INDONESIA - Bogor
After my 3 days in Jakarta it was time to move on. My Lonely Planet book said whatever you do, do not try to travel at anytime around about the end of Ramadan. What do they know!
So I headed to Kota station and bought a ticket for the Pakuan Epress to Bogor, which was seemingly a nice comfortable train with air conditioning. Well not the one I got on! I got on the one that had wooden seats, barely any room to stand and the only air coming in was from the doors which were wide open. After about 20mins I started to feel really ill and I think I might have even conked out for a split second and opened my eyes to see my sunglasses falling from my head in slow motion and all these faces staring at me. I fell to my knees and once I got my vision back started slugging the water back. I kept trying to stand up, but couldnt manage so I had to stay on my knees most of the journey and downed all my water. Everyone looked really concerned and one woman gave me a tissue, which was nice.
What made things even worse was that one of the straps on my backpack had bust right off so the thought of even standing up let alone having to drag my bag was all I needed. Anyway, by the time we arrived in Bogor 2 hours later I was ok and managed to drag my bag and my ass over to the station and I just sat and munched on some biscuits.
Bogor had been described in my book as a lovely place where 'traffic passes idly by'. Well not today! It turns out that all of Jakarta had descended on Bogor and it was total chaos. I managed to stumble out the station and was bricking it I wouldnt find anywhere to stay, but thankfully I found a place just roudn the corner which was really nice (Wisma Sartika).
I dumped my bags and headed to the Botanical Gardens, where once more the population of Jakarta was to be found. I was quite the celebrity there with everyone shouting 'hallo mister'. The gardens were ok and I only wish I could have visited the Istana Bogor where the deer were grazing, but I could only view it from behind locked gates.
I spent a couple of hours in the gardens then headed back to my room to dry off. I really cant remember sweating this much last year. Not sure if the gardens were really worth the effort, but the experience of getting there was certainly worth it.
My next plan was to head to Bandung, but then I found out there were no direct trains so change of plan and back to Jakarta. And this time I got on the correct train and had a very pleasant 1 hour air conditioned journey.
So I headed to Kota station and bought a ticket for the Pakuan Epress to Bogor, which was seemingly a nice comfortable train with air conditioning. Well not the one I got on! I got on the one that had wooden seats, barely any room to stand and the only air coming in was from the doors which were wide open. After about 20mins I started to feel really ill and I think I might have even conked out for a split second and opened my eyes to see my sunglasses falling from my head in slow motion and all these faces staring at me. I fell to my knees and once I got my vision back started slugging the water back. I kept trying to stand up, but couldnt manage so I had to stay on my knees most of the journey and downed all my water. Everyone looked really concerned and one woman gave me a tissue, which was nice.
What made things even worse was that one of the straps on my backpack had bust right off so the thought of even standing up let alone having to drag my bag was all I needed. Anyway, by the time we arrived in Bogor 2 hours later I was ok and managed to drag my bag and my ass over to the station and I just sat and munched on some biscuits.
Bogor had been described in my book as a lovely place where 'traffic passes idly by'. Well not today! It turns out that all of Jakarta had descended on Bogor and it was total chaos. I managed to stumble out the station and was bricking it I wouldnt find anywhere to stay, but thankfully I found a place just roudn the corner which was really nice (Wisma Sartika).
I dumped my bags and headed to the Botanical Gardens, where once more the population of Jakarta was to be found. I was quite the celebrity there with everyone shouting 'hallo mister'. The gardens were ok and I only wish I could have visited the Istana Bogor where the deer were grazing, but I could only view it from behind locked gates.
I spent a couple of hours in the gardens then headed back to my room to dry off. I really cant remember sweating this much last year. Not sure if the gardens were really worth the effort, but the experience of getting there was certainly worth it.
My next plan was to head to Bandung, but then I found out there were no direct trains so change of plan and back to Jakarta. And this time I got on the correct train and had a very pleasant 1 hour air conditioned journey.
posted by Cat @ 6:18 AM
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