Pangandaran | Java Part 2

     We left the bustling busy streets of Jakarta behind and headed to the coast, to the quiet peninsula at Pangandaran. Apparently this town used to be very popular with tourists, but many Westerners stopped going after the tsunami there in 2006, so now the tourism businesses in town live for the weekends and holidays, and the domestic tourists that come to visit then. We were there mid-week, so it was very peaceful for the most part. We took a train from Jakarta to Central Java, then transferred to Pangandaran (in the West again) by minibus, the total journey taking almost 8 hours, but since we'd started early in the morning, it was only late afternoon when we arrived in Pangandaran.

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Jakarta | Java Part 1

     Hello Indonesia! This is the final country on my crazy 9 week long summer trip, before I eventually fly home. I'll be here for about two and a half weeks, travelling through Java and Bali, starting with the second half of my Intrepid group trip, before I spend a few extra days in Bali on my own at the end. I flew from Singapore, after finishing the first half of the trip there, arriving in Jakarta just an hour and a half later, then catching a taxi to the hotel; public transport isn't very good in Indonesia apparently! I did have a few hours to spare that afternoon, but I was feeling pretty exhausted - especially after how busy we were in Singapore! - and Jakarta is a big city, so there wasn't too much close to the hotel, so I just stayed in and relaxed instead. That evening we had the welcome meeting for this half of the trip, and there are five of us in this group - after just four on the first half, these have been my smallest Intrepid groups so far! We had dinner together too, and our tour leader took us to Sabang Street, to eat some local Indonesian food. I've already noticed that fired rice, fried noodles, and sate skewers are pretty much staples on every menu, and I've tried all of them so far - that first night was chicken sate (which is the same as satay by the way!) for me.

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Singapore in 1 Day

     How to see the best of Singapore in less than 24 hours? That was the question facing us, as the first part of my group tour was coming to an end. I booked one long trip, lasting 4 weeks, but it's composed of two shorter ones, and the group and leader would be changing for the second half. This also meant I couldn't book any extra time in Singapore, as I had to fly on to Indonesia immediately. We left Melaka in the morning, and took the public bus down to Singapore, which of course meant crossing the border, by disembarking the bus twice to pass out through Malaysian immigration, and in through Singapore's. We arrived at the hotel in the middle of the afternoon, and only had the rest of that day to explore, as my next flight was first thing in the morning!

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