July 7 - passage to Yogyakarta

July 7 Day 143

                We got up early and met the Belgian couple preparing with us.  There was no sliced fruit like tthe hostel mentioned for us and the taxi came quickly.  It got us to the station quickly and we were told to leave an hour for getting our train tickets as there could be long lineups at the ticket printing machine.  We walked up to the machine and had our tickets in a minute with lots of time to kill at the busy station.

                We walked down past the lineups to the shops looking for breakfast.  We found a place that made nice coffee and had buns so we filled up there.  We initially walked through the wrong gate as our Indonesian is still weak but managed to make it to the correct platform and hung out with the Belgian couple until the train came. 

                They had executive seats and we had economy so we were in completely different cars.  Our seats were reserved but they were hard, 90 degree seats that kept you wiggling through the whole trip becasue they were uncomfortable.  The scenery stated with railside slums then turned to rice paddies and fields in between the small towns.  We were wiggling a fair bit during the 8 hour trip but were well prepared with snacks and so could ignore the vendors that came by.

                We were grateful to be off the train but couldn't find a Bluebird cab or a Grab centre.  Most people seemed to be picked up by Grabs so we got one of the few remaining cabs, which was willing to go on the meter, and headed to our hotel.  On the way there we saw motorized chairs, similar to the pedal ones we used on our slum tour but larger and attached to motorbikes.

                Traffic was as bad as Jakarta and the city was busy and dusty, not many attractive places.  We did do a circuit of the local stadium which had some interesting graffiti on it but that was about it. 

                The driver had to call the hotel because it was on  back alley but the room was nice and the staff was amazing.  The woman at the desk helped us to book tours over the next two days so that we didn't have to wander around and get information on our own.  That gave us a much more leisurely evening.

                We did have to go out and pay the tour company down the street and attempt to get cash out of ATMs.  Meg's card was acting up but I got some and we got the tour sorted.  We mt the Belgian couple again and planned to meet them at a local vegan restaurant.  The walked back and told us it ws 3 km away.  I consulted the guidebook and found it was taken over by the Via restaurant, which had expanded to give its bakery a new shopfront. 

                The Via looked pretty good so we ate there with the Belgians, who had eaten but got snacks and an incredible tropical fruit plate, which included dragonfruit and mangosteen.  We had good food and conversation and said goodbye and headed to our hotel.

                Since we had an early start to go to Borobrodur for sunrise, the hotel arranged to have a packed breakfast ready for us.  We thanked them and got to bed early to prepare.