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Indonesiaaa

July 2024
  • Alessandra Totti
A 27-day adventure by Alessandra Read more
  • Alessandra Totti

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  • Indonesia Indonesia
  • Malaysia Malaysia
  • Singapore Singapore
  • Germany Germany
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Around the world, Backpacking, Beach, Sightseeing, Solo travel, Tours, Wilderness
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  • 22footprints
  • 27days
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  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa

    Leaving from Frankfurt

    July 4, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Leaving today from Frankfurt to Singapore, my first step to go to Indonesia. Of course my professors sent me the thesis corrections today so I took the laptop with me damn. I hope I can send it on time XD let’s seeRead more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa

    Singapore airport

    July 5, 2024 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Finally reached my first destination Singapore. I’m feeling the jet lag even if I slept for the whole flight (12 hours haha). The airport is super new and very fancy, you can see that it’s a nation with lot of money. I’m waiting for my second connection to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia where I will die in my hotel room at the airport since I am dead hahaRead more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa
    Banana cake on the plane, no ingridients no lables so no idea what I ate haha
    2

    Kuala Lumpur

    July 5, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Finally reached Malaysia where I can rest in my hotel close to the airport since tomorrow I have another flight to Medan in Sumatra. Kuala Lumpur Airport was very busy. I noticed that majority of people working here are from China, India, Pakistan and for sure I am missing out other people from nearby countries. Not many western folks around apart from some tourists like me. Quite funny I feel a bit like an alien but people are very polite and speak english, at least in the airport, the only thing I saw in 24 hours of travelling haha. The choice of food is huuuge, I have never seen so many food stalls in the airport and the snack packs are very funny and I have no idea what is inside. I ended up buying purple sweet potato chips which I ate for dinner haha Anyway tomorrow again another flight so gotta wake up early!!Read more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa
    Just waiting for the food posioning haha

    Medan

    July 6, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today I reached Medan in Sumatra to go tomorrow to Bukit Lawang in the jungle. The traffic is a bit crazy but I managed to cross the road alone moving between the many cars and motorbikes haha it’s quite funny my driver was giving money to some guys on the street that “managed” the traffic. He was not stopping, just throwing the money from the window haha
    The whole family on the motorbike is normal here, 4 people fit on a scooter haha
    The city is not the best, there is nothing too special, and it’s so fucking hot that the people just stay inside malls. No one is walking, everyone is by scooter or car. I was walking around before looking for an ATM and everyone in the street was shouting at me “miss” from the other side of the road or whistle to get my attention. There are not many tourists and I felt a bit like the only white around until I found another english girl. We wanted to find a place to eat together but she had to go and pick up her friend from the airport. I ate Mie (indonesian noodles) which were very spicy so I couldn’t finish them. I was sweating haha I tried to say spicy in indonesian (pedas) to the waitress and she was smiling/ laughing at me because I couldn’t handle it haha She must have thought “look this funny white people cannot eat spicy food”.
    Today I think I will rest and work on the thesis because it’s too hot to do anything here. Anyway lot of Banana trees here and good Bananas!    Read more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa
    Bapa and MamaMy room for tonightThe river were people are swimmingNew friends at the guesthouse

    Bukit Lawang I

    July 7, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Today I have arrived in Bukit Lawang and tomorrow we will do the jungle trekking for 3 days and 2 nights. This morning in the hotel I met a couple from the region, from Berastagi, and they could speaking english so we started talking and they taught me so much about the different cultures in Indonesia. They made me try new dishes, such as Lontong, a soup with noodles, a rice pudding and fish, a bit spicy, Salak a fruit from the palm tree (there are sooo many here) which tastes a bit like lyches. Then a dessert made of rice, coconut, banana leaves and brown sugar called Lupis. They also told me that apparently a doctor Gretha Zahar uses this Divine Cigarettes as practice to fight cancer, so lot of people here smoke these cigarettes. They do strange detox treatments with the smoke of the cigarettes where people get wrapped up in alu foil and the smoke is inserted through tubes in the ears, eyes and other part of the bodies. So Risma (the lady) said it was good for her blood sugar but I am not sure about it hahah
    Then a driver brought me to Bukit Lawang which is 3 hours away from Medan. We crossed many villages with very poor roads, cow eating in the middle of the palm plantations and very thin chickens running everywhere. Indonesia is one of the major producers of Palm oil and the Palm Plantation we saw was huge. Then we reached Bukit Lawang and crossed the river to finally arrive at my guest room. Very simple, no sink, only cold water (perfect because it’s fucking hot) and a fan.    Read more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa
    The gang
    Orangutan female with babyParis with the fish caught by the chefThomas' Langur MonkeysPig tail monkeyKuauHornbillThe fooooodOur tentMy bed

    Bukit Lawang II

    July 8, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Today we started the 3 days jungle trekking with our two guides Bim and Paris (not sure they are written this way haha). We saw immediately more than one Orangutans, which were hanging on the trees very close to us. There were lot of other tour guides so many people gathered around, which was a bit disappointing, but the more we walked deep into the jungle the less people we found. Interestingly the name Orangutan means Man of the Jungle ( Orang= person and Utan=jungle in Bahasa indonesian). We saw many Orangutan females with one baby, they were learning how to climb on trees.
    We saw also endemic monkeys Thomas’s Langur, Pig-tail Macaque, Gibbons and long-tail macaque. We saw also birds such as the Rangkong Badak (Horbill) and the Kuau (a sort of peacock).
    The camp we were staying at was very rudimental but good enough for sleeping: a mattress, pillow, mosquito net and a sleeping bag. The food they gave us was AMAZING, it was the best I had so far. The chef, was this peculiar guy who told us that survived in the indian ocean near Sri Lanka for 12 days after a shipwreck before he was saved by a German cargo ship. He showed us the pictures and the stories he was saying were crazy haha but he was very happy and very grateful, like all the indonesian people I met so far. In the night we went with the chef fishing, we walked along the river and he started swimming looking for jungle fish. He caught many while we were looking around for snakes (we didn’t see any unfortunately). It was just amazing to be in the complete darkness in the middle of the jungle, listening to the sounds of the animals, just breathtaking. Then we went back and chatted a bit more with the guides and ready to be bed cause the next day we had to walk more :)    Read more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa
    BimParisSecond camp

    Bukit Lawang III

    July 9, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    This day we woke up and started again going up the jungle. We had all a but of soreness from the day before so this day was a bit more lazy. We saw again some Orangutans and other monkeys, but it started pouring rain quite soon so we rushed to the next camp. Since the name Rainforest, when it starts raining it rains A LOT and going downhill with the mud and the rain was no fun haha i was just focused on not slipping on the mud or the roots. We had a nice dinner and played carda with the chef.Read more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa

    Last day in the jungle

    July 10, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    For this last day we went to small waterfalls, swum and painted our faces with a paste from stones of different colours. Then we went back to our starting point doing rafting in the river on a sort of boat constructed by the guides with many black rubber dinghies. It was an amazing experience and I everyone was so nice, I would go back again :)Read more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa
    The stupa of the temple with the buddha inside
    The amazing breakfast cooked by the wife YaniMonks at the temple for a festival2Me faking to stir the brown sugarThe real OGMendut temple

    Borobudur

    July 12, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Yesterday I landed in Yogyakarta and my host picked me up from the airport to go to the homestay in Borobudur. The husband Ika and his wife Yani made me feel very welcomed. I was hungry from the travel and they cooked me tempeh and tofu with rice. It was delicious. They also gave me fruits such as papaya and banana from their parents’ garden. The breakfast was also delicious, they went to the market to buy some typical snacks made with rice, coconut and brown sugar. Ika is very open-minded, he was a teacher and likes to know everything about other cultures. He brought me to his friend that produces coconut sugar, where they explained how to harvest and produce it. I am always struck by the kindness and humbleness of these people, I think it’s something in their culture and I am very grateful I could experience it. Ika told me that he wishes his son will become first of all “good human being”. This is totally different from our capitalistic society which is mainly focused on building a career without caring about the humanity of people. I think we can learn a lot from them.
    In the morning I have also visited the famous Borobudur temple. We climbed up and the guide explained us the story of the construction and renovation. The temple depicts the story of Siddhartha, which later was called Buddha. It was built with volcanic stones from Mount Merapi on the 778 AD.
    In the afternoon I adventured by bike to reach the Mendut buddhist temple. Funny story, I stopped by the market to buy some bracelets, and I started bargaining with the ladies of the market. I bought 3 bracelets for 100K rupias (5 euros) instead of 70K rupias each. I think they ripped me off anyway, I would have gone lower but I didn’t have the change, so I gave them 100K rupias. Ok just for comparison a Nasi Goreng (typical dish) in a restaurant costs around 30K and in a street vendor 15K. So you can see that 3 normal bracelets for 100K is waaay to much, with this money I could have bought 3 Nasi Goreng in a restaurant. But anyway it’s ok you learn with experience, next time I bargain more haha Anyway at the end I didn’t have enough money to pay the entry ticket for the temple haha so I just took a photo from outside and I left. By bike it was a bit shitty, because the pollution of the traffic is way too much from what we are used to, plus it’s a bit dangerous since people drive totally random. Tomorrow I’ll leave to Jogja where I’m meeting with the german group of Bukit Lawang again :)    Read more

  • Alessandra TottiTravelerIndonesiaaa
    The amazing family that hosted me
    The tofu makerTobacco fields and meMagic medicineOne of my purchasesRandom students who wanted to practice englishThe rock band

    Leaving Borobudur

    July 13, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today I left my family to go to Jogja. However, in the morning before checking out of the homestay we still had time to visit the Tofu maker. The place was very basic and spartan. The guy was working nonstop, while Ika (my host) was telling me the process to make tofu. First the soybeans are soaked in water, then they are milled, boiled with water and then some sort of “magic water” is added that makes the soybean milk agglomerate. Actually the magic water is just the wasted water of the previous batches which is reused and has some enzymes that do the job. The clumps are then collected between two wooden boards to remove the excess of water.
    Since I had a bit of belly problems, Ika revealed to me the secrets of the famous Tolak Angin, a sort of “medicine” made of different herbs and ginger, which is very popular in indonesia. I must say that it was actually very effective for my belly or maybe it was just placebo haha
    Later, I said goodbye to my amazing family and the village to move to the big city Jogjakarta. The traffic in the city is a bit crazy but my hostel is in a very silent neighbourhood. In Jogja, they suggested me to go to this Hazma Batik shop which has A LOT of Sarong and other typical dressing, shirts, everything. I was inside hours and ai bought maybe a little bit too much haha then later I met with the group of Germans that were with me in Bukit Lawang. We went in a Warung (street food stall) for dinner (still need to see if I will get some sort of belly bug from that) and to a bar with live music and karaoke. It was very nice and we said goodbye since they were leaving for the hike in Mount Bromo. Maybe we will meet again in Heidelberg :)    Read more

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