{"id":9070,"date":"2015-03-09T12:34:09","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T05:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/?p=9070"},"modified":"2015-03-09T20:24:54","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T13:24:54","slug":"javacado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2015\/03\/09\/javacado\/","title":{"rendered":"Javacado"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many a word have I spilt in these pages, before now, detailing the love\/hate relationship with which I interface to so many of the places I\u2019ve visited. Generally speaking, the \u201cLove\u201d side has to do with the people, and the culture, and the monuments, and cetera; while the \u201cHate\u201d side has to do with the motorcycles.<\/p>\n

Indonesia may be the most bipolar country of them all. Its maritime scenery is unbeatable, its music \u2013 both traditional and modern \u2013 is probably more enjoyable even than the music in Cambodia (and more populist, too: In Indonesia, every third person, it seems, is carrying a guitar), the local citizens are fascinating and friendly (if a little too insistent that the tourist must become proficient in Bahasa), the fruit delicious and cheap.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the pollution, as I\u2019ve said, is at times simply staggering to both mind and soul; the motorcycles are more despicably over-the-top loud and fuming than anywhere, intercity transport is difficult-to-impossible, accommodation is quite expensive and poor value for the money (though the hotels\u2019 staffs are always very friendly), and so on down the line.<\/p>\n

And, like India, it\u2019s so huge and varied that it\u2019s almost impossible to even try to make a proper visit — of any single island<\/em>, let alone the entire country. I feel, after one month there, that I scratched even less of its surface than I did of India\u2019s. A perfect excuse to plan a return visit, of course \u2013 but only, I must say, when the Pelni\u2019s fares are in a reduced state again!<\/p>\n

Yogyakarta is the country\u2019s top tourist destination. However, when one arrives, it quickly becomes apparent that the ancient temples, Borobudur and Prambanan — while they draw the tourists like flies — don\u2019t occupy an overwhelming place in the local cultural imagination (as is the case with, e.g., the Angkor Temples in Siem Reap and the Himalayas in Kathmandu). Instead, Jogja is obsessed with its role in the traditional arts of Wayang, Gamelan, and Batik.<\/p>\n

As regards the latter, every third shoppe \u2013 perhaps every other \u2013 is a purveyor of that most famous of all handicrafts, while the Batik museum is so exhaustive one suspects its proprietors must be more than a little OCD. If so, methinks it\u2019s only the highest form of respect for me to have taken as many photos as I did! Here\u2019s one of them; find dozens<\/a> more \u2013 along with oh-so-many masks and puppets from other museums \u2013 over at the Flickr page.<\/p>\n

\"2015-03-01<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-02-26<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-02-26<\/a><\/p>\n

The puppets and masks are beautiful enough when displayed in the museum setting, \u2018tis true. But they really<\/em> capture the imagination when combined with the music and put into motion, as is done in the daily and nightly performances \u2013 masterfully realised affairs which somehow cost only a few dollars to be privileged to witness. Here\u2019re a couple of clips \u2013 one using three-dimensional puppets, the other using shadow puppets. The latter clocks in at about twenty minutes\u2019 worth of excerpts \u2013 it\u2019s really worth it to stick with it, despite the extended length and the language barrier, as the appreciation of the true magnificence of the beauty and accomplishment of the medium imparts quite gradually.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jodpar0eMaU<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

\u00b7<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=s6qI9f2mgVY<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

\u00b7<\/p>\n

And, but, hold the phone! Here\u2019s even one more<\/em> puppet performance \u2013 this one, as part of the city\u2019s Chinese New Year festivities. I\u2019m not quite sure whether this fight scene is being performed by two operators or only one, but, either way it\u2019s quite impressive!<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UeBzhuNOgjw<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

\u00b7<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, though: I ain\u2019t a-gonna leave you high and dry without any ancient-temple pics. Perish the thought! The truth of the matter is, alas, that I found both<\/em> of the sites to be on the underwhelming side. Borobudur, even claiming the title of World\u2019s Largest Buddhist Structure seems decidedly inconsequential in comparison with not only Angkor, but even with the temples in the Kathmandu Valley. Not to say they\u2019re not worth visiting, however. Here are some sample photos \u2013 the full panoply<\/a> is, as always, over at the Flickr.<\/p>\n

\"2015-02-27<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-02-27<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-02-27<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-02-27<\/a><\/p>\n

The above are from Prambanan, the (mostly) Hindu site located just east of the city, quite near the airport. Borobudur, one of the World\u2019s most famous temples, is a bit more difficult to get to, as it requires two different local buses totaling a couple hours\u2019 ride each way. The two sites \u2013 though one be Buddhist, and the other Hindu — date from the same period. Don\u2019t take the above words the wrong way: Borobudur is<\/em> very impressive, and it is<\/em> very beautiful (and the mountain\/jungle backdrop is a sight to behold). It\u2019s just that, once one has visited Angkor, everything else kinda pales in comparison.<\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-02<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

I found myself, with each passing day, growing more and more fond of Yogyakarta itself. A few days gone, now, I miss it rather more than I expected I might. Although it\u2019s not Thailand by any stretch, there\u2019s enough weirdness to keep one guessing, there\u2019s a thriving street-chess and petty gambling scene, and there are even some pockets of the city where the motorcycles aren\u2019t so loud and abrasive (though in other areas, attempting to be a pedestrian is…very not fun).<\/p>\n

\"2015-02-28<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-04<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-03<\/a><\/p>\n

Best of all, though, are the Becak drivers (and others) looking so impossibly fashionable and fun-loving (what does it say that the surliest-looking driver of the bunch here is ferrying the happiest-looking passengers this side of Disneyland?) in their Asian Paddy Hats.<\/p>\n

\"2015-03-04<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-04<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-04<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-04<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-04<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-03-04<\/a><\/p>\n

Okay, I lied. There is one activity offering even greater fulfillment than hanging out watching the Becak drivers, viz., hanging out eating Avocadoes and drinking Coconuts. Indonesian Coconuts are every bit as miraculous as Thailand\u2019s, and they\u2019re almost<\/em> as competitively priced. The Avocadoes, meanwhile…oh!, the Avocadoes. Oh, god, the fucking Avocadoes!<\/p>\n

I said before that Indonesia\u2019s Avos are just slightly inferior to Nepal\u2019s in terms of taste, variety, and price. But Kathmandu\u2019s late-November Avo experience comes with a rub: It\u2019s quite chilly there in the evenings. So, the Hanging Out component of Hanging-Out-Eating-Avos is much more fun in Jogja that it is in KTM. I mean, yeah, eating them during the daytime while it\u2019s still warm is a fine workaround. But Avos deserve more than just fine<\/em>: Avos deserve \u2013 it only befits their heavenly nature \u2013 to be consumed during the Magic Hour. They just do.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: All things considered, the Indonesian Avo experience might even be more<\/em> highly recommended than the Nepali. It\u2019s a close call. And, also \u2013 it\u2019s a good thing my Indonesian Visa expired when it did, because I won\u2019t try to deny that the quantity of Avos consumed was fairly far beyond what felt like healthy (not to mention gluttonous) eating.<\/p>\n

Indonesia, after one month\u2019s experience, seems even more inscrutable and overwhelming than it did just reading about it in travel guides. I\u2019m no nearer now than before to having any idea how to try to wriggle one\u2019s way into some sort of comprehension of the place. Or maybe that\u2019s, finally, beside the point? So long as the Coconuts keep on dropping, what\u2019s not to love? Just drink up, stop trying to analyse everything to death, and let the experience speak for itself, ain\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s<\/em> easier said than done, though…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many a word have I spilt in these pages, before now, detailing the love\/hate relationship with which I interface to so many of the places I\u2019ve visited. Generally speaking, the \u201cLove\u201d side has to do with the people, and the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}