Indonesia: Java

Yogyakarta: Utami and Imogiri

Jan — Tue, 10 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Jeff W. observed that my letters from Western Australia focused almost entirely on "places" I visited rather than on "people" I met.
	Please click on the image for photos of Central Java.

The British gave us the following: "Never complain; never explain." So I will do neither and just say to Jeff, "Good comment."

Yogyakarta to Parangtritis

Jan — Wed, 11 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

On our flight from Bali to Yogya, Utami and I met a young Balinese man. He was escorting a group to Parangtritis to observe Labuhan,the annual "offerings" ceremony. On Sunday morning, Ut and I sped south to that fishing village on the wild Indian Ocean coast.
	Please click on the image for more photos of Parangtritis.

Yokyakarta: Don't Miss Borobodur

Jan — Wed, 11 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Yogyakarta
Central Java
Indonesia

11 May, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

Please click on the image for

more photos of Yokyakarta.

A fellow traveler wrote to me and said, "Don't miss Borobudur."

I took her advice.

"From the plains of Kedu, 42km north-west of Yoyga, a small hill rises out of a platform of palm trees and fields of rice and sugar cane.

Jarkarta: The Itinerary

Jan — Thu, 12 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

I know that one or two of you are following me in your Atlas.

This is the final itinerary for Western Australia, Indonesia, Singapore:

* Bangkok to Denpasar, Bali. By air. Southeast over the Java Sea.

Jarkarta: The Cruise

Jan — Fri, 13 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Jakarta
West Java
13 May, 2005

"Ahoy, there!"

Please click on the image
for photos of Jarkarta.

North of Kuta ("Old Batavia" as the Dutch called it), my guidebooks recommended Sunda Kelapa, the old port where dozens of large, wooden, colorful, tall-masted/motorized schooners are moored.

Bogor: The Botanical Gardens

Jan — Sat, 14 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Bogor
West Java
14 May, 2005

Salamat Malam,

Please click on the image
for more photos of Bogor.

Years ago, in Boston, my colleague Paul used a favorite expression when I made an error in judgment. With a smile, and a slightly affected tone, he would pronounce, "Well...That... Was... Stuuuuupid."

Bandung: Franked in Bandung

Jan — Mon, 16 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Bandung
West Java
16 May, 2005

All Aboard!

Please click on the image

for more photos of Bandung.

Just like my boyhood subway rides, ever emerging from the 149th Street tunnel to the elevated IRT tracks of the Woodlawn Jerome line over River Avenue, at the 161st Station astride Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, the train ride from Jakarta to Bandung was also exciting.

Bandung: A Date with a Volcano

Jan — Tue, 17 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Bandung
West Java
17 May, 2005

Salamat Malam,

At 7:00pm, the North Sea Bar was dead.

Please click on the photo
for more images of the Volcanos.

Except for Evert, a smiling Dutchman, 54, enjoying his tall green Heineken.

Evert has a business in Holland and lives with his twenty-seven year old girlfriend in Bandung. Soon to be married. (Where have I heard that one before?)

Bandung: Asian African Conference

Jan — Wed, 18 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Bandung
West Java
Indonesia

18 May, 2005

Please click on the image

for more photos of Bandung.

Loyal Family
Esteemed Friends
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In 1955, for one week in April, Indonesia hosted the Asian-African Conference in Bandung. It was the "first intercontinental gathering of coloured peoples in the history of mankind."

Yogyakarta: Return to Yogya

Jan — Sun, 22 May 2005 00:00:00 +0700

Yogyakarta
Central Java

22 May 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Please click on the image

for more photos of Yogyakarta.

I had to leave Bandung. I wanted to stay a day or two longer. I was enjoying the sights and my new friends. But my chest was heaving, my eyeballs burning, my whole system in rebellion. The pollution so intense.