July Journey (2013) - from Bali to Yogya

Less than 5 days off the plane and back in Melbourne and I'm already searching Garuda flights and studying the map of Indonesia once again! Gila! Making plans of where I want to go next! The next dream island! When that next journey is, I don't know but I hope it's sooner rather than later! ;)

*This is the beginnings of my July journey...

July Journey (2013) - from Bali to Yogya

An unplanned trip to Indonesia seemed to fall into my lap...within a matter of two weeks I had bought tickets and got a new passport (my 3rd passport had expired!) and I was boarding a Garuda flight to Denpasar, Bali. I had no plans on where I wanted to go...well just a few vague ideas...I was thinking Plan A: a bit of time in Central Java and then onto Pulau Derawan (a small island off Kalimantan), as I had been dreaming for months about going back there to just chill out and enjoy nature. I had also been watching the bad weather reports and thinking that if it was torrential rain in Java, Bali and Kalimantan then Plan B would have to come into action...to head east to Pulau Rote (another fav spot that I haven't been to in quite sometime)...Then there was also Plan C...pick an island that I had never been to before and head there! Plan A pretty much came into fruition...not quite as I had envisioned it but a journey never goes to plan...especially in Indonesia! ;)

I had booked four nights in Bali to unwind from my crazy roller-coaster life and to begin planning my holiday! These days included all the favourite things to do while hanging-out in Bali such as; seafood meals overlooking the southern coast of Bali, cocktails whilst watching the sun set (this is a tradition that must be adhered to! Benarrrrr! ;)), full body Balinese traditional massages (this is another tradition that must be adhered to!!!), wandering the streets, window shopping, people watching and visiting my favourite restaurants and of course; catching up on old fav 'Sinetron' TV shows! (Anddddd... Take Me Out Indonesia - Absolutely looooove this show! *Note to self: Write to SBS and ask them to play it, they play the Chinese version of the show. So why not the Indo version!?)

Welcome back to Bali...Nasi Campur was on the list...yummmm! :)

There was also time for a visit to Kintamani and Ubud...it's always so nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of Southern Bali!

Ubud - Bali

Balinese Seafood Paella - at the famous Indus Restaurant in Ubud.

Cost of flights determined the beginning of the path...as I suddenly realised that the price of flights had escalated hugely since I was last in Indonesia...perhaps due to a combination of price escalation and also the current school holidays and the start of Ramadan! *I hadn't actually realised that it was the start of Ramadan and I'd be in Indonesia for almost the whole month of fasting...

Thus based on prices and cities I wanted to go to, I booked flights to Yogyakarta, Central Java... It's been over ten years since I visited Yogya (well, put it this way...I have no digital photos of Yogya or anywhere else in Central Java) thus it has been on my travel list to re-visit for a long time...so this seemed to be the time, right now! ;)

It was one of those crazy, early morning flights! Why do I always seem to book these early hour flights when in Indo?! (Possibly because they are the cheapest! Haha! And also, because the first flight for the day is less likely to be running late! There's no excuse for jam karet on the first flight of the day!  This is not always the case but its a worthy plan to hope for!) In any case, I was excited to be escaping the hustle and bustle of Bali and heading off on an adventure.

The flight departed Denpasar at 7am and we arrived in Yogyakarta at 8am...obviously way too early to check-in to a hotel room! I had booked the Ibis Hotel...nice standard hotel (all the Losmen/Guesthouses seemed to be booked out with no vacancies!)...right on Jalan Malioboro! Right in the heart of all the action! Including market stalls, shops, malls, food vendors and  'lesehan' restaurants that suddenly appear at night! Anyway, we'll get onto that a little later! :)

How to pass the time when waiting a possible 2-6 hours to check into a hotel room....?

When in Yogya...go for a 'becak' ride! ;)

*Please read my next post on the continuation of my July Journey 2013!