The Journey to Yogyakarta

The journey from Indonesia’s capital city to Yogyakarta, another Indonesian city in Java is possible by way of a simple, though expensive train trip of 8 hours. The landscape is beautiful along the way…

We see a layering of farmland, homes, mountains and perhaps volcanoes!

The 'Taksaka' Executive train heads East. Mostly only tourists can afford it.

Hard working farmers still brave the wet season.

Precarious looking railway bridges have been built directly over terracing rice fields.

Whenever the train stops, young children come to beg at the window. The people sitting in front of us on the train have given this boy some money, and he runs to get his friends to ask them for some too.

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24th Stop: Jakarta, (Capital of) Indonesia

Temperature – 29 degrees C

Our next stop is the most populated city in South East Asia – Jakarta. With a population of almost 10 million and very serious pollution and traffic problems we find it difficult to find redeeming features about this grey place with very few green areas. We also learn what the wet season means as it beats down on us every day, sometimes lasting minutes, sometimes hours!

The Jakarta we had expected...

The large National Monument symbolising the country's independence.

The old town was attractive in parts, but not exceptionally interesting.

Horrific traffic problems everywhere. Spot the rabbits for sale on the street - centre of the picture.

The canal is polluted, and some of the people, rebellious!

We didn't realise that men and women are split up - even on the bus.

The childrens' bus doesn't have much of a safety system!

The Journey to Jakarta

We board the infamous and slightly mystical Pelni boat from Batam to Jakarta. It is a 29 hour fairly chaotic ride over the Java Sea – and – for the first time, we cross the equator and enter the Southern Hemisphere!

Welcome to our economy class bedroom – surely the most populated place we would ever (try to) sleep!

At least we have a bed. There are people literally sleeping anywhere and everywhere – fire escapes, corridors, cafe tables, out on deck…

The sea and sky are glorious.

We make friends quickly…

… and make more friends…

… until people start queuing to have their photos taken!

Jakarta in sight. The port looks a scary place as we prepare for the regular taxi battle.

For the people who actually want to take this boat, here is some information below:

A few tips for the journey:

From Singapore to Batam

This is an easy journey from Singapore from the Harbourfront. Our only advice is to have the correct visa money before getting on the boat (from Singapore to Batam) – ideally in US dollars ($25 at the time of writing). Even officials working the Indonesian immigration desk may try and rip you off given the opportunity.

From Batam to Jakarta

The hard part is finding the Pelni office and finding something to do whilst you are here.

To find the Pelni Office see photos below. Essentially it is a 10-ish minute walk from the ferry terminal to the Pelni office and there won’t be signs and or road names on Google Maps.We would suggest walking is bets otherwise you can easily be swallowed up by touts.

So – come out of the ferry terminal, out of the car park in front of you, turn right and walk along that road until another main road (not little rough track) heads off to the left and uphill slightly. Walk up there and after 5 minutes the Pelni office will be just on the right of another road on your left.

The timetable at the time of writing was once a week, leaving on Wednesday afternoon, taking 29 hours and arriving on Thursday evening in Jakarta. From our short experience we would recommend spending as little time as possible in Batam and therefore arrive at the ferry terminal from Singapore either on the same day or the day before. Getting tickets should not be a problem.

For the boat itself

Keep hold of your ship ticket for free issue food from the “pantry” – bring your own seasoning for the otherwise bland food!
If you don’t have bedding then bring insect repellant and sanitiser.
Flip flops are a must as the toilet area seemed to get very very wet…
Toilet paper is a luxury – bring your own!
Buy food and water from sellers before you board or after you board when the sellers are allowed on the boat before it departs – this is better value and choice that buying from the shop – and – make sure you barter!
Ear plugs are helpful if you cant sleep in a room with hundreds of other people!
Make friends with people around you as soon as you board – this is possibly the most important tip we can give.
Consider not getting anything valuable out of your bag until the second day so that you can sleep at night.
If you are in a mixed gender group this usually means you must take economy class, unless you are happy to be in separated sleeping zones. We are unsure if or how this is enforced in reality.

 

Prices:

CLASS 1a = Rp. 999,000

CLASS 1b = Rp. 817,000

CLASS 2a = Rp.561,000

CLASS 2b = Rp.517,000

CLASS economy = Rp.263,000

Expect to pay 20% more if booking through an agent. From our experience as a mixed gender couple we had to travel in economy class to be able to stay together.

 

See photos below (and hover mouse over for caption)!

23rd Stop: Batam, Riau Islands Province, Indonesia

Temperature – 28 degrees C

We arrive at the Island of ‘Singaporean man’s second wives’, where around half of the 1 million people population are not indigenous. It is a fairly depressing place where several hotels charge for rooms ‘by the hour’  and many of the people currently working here are away from their families in other parts of Indonesia. It is our first introduction to Indonesia,but perhaps not a very representative one (we hope!).

Welcome to Indonesia!

Given nothing better to do, we cleverly handwash our clothes and dry them in the hotel room...

... but when we return to our room the clothesline catches on the locking mechanism and we are locked out of our room for the night. Stephen is desperately trying to break back in using a coat hanger, until caught on CCTV. The hotel staff break in to the room the following morning.

Dining out in Batam, where locals iron their clothes in the restaurant in between courses.

The Journey into Indonesia

Now for the most challenging part of our journey. From the ‘mainland, of South East Asia to the islands of Indonesia, starting with Batam, just a short hop from Singapore.

We board an expensive but fast boat at Singapore Harbourfront.

We leave behind the glamour of Singapore.

We pass a queue of cargo boats as we traverse the Singapore Strait within 45 minutes.

22nd Stop: (The Republic of) Singapore

Temperature – 32 degrees C

We arrive in one of Singapore’s 63 islands, delighted to find that although it is highly urbanised, much is green – although much is manicured. The World Bank reckons that Singapore is “the easiest place in the world to do business”, which might explain why the country is home to more millionaire households per capita than any other country – and every single one of those 5 million people seem to be out and about as we spend New Year’s Day enjoying the many cultures. We breathe a secret sigh of relief when we work out that it has been ten weeks since we were in a country where English was the first and official language… and that country was England! Still, in Singapore we need a tiny bit of Mandarin to get by…

Crossing the road has its own difficulties here.

The food is SO good!

The sun sets as we buy our boat tickets for the next major challenge - Indonesia!

A wall of towers acts as a bookmark to the quays.

China Town lights up to celebrate in preparation for the Year of the Dragon.

Mosques are found in various places.

It is quite odd to visit Little India where not a female is to be seen and the men are holding hands skipping down the street.

Churches still have their place in the streets.

The Journey to Singapore

All we can say is “Luxury”! Things were looking good when we booked the bus, and were asked if we wanted the bus with personal TVs or one communal TV. It was a tough decision but in the end we settled for a bus with two TVs. The bus left on time, and arrived in Singapore on time, in part due to the driver’s willingness to leave slow-poke passengers behind.

We get the best seats on the bus - and with seat belts!

No Mans' Land between Malaysia and Singapore is a fairly long way. Fortunately we are driven across it.

Singapore is green - in colour at least.

For a moment we thought we were back in London!

21st Stop: Kuala Lumpur, (Capital of) Malaysia

Temperature – 32 – 35 degrees C

It seems that all of a sudden we are in KL! We arrive late at night, and are confronted by the dingy streets surrounding our hostel, complete with rats and rather broad-shouldered “ladies”. But it doesn’t take us long to discover the good things about this city, and we are quickly seduced by the amazing cuisine. When not stranded on traffic islands in this car-dominated city, we could be found snacking on various new street foods.

Major roads cut right through the city, which is quite overwhelming as we try to get around on foot.

The skyline is a mixture of Islamic architecture, modern skyscrapers and delapidated colonial buildings. Kangaroo relaxes on Merdeka Square, a wide space in the centre which commemorates Malaysia independence.

South-west Trains has the "Quiet" carriage, Kuala Lumpur trains have a carriage just for "Ladies". With her shabby backpacker clothes and sweaty face, Chloe questions whether she really qualifies to board here at the moment.

The Batu Caves, just outside Kuala Lumpur are an important Hindu site. The main cave, in this picture, is over 100m high and just beautiful.

One of the many culinary delights we found in the city. Various Indian dishes served up on a banana-leaf. Professionals at the tables around us chowed down using just their fingers to mop up the meal.

These monkeys are out of the cage! A baby monkey is being protected by its parent as some nasty tourists try to get its attention. The poor animals are being fed junk food and seem to have developed addictions.

Kuala Lumpur is famous for its shopping malls. In this mall, we wondered why we could hear children screaming inside, until we looked up to see a fully-fledged roller-coaster occupies the top floor.

The dust settles after the New Year's Eve celebrations at Merdeka Square. We watch from the roof of our hostel, and pack our bags for the next day's journey onward.

The Journey to Malaysia

After booking a bus due to all trains being booked out, the overland journey from Hat Yai in Thailand to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia should have been straightforward. As the New Year approaches us we realised that we were looking forward to the Christmas-New Year break being over so that travel would return to normal!

Our first journey to the bus station is in a small converted lorry, now with seats



We wait at the station for two hours for the bus due to the idiotic behaviour of the booking agent. We recommend never using an agent if possible!



The bus itself is seriously luxurious. We can't believe the seat size!



A nice bus doesn't guarantee nice people. We have to tolerate hours of a Thai version of Little Britain's Vicki Pollard. Stephen is almost sick watching, hearing and smelling her eat.



A typical stop for the bus for lunch!



Luscious landscape all the way despite huge environmental irresponsibility - seemingly prolific in Malaysia.



We hit traffic outside Kuala Lumpur, meaning the bus takes 11 and a half hours instead of 8.



We finally arrive at our hostel. We have a small room with no window and plastic partition walls, making the ban on Durian fruit their one redeeming feature!



20th Stop: Hat Yai, Songkhla Province, Southern Thailand

Temperature – 30 degrees C

This stop is slightly obscure, but we wanted to have another taste of a more ‘real Thailand after Bangkok, so we head to the only part of Southern Thailand that seems not to revolve around tourism. Hat Yai has a population of around 160,000 people and is close to the border of Malaysia. Much of our time was spent in search of good food (we heard it would be good) but like the street cockroaches, we walked the pavements for hours without success!

Hat Yai from our hotel room



Finally we think we find a cafe, but on closer inspection it turns out to be a shop that sells signs!



Very late at night we settle for a street cafe.



Aside from Kangaroo there is a lot of wildlife in Hat Yai. We see an elephant in the street, many cats, geckos, rats, frogs, etc.



The following day we eat at a small cafe...



... which, according to a photo on the wall had recently been flooded.



Chloé and Kangaroo look on in horror as our dinner is spoilt by karaoke. One man kept getting up and we had to leave during his 9th song.