Jiving through Java, Part 3

We gave the kids a choice of staying two nights in Malang and then driving straight to Bali and not going to Ijen, which was on our original itinerary. But ShaSha saw the words 'Ijen National Park' on the map and a friend had told her we might be lucky enough to see a rhinoceros (badak) there and it proved too irresistible to her.

Our departure from Malang was somewhat delayed, firstly by the saga of my almost-drowned Blackberry which had the hotel staff rushing all over to get towels and a hairdryer to dry it! Secondly, we decided to stop by the home of a friend who is an antique dealer. His house is choc-a-bloc full of tables, trays, chairs, cupboards, boxes, Art Deco silver candleabras and all sorts of things. Predictably enough, the 'brief' stop promised by hubby proved to be not so brief so we finally set off on the next leg of the journey at 1pm.

Our destination was the Ijen resort, in a village called Licin up in the hills above the city of Banyuwangi on the easternmost coast of Java. There are several ways of getting there, either along the north coast past Pasuruan, Probolinggo and Situbundo or along the southern route via Jember. There is another more adventurous and shorter route through the small kampung roads across the mountains.

We decided to take the northern coastal road and it proved to be the best idea because it kept us on the main roads. Before long the skies turned grey and then, boy did it pour! It rained and rained and rained and we started to worry that the roads might be flooded. Visibility was not more than 10 feet ahead of us and there were also lots of lorries on the roads. As in Malaysia, people slowed down in the rain and this only made the going slower.

Despite the rain we passed many interesting villages and towns. Many of them are military towns and one of the more different things about Java compared to Malaysia is the number of statues honouring military heroes in the little towns and cities. Many roads are named after historical figures; there is a Jalan Slamet Riyadi is almost every town we went to. Streets in the military towns are named after various generals from all branches of the military.

We stopped at a rest stop just outside Probolinggo to have lunch. You can have things like nasi pecel (rice with gado-gado-like veg) or nasi goreng at very reasonable prices and they are often delicious. Toilets are a bit wet but generally clean especially at the new Pertamina stations. So travelling through Java is not at all uncomfortable.

We continued through the rain towards Situbundo and the weather was so bad that we considered stopping there for the night and waiting the rain out. But the kids wanted to press on to Ijen which was only about 80km away. (Apparently the rain on the north coast didn't stop. Today's news was that eight people were killed in floods in Situbundo).

Banyuwangi is on the coast facing Bali. We arrived there at about 9pm and still had another hour to go up to the hills. The road wound through villages up the hills and inevitably in the dark we missed the signposts. This was the only part when we really started to feel tired and a bit car sick. Eventually, after stopping to ask villagers, we finally found the turn-off to the Ijen resort.

Bumping along 3.5km of dirt road deep into the kampung, up and down some steep slopes, we started to wonder if this was going to be worth it. Arriving there, we simply went straight to bed.

The scene I woke up to...Ijen Crater is in the background...

Another view from my terrace..

In the morning, we got our answer. Opening the doors to our terrace, we found a picture-postcard perfect scene: terraced padi fields, volcanoes in the background and blue skies! Farmers walked along looking as if they had been placed there by the tourism department. You could just sit there and drink it all in and believe that all was right with the world.

Unfortunately we couldn't spend too much time in all that beauty as we had to push off for our final destination, Bali. We bumped down that previous night's dirt road and found that in the day it was completely picturesque, rural scenes that we don't see much of in Malaysia anymore, complete with buffaloes tilling the fields.

It took us only 40 minutes to get to Ketapang next to Banyuwangi which is the ferry port to Bali. At that time of the late morning, there wasn't too much traffic and we didn't have to wait long to get on to the ferry (the fare for the entire car plus five of us cost 90,000 rupiahs (about RM35!!!)). The ferries plying the Bali Straits between Ketapang and Gilimanuk on Bali island look like a much more fragile version of the Penang ferries but they felt safe enough. Once our car was properly parked (and they park the cars so close to each other, you have to get out beforehand or else you're stuck in the car) we made our way up to the upper deck, where we found a mie bakso (hot soup with noodles and fish balls) stall!!!

The journey across took a pleasant 30 minutes and before we knew it, we were in Bali at last, six days after we set off. Our destination was Ubud, up in the hills where we were staying at a friend's house. We opted to take the northern coastal route again to Singaraja and then through the mountains to Bedugul to have lunch.

Most of us probably know the more popular tourists spots of Kuta and Nusa Dua but up north, there are equally nice places like Lovina Beach where you can also surf and dive. The road passes through some beautiful national parks but unfortunately we didnt have time to stop except for lunch at Bedugul and then on towards Ubud.

Driving through Balinese mountains and villages is just as interesting as in Java. The only difference is that often you have to stop to make way for several Balinese village processions. These are always interesting, with the men in white jackets, white headgear and yellow and gold sarongs and the women in transparent lace kebayas over corsets and batik sarongs walking along to a traditional Balinese band. Often they have a barong with them, somewhat like a lion in the Chinese lion dance. It's colourful and interesting but they do hold up traffic.

Finally, finally, finally on the eve of Chinese New Year, six days after we started, three very long drives, four hotels later, we finally arrived at our destination, ready to spend the next few days lounging by the pool, getting massaged and recovering from our big road adventure.

(to be continued)