Friday, February 23, 2024

I am calling this post “The Secret Third Thing” because that is what Kiana called it in all of the itineraries she sent to me. I had a general idea of all of the other days, but not this one. The only thing I knew about today was that we were going to be spending a lot of time outside but that I didn’t need to have a change of clothes.

But first. Can I say how tired I was? I was sooooo tired. Plus, I had to have an important meeting at 3 AM; it was a meeting that I could NOT put off until I came back. The meeting even ended up lasting for two hours. Even though I ordinarily get up at 3 am, I’m not generally ready to have intricate and detailed conversations at 3 AM, especially after staying up late the night before. But here we were; I was struggling.

I must have looked terrible because when Kiana saw me when she got up, she asked me if I was okay and whether we should cancel and just hang out and rest. You have no idea how tempted I was to do just that. I really just wanted to go back to bed and stay in the air conditioning.

However, I remembered the pep talk I gave myself when I was on Mt. Halla on Jeju Island in Korea in 2017. I almost quick climbing that mountain–I had just had kidney stone surgery a little over a week before–and I really didn’t think I could make it. I was exhausted and disheartened at how many people, especially people far older than me, seemed to be bopping up the mountain while I was panting as if my lungs were going to collapse.

But then I thought, when will I have another chance to do this? And I pushed on. I’m really happy I did because I don’t know, with all my injuries since then (and how much weight I’ve put on), if I could do it again even if I got to go back to visit Jeju Island. And when I see that picture of me at the summit? I’m so proud of myself because I grabbed the chance when I had it and didn’t let go.

That flashed through my mind. When will I ever come/go back to Indonesia? But something else also occurred to me, so I asked, “How far is it to where we are going?” And when I found out that the drive would be almost three hours, my mood changed. A 3-hour car ride means at least a 2.5-hour nap for me.

We went to the KFC next door to meet our guide and driver. My daughter’s apartment is hard to find on maps even though it’s on a main street, so it’s often easier just to tell people about the big KFC next door.

So we left the compound, said good morning to the cat, and went to the KFC.

The cat belongs to the compound. Everyone likes the cat, but there are strict orders not to feed the cat. There is even a sign next to the security booth not to feed the cat. I have a sneaking suspicion that at least one of the security guards feeds that cat.

Lots of places seem to have a cat: the National Monument had a cat where the dioramas are, and there were several at the train station. No one wants you to feed the cats, but those cats look healthy and happy. 🙂

We got picked up by our guide and driver and stopped to pick up two other people at a hotel.

Then we were on our way. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until we stopped at a rest stop. It’s one of the largest rest stops I have ever seen with multiple shops, fast food places, convenience stores, a mosque, and bathrooms.

I don’t know how long we drove until we made our first tour stop. It was a roadside fruit stand to give us an opportunity to taste fruit from Indonesia.

Of course we had mangosteen, but we also had snake fruit (center pic) , and my favorite of the new fruits, longans (pic to the right).

We also got to try durian. I have been warned about the durian. There are signs all over Indonesia about the durian. Our hotel room in Yogyakarta had as sign warning us not to bring durian into the room. So did the train. I had been warned that they had a terribe smell, but the one our guide bought for us didn’t smell that badly. Kiana said it was a combination of it being mild but also us being outside.

She asked me if I wanted advice about it or whether I wanted to be surprised. I picked the former, and I’m glad because what she said was “don’t expect it to be like fruit–more like a kind of creamy cheese.” She was right, but not in a good way. I wasn’t exactly repulsed, but I didn’t like it that much.

Kiana, who has had durian before, loved it, and so did our driver. Kiana said that the driver said that it was one of the best durians he’s had in awhile, and the two of them finished it. The rest of us tried to get rid of the taste with the water provided. What I said about durian is that it’s the kind of thing I’d have to eat at my grandma’s house, but I wouldn’t go and buy it myself.

We got to go round back to see a yard where they were growing mangosteens and durian.

We also got to see some good looking chickens.

Our next stop on our drive east was to take a close look at a rice field in Sagalaherang Kaler (or at least that is what my phone says). I had seen plenty of rice fields from the train, but none this close to the road. But we got out and got to take a look.

Because I had never seen rice plants up close, I had no idea where the actual rice was on a rice plant. These were really young crops, but our guide found one that had some seeds growing. We got there before they were going to be flooding the fields again in case you’re wondering. I know I was. I had never seen a rice field this dry.

We continued east until we got to the Ciater Tea Plantation, an exciting prospect for me and Kiana who are both tea drinkers. Another plant that I’ve never seen up close, but also gorgeous. I didn’t find out until later that there is a museum on the land as well. Probably a good thing. I don’t think the other people in our group would have been interested in the musuem as the two of us.

We got back in the van and continued driving. The only thing I really noticed is that we seemed to be going up, climbing and not much going down. Even when we “arrived,” I didn’t really know what we were doing. It is much easier to surprise someone when they can’t read anything. All I know is that we climbed, passed an entrance ( I think, I was still sleeping and waking), and then were in a parking lot.

It really wasn’t until I saw it that . . . I saw it.

We were at the top of a volcano!! And not any volcano but an active one!

Turns out we had driven to Mount Tangkuban Parahu, which is just north of Badung. It’s 169.2 KM/105 miles southeast of Jakarta. It really was breathtaking.

As stated, you can drive up to just look at the volcano, but there are loads of options to do more there. Above is the first viewing spot. Below is the next.

There are also other options for visiting. Many people spend more time and hike/walk along many of the different trails along the steps built into the mountain. They even advertise the opportunity to go closer and boil eggs in the volcano. There used to be more places, too, including on the other side of where you can see, but they closed that down because the volcano erupted on that side in July 2019. In fact, our guide has to check becfore coming with us each day on seismic reports just in case.

People can not only hike but camp on the mountain overnight. There are plenty of places to get snacks and buy souvenirs.

In the bottom foggy picture, you can see some of the many stairs people can walk/hike while at the mountain.

However, if there is one thing I reget about the trip is that I didn’t bring money to buy one of the cups that the man was making with the wood you see being stripped in the middle right picture above. He is merely taking the bark off the wood, and that is what the wood looks like underneath. I don’t even remember what the wood is called, but it’s really pretty and naturally marbled like that on the inside. He had lots of figurines and cups/vase bowls made out of that material, but I didn’t carry any money with me, so I couldn’t buy any of those items.

After our walk around, we got back in the van and drove to the Sindang Reret restaurant in Lembang, which is about 15 minutes away. It is a resort, too, as you can see at the link, but we were just there for lunch. It was absolutely gorgeous. So pretty that I forgot to really take many pictures until we sat down. Our table was one of the boat tables they have in the artificial pond on site.

The food was delicious (I had water spinach for the first time, and I’m a big fan) and the atmosphere was relaxing. I could have easily taken a nap right in the boat table after lunch, but we still had other places to go on this tour!

Kopi Luwak Cikole is a coffee cafe only about 3 minutes away from the restaurant. It’s not a regular coffee shop though. It produces kopi luwak or what is known as civet coffee, a kind of coffee that I had never heard of before. It’s made of coffee beans, but coffee cheeries that have been eaten by a civet and pooped out afterward.

Supposedly, this fermentation process gives the coffee all sorts of health benefits, but not surprisingly it’s also a controversial practice. They went out of their way to show us how well they take care of their civets and their feeding and rest regimen because there have been places known for force feeding the animals to produce more of their poop. That’s my daughter making friends with one of the civets.

We had a chance to taste the coffee as well. I don’t drink coffee because even though I love the way it smells, I do not like the way it tastes (not even in ice cream or tiramisu), but they had a mocha hot chocolate that I tasted. I bought some coffee for my two friends, Ann and Rita, who I know from experience (searching for coffee in dark morning Manhatten will do that) must have their coffee in the morning! We will see if they like it.

After that stop, I was sure we were done, but we were not. Instead, we went to the Sari Ater Resort to stick our feet in the hot springs and get massages. Well, at least the intension was to just get feet massages, but I ended up getting an almost full body massage, and I have never felt so good and relaxed!

You can believe I was ready for the long ride home in the van after this experience. However, we had one more stop. We stopped at another fruit stand that our guide knew to have some pineapple. He knew that we had all probably eaten pineaple before, but this pineapple was excellent. I have clearly never had truly ripe and fresh pineapple before, so I was glad we stopped. I wish I hadn’t been so sleepy or I would have eaten more, but the massage just did me in.

I did not wake up until Kiana woke me up to ask what I thought we should tip the guide and the driver. Our guide was great, but the driver, he was impressive. He was always on a mission and got us in and out of spots that I would have never even attempted. He should be giving lessons!

Kiana wanted to know if the surprise day was worth it. Of course, it was. I’m so glad that I didn’t back out because I was so tired that morning.