Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Singapore Airport en route to Beijing
Hi again,
The return rail journey from Bandung to Jakarta went well and I enjoyed my stay at the Mandarin Oriental in Jakarta. The single train ticket for the three hour ride in executive seats costs 75,000 rupiah (less than a fiver!) and takes you through the hills and valleys of Central Java. Bandung is a city of maybe 2 million people and is sited on the Eastern slopes of the hill/mountain range separating Central Java from Jakarta in West Java.
The route to Jakarta takes you past steep terracing which ensures every spare acre of land is utilised for farming; as the Argo Gede train takes you out of the city the simple agricultural life takes over and many people can be seen working the wet paddy fields. Crops appear to be mainly rice though in the steeper area a thin, twin-stemmed shrub occupies perhaps 10% of the land; this has typically two thin curved 'trunks' leading to a crop of radial leaves at the head about 1m from the ground. The whole plant is harvested as the patches are sometimes seen partly scythed down to a few inches from the soil. I'd love to find out what these plants are, any ideas welcome!
On occasion the train passes some palm-like trees where the leaves look like they've come off second best in a fight with a machete. I had wondered what these where during the outbound journey in the twilight; it appears now that some form of banana grows on the taller, mature trees.
On arrival at Jakarta's Gambir station I was greeted by the usual porter offering his muscles for a small fee, and it appears he has a friend with a taxi! I knew the hotel wasn't too far so was hoping to spend less than 30,000rp on the trip to the hotel - instead he claimed a 50,000rp minimum fare until I settled for a generous 40,000rp after a quick haggle.
The Mandarin Oriental is the most flash hotel I've ever stayed at. Stunning lobby and spare staff everywhere to do everything for you. The room was large and quiet and (compared to Singapore) I could use the air-con thermostat myself!
I rested, watched ESPN for a while (well chuffed - Bolton beat Everton 3-2, then I later found that was with 10 men for most of the game!), then ventured down to select the Italian restaurant. The carbonara and red wine were lovely, though my stomach didn't appreciate them. A pity as I had had a trouble-free stomach for a week, though the positive is that my journey to Beijing should be easier now.
I had a nice chat to the adjacent passenger on the short flight from Jakarta, she seems to have travelled everywhere, including a year in Beijing, so it was good to receive advice on places to see in Beijing. I hope to see the Summer Palace this time, though my first challenges will be to get the hotel to allow me to check in early tomorrow morning, then to handle the weekend trip to Xi'an for the Terracotta Army.
I'll leave it there as I hope to eat a little here in the lounge and then sleep during the flight to Beijing. Here comes the acid test of all that Chinese language study...(and I'm really looking forward to it!)
Zai jian!
Martin
The return rail journey from Bandung to Jakarta went well and I enjoyed my stay at the Mandarin Oriental in Jakarta. The single train ticket for the three hour ride in executive seats costs 75,000 rupiah (less than a fiver!) and takes you through the hills and valleys of Central Java. Bandung is a city of maybe 2 million people and is sited on the Eastern slopes of the hill/mountain range separating Central Java from Jakarta in West Java.
The route to Jakarta takes you past steep terracing which ensures every spare acre of land is utilised for farming; as the Argo Gede train takes you out of the city the simple agricultural life takes over and many people can be seen working the wet paddy fields. Crops appear to be mainly rice though in the steeper area a thin, twin-stemmed shrub occupies perhaps 10% of the land; this has typically two thin curved 'trunks' leading to a crop of radial leaves at the head about 1m from the ground. The whole plant is harvested as the patches are sometimes seen partly scythed down to a few inches from the soil. I'd love to find out what these plants are, any ideas welcome!
On occasion the train passes some palm-like trees where the leaves look like they've come off second best in a fight with a machete. I had wondered what these where during the outbound journey in the twilight; it appears now that some form of banana grows on the taller, mature trees.
On arrival at Jakarta's Gambir station I was greeted by the usual porter offering his muscles for a small fee, and it appears he has a friend with a taxi! I knew the hotel wasn't too far so was hoping to spend less than 30,000rp on the trip to the hotel - instead he claimed a 50,000rp minimum fare until I settled for a generous 40,000rp after a quick haggle.
The Mandarin Oriental is the most flash hotel I've ever stayed at. Stunning lobby and spare staff everywhere to do everything for you. The room was large and quiet and (compared to Singapore) I could use the air-con thermostat myself!
I rested, watched ESPN for a while (well chuffed - Bolton beat Everton 3-2, then I later found that was with 10 men for most of the game!), then ventured down to select the Italian restaurant. The carbonara and red wine were lovely, though my stomach didn't appreciate them. A pity as I had had a trouble-free stomach for a week, though the positive is that my journey to Beijing should be easier now.
I had a nice chat to the adjacent passenger on the short flight from Jakarta, she seems to have travelled everywhere, including a year in Beijing, so it was good to receive advice on places to see in Beijing. I hope to see the Summer Palace this time, though my first challenges will be to get the hotel to allow me to check in early tomorrow morning, then to handle the weekend trip to Xi'an for the Terracotta Army.
I'll leave it there as I hope to eat a little here in the lounge and then sleep during the flight to Beijing. Here comes the acid test of all that Chinese language study...(and I'm really looking forward to it!)
Zai jian!
Martin
