hopping of the previous weeks. We stayed in Gili Meno, the smallest and quietest of the three, where there is no running fresh water (hello, bucket baths) and no motors, meaning that when we arrived we took a horse and buggy with our bags to the hotel, and then rented bikes every day to get around. Innumerable beaches surrounded us, but most of them were rocky and not good for swimming, so we spent some time every day on our trusty bikes searching for white-sand beaches. One of the days we took the local boat over to Gili Air, the second biggest of the three, and rented another set of bikes, which we took around the island before settling at another white-sand beach for a swim and some relaxation. Before we knew it, it was time to fly back to Jakarta and start the long trip home.
If this post seems more abbreviated than my normal travel entries, it is because it all feels rather like a dream; the wedding and the weeks after whooshed by in a heat-like trance and before I knew it, I was back in Spain in coldness once again (greeted by temperatures nearing the negatives, in fact). One thing that definitely stood out was the high-quality options for lodging: from penthouse apartments on the 37th floor to places with rooftop pools, we never spent more than 40 euros per night, and everything was amazing. Indonesia was beautiful, and like all of my travels before it, I loved exploring new places and learning new things, even if it reminded me on the daily that I could never live in such an incessantly hot place 😉
