Independent travel to Indonesia. Bukittinggi, sumatra, indonesia

Category: Indonesia

20 articles with photos about my independent travels in Indonesia. Traveled by public transport on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Flores, around the island of Kalimantan and Sulawesi. About 40 locations in Indonesia. Sights, culture, volcanoes and nature - the highlights

It's done. I made it to the Kelimutu volcano! Itself, across the country, having made an unforgettable journey through Indonesia by public transport. After the village of Ben, I left for Ende and the next day for Moni, from there it is convenient to go to the volcano. I tell about my visit to this masterpiece of nature and one of the best places on Earth,…

Traveling on my own in Indonesia, I came to the small town of Berastagi from Lake Toba, to look at volcanoes, which I had never seen alive before in my life, did not come close and, moreover, did not climb to the top. I went to one of them, very interesting and accessible, on the second day (this story, as well as information ...

Independent travel implies complete freedom in choosing accommodation, excursions, entertainment. Those who do not want to pay extra money to travel companies for a guide to take you literally by the hand to the most popular sights, but want to get to know the customs of the local population better and just love spending free time, usually go to travel on their own, buying plane tickets and collecting suitcase with everything you need. What to take with you to Indonesia? Indonesia is a country with a very developed infrastructure, with many shops and hypermarkets where you can buy what you forget to take with you from your homeland, such as a hat to protect your head from hot sun rays, a swimsuit, glasses and beach shoes. If you plan to visit the temples, then bring modest clothing that covers your knees. On excursions into the jungle, insect repellents may come in handy. It is irrational to take a wallet with a thick wad of cash: there are many ATMs and bank branches in the country. A thick bag with medicines for all types of diseases is not needed: in any locality, pharmacies are open, where they offer international-class patented drugs. How to get to Indonesia The best way to get to Indonesia is by plane. It is the fastest, safest and most convenient way. Direct flights from Russia are only charter, they fly rarely and not from all cities. You can fly with a connection using the services of Thai Airways, Transaero, Emirates Airlines. From the capitals of the states of Southeast Asia and the countries of the Persian Gulf, there are many daily flights to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia) and the island of Bali. When planning a flight, you should make sure that the date of arrival at the Indonesian airport does not fall on the days when the country is Day of Silence, or Nyepi, (roads are closed, and airports only accept emergency landing aircraft).
Visa regime A nice aspect of independent travel to Indonesia is that a tourist visa is issued upon arrival at the airport. All you need to do is pay the twenty-five dollar fee, show your documents (passport with a validity of more than six months, tickets to your homeland or a third country, confirmation of a hotel reservation or proof of funds) and enjoy your vacation for thirty days. Children under nine years of age do not need a visa or fee. After the expiration of the visa, its one-time extension for another 30 days is allowed. To do this, you must contact the police (department for foreigners). The best time to relax All islands of Indonesia have an equatorial monsoon climate, which means a small temperature difference and the presence of only two seasons - dry and rainy. From May to the end of October, there is the least rainfall and the most sunny days. It was during this period that an influx of tourists is noted in Indonesia. The next peak of the tourist season is the New Year and Christmas holidays. However, even during the rainy season, precipitation does not bother around the clock, but periodically, in the afternoon. This does not interfere with sunbathing, swimming and walking along wet sandy beaches, surfing and diving.
Food and housing There are many inexpensive hotels and guesthouses both in the capital and on the islands. The simplest of them is a small room with a bed and a fan. For those who want to have a luxurious rest, hotels with the maximum level of comfort, swimming pools, restaurants and other services (baby sitter, massage parlors, SPA) are built. When checking in, pay attention to the availability of amenities and air conditioning (fan), wi-fi, cleanliness in the room. The food is quite varied, the local cuisine is dominated by rice, seafood, meat, fruits, a huge variety of desserts. A distinctive feature is the use of a large number of spices. Pork is practically not eaten, since the majority of the indigenous population are Muslims.
Transport All islands are interconnected by air and sea. Their transportation services are offered by private traders who work on any routes. In cities and between them, traffic is on the left. Renting a car is not recommended as the traffic is heavy, the road conditions often leave much to be desired and some road signs are written in Malay. It is much more pleasant to use the services of a taxi, bus or minibus. There are railway lines, but communication is poorly developed. In addition to cars, bicycles and motorcycles are available for rent. Entertainment in Indonesia Diving The most inquisitive tourists go to Indonesia specifically to admire the underwater beauties while diving. Divers from all over the world come here, both experienced and those who are just planning to learn diving with an instructor.
Surfing Indonesia, in particular the island of Bali, is very popular with surfers. It is believed that in these latitudes the best waves and schools for beginners. Fishing It is very pleasant to sit with a fishing rod on a comfortable yacht. On the hook come across tuna, marlin, snapper, barracuda, swordfish and other exotic marine life. Excursions At their choice, tourists can go to the jungle, conquer one of the mountain peaks, or raft on the mountain river Ayung. A sea of ​​adrenaline and unforgettable impressions of the beauty of the local nature are guaranteed. Wellness The SPA centers offer tourists massage and wellness activities based on national recipes. Here you can try the wrapping procedure, order a complex aimed at getting rid of excess weight and many other equally pleasant procedures. Holidays and festivals Tourists who arrive in Indonesia on the eve of the holidays will certainly find colorful processions on the streets, amazing contests, fairs and a sea of ​​happy and contented Indonesians distributing alms and singing songs.
parks On the territory of Indonesia there are several natural parks with animals and plants inhabiting them, which can be viewed, fed and photographed. For lovers of attractions, huge amusement parks and a water park have been built. In the dolphinarium you can swim with these cute mammals. And to see a huge number of fish without plunging into the water, offers an oceanarium. In addition, there are many bars, casinos and nightclubs, including open areas where fire shows are held.
Traveling on your own, you choose your own program, entertainment and place of residence. After getting to know the local culture, visiting a holiday or festival and seeing with your own eyes the beauty of temples, nature and beaches, it may turn out that one month spent in Indonesia is not enough and you want to extend your exciting stay in this exotic country.

Visa to Indonesia

Climate in Indonesia

Transport in Indonesia

Traveling to Indonesia can turn out to be as diverse as possible: there are temples, and national parks, and several volcanoes, and paradise beaches where you can go for turtles or learn to surf. Anastasia Zadorozhnaya– a Belarusian woman coordinating exchange programs in Warsaw is fond of film, travelling, practicing interesting itineraries, and for 34travel she shares her recipe for a two-week trip to Indonesia.

Why Indonesia?

Honestly? Accidentally. I am ashamed to admit, but before my trip to Indonesia, I did not know exactly where exactly in Southeast Asia it was located, and Bali seemed almost a mythical island-state. But somehow, promotions for flights to Asia from Qatar Airways appeared on the Internet - and I love promotions - and, having studied possible directions, I chose Indonesia (I will say right away that the choice was very successful!). An additional bonus - if you go as a tourist for up to 30 days, then a visa to Indonesia is not needed.

How to get there?

The fastest way is by plane with at least one transfer. For the price, the ticket comes out a little more expensive than, for example, in, but sometimes you can catch discounts - so at the Qatar Airways sale we grabbed a ticket from Warsaw to Jakarta and back for $ 360, when the regular price is about $ 560.

When to go

For most of the country, the dry season lasts from April to October, although many tourists come to Bali in winter - the rainy season is not very critical here, because. high humidity with slight fluctuations keeps on the island all year round. We were in Indonesia in the first half of October and got caught in tropical rain a couple of times (unforgettable experience).

Food

Don't expect culinary delights from Indonesia (with the exception of Bali). The main national dishes that we met in Java are nasi goreng (fried rice), mie goreng (fried noodles) and soto ayam - chicken noodle soup. In Java, we ate mainly in local eateries, before ordering, carefully depicting on our fingers that we would report to ourselves the pepper in the soup. By the way, in Indonesia, coffee lovers can try one of the most expensive coffee in the world - kopi luwak, known for its specific way of processing luwak in the body of animals. Apparently, connoisseurs of us are useless, because it seemed to us to taste like an ordinary diluted under-coffee.

Bali is full of cafes with a variety of food - I advise you to try sate meat skewers with walnut sauce and overeat with fruit. And on Gili, you should definitely enjoy a dinner of fresh seafood on the seashore, which will be cooked on the grill in front of you.

Housing

We booked accommodation in advance, as the trip schedule was very tight. In Java, places to sleep (fingers refuse to print “hotels”) are easier to find for locals through Google / blogs, in Bali or Gili, many options are available through Booking and Airbnb.

Route

How many blogs have been re-read and suffering experienced when you had to cross out this or that place or island from the route - do not count. Indonesia is an abundance of beautiful and unique locations, so it was not easy to choose the best ones for yourself. In the end, such a plan loomed, which in 95% was fulfilled.

Day 1-3. Yogyakarta and surroundings

Overnight: 3 nights in a hostel Luwabica art "n coffee house (Jl. Pugeran Timur No. 594, Mantrijeron) , which is run by the Polish woman Emilia, the creator of the popular Polish travel blog about Indonesia. Costs around IDR 195,000 for two per night with breakfast included. We also rented a brand new scooter through her for IDR 70,000 per day.

We flew to Jakarta, but due to a limited vacation and not particularly enthusiastic reviews about the capital, we decided not to waste time and immediately transferred to the next Lion Air plane to Yogyakarta (the ticket was purchased in advance) - the cultural capital of Indonesia. We left one day for the city itself and one for its surroundings.

In the city I recommend:

Be sure to see the Taman Sari water palace with an underground mosque. Although I am against any excursions, I advise you to take a guide at the entrance who, for a tip, will take you around the entire territory of the palace and tell you in acceptable English where the Sultan watched his wives in the pool on hot days and how exactly he chose the one that will spend with him evening.

For those who are in Asia for the first time, take a ride on an open rickshaw, where you sit in front of the driver. It's cool, especially when you almost fly out of your seat!

Stroll along the bustling shopping street Malioboro, taste Indonesian soup soto ayam at a local cafe and stop by Batik Art Center Student (Jalan Pajeksan, Cokrodipuran No.18) , where you can see and buy batik works of students and masters.

But most of all tourists are attracted not by the city, but by its surroundings, where two famous temple complexes are located - Buddhist Borobudur and Hindu Prambanan. Since we wanted to kill two birds with one stone in one day, at 5 am we were already rushing on a scooter towards Borobudur (there was a plan to arrive at the temple by dawn, but something went wrong). Closer to the temple, the road is very picturesque - there is still a picture of endless rice fields along the road against the backdrop of the Merapi volcano in a bluish dawn haze.

Not far from the entrance we park the scooter for IDR 5000, have breakfast in the nearest cafe (where there were 2 menus: one with more European dishes and the second with local ones) and go for tickets. And here everyone is faced with injustice: a ticket for foreigners costs 15 times more than for locals, namely $ 25 (for students $ 10). If you plan to see two temples like we did, you can buy a combined ticket for $40, valid for two days from the date of purchase. Also at the entrance for about $ 8 (IDR 100,000) you can hire a guide who will tell you more about the history of the complex and its significance. The atmosphere of the temple and the stunning landscapes of the surroundings more than compensate for the early rise - I strongly advise you to come here at dawn. Let there be crowds of tourists and Indonesian schoolchildren around, eager to take pictures with you and practice English, but in the morning light, the temple evokes a magical feeling of harmony and peace.

Slightly enlightened and tired from a long walk, we again saddle our scooter and an hour later we find ourselves at the entrance to another temple complex - Prambanan dedicated to the three main Hindu deities - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Some of the temples are ruins due to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. You can also hire a guide at the entrance - or read about this place in advance in order to roughly understand which temple belongs to what. Against the backdrop of Borobudur, Prambanan loses a little, but still worth a visit.

After so much spiritual food, we return to the hostel and pack our backpacks in order to move towards the national parks in the south of Java in the morning.

Day 4-6. Volcano on a volcano

Further, our route lies in the direction of about. bali via national Bromo-Tenger-Semeru park and the blue lights of the volcano.

Through our hostel host Emilia, we booked a tour for 3 days and 2 nights for about IDR 650,000 per person. This route can be organized independently by trains and tuk-tuks - it will be a little cheaper, but you either need to have a day left, or walk around the Bromo volcano for only a couple of hours, otherwise you will not catch the train towards Ijen. At first we planned to organize everything ourselves as labor travelers, but when we realized that there was not much time left, and a couple of hours near Bromo was not enough for us, we decided not to risk it.

So, at 8 in the morning we get to the station, where an 8.5-hour road to the city of Probolinggo awaits us. The Indonesian train resembles an electric train, where the reality turned out to be much more pleasant than expectations: air conditioning, clean toilets, and a seat reservation - and this is in economy class!

In Probolinggo at the station, we immediately transfer to a bus to our destination - the village of Cemoro Lawang on the edge of the caldera (volcanic basin). At the entrance to the village, everyone is charged IDR 10,000 (less than a dollar). One guy refused to pay extra, but in pitch darkness among volcanoes, the concept of "all inclusive" does not exist - pay or drop off. Everyone paid, after which we were taken to bed. And it doesn’t matter how many stars your “hotel” has - at night it will be equally cold in each, so get ready to put on everything you have.

“In total darkness among volcanoes, the concept of “all inclusive” does not exist”

They make a long journey here for the sake of 2 things - meeting the dawn with a view of the valley of volcanoes and walking along the crater of the active Bromo volcano. Dawn is the first order of the day, so after a short nap at 3 am, we are already cheerfully marching along the path with flashlights and a map. You can walk to the Penanjakan observation deck in an hour or drive a jeep for an additional fee, but you will have to overcome the last stretch of the way up the mountain on your own two feet. The road itself is not difficult - however, due to my physical unpreparedness, I have already crawled the last meters. On the site itself, you will have to hustle in search of a good place, and there it remains only to wait for the first rays of the sun to break through the horizon. Without further ado, the best sunrise of my life.

Then you can either climb to the second observation deck (where there will be many times less people), or go down and approach the Bromo volcano through the lava field. Unfortunately, we did not manage to walk along the crater, because. the volcano puffed lightly with poisonous gases. But if you have such an opportunity, remember that at the entrance to the park you will be asked for a rather large payment of IDR 300,000, but near the Cemoro Indah hotel there is a path along which you can go to the territory bypassing the ticket office (although the “No entry” sign is still there There is).

“We didn’t manage to walk around the crater, because the volcano puffed lightly with poisonous gases"

At 10 am we pack in a bus and drive towards the next location - the Ijen volcano. After an almost sleepless night, 9 hours of travel pass in a difficult state, but awesome views outside the window make the road easier and remind us that a new adventure awaits us at night.

Around 7 pm we already stop by the town, the name of which even Google does not show, and check into our modest room in Catimore Homestay. For a few hours of sleep, it is quite suitable, and there is a bar nearby where we had dinner. At one o'clock in the morning we again climbed into the already native bus, which brought us to the foot of the Ijen volcano.

Rather, it’s not even a volcano, but a complex of a dozen volcanic objects located around the caldera, where an extraordinary natural phenomenon occurs, for which I was ready to stay awake - blue lights, which are the result of the interaction of hot sulfur dioxide and oxygen. To see them, first you need to climb up for about an hour, and then go down to the bottom of the crater for half an hour. The first part of the climb is quite steep - running shoes and a companion will come in handy, which will carry you up. Then the road is leveled, and on the descent into the crater there is a sign “No passage”, which does not stop anyone.

The closer to the bottom, the brighter the lights are visible - they are really blue! Sulfur is also mined at the bottom, so at the start everyone received their mask from the guide. Sulfur gases on Ijen are dangerous, and I had the feeling that there were a lot, a lot of boiled eggs around me, not the first freshness. But sulfur is really insidious - its smell does not wash out immediately, it haunted us even after returning home.

At dawn, the outlines of one of the world's largest sulfur lakes, which is located in the same crater - Kavakh, also appear. The water in the lake has a stunning turquoise color due to the high acidity and concentration of metals in it, and its temperature varies from 60 degrees near the shore to 200 at the bottom. For the curious: you can touch the water. And near the shores of the acid lake, local residents are engaged in the extraction of sulfur, which condenses from the vapors.

Having walked a lot along the crater, after a few hours we get out of it and go down to the bus. And everything that was hidden by pitch darkness at night opens up to the eyes - namely, volcanoes, mountains and hills in lush greenery. The spectacle is amazing! Every minute picking up the jaw, we still go down and for the last time loaded into the bus, which drops us off at the port of Ketapang, from where the ferry to Bali runs every 20 minutes. After paying IDR 6,000 per person for a ticket, we hop on a ferry full of Indonesians and set foot on Balinese land 2 hours later.

The first impressions of Bali were formed immediately upon leaving the pier, when the Indonesians began to run up to us and vying with each other insistently inviting us into their minibuses - but the transport to the city of Denpasar we needed found us on its own. Wikitravel said that in Bali you can bargain for a price almost 2 times lower than the original one, but no matter how many times we tried, we managed to throw off a maximum of several thousand rupees. Either the tourists have already spoiled the Balinese, or the merchants among us are not so hot. For IDR 45,000, instead of 50,000, a four-hour jolt to Denpasar awaited us, so, after having a bite to eat at the Warung Papet rica-rica cafe near the bus station (by the way, there was the best nasi goreng for our entire stay in the country), we loaded into a minibus and by the evening were finally able to take a horizontal position at the Nakula Familiar Inn ( Jln Nakula Nomor No.4, Dauh Puri Kaja, North Denpasar).

Day 7-8. Swim on Gili Air

It seems that it was already possible to relax here, sipping a cocktail overlooking the ocean, but after reading that Bali is not replete with beaches with white sand and blue water for swimming, I frantically googled where to find paradise on the island beforehand. And I found it, but not in Bali, but nearby, on the small islands of Gili. There are only three of them: Gili Trawangan - party, Gili Meno - for lovers and Gili Air - something in between the two and just for us. But it was not even the paradise beaches that convinced us, but the opportunity to see turtles right in the coastal waters of the islands.
We only had a day to the island, so I was looking for a transfer option with the earliest departure and the latest return - I found one on easygili.com (also booked in advance). With the transfer Denpasar (Bali) - Gili Air - Kuta (Bali) came out IRD 500,000 per person, and we reserved our bamboo bungalow through Airbnb for $ 35 with breakfast. On the spot, it turned out that our host has his own boat, on which he takes guests to snorkel and look for turtles, so we immediately signed up for the next morning, after which we went to check if the beaches were really so heavenly. The Internet didn't lie! The island can be explored on foot in a couple of hours, along the way stopping at bars and restaurants to taste freshly prepared seafood ... What is not paradise! There are no cars or police on the island itself, but there are legal hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The next morning, the host took us with the guests on a boat away from the shore, where we swam, dived and, most importantly, saw turtles in their natural environment. After a few hours in the water, we landed on the shore, dropped in for our things and rushed to our boat in Bali.

“There are no cars and police on the island itself, but there are legal hallucinogenic mushrooms”

Day 9-14. Bali

Bali is an island, though small, but full of diversity. If you want to walk along the volcanic beaches and meet the dawn in the sea with dolphins - you go north, if you want to go diving - go east, in the west there are many surf schools, in the south - the main party, and in the center Agung volcano, many temples and Ubud with vegan cafes and yoga classes.

We decided to dedicate the first three days to surfing, so we reserved in advance Legian Village Hotel (Jl. Padma, Legian, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung) and signed up for surfing lessons at the Russian school Surf Season. For three days of classes, which began at 7-8 in the morning, we managed to get on the board, and personally I was also exhausted to such an extent that all plans for an active inspection of the surroundings (in particular, the famous temples of Uluwatu and Tanah Lot) collapsed under the onslaught fatigue. After each lesson, I steadily drifted off to sleep and no temples and beaches could seduce me. But surfing is something you should definitely try in Bali, so you can either enroll in a Russian school (a more expensive option), or find Indonesians on the shore who rent boards and, at the very least, explain in English what to do with it ( cheaper but less efficient).

If you are not interested in surfing, it is better not to stay in Kuta. The city is full of tourists, so most of the local merchants will double the price of goods and try to fool you in various ways. We got into one story ourselves - on the last evening in Kuta, we decided to change money not at an authorized point, but at one of the shops that offer more favorable rates, although we sensed that there was a catch somewhere. The scheme is as follows: there are two guys at the counter, one of whom counts rupees for you and after each of your counts insists that he must count the money again, and the second speaks to you. After several such recounts, you no longer remember who was the last to hold a pack in your hand and rather get out of there. We returned with our rupees to the hotel, recounted - and there is not enough million (well, not dollars). At the reception, they explained to us that the exchanger, when counting with his fingers, looks like a dozen bills. The hotel security guard and his fellow policeman volunteered to help us, although we were sure that our money changers immediately closed their shop and left. As it turned out, no - a short conversation between our saviors and scammers led to the fact that we returned the rupees received earlier, and they gave us dollars without question, which we changed already at the official point, and then walked along the ocean for a long time and digested this case.

The next morning, we left Kuta with relief and took a local bus to Ubud, where we spent the last days of Ojek's Homestay (Jl. Raya Ubud Gg. Soka No. 4 Br. Taman Kelod) , riding around the neighborhood on a scooter rented for 50,000 IDR per day. At the surf school, we were persuaded not to go to Ubud - for them, as lovers of the ocean, it was not clear what to do in the depths of the island other than “search for the third eye”, and the notorious film “Eat, Pray, Love” notably promoted this place. But, riding alone through the local villages, forests, rice fields, we did not regret our choice at all. There are many interesting locations in Ubud and its surroundings - we managed to visit the following places, which we boldly recommend.

The Legong and Barong Dance- traditional Balinese dances. We got to see a performance at the Royal Palace - rather unusual, but interesting. The entrance ticket cost IDR 100,000.

Campuhan Ridge Walk– a path with picturesque views, along which you can walk to Carsa Spa – the best spa in my life! It is better to go for a walk early, and reserve a spa in advance.

Monkey Forest- a tropical forest where monkeys roam freely. Remember that let the monkeys treat tourists calmly, they are rather arrogant and insidious, so it is better to keep your bag fastened with you, and hide your glasses and jewelry. It is better to stock up on bananas for feeding in advance so as not to overpay on the spot. Entrance IDR 50,000.

Pura Tirta Empul- Hindu temple with famous holy springs. First, it is better to take a walk around the territory of the temple (which is very beautiful!), And then plunge into the springs - wet people are not allowed into the temple. I advise you to read in advance how to properly perform the ritual of washing and what to pay attention to. It is believed that the water in the temple is holy and has the power of healing, but even if you don’t feel anything, you will definitely cheer up from its coolness. Entrance: IDR 15,000.

Pura Kehen- We arrived here in the evening, so I remember most of all its low population. We met only a couple of tourists. The temple is located away from the main routes and is not very popular - this is what attracted us. The temple itself is ancient, and a huge banyan tree on its territory gives it a special atmosphere. Entrance 15,000 IDR.

Tegallalang rice terraces, which we reached only on the day of departure. The taxi to the airport was booked for 8 am, so we had to leave for the terraces before 5 am. The only thought that somehow invigorated at such an early hour was the shame and disgrace to visit Bali and not see the rice terraces. At this time, there was practically no one there, and the sun had not yet had time to rise high, so we fully enjoyed the beauty. Still, getting up early in Bali really pays off. Admission is free, although when we wanted to go down to the lower levels, a grandmother followed us, demanding donations. We were running out of time anyway, so we decided to stay upstairs.

And then one day the thought came into my head that it would be nice to consider other options and leave the island. I said this out loud, and the partners agreed that, they say, the climate is really bad, the wounds that do not heal, and it is not known yet how long these people will agree to keep us here - three freeloaders, you understand! So while our monthly visa is valid, something must be done. So this was not the end of our journey through hot Indonesia...

• Intense heat, burning sun
• Humid climate, non-healing wounds
• Uncertainty that the locals agree to support us in the future
• If you go to uninhabited beaches, then there are not enough resources, therefore, again dependence on local
• Opportunity to consider other options, other islands, countries.

And so we agreed with Mr. Amro that they would help us leave. We didn’t have money for a plane and we decided to buy tickets for a ship to the city of Makassar, in southern Sulawesi. One guy lives there, whom we had previously met through the Internet, we agreed with him that we would come, live for a while, use the Internet to buy electronic plane tickets and fly home.

And so we left this island, or rather, sailed away on a motor boat and settled for two days with our friend Amro in the village of Debut on the island of Tual. It was the 6th, the ferry (ship) departed only on the 8th, and tickets for it can only be bought a maximum of one day in advance, i.e. 7th. So we did. Ticket offices are located in the capital of Tual Island, the city of Langgur. Tickets cost 410,000 rupees, which is quite cheap. Swim for 3 days.

For these two days, Amro and his relatives received us as high-ranking persons, gave us a room and fed us at a separate table, like kings. And also conducted excursions on scooters around Tuala. We went to the water caves, looked at the grottoes, then - to the coral mountain and traveled around the island.

Debut village

Street

Here we drove about 500 such streets, probably going around the whole island and sitting out our ass. On the island of Tual and in general, on the Kei Islands, there are three confessions - these are Protestants, Muslims and Catholics. Ours are from a Catholic village. Traveling around the island and the villages, Amro showed me their religious component, and now his relatives live in almost all Catholic villages. "What a huge family!" I never ceased to be surprised. Not like our families. All these villages, with different religious traditions, coexist peacefully on the islands. But sometimes peace ends and conflicts begin. At the moment, there is a conflict on the island between the Catholic and Protestant villages over a disputed piece of land. Everything is very simple: no one wants to give in and the argument is rather just a matter of honor. The locals fight with the police with bows and arrows, because they don't have firearms - it's like some kind of Middle Ages. And a few years ago, over the 10 islands that belong to the family of my friend Amro, people from Protestant and Muslim villages as a result of the conflict killed 34 people from the village of Debut. So they really got these islands with sweat and blood! Amro also showed us those houses that were rebuilt, because the old buildings burned down from arson carried out by enemies. A very unpleasant picture, in appearance such nice people can be so evil and cruel to each other, and all because of materialistic values ​​and materialistic interest, because of greed and envy.

While we were in Debut, it was Good Friday in the Catholic world, and we witnessed a Catholic ritual - staging the last events from the life of the Savior, with a procession throughout the village. And then the next day we went to see the Catholic Easter service in the local church. But we did not sit there for a long time, we wanted to sleep and left the temple. The next day, we again went to travel around the island, again our fifth points were tired of the uncomfortable seats of scooters. All equipment in Tuala is Japanese, a liter of gasoline costs 5000 rupees, kerosene 2000.

And now the 8th has come, it's time for us to leave. Boarding the ferry started at 4 am. We arrived by taxi, the taxi driver - their relative, took half or three times less for the road. We said goodbye to our friends, Lawrence, Amro and his brothers were there. Amro even shed a few tears, wished us good luck, we thanked him for everything as best we could in English and went to load on the ferry. A young guy was traveling with us to Ambon - also his relative, he helped us with landing.

We started. We settled down in the open air on the 7th floor of the ship. They laid foam, threw backpacks and kind of took a nap a little. The whole next day there were no stops, the stop was only at 6 pm on the Banda Islands. I met some curious English speaking locals and they told me a little about these islands, that there was a war for them and that the last volcanic eruption was in 94. Well, in general, we attracted a lot of attention. Just an eyesore to everyone passing by. Every second you shouted: "Halo, mister!" And most importantly, whether you are a man or a woman, most will still call you Mr. Many came up and asked the same thing in English, sometimes in Indonesian. Where are you from? Where are you sailing? Where were you? How many were? - These are the main questions that I heard from people.

Then there was a stop in Ambon, it was morning. The ship turned in the other direction, and the sun was shining directly on us, we had to change our location. We bought rice with fish from merchants and ate. I changed the bandage on my finger, applied propolis.

In general, I dare to note that on the deck, and indeed on the entire ferry, it is rather dirty. Unsanitary conditions all around. Around the dirt of unknown origin, cigarette butts, candy wrappers. Cockroaches are crawling. Well, what can you do? There is no money for the first and second class of the ship and for the plane - so you have to travel, like all ordinary Indonesians - as a housekeeper. But ordinary people looked, this is not some kind of Bali or Jakarta! This is an ordinary Indonesian people.

People this very dirty, I'll tell you. And dirty not in terms of being unwashed, but that he likes to litter. It's their tradition, or something like this: they sit on the deck, eat rice or noodles. We ate - and everyone without exception, any garbage is MANDATORY thrown overboard, into the sea. Well, why? Here is a trash can nearby (blue-yellow-red are visible in the photo), a little further - another, why throw it into the sea? Throwing it into a bucket is much less effort than getting up and throwing it into the sea. For us, this behavior was savagery. Everything without exception, be it cigarette butts, candy wrappers, noodle boxes, whatever - everything is in the sea. And then we wonder: where do the whole alluvial islands of garbage come from? Watching them, I got the impression that they have already automated this to such an extent that, probably, at the level of conditioned reflexes, they already throw it into the sea. And the sea is big - it will endure!

Parking at Bau Bau

Pier Kota Bau Bau

Then there was a stop at Kota Bau Bau. Many went out and others came in. If Ambon is still more or less a village, then Bau Bau is already a real civilization. We stood, waited and went further along the route to Makassar. Ferry (ship) "Kerinci" belongs to the largest company Pelni. Quite an old ship with numerous traces of rust. This was our first sea trip on a ship. It's kind of like a cruise.

Let's go to Makassar. It was night, we took a horizontal position and fell asleep. Waking up in the morning, Max did not find his small bag, which contained his documents (both passports), a phone, a camera, a navigator, a solar panel and 400 thousand rupees. We were all, of course, immediately excited. What, they say, how so? What kind of bastards did this? We approached the guards, went with the guard around the ship, to look at all sorts of secret places, in the hope that suddenly the documents were at least thrown there, and everything else was taken away. But alas, nothing was found. Yes, we did not hope right away, because it was more logical to assume that the bag was simply thrown into the sea. It was simply not possible to snatch all the passengers, and no one would have. Plus, we learned that other people had lost valuables, so we were not alone. But then money, and then documents, passports. And what to do?

Without thinking twice, Max made a responsible decision: if it is not possible to solve the problems with the restoration of documents, then go back to Tual, to our friends, and stay there to live.

So we arrived in the hero city of Makassar. April 11, 2012. We took a taxi to our friend and stopped at his place. We immediately got on the Internet and let's look at tickets, climb all sorts of forums. Max, having searched the Internet, realized that it was very difficult to restore documents and did not even bother with it. Decided to go back to our (now his) island. After all, he went there to live. And then life so ordered that he had to stay there. Heat, wounds, I think, are not terrible for him, although they punished him more than all of us.

Andrey, Oleg, Gene, Max

We spent 3 days in Makassar, with our wonderful friend Gene, having bought plane tickets, then - on the ferry to Jakarta - Andrey and I went to the capital of Indonesia. Max stayed there, his ferry will be only on the 20th. Makassar is a large city, the capital of the island of Sulawesi. Lots of cars, mopeds and exhaust stink. Jin fed us various local foods, sometimes spicy as fire. "Very panas," I spoke in English-Indonesian. Also, for the first time in our lives, we tried the interesting fruit Rambutan. Pretty good flavor compared to durian and snake nut.

For the first time in a long time, we saw rain, and not just rain, but a real tropical downpour. The real Hudjan! The guys, taking advantage of the moment, climbed under it, using it as a shower, they say, so much water disappears. I did not climb, because of the finger, although I really wanted to!

View from Jin's Porch

Our stay in Makassar came to an end and it was time to board the ship to Jakarta. Andrey and I ordered a taxi and the meter drove only 50,000 rupees, while we went there for 100. Jean and his friend accompanied us and helped with landing. We loaded onto the ferry, already experienced, and once went to look for a place on deck. But it began to rain and it became wet on the deck, I had to go to spend the night with everyone in the economy class cabin. It is a bunk, interconnected, dirty, and mattresses. Around dirt, garbage, cockroaches and complete unsanitary conditions. And the locals like the drum, they even eat rice with unwashed hands. Paradise for worms! Then you can’t corrode them with any chili pepper!

We spent the night, we are no strangers, but without rain and softer than on the floor. Then I went for a walk around the ship, it was sunny, and I found a free deck, much cleaner than this common cabin, and we moved there. They threw foam and settled down. True, there were plenty of cockroaches there, they crawled over our backpacks and over us, most likely, but we paid little attention to them.

6th floor, 1st class department

Find 5 differences!

We sail for 2 days, with a stop in Surabaya. The ticket cost 382,000 rupees. There were no incidents. We talked with interesting people, although I dare say that there is no shortage of communication on the ferries. Sooner or later, someone will come up and, if not in English, then they will definitely speak Indonesian Bahasa. And as soon as you have time to repeat: "Saya tida magherti" - I don't understand. We talked with a businessman from the island of Aru, neighboring Tual, talked with an economics teacher. We also got acquainted with a cheerful inhabitant of the northern Moluccas - Francisco. He came to visit us often and always found a common language with us, despite the fact that we are not very "sprehay" in English. Francisco is catching butterflies on his islands. He collects pupae in the tropical forest, then grows a butterfly, makes an exhibit out of it and then sells it in Bali to any overseas tourist. Willingly take the Japanese, Chinese, Australians and many others. And he has a pretty good income from this. He jokes that when I have a big business, I will bring myself a girl from Russia and marry her.

Francisco helped us later with ordering a taxi in Jakarta and some advice. We exchanged phone numbers and emails. He also took a picture with me as a keepsake. He promised to send a photo to the email, but still hasn't sent it, as soon as he sends it - I'll throw it here.

Arriving in Jakarta, a taxi ordered by Francisco's friends was already waiting for us at the Tanjung Priok pier. For 200 thousand rupees, we drove to the international airport Sukarno Hatta, named after the first president of Indonesia.

Jakarta Airport "Sukarno Hatta", named after the first President (Sukarno) and his Prime Minister (M. Hatta)

It was already dark, so we found a secluded corner and went to bed, having dinner at the local, cheapest eatery. It was pretty cool from the air conditioners at the airport, as soon as you go outside, you are immediately blown by the humid warm air of Jakarta. Similarly, in Kuala Lumpur and, I think, in other tropical airports. The guys didn't like it, but I did the opposite. While Andrei was sleeping there, I walked around the airport and took a few photos on my phone.

We flew back with LionAir. We ordered tickets on the website, paid by card - everything is as it should be. A ticket costs only 400 thousand rupees - this is 1300 rubles from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur. We handed over the luggage, Andrey had an advantage, but the backpack fell so that part of the weight moved to the crossbar and it turned out exactly 20.0 kg. And so you would have to pay for the excess. Then they took a tax from us - 150 thousand rupees. That, they say, for international flights 150, and for local we paid 40 thousand. Then I found out that this is a tax for the arrangement of the airport. That's how they rip money off people!

We flew to Malaysia, we were not fed on the plane, although we wanted to eat after the night. I had to buy at the airport, but for this we had specially set aside rupees, which I exchanged for ringgits. 1 ringgit - about 10 rubles. Bottle of water 0.6 l. costs 1.2 ringgit, a box of b/p noodles costs 1.9, all sorts of buns from 0.9 to 3 ringgit are cheap, and up to 11 are expensive. For 10 ringgit you can eat well. This store is located on the 3rd floor of the airport, the waiting room is on the 5th. And so it is full of all sorts of boutiques and shops, but this one seemed to me the cheapest.

In Kuala Lumpur, we protorchali until 7 pm, then began registration for the flight to Tashkent, Uzbekistan Airways. Checked in the luggage, got tickets and went to the neutral zone, because that's where there is free internet. They came, I went through Wi Fi from my Samsung, unsubscribed to someone and spent time waiting for the flight. At 21:20 they began to launch even closer to the plane, dragged hand luggage through the X-ray, bleeped us with a metal detector and started to wait.

We flew for 7 and a half hours. They fed us quite well, and most of the time I overslept, while Andrei could not sleep and watched all sorts of films in the general show. Then our journey through Southeast Asia developed into a stage of a journey through Central Asia.

Arrived in Tashkent. We went closer to the exit, where they began to fill out declarations for the cash we had. Andrei had bucks and some rubles, I only have a small change. Then they waited in line for a long time, while there they checked people, their luggage. And shmonili even the most harmless people. For example, an elderly man with a woman and a 27-year-old daughter, all of them good-looking, but obviously not terrorists, they searched their belongings, shook out everything, down to their underpants. But here, surprisingly, we limited ourselves only to x-rays and an explanation of such an incomprehensible long object as pinning. We were let through quickly and with almost no problems. Andrei filled out the declaration in two copies, I filled out in one, because I had a change. We left the airport, we were immediately caught by a taxi driver, the official taxi of the airport. Such an experienced typical taxi driver, he took us to the railway station, to find out if there were train tickets to Yekaterinburg, there were no tickets, he took us to an ATM. ATMs in Tashkent are only in hotels and nowhere else. There was no money in it, but there was an exchanger nearby, and 250 dollars were withdrawn from my Sberbank card. Then the taxi driver took us to the Uzbek-Kazakh border. We decided to take a bus there and get to Astana, and it will be easier to get there. He exchanged 100 bucks for us for Uzbek soums and Kazakh tenge, deceived us a bit (at the same time), and dropped us off near the border. There was a kilometer-long line of potential guest workers who directed their gaze, well, you understand where - to the north!

After standing there for a couple of minutes, an uncle in trousers and a shirt approached us, well, in general, he was smart. He said: "Sleep brother, let me take the other border now, you'll say thank you later! There are a lot of people standing here, but there is not such a crowd! If there is such a crowd, I will take you for free! !"

We stood, broke down and still went with him on his brand new white Nexia. He took us 120 km to another border. For this he asked for 120 thousand soums, and immediately made a discount of 20 thousand. We bargained with him, but for me, a non-mercantile person, bargaining with an elderly Uzbek, and even a taxi driver, is like a ballerina Volochkova capitalizing on a Kamaz engine! The man took us. He didn’t deceive, he took more, but he honestly said that the last taxi driver deceived us, swore at him in every possible way, in order to somehow console us. Threw us away, we went. Uzbek did not deceive! There were actually 10 times fewer people. We approached the border, took declarations, filled them out. I had dollars and tenge withdrawn from the card, Andrey also had money. We stood in line, then someone in the crowd said that, they say, with Russian passports they pass without a queue. At first they didn't want to let us in, but then they let us out of the queue. They handed over our junk for an X-ray, handed over our passports, and then let's make fun of me with this money, that, they say, I have no right to take out more money than was declared at the entrance. Let me explain that, they say, I don’t know anything, at the airport he took a piece of paper from me, and I withdrew money from the card, here is a check from the cashier. She tells me that she does not need my check at all, they have no right to let me pass with this money. Of course, I immediately got nervous, because if the money is taken away, then there will be nothing to go home.

In short, they didn’t take the money, the worker said: go, they say, rewrite the declaration again and don’t write about money, and Andrey had mistakes, he wrote in haste. Missed, but that's not all. Now let's shovel our luggage. We shook out all our dirty junk, looked at everything. I was carrying shells with corals in my backpack, so let's look at them, and so on. We did not find anything forbidden (surprisingly), so we let it through. They put the long-awaited green stamps in the passport about crossing the border. But even here, not everything is with the Uzbeks. I, in the simplicity of my soul, took out my phone and let's take a picture of myself opposite the border, well, I knew that this was a strategic point, but I just forgot something because of my nerves. I’m already looking here - one shouts to me: “Hey, Russian, run here, I won’t repeat it twice!” Approached. I was met by a very unpleasant guy, swearing Uzbek-Russian obscenities, took the phone, but he didn’t know how to handle it, called other colleagues, I showed a photo, and there were two of them, because I took pictures from the other side. In front of them, I deleted the photos, showed that they were no more, their elder culturally explained the situation, that they could have registered me as a foreign spy.

Here is the Kazakh border. They didn’t keep us here for a long time, they took our luggage and us, too, through an X-ray, put stamps - and we left. Immediately, after walking a couple of meters, the locals approached us: "Taxi, samsa, change money." I exchanged a little for tenge and then we were pulled by a cheerful Kazakh taxi driver Vakha or Baha. We got into his Audi, and he took us to the place where we could take a transport to Astana. Either bus or train. There were no buses, and the taxi driver took us to the train. Tickets, of course, were no longer at the box office, so I had to negotiate with the conductor at exorbitant prices. Well, you have to go.

Opposite the camels, near the Uzbek-Kazakh border

Camels in the steppe, southern Kazakhstan

There camel road walks!

By the next evening we were already in Astana. We immediately went to look for tickets to Russia. At first I thought to take it to Chelyabinsk, if it wasn’t before Ekb, but there were tickets. We took two tickets to Yekaterinburg, they cost 10,400 tenge, and Andrey also took a train to central Russia, since he is not from Ekb. The train should be exactly in a day, which means that we will have to hang around at the station for a day, and this is not Kuala Lumpur airport at all. And toilets are even paid, for 40-50 tenge. You can sleep at night in a horizontal position only from 00:00 to 06:00, at other times the guards and employees of the station walk and wake up, zealously do not let anyone sleep. Only in a sitting position is possible. We changed until the evening, the time is 16:00, and the train leaves at 17:45, and then the local cops did not like our view and our backpacks. Let's go, they told the truth that we are going in transit from Indonesia, in Kazakhstan it is the 3rd day, but it can be 5 without registration. They shook out the backpacks, they let us shake our nerves, show our knives, okay, I have a paper for my helka, issued by their colleagues from the Yekaterinburg railway station. He read the paper, it seemed authoritative to him, looked at the ax, sort of gave a hint, but then stopped. Here, of course, witnesses stood and looked, some drunks. Let's shake Andrei out, they even asked to take off his shorts - "I'm there without panties!" - He says! - "Take it off anyway!" For some reason, nothing was found there, except for what it should be, but not a single law will prohibit this We later found, or rather, he himself showed, a Tramontin machete, which is not even a machete at all, but a garden knife, is sold in household stores. They are such that you need to take them for examination. Oleg is free, he will go home, and you, Andrey , you'll stay and wait for the results of the examination. I say indignantly: "You guys, at least feed the guy, otherwise he doesn't have any money, but how long does he have to hang around here" - Then he says to the second chief in an undertone: "Let's let go, to hell with them They let us go, they realized that they couldn’t get money from us, they gave the tramontina to a guy who he didn’t even need anymore. They mocked us for about an hour, but the time passed quickly. Let’s touch my guitar and pretend to be a guitarist, in short, an unpleasant impression Kazakh cops made me, and indeed Central Asia . Don't want to go there anymore. Well, if only Samarkand or the Kyrgyz mountains.

We got into the 13th car and went to Yekaterinburg. Train Bishkek - Yekaterinburg. There were many Kyrgyz with trunks that there was no free place. I slept the night at first in the upper place, down there my grandfather and grandmother were traveling from Bishkek to Omsk, but then they got off in Petropavlovsk and changed to another train.

When you pass the border on a train, the customs officers enter in advance and pass through the cars. First comes the cynologist with a dog that sniffs only below, then all the others. That's how they carry what they want, when they sniff only downstairs, and no one inspects anything. Only now the poor tourist Andrey was inspected. That this tourist surrendered to them, when there are so many trunks, all the shelves are full, and only the tourist aroused suspicion, because the Kazakh customs officer was not used to seeing tourists, they had not yet pricked his eyes. As grandparents came out, as many as 6 Uzbeks came to me, for two places! They seemed suspicious to me and the way the Kazakh customs officers spoke to them. It looks like they were carrying something, because the worker took two of them somewhere for a while, probably, they gave a bribe.

Then there were our customs officers. Docking points Mamlyutka - Petukhovo, put stamps with these points. Ours passed quickly, looked better. They didn’t ask Russians at all, they didn’t even look at my passport, they just gave me my last name. Then I moved to another place to Andrey, only to the lower shelf, although I lay down and dozed normally.

Finally, we arrived in Yekaterinburg. Not to say that I was happy, nope, not at all, even sad and sorry that I returned. How good it was on the island, even the city of Makassar - and then I remember the good nature of its inhabitants. This concludes my journey through Southeast Asia. Well, Max is still there. I bought myself a cheap guitar to study, and a phone with a local SIM card, called, wrote. So far so good, I hope it stays that way.