Java Man

I did two of the things on my “to do” list in Java already. Tomorrow I’m going to see the excavation site and museum where they found Java man. Unlike my other tours which were really cheap, this is going to cost a bit more because I have to hire a driver for the day to get there. Even though it is only about 100km away (60 miles) getting there and back is an all day affair on Java.

After that, I think I’m going to travel to Bali by way of Mount Bromo. I’m too much of a geology geek to pass it up, and besides, I didn’t get to go to Tanna when I was on Vanuatu and Kilauea wasn’t that impressive when I was in Hawaii.

I constantly have to remind myself how cheap everything is here. The Indonesia Rupiah is about 10,000 to the dollar. For some reason, I keep thinking 1,000 to the dollar. Everything seems expensive for a fraction of a second till I remind myself that it is in fact really cheap. My trip to Borobudur and Parambanan was about 8 hours, all the driving, gas, and admission was about $20. Going to Bali by way of Bromo, including lodging and some meals, will run $59. I hung out today at a coffee place with internet. I had dinner, many diet cokes, and two pieces of pie over the course of about 8 hours. Total cost was under $8.

For those following on Twitter, a few days ago I mentioned about a commotion in my hotel where the police came in and a maid was crying. It turns out that there was a 95 year old Dutch man who had been living at the hotel for the last 15 years who passed away during the night. He had become a part of the family.

Indonesian Fun Fact of the Day: The flag of Indonesia is a red stripe above a white stripe. I made a joke about how the Indonesian flag is just an upside down Polish flag. Well, as it turns out, there is a good reason why the Indonesian flag is the way it is. When they were fighting the Dutch for independence, people would climb flagpoles and rip off the blue stripe from the Dutch flag. What was left was a red and white stripe. That symbol of resistance to the Dutch became the flag of Indonesia.

2 thoughts on “Java Man”

  1. Wow, that’s not a fun fact, Gary. It’s historical event. There is even a movie footage which emphasize the ripping off action. But that’s not a common knowledge world wide because Dutch people would deny it, though.

    Btw, if you’re lucky, there is a festival called Tenger in mount Bromo which is held once a year.

    And don’t forget to surf in Bali.

    Warm greetings from Jakarta.

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