Here's Sue's version of events as we get to know Java.
Yogyakarta Phoenix hotel to d'Omah hotel Yogyakarta,Sewon, Bantul.
Tuesday morning started early for some (Dianne and Sue) who went to the Phoenix gym, rubbing shoulders with the local muscle bound personal trainer.
Bags had to be outside the hotel room doors by 8 am. Many found their way down to the dining area near the fountain courtyard after 7.30 am.
The breakfast buffet was spread across about 5 areas. From European meats,cheese and eggs to order in the air conditioned dining room, to local medicinal Jamu drink and Kopi served by locals sitting on mats in traditional dress. Around 8. , the mini muted gamelan orchestra played ethereal music from across the courtyard, near the craft shop.
Bills were paid at reception, by the huge floral arrangement and the museum room.
Our guides, Melinda and Atik arrived. Someone had a quiet word to them .... An extra visit was added into our itinerary.... A visit to the Cokelat Dalem shop and museum! Kim had tried one of the chocolate bars in her birdcage mini bar, and wanted more!
We arrived at the shop to find beautifully laid out displays, a central table with a circular display of bars spread symmetrically . A museum, and an area where you could watch chocolate being made behind glass, like at Koko Black in Collins street. And they had samples in small coffee bean shapes! Plain dark up to 85%, chilli, ginger, Kopi, green tea, blends,lemongrass! Lots to try, and lots to buy. The display was decimated, but Chris got a photo before hand .
Back on the bus, chocolate was put into the cool store.
We next decanted to go on a rickshaw ride around a rural village called Cadran to experience some local traditional life.
There is a certain technique to getting on and off a rickshaw safely and elegantly: you wait until the driver tips it forward so you can step up into it. Unfortunately Jan attempted to mount hers without the assistance of the driver and tipped the entire rickshaw up into the air!A funny sight
In the midst or our perambulations, which you can see in the photos below, we stopped for lunch which was simple and delicious and all served in very clever banana leaf plates. Accompanied by fresh coconut juice of course. The doughnut balls filled with palm sugar and coconut were a big hit!
First stop was a home industry to keep women employed at home rather than going OS for work.
2 women had been working together for years, 7 days a week making nut chips from a nut we were not familiar with at all.
One woman roasted the nuts in sand on a clay wood fire burner, then peeled them.
The other pounded ,one at a time, about 5 nuts to create a flat white disc, about 5 cm across, which she then lifted off to dry on a frame. They then get sold, and you fry them to create high protein chips. Both do the same role, Never swapping!
Back on the rickshaws to the 75 year old lady who has been making Tempe soya cakes for 60 years (see photos above). The soya beans are imported from USA as local ones are inferior in protein content. She has osteoporosis and a back injury after being hurt during the 2006 earthquake when her house was destroyed. She shared details about her family and life, then asked for a photo with us! She is on the poverty line and gets some basic care from the government- but still seemed to have a goiter, some eye issue and her back problem.
Back on rickshaws, stopping at the rice paddy. We saw lots of primary school kids on a rural experience playing in the mud, riding the water buffaloes , then being hosed down afterwards to much squealing. We later met them again.
We saw the men show us how they plant the rice, using a marked bamboo pole to evenly space the rice seedlings. The women , who usually do this, were away preparing for a wedding, which they can have in October according to the Balinese calendar for auspicious days, we learnt from Thelma in Ubud in the yin shop. Some men also chased the skinny eels that hang out in rice paddies.
Back on rickshaws to play the gamelan. Atik and a local guide tried hard to get us in time, resorting to chalk numbers on the keys, blackboard with number sequences written, then a big stick to tap and yell out the numbers we were meant to be playing!
We had our photos taken by a group from Papua , who we then overlapped with at our next rickshaw stop- the museum and log thumping music stop. Singing , words were provided for those who forgot them via a phone internet search, and thumping a hollowed out log, . ? For beating or grinding a grain traditionally? Lunch was served with a whole chook presenting its rear end, rice, coconut milk, various local dishes , steamed peanuts etc. the kids we saw earlier were there, now in clean dry clothes, some playing soccer, then heading off on a Mickey Mouse train which played music. Di had her photo taken with some of the kids, and the boys wanted to know how old she was.
Our last rickshaw ride returned us to the bus. Then onto our new hotel: the D'Omah in Tembi village.
your correspondent
Sue Hookey
PS: from Dianne.
I managed to find the highlights of Tembi village as spotted by Veronica and Karin: the 'Happy Dental' office and the cemetery Hopefully with no connection between the two!
The other interesting aspect of touring Java is that the hotels always provide earplugs in your room, Ah I can hear you saying - that will be because women of a certain age are known for their snoring and our reputation preceded us!!But no! Java is a predominantly Muslim country and the number of mosques is remarkable. In a relatively small village like Tembi there are three....which means three lots of chanting calling people to prayer, and hence the need for earplugs. Atik, our guide, jokingly calls it Imam Idol as the competition is fierce.
Mosques come in all shapes and sizes but usually have a shiny dome and are painted a very bright green or yellow.
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