Outside, I hung around to find a few other travelers going to my part of town. I found two Aussies and we shared a cab to the same guesthouse. It was quite late by the time I got settled, but I joined my companions for a walk around the town and a quick drink in a Kuta tourist bar.
Inside a swanky Bali restaurant
Over the next couple of day, I managed to get lost on my motorbike more times than I’ve ever been lost in my life. The twisting and turning one-way streets of Bali are a challenge to all but those who’ve grown up there.
One of my Aussie pals told me that Javanese girls in the Hard Rock hit him on. I forget how much they were asking, but it was entirely too much. A Bali girl might have tempted me, but I learned they rarely offered themselves to foreigners.
Girls practice the traditional dance
The beaches were covered in plastic debris washed in from the Indian Ocean. Hardly the tropical paradise I’d expected, but the inland rice terraces were worth the trip.
The main drag of Ubud
On the north side of the island (Lovina), the guy who rented me a motorbike offered to introduce me to a few Bali pros, but after checking out the women on the island, I just wasn’t tempted.
One of the better looking beaches
Bali is really hurting for tourists. Aggressive touts hit on me everywhere I went. After a week, I’d had enough and caught the ferry to Java.
In Java I missed out on a golden opportunity. When I got off the ferry, I had a motorboy take me to the train station. I was trying to make my way to Solo (volcano land). I had the option of going to Surabaya and switching trains, or going straight through to Solo on a slow but direct route. It wasn’t for some weeks later that I learned that Surabaya was the cheap sex capital of Indonesia. If what I read was accurate, it is a popular spot for some island girls who have raised the art of lovemaking to a higher plane.
As it was, I took the slow train but saw some spectacular sights. I explored the volcano in Bromo, before making my way to Yogyakarta.
Sunrise on Bromo
It’s significant to note how heavily the Dutch colonists influenced Yogyakarta. You see evidence everywhere, from the narrow old houses to the heavy colonial government buildings. You also find a red light district not unlike those in Holland. This is definitely a sanuk spot. I had a couple of local guys give me a tour of the brothels. The most interesting was a red light district right across the street from the train station.
Just beside Hotel Mendut, you’ll find the entrance to the red light district.
My local boys led me to an opening in the wall of shops near the station. It was a narrow passageway that branched into numerous others. Men and women sat on makeshift benches and on doorsteps, talking, smoking and drinking. My friends led me along to one place that looked as much like a home dwelling as any of the others we passed. Inside we sat on worn out chairs and the boys ordered drinks from the woman who owned the place. Into a worn plastic pitcher, she poured a can of coke, a small bottle of gin and the Indonesian equivalent of Red Bull. It tasted as good as it sounds. Blech!
Ice made the dink somewhat palatable and we drank to our health. A girl joined us after a while. She was fairly ordinary looking, a bit soft looking, but a smoker. We chatted with her -- actually, the boys did -- while we finished our drinks. The guys took me to another place in the same area. Here I found a cutie that I figured I could spend some time with. I’m sorry I forget the price, but again it was just too expensive when I know what I can get for the same money in Thailand.
We left the little alleyways and motored off to another brothel down the road. I was surprised that they had a fishbowl, but it looked long out of use. Instead, the girls just sat around on couches watching TV. The four of us lounged with them while making our selection. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t inspired.
I spent only two nights in Jakarta. I expected to find the city interesting, but I was quickly bored. There are sights to see, for sure, but I was keen for a bit more adventure. I’d investigated the sanuking scene of course (hotels bars, basically), I couldn’t be bothered once I’d read the prices girls were expecting.
Amsterdam? No, a bridge in Jakarta!.
Next stop, Sumatra.