#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Indonesia Forum >  >  Java 2017

## Neo

Some photos from my latest trip to Indonesia in the last week of April.

Take off from Dubai early evening.. 



Flew via Singapore to Semarang on the north coast of Central Java, was through customs in 10 minutes



Was greeted by Miss Java 2017 and straight on the road for a road trip to Jogjakarta about 3 hours south. 



Some very typical roadside scenery... 



Plenty of rickshaws in service to be seen.. got to make a living somehow



Saw a lot of really good graffiti on my trip .. a sign of creativity and the free spirit of such a tolerant society



Just a random shot on an unusually quiet street... 



Up very early the next day as the Miss was running a half marathon.



Starting at the Prambanan temple



Bit of a warm up first with her club mates.. 



Before heading to the start line.. note the drone, ubiquitous these days it seems



And they were off.. 



Giving me about 2 hours 35 mins depending on tail wind for a leisurely stroll around the temples.







Not many tourists about yet, but a few school groups up early













The temples are heavily reconstructed from what were total ruins, but there were no real restriction in place on climbing in and around them. 







Here you can see in the grounds the bases of some minor temples, from which I guess the stonework has been used in the reconstruction or simply cleared away. 





One of the other temples still under reconstruction.



And the other temple complex, you can see the scale of the reconstruction required with the outlying temples in complete ruin. 







Very few Buddha with their heads still in place.. 









In the 2 weeks I was in Java I only saw half a dozen farang.. which was really refreshing. I quite often received curious stares which were quickly turned to smiles with a very English 'good morning' and a wave. Several times I was approached and asked to have my picture taken with random passers by, no doubt as proof on Facebook that they had seen a white man. This group of tourists all turned their cameras on me and were happy to pose for a quick shot of mine. Very pleasant and very polite people overall throughout my stay in Java. 



More to follow  :Smile:

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## Neverna

Nice one, Neo.  :Smile: 

Green on its way.

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## Looper

Some nice looking temples there Neo  :tumbs: 

Spunter could learn a thing or 2 about posting pics from this thread  :Smile:

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## Neo

You get a lot for your money in Indonesia, accommodation and food was really very inexpensive throughout my trip. 
Affordable for a little upgrade whenever possible  :Smile: 



A night out in Jogja 



Not much in the way of entertainment.. just street markets on the main drag







This place was a proper little oasis... Sakapatat beer garden



The local Bintang beer is a bargain



These Euro bad boys were somewhat pricier but worth it, the nachos were delicious.



Uber and Grabcab are everywhere, very convenient. This boy racer has to pay for his petrol somehow I guess.. 



Good job nobody knows me round here  :Smile:  drive safe now...



The night was a bit of a blur in the end.. nice roof top bar for a nightcap



Check out the next day was accompanied by the soothing bing-bong of this old boy banging out a few classics in the reception.



Nice place, recommended if you're going to visit.



Cheers  :Wink:

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## buriramboy

That's where my old man lives, Semerang. Never actually been there though, is it worth a week or get him to fly to Thailand?

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## buriramboy

Just read your post properly I see you didn't actually spend time in Semerang, so not to worry. I've been to Jogja a few times very nice.

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## Neo

That's a coincidence then. I did stay in Semarang, used it as a base, the local airport is very convenient for Bali too. Been there a couple of times now as that's where she's from. If you're going I'd recommend flying via Changi Singapore with Garuda, all in the same terminal and very convenient, Jakarta needs a shuttle bus between international and domestic and not quite the same standards as Changi.

Semarang is okay, worth a visit but not for a week; there's really not enough there to keep you interested. Its quite a large city built around hills with very scenic volcanic mountains in the background., very congested traffic as is usual in Indonesia. Coastline is just industrial port and fish farming.  Very friendly, not too many farangs. There's shopping malls with nothing you'd really want to buy, cinema is ok. Some very good bars and restaurants dotted about outside of town (Sakapatat, the Hills) and a couple of bars and night clubs in town, but it's all very laid back really, I don't think couldn't live there long term as not much going on and no beach, although its truly cosmopolitan compared to Nakhon Nowhere and if you like your home life and want somewhere laid back and residential its probably ok. I've got more pics to put up with some of Semarang.  :Wink:

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## buriramboy

Think he moved to Semerang best part of 10 years ago, he's used Indonesia as his base since the late 70s, married to an Indonesian for over 25 years. Last time I visited him he was living in Bintaro in Jakarta.

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## Chittychangchang

Outstanding picture travel thread Neo.

Cheers for taking the time to post it up.

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## Neo

> Think he moved to Semerang best part of 10  years ago, he's used Indonesia as his base since the late 70s, married  to an Indonesian for over 25 years. Last time I visited him he was  living in Bintaro in Jakarta.


Fair play... good women. I think there's good business opportunities there too.

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## Neo

> Outstanding picture travel thread Neo.
> 
> Cheers for taking the time to post it up.


Thanks mate.. yeah thought its time to make the effort again.  :Wink:

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## katie23

^thnx for the effort. It's a piss poor effort, if I may say so. Up your game.  :Razz: 

Great pix & interesting place. Might check it out one day. Cheers!

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## Luigi

Needs more pics of Mrs. Java 2017.

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## hallelujah

Good thread, Neo. Apart from a few too many boring temple pics.  :Smile: 

Top place, Indonesia, and Yogya's nice if a bit quiet after dark. Sunrise at Borobudur, looking towards Mt Merapi, is one of the few times a temple is actually worth visiting. 

Proper party place is Jakarta too and the birds are well up for it.

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## BaitongBoy

Well done, Neo...Cheers...

Trust buggerlugs, Luig-io, up there...555...

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## hallelujah

Anybody on here ever have the chance to visit Stadium in Jakarta in its heyday? Sadly closed now after an off duty copper OD'd on E, but what a fucking night (weekend) out that was. 

 :bananaman:

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## Minty

1) Looks nicer than Thailand.

2) The people look nicer and more genuine that Thais.

3) It looks cleaner than Thailand.

4) The infrastructure looks better than Thailand.

5) It's cheaper than Thailand.

6) Why am I based in Thailand and not Java?

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## David48atTD

Voice to the chorus ... great Posts.

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## Neo

> ^thnx for the effort. It's a piss poor effort, if I may say so. Up your game.


yeah... but I'm just lazy  :Smile: 




> Needs more pics of Mrs. Java 2017.


Not Mrs... not yet 




> Good thread, Neo. Apart from a few too many boring temple pics.


There's more ...  :Smile: 




> Trust buggerlugs, Luig-io, up there...555...


And he wonders why huh.. 




> 1) Looks nicer than Thailand.
> 
> 2) The people look nicer and more genuine that Thais.
> 
> 3) It looks cleaner than Thailand.
> 
> 4) The infrastructure looks better than Thailand.
> 
> 5) It's cheaper than Thailand.
> ...


It's quite spectacular, the people I found to be genuine and its very orderly for such a huge population, I didn't see too many plastic bags and rubbish along roadsides although coastlines I've seen can be a bit off putting due to all the flotsam, infrastructure definitely not as good as Thailand and traffic congestion is a constant, cheaper yes but less variety, two things... humidity which is year round and its not as 'liberal' shall we say.  




> Voice to the chorus ... great Posts.


Cheers, more to come  :Wink:

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## beerlaodrinker

Great thread and good to see you've found yourself a girlfriend. Was getting a bit worried about you hanging out in the desert with all them nasty goat botherers.

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## Neo

> Great thread and good to see you've found yourself a girlfriend. Was getting a bit worried about you hanging out in the desert with all them nasty goat botherers.


man cannot live on goat alone... still can't the taste out of my mouth though  :Yumyum:

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## Neo

Another road trip, about 2 hours from Semarang to Borobudur, the largest Buddhist monument in the world. Note monument and not temple. 

Again heavily reconstructed as it's built over an earth mound which shifted considerably over the centuries, there's a fantastic museum showing the state of decay and the huge efforts that went into restoring the monument. 

Back in the day it would have been the centre of a bustling community, today it's surrounded by beautifully manicured grounds. Dual pricing was in effect as is usual. Anyway not much else to say except the scale was breathtaking and the surrounds very pleasant, so I'll just post a series of images. 



































 :Smile:

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## Neo

A few random shots from Semarang

This was base for my time there, Java Go residence. I've stayed in a couple of hotels in town previously, the Santika which I would recommend for good value, central location and facilities and the Crowne Plaza which is as you would expect, pricey but luxurious. Java Go had more a boutique hotel or guest house feel, very inexpensive and the location away from the city centre traffic meant it was quite peaceful. 



Really nice building with a modern open plan design. 
The staff there were great, very friendly. The only thing it lacked was a pool. 











This is a restaurant called Koenokoeni with a great view and an eclectic collection of memorabilia and motorbikes.. 











Typical Indonesian light lunch, doesn't look much but just the job and very tasty. 



This place was very nice in the evening for dinner and a few drinks, The Hills. 
In a very well to do neighborhood overlooking the city. 







This is how they serve the food up in Bunda restaurants which are more a local thing, good quality and cheap price, like a cafeteria its a step up from street stalls but very traditional, this is where the Dutch found inspiration for their own version they call rijsttafel... basically there's no menu, the waiter brings dishes of whatever they have  at that time and you only pay for what you eat and for the rice. Really nice way of doing it, very relaxed atmosphere and a great way to try a lot of the Indonesian cuisine. Everyone has a a favorite Bunda they want to recommend because they think a particular dish is better at that particular place.. its great to try a few and find out. 



Did I mention Indonesia is very inexpensive..? It's easy to feel like a millionaire there  :Smile: 



There's nightlife in a couple of clubs in town.. very typically SEA and good enough if you want to drink late into the night. 



This is the Sakapatat beer garden, best bar by far with a great atmosphere and generally a bit blurry by the end of the evening. 



 :Friday:

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## Chittychangchang

Making me hungry looking at that spread of dishes, did you try them all?
Some rare 50+ year old LD Lambrettas in the scooter pics.
Nice job.

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## astasinim

Nice one Neo. Thanks for letting us have a look see.

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## Luigi

> Needs more pics of Mrs. Java 2017.


 :witchhunt:

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## Neo

Went to Jepara which is a couple of hours up the coast. Billed as a seaside resort and the centre for furniture making by my trusty tour guide, truns out the seaside and the town wasn't impressive and I wasn't there to buy furniture, but.. saving grace we did find the Ocean View resort a little haven of luxury, tranquility, good food and cold beer run by a Belgian fella and his son, so we stopped there for a couple of nights and chilled by the pool during the day. 



























Really nice place to chill out the next day around the pool and caught a perfect sunset that evening.. 









 :Smile:

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## VocalNeal

> Went to Jepara which is a couple of hours up the coast.


A mate of mine lived in Jepara and worked at the power station there. Now i know why he liked it there!

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## Minty

The resort looks nice. Any more beach shots?

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## Neo

I have some but didn't upload them to photobucket... beach was ok nothing special, water quality same, hence why the OV resort was such a draw with having a jetty. 
I haven't been impressed so far with beach quality in Indo, Bali was  :Puke:  
I'm going to Lombok and Gillies in August so hoping for some tropical paradise settings there.. but not holding my breath.

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## Neo

Anyway... final lot of pictures for this thread. 
Woke up to a beautiful morning where the clouds above the local peaks had cleared revealing them in all their glory. Time to head off to another famous temple location, Candi Gedong Songo, a Hindu site dating from the 8th century which comprises of 7 groups of shrines dotted along a trail that winds up the side of a mountain, legend has it that some people can see 9 temples... wasn't the season for it I think, but the mountain air was wonderfully cool, the weather was great and the climb was not too demanding. 


































That's all until next time...  :Wink:

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