Fred went a wandering.

There are a lot of Chinese temples here.
This one is in Wonosobo, central Java.



There was a good rail system all over central Java but it was all abandoned.
No one bothered with the tracks so they were either just left or tarmac was poured over them to make a road.
If they crossed a road they ended up buried.





Off topic. This was taken in Malaysia. No clue who she is.

At this point in time, I bought a Nokia with a 5mp camera.
These two lasses sold it to me.





When I went to Malaysia in 2005 I met the Buddha.



Back to the game and newly armed with my 5mp Nokia E72 (at that time - April 2010)

This heap is still being used as transport.



Another heap of rust but a bus this time.



A brick works

I went to an international white water rafting event.

The Indonesian teams were the winners but the Slovakian team, who were taking part non competitively, had the best times.
Proving they are sportsmen and not just competitors the Indonesian team asked the Slovakian team on stage and gave them their medals.



The "scenery" had it's points too.



I'm so naughty.

OK, just for the ladies.

Road accidents are common out here and are caused by many things.
Often it's simple stupidity or a total lack of knowledge/care about road safety rules.
Sometimes it's caused by saving money.
These were on a ruddy great big articulated truck.

Fred
thoses squat toilets are a killer on the knees, the first time i used one was at hbbys dads house where i stayed the first time. By time to go home my knees were killing me.

I also liked the houses they were building.

haggishunter wrote:

Fred
thoses squat toilets are a killer on the knees, the first time i used one was at hbbys dads house where i stayed the first time. By time to go home my knees were killing me.

I wrote an interesting piece on Asian toilets a few years ago.
I'm unsure it would be suitable for this site.

A typical village mosque.



A poor, and probably illegally built, village house.



No land is wasted to paddy fields often come right up to the houses.



A tiny village shop.

These shops are often stocked up by going to the local supermarket or buying from small scale wholesalers. Their profits are tiny.

A delivery.



A walk to kertek, Wonosobo, Central Java.
This is the main road to the North.



This taxi offered me a ride.
No, I'm not taking the piss - This is a taxi.



Kertek town centre.

Kids on the way to school.





Food sellers outside a school.





School kids have a flag ceremony every Monday.
They salute the flag and the head teacher.

Schools often invite the army to do drill training.



There are some seriously big insects in Java.



In my old town two people died last year of drinking illegal booze.
The stuff uses medical alcohol and bleach in it's list of ingredients.

A week after the second one pegged it I was at the old dam in the village and found their drinking den.

I keep saying nothing can surprise me in this country after three years (at that time) and I keep being wrong.

Pedicabs are very common but this one seemed a little small.




I thought there were two passengers but, if you notice the leg sticking out, there were three............



....... or maybe more

I mentioned the women who send kids to beg at traffic lights.



I was wandering about taking photos of snakes the other day when I noticed this place.



Serious food as long as you have a toilet roll in the fridge.



There are a lot of beggars out here but this is the first time I've seen this lass.
Old, blind and looking seriously ill.
She had no idea I have taken the photo but I paid her for it anyway.



141

Eid ul fitri is the biggest date in the Muslim calendar.
The big thing here is, as President Obama said, "Pulang kampung".
A translation means to return to your home village. As Jakarta is mostly migrant workers, that's a lot of people on the roads.
The Jakarta post is reporting 340 dead and loads injured so far. That'll end up a lot higher yet.

Indonesia's independence day was yesterday. That means he poorest were out selling what they could to make a little bit extra money for the holiday.

This guy is trying to sell little Indonesian flags.



I say, "trying' because the roads are getting very quiet.
This road is the one where the trucks are normally held up, the main road through BSD, towards Tangerang. A very busy road on normal days.



Some people won't be going anywhere for the holiday.
This guy, best I can make out from people around, had an accident at work.
Not much compo to be had out here.

Eid is known as "Hari raya" or great day out here.
Unlike Christmas, it tends not to be that commercialised. There are some things like, 'Ramadan dates', Ramadan buscuits' or 'Ramadan special offers' but not all that much. That's mirrored in displays, or the lack of them.
This is one of not that many public displays for the holiday season.





"Salamat hari raya" is a lot like a local version of "merry Christmas" but for Eid.

Last for today.
The roads here have hazards that you don't tend to see on British roads.
Perhaps this goats know, goat meat is very popular at hari raya and wants to get it over with.

There is a local police called the Pol PP.
Sort of like council people but with big sticks. Their job includes removing illegal stalls that block the pavements.





Kids on the way to school.
There are vocational schools here known as SMKs. You can find a wide variety of skills at these schools.
Most tend to be admin, computers, motorbike mechanics but this one is for navy/merchant navy.



Sorry about the really poor image but it tells the story.
The normal polite greeting for a teacher or parent is  handshake. That's commonly a kiss to the teacher's hand or the kid will raise the hand to the forehead or cheek.
Very polite.



When you eat at a street stall the place being clean is a very important feature.
Even the dish washing facilities have to be tip top.

I have found that most stereo types have some truth but are mostly a load of old rubbish.
All Indonesian blokes are small.
This bloke was outside a local gym. Turns out he's the local arm wrestling champ. Ruddy nearly ripped my arm out just shaking hands.
If he has a sister remind me not to try to 'naughty' her.



Back to the roads for a moment.
Anything will be carried on anything if it can or almost can.
There is no Indonesian work for "safety".



Why is this bloke giving money to a van driver?



Because it's a bus.



The army is called the TNI.
They must have had a senior officer at whatever do they had on so there were road blocks and security around.
As you can see it was a precise military operation with an airtight cordon around the base.

It does. I love the way people are here. When I first went to Malaysia, I was told Indonesia was crap, full of terrorists and a place not to be.
The terrorist bit was partially true but loads of them, including the leaders, are pretty much finished considering the number of bullets the police put in them.
The rest of the people are pretty much all the same. They almost always have a smile and are willing to give you the last crumb off their plate if you're a guest in their house.

The girls also tend to have very nice bums.

There's a law that says they must have daytime headlights. Thought it may have been a good idea to enforce the one about night time lights first but there you go.
Wonder if there is a law about using a bike to walk your dog.



No dole so people do what they can. Loads of little street micro businesses here.



I may have mentioned before, one of the strangest things for a newcomer to Java comes across is the Javanese calendar. There are only 5 days in a week but many things are still planned using it. That means, to a westerner, the days for things float around seemingly at random.
Market days are one of those things. It was Wage and Paign (Not sure if I managed the spelling of the last one) at my old place but there is a Pasar (Market) Wage here.
Bloody big place it is too.

Two levels of total chaos and mess.



That day wasn't a Wage (pron. waggy) so things were quiet but you can still get an assortment of goods and services.

I went downstairs to the ground floor. Nice to see health and safety in action.

I could have got transport out and home but I chose to walk to the exit.

Most people don't have any real understanding of English at all but it's fashion to wear kit with English stuff printed on it.



Another lesson in road safety (1)



(For the girls; that tyre is supposed to have little tracks on it called tread)

Another lesson in road safety (2)



No special reason for the photo but she's cute. An English teacher.

My cycling is getting me fit and allowing me to see alls orts of things and meet all sorts of people.

Turns out this lass is/was some sort of road racing champ in Indonesia and came third at the Asean games a couple of years back.
Sorry the details are rough but that is a result of my Indonesian still being limited. Lessons start again soon.



I had no idea there was a BMX culture out here.



More road safety.
You have to be sure no one will run to you so a well thought out, clearly marked safety barrier is a good idea.



Rubbish collection (Indonesian flavour)





146

Today is Eid, sort of Muslim Christmas, for most Muslims in Indonesia.
First thing, I had to go to the local mosque and listen to some bloke preach about something I didn't really understand because it was all in Indonesian. I took best shot it was about honesty and not taking part in corruption. Loads of that in Indonesian officialdom (But getting much better).

The big trick with Eid is, get to the mosque early. By the time the actual thing starts, you can't get into the building at all but, if you get there early, you can pick your spot.
The best place is near the door. That way, you get a breeze and never get cramped up in the crowd near the middle.

I'm not really supposed to but I sneaked a piccy with my Samsung galaxy note wonder phone.
Still loads of space when I took these but none at all 10 minutes later.

Thanks for sharing these beautifull photo's and funny comments.

Fred,great pictures and captions.I spent a lot of time in East Java the last 10 years.Headed back mid Sept. for a month,JFK--SUB.keep your photos comming.  Phil.

many thing of Indonesia.
I LOVE INDONESIA ...

ekabali wrote:

many thing of Indonesia.
I LOVE INDONESIA ...

I've been here five years now and I've grown to love the country.
It may have faults but the massive upside easily outweighs the tiny downside.

Fred.....I want to hold the snake plz

@fred : yes,i agree

haggishunter wrote:

Fred.....I want to hold the snake plz

Sorry - I can't allow that because I'm married.

Fred behave

Why use a truck when you don't need to?



Another village shop.



When you a police station, there is a little gazebo where you must tell the guard cops who you are, who you will go to see and leave some ID with them.

Here they are.



Bird flu has been a problem in Indonesia. In the west people can't understand why but it's easy to see out here. In every village there are lots of ducks, chickens and even a few geese wandering around the streets. Between that, a lack of knowledge of basic hygiene and the common past time of pigeon handling, you get a problem.

I had a meeting in Wonosobo. That went all early so I decided to go for a walk.
I wandered around the town I was in then headed out of town. I ended up about 3 km from town before it started raining and I decided to jump on a bus.

The old railway is still in evidence here and there.
The remains of an old village station.





Every parking area of every town has the bloke who keeps and eye on your motorbike when you park. This place is no exception.



It's more than common for people to do two jobs at once out here.
This bloke drives a pedicab.....



..but also helps run the family street restaurant.
Now what was I saying about basic hygiene? The washing up is just way too close to that crap encrusted drain.

A local Muslim school I got dragged into when I walked by. The lasses did enough smiling for him and the rest of the town put together.





It was getting dark and ready to rain by the time I got to where this old field gun is used as a monument but I quite like the stark outline so I took it anyway.



There is also an old aeroplane there



I assume the machine guns were removed and replaced with a couple of bits of pipe but this is Indonesia so you never know.

The sign says (Roughly) "No dumping your old crap here".





Children begging is common. I think this is the same young kid I snapped once before.



His 'boss' he has to hand the cash over to isn't very much older.

The larger supermarkets are pretty much like any western place .. sort of



They sell loads of dried fish.