Introducing Jogjakarta

From Bandung I made my way east via rail to Jogjakarta. I was a little bit confused as to where my seat was, but an attendant verified that I was in the right place. The train left at about 6:50AM and because I had a comfortable two seats to myself I curled up and slept for a couple hours. Around 10:00AM we stopped and I was told I was in another passenger's seat. I showed the conductor my ticket and he said, "You need to get off bus now." I knew we were only about halfway to Jogjakarta, if that, but I thought maybe I needed to change trains (although no one had informed me of this earlier), so I grabbed my backpack and hopped off the train.

When I stepped onto the platform a security guard told me I wasn't meant to get off. I showed him my ticket and said that the conductor kicked me off the train. The nice security guard looked at my ticket then led me back a few cars to where I was actually meant to be seated. Somehow I was sitting in first class, but I only paid for second class. My new seat was right in the middle of a very nice Indonesian family of seven.

 

Children I met on the train from Bandung to Jogjakarta

The family, from what I gathered, was made up of a grandmother, her two daughters, one son-in-law, and three grandchildren. None of them spoke much English, but they were thrilled to have me sitting with them. The grandmother and one of the young mothers kept thrusting the children on me (literally, on my lap) and taking photos. They all smiled a lot and shared their lunch with me. The children were pretty shy and seemed uncomfortable having their photos taken with me, but I was able to learn their names and coax a smile or two out of them.

From the train station I took an ojek to Edu Hotel. Edu is one of the best hostels/hotels I've ever stayed at. Definitely top five. If you are ever in Jogjakarta, Java, Indonesia I recommend Edu Hotel. If for no other reason than the breakfast. Once I got settled in I ran into the Korean boys from Bandung. We had dinner and they introduced me to their new friend Ani. Ani told me about an American travel writer and some really nice English-Indians she had met the night before. I was interested in meeting all of those people because I had questions about getting into travel writing and I at this point I was still trying to plan for my trip to India. The next day I met Derek the travel writer and my English dentists.

Derek is from Texas. He started this website and travels around writing for it. He doesn't usually make any money from the site, but it's pretty popular and he is often able to get free/reduced room and board in exchange for talking up hostels online. The English-Indians, Alpen, Pree, Jets, and Adesh, had all just finished their final dentistry exams and were in Indonesia on a graduation holiday. Although their families are from India (and Kenya) they are all very English and weren't able to help me much with my India travel planning. No matter. We all went out for dinner and drinks that night. At dinner I also met a cool Dutch guy, Arne.

From left: Myself, Derek, Adesh, Arne

I didn't know it at the time, but the English lads would prove to be some of my favorite people. And not just traveling. As I write this I've already made plans to meet up with them in the UK.