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Indonesian Holiday: December 2011
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 6:55PM I posted so many separate sections about my Indonesian holiday that I feel I need to add this INDEX so visitors to this site can find what they want. Just click on the links below, then click the 'back' button to come back here.
JAKARTA STREET DANCERS. From Bali.
OLD PORT OF JAKARTA. Stevedores and old wooden ships.
JAKARTA SIGHTS. Street dancers and sights around the old Dutch settlement.
STREET PEDDLERS' CARTS. Whatnots and whatevers on the Indonesian streets.
YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA (Central Java). Here and there around "Jogja."
CENTRAL JAVA. Coffee plantation, volcanoes, jungle, the usual.
THE LOST TEMPLE OF BORABURDU. Buried for 1300 years, the rediscovered. World Heritage Site.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 4:51PM 
Jogja is a city of red roofs. I went out right after a morning rain which left everything wet and dark.
After Jakarta we flew to Yogyakarta (variously pronounced JogJakarta or simply JogJa) in Central Java and based ourselves in the wonderful Phoenix Hotel (not pictured here). This is a part of Old Jogja, along a swollen stream that cuts through the city.
Not all of Jogja is slum-like . . . it is an old world city with jumbled housing.
I walked along a bridge near my hotel and looked down on the red roofs of the houses that lined the river and saw a mother and child.
If I were to live in Jogja, I would want to live in this house . . .
. . . but I do not know what it would be like to grow up as a boy in these alleyways . . .
. . . or as a gild in a wedding veil crossing her fingers . . . for something to happen, or not to happen.
Most of Jogja seemed locked in time (not a bad thing), but there was a little new construction going on.
Jogja still shows it history everywhere you look.
An Old Order way of life persists here. One of the reasons I like to travel is to experience a sense that human life is not really teleological; it does not converge on some final perfect ending point. Human life is just being.
Jogja people were friendly and courteous.
The little I know about Indonesian politics is that it is rough and tumble.
Because New Years Day was approaching, everywhere we went there were colorful horns for sale.
Almost every block seemed to have a fruit stand.
The important distinction to make about Islam here is that it is Indonesian, not Arabic.
It was great walking around Jogja, camera in hand. It was also great to get back to the beautifully appointed Phoenix Hotel.
Central Java, Indonesia
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:32AM 
After Jakarta we flew to Yogyakarta (variously pronounced JogJakarta or simply JogJa) in Central Java and based ourselves in the wonderful Phoenix Hotel. In Jogja we hired a van and driver and took day trips to the many fascinating and beautiful sights in Jogja and Central Java, the "center of Javanese culture," as all the guidebooks correctly stated. This is a scene from the very beautiful Losari Coffee Plantation (now known as MesaStila) we visited, during an afternoon rain.
The countryside around Jogja is verdant tropical agricultural and surprisingly densely populated.
The rice paddy is worked with skill for maximum yield.
The city of Yogyakarta has many markets. We woke early one morning and walked through the local side streets, many of which were morning markets. The light was perfect and the subject was superbly photogenic . . . I took hundreds of photos . . . What to do with them all? I will post some here, and the rest in a photo gallery elsewhere on this site. GO HERE.
People were friendly i the market. We asked people if we could photograph them - only a few refused. I guess that is to be expected when your market is around the corner from a hotel full of foreigners.
By the look of what's on sale in the market, I'm guessing the local cuisine is hot and spicy.
In addition to the peppers, fruits, vegetables and meat of all kinds were on sale.
The market is also a place to be with family and friends.
Update on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 5:54PM by
Dr. Jeff Harper
Dr. Jeff Harper
Road Trip: Mt. Merapi Volcano and Losari Coffee Plantation
Every day we would load up in the van and the driver would take us out of Jogja. Indonesia is very densely populated and modern . . . along the main highways. Leave the highway a few miles and you go back a hundred years to Old Javanese Culture.
Mt. Merapi dominates the countryside around Jogja
We drove to a public viewing area about half way up Mt. Merapi.
The day we went to a coffee plantation the sky was a bit threatening. It cleared up, then rained in the afternoon.
Our driver suggested a traditional Indonesian buffet in a small town on the way to the plantation. The selection was huge, tasty . . . but greasy.
Mt. Merapi, the volcano that towers over Jogja erupted only a year ago (11/2010). All the rivers we crossed were full of volcanic debris and the remnants of pyroclastic flows. This small riverside village was nearly buried.
We came across this woman who said that she was digging out her home after it was inundated with ash and volcanic debris.
Not more than 100 meters away from the woman digging out her home was another woman selling DVDs of the Mt. Merapi eruption!
We arrived at the beautiful Indonesian-style Losari Coffee Plantation just before it rained.
Indonesian style is very colorful and seems to have a strong Chinese influence. Coffee plantation.
The plantation was still decorated for Christmas . . .
. . . with some very creative ideas about what passes for a Christmas tree.
Reflections of a bygone era.
We had cups of coffee grown at the very plantation and delicious cakes before taking a walking tour of the coffee growing areas.
It had started to rain by the tine we began the plantation tour. The rain enhanced the sense of remoteness and the topicality of the beautiful surroundings.
We first toured the beautiful Old Dutch Colonial-style planter's home (1925).
Our walk took us through lush bamboo jungle punctuated by an occasional outbuilding. These are coffee bushes in the foreground.
Wood smoke wafted through the hot, humid, rainy afternoon.
The plantation settlers laid out a remarkable garden and roads all around the coffee patches.
The ponds were breathtakingly beautiful in the smoky rain.
The founders planted a large variety of fruiting trees to supply their own needs. It's good to see they enjoyed the Durian as much as I do.
But this is what it is all about: coffee beans . . . what we crave from every street corner in the world! Java!
The modern plantation is also a guest house, restaurant, and spa (of course). They run a small coffee processing facility to supply their own needs. If you are wondering, yes, their coffee (robustus) was delicious.
Loading honey into bottles.
We walked back by way of misty vistas of the Central Javanese hill country.
We ended our tour at the plantation office, bought some of their home produced coffee and a few knick-knacks, and drove back to Jogja in the dark in the rain.
Indonesian Street Peddlers' Carts
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 7:09PM 
I love street carts. I freely admit it. Indonesia must be the street cart capitol of the world. Never have I seen so many carts selling so many items. They completely fascinate me. In Indonesia they are known as kaki limas, which literally means "five legs."
The types and varieties of items for sale staggers the mind. A very few were new, like this ice cream cart.
Cart location seemed critical. Sweets carts are found near tourist locations, or where school children frequent.
Jakarta Coffee and tea carts all displayed racks of packets.
Congregations of carts were often seen . . .
. . . as well as solitary carts.
Cart men and woman came in all shapes, sizes, and genders. This seaport cartman repaired to the shade of a truck for his morning's shave.
Most of the cart proprietors in Jakarta were well dressed and clean.
Carts were not just places to purchase coffee, tea, or fruit; they are places for friendship and social interaction . . .
. . . a place for a laugh among friends . . .
. . . a place in the shade to take a break from your job . . .
. . . and to enjoy life.
There were carts everywhere I went in Indonesia, of course, like this cart outside the wet market of Yogjakarta.
A Yogjakarta cart portrait.
I wasn't sure if this Yogjakarta street peddler was selling door-to-door, or was on the way to his regular 'corner' somewhere.
Here is a slide show of more carts for those of you, like me, who love street arts.