Laurieco's Java-Thailand Trip Report: Earthquakes, Volcanos and Supper in Bed (or, How I spent My Summer Vacation)
Jun 14th, 2006, 03:41 AM
#24
Sorry for the delay. I haven't forgotten about you! I've not been well and cannot sit at the computer for long as staring at the monitor adds to my dizziness. According to the ear specialist I went to, I picked up a viral infection in my inner ear (in Bangkok) and it's caused vertigo. It's all I can do to get through a few hours of work. He gave me a prescription for Antivert, which helps, but it knocks me out. I'll get back to this trip report as soon as I can. Promise!
Jun 14th, 2006, 06:17 AM
#27
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Interesting about this ear infection thing. I note on another thread that honeymooners needed a doctor in CM because of ear infection. My DH got a very bad ear infection in BKK, or on the plane trip home, a couple of years ago, and started to lose hearing. He (finally) went to our local ear-nose-throat guy, who gave him a couple of strong shots and a prescrip for antibiotics (don't know which one) and he was fine within just a matter of days. The shots did wonders, as his hearing came back almost immediately. The doc told him that it wasn't from getting water in his ear, which one would assume was the case. It was from accidentally getting water into his system from his mouth. I know he doesn't swallow any tap water in BKK... we only drink bottled water. But I wonder if he brushed his teeth, as usual, in the shower, and somehow swallowed a tiny sip. Anyway, lesson learned about the water in BKK.
Jun 15th, 2006, 03:24 AM
#29
No problem cruisinred, I thought that was pretty funny. Carol, I wish it were that simple. Since this is viral, it won't respond to antibiotics so all I can do is wait. The infection/virus is probably gone, I just have to wait for my ear to reorient itself. It is getting better I think.
Jun 15th, 2006, 05:37 AM
#31
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I love reading your travel story! Just to let you know I really sympathize with your quitting smoking. I did it 4 years ago, and think I would not have succeeded without nicorette-(from New Zealand...I could actually afford it...) Still, it's a tough thing to do. Looking forward to hearing more of your adventures!
Jun 17th, 2006, 03:50 AM
#32
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 444
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
laurieco
enjoying your report. I can also sympathise with your vertigo. I am just recovering from a viral labryinthitus- after 3 months. Ask your doctor for stemetil tablets. They were a great help.
enjoying your report. I can also sympathise with your vertigo. I am just recovering from a viral labryinthitus- after 3 months. Ask your doctor for stemetil tablets. They were a great help.
Jun 18th, 2006, 08:56 AM
#33
I'm finally feeling better so I figured it's time to stop watching reruns of Star Trek and work on this trip report so here goes...
The next morning, Didit, our driver and guide for the next two days picked us up at the Melia. The car was new and roomy and there were cold drinks for us. We chose to take the scenic route, which took about 1 hour and twenty minutes as opposed to one hour, and it was well worth the extra time. The scenery was beautiful. We arrived at the Amanjiwo at about 10:00 AM and were led to the lobby for check-in. The first impression of the place is that it’s not like any other hotel—it is stunning architecturally. The general manager, an Australian named Sean Flakelar, came by to personally greet us and assist with the check in. He was very nice but I got the impression that this is only done because when you are spending $700 per night, it’s expected. Besides, with only one other paying guest (a couple actually, who were not there at the time) and the current yoga instructor and his girlfriend who were there gratis, he probably had nothing better to do anyway. Since it was not exactly full occupancy, I decided I would ask how much it would cost to upgrade to a pool villa, hoping we would just maybe get a free upgrade. No such luck. I was told he “could do it” for another $100 per night. No thanks. Sean did have a lovely dog, a big thing that looked part shepherd, named, I think Tigger, although Sean pronounced it Teega (well he IS Australian!)
We were shown to our villa, which was lovely. It was very large with a very large patio as well. There were his and hers sinks, an outdoor tub, a Bose sound system, but no TV. One very major complaint about it is the room was unbearably warm even though we had the air-con at the coldest setting. If I’m paying $700 per night, I should be able to get that room to be frigid if I want to. We both had trouble sleeping and woke up several times during the night drenched.
We walked around the hotel to check it out and had lunch by the pool, where we spent a couple of hours. At 5 O’clock our bottle of chilled champagne was brought to us, along with a nice spread of appetizers, a very nice touch. We brought the champagne with us and our “butler” offered to chill it for us. We had it out on the patio. It had rained earlier (of course) but stopped so at least our champagne wasn’t ruined. We had dinner at the hotel, mainly because there was no where else to go. It was very good but I can’t remember what it was other than a typical Indonesian meal. Before dinner, we had cocktails and Sean came over to chat for a while, as did the yoga instructor and his girlfriend. During dinner, we were hovered over by about 3 attendants. I guess Amans pride themselves on their service but I really don’t need, nor do I even want that level of service. It makes me uncomfortable. I’m not royalty and have no desire to be treated as such. I don’t like being made to feel that I can’t do anything for myself and I don’t want someone running over if they see me lift my arm to pour a glass of water. I just felt the whole place had “airs” about it and it made me feel pretentious.
We went to bed early since we had to be up at 4:30 for sunrise at Borobudur. When you book the sunrise, the Aman provides a light breakfast of coffee and pastries. The coffee was good (pressed) but again, every time I wanted to pour myself another cup, someone was there to do it for me. Enough already!! Do they want to drink it for me too?
Didit was there at 5 to take us to Borobudur. We also booked the Intellectual Tour and he was our guide as well as diver. The sunrise wasn’t as clear as I had hoped for, it was a bit misty, but it was still spectacular. The only bad thing was there was a tour group there who were VERY loud and screaming constantly and really ruining the atmosphere for everyone else. Didit could see that and went over and said something to them and they finally did quiet down. What was really nice was that you could see Mt. Merapi from there giving off steam and it really added a nice backdrop. Borobudur is certainly one of the greatest sights in South East Asia and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been there. It’s definitely worth the trip.
After the sun was up and the monument was officially open to other tourists, we started our Intellectual Tour. It was interesting and at least not too expensive, it added about another $50 to the sunrise. It costs about $50 each to have the Aman bring you to Borobudur for the sunrise, which is annoying since it’s a 5 minute drive and that $50 per person includes nothing, other than the light breakfast. While at Borobudur, we kept running into schoolchildren who wanted to have their pictures taken with us. They weren’t all that young, some of the groups were teenagers. Didit said they were from East Java, probably poor, and they wanted the pictures because they would have something that no one else in their village had, pictures of themselves with foreigners. We obliged and are now probably hanging on the walls of several homes in East Java. After Borobudur, we visited Mendut, a Hindu temple, worth visiting but obviously pales in comparison to Borobudur. Didit then brought us to a rice field where Borobudur can be seen for some nice photo opportunities.
When we got back to the Aman, we had breakfast, nothing big, just coffee, I had what I thought was going to be French Toast (it wasn’t and I didn’t like it) and Eric had eggs. This cost over $30. The big shock came when we were checking out. Our 24 hours at the Aman cost us an extra $500. This is on top of the $700 for the room so our one night stay at the Aman ended up costing $1200! I was not happy. It was NOT worth it. If I’m going to drop $1200 in one day, I would like something to show for it. A nice piece of jewelry perhaps; a coffee table; a refrigerator! All we got was a funny video we made of me playing tour guide showing the room. I was afraid that after staying here, I would only want to stay at another Aman resort. Not a chance, unless it’s severely discounted and in a place where I don’t feel held hostage to take their tours and eat their food.
When we were leaving, Sean came out and said goodbye, I’m sure because it’s expected at that price. Before driving us back to Yogya, Didit took us on a one and a half hour tour of the surrounding rice terraces. This was an extra $100 or so but I really wanted to see this. I’m sure had we arranged this on our own it would have cost a fraction of what we paid, but since there was nothing around, we felt we had no choice. Anyway, the scenery was exquisite and I’m glad we saw it. It would have been a shame to not see some of the absolutely breathtaking countryside. Pictures do not do it justice. Along the way, while walking in a small village, a group of about five or six little girls and one boy started to follow us so I took some pictures of them. Every time I showed them the pictures, they would giggle and giggle. I wished I could have printed them out and given them to the kids. After a while it began to rain so we decided to head back to Yogya and to the Hyatt, our next hotel.
By the time we got to the Hyatt, it was pouring so we just stayed around the hotel. I was tired and decided to take a nap for a couple of hours. At 5 we went to the Club Lounge for cocktails and snacks. We paid an extra $40 per night for the Club Room but it wasn’t worth it. The snacks weren’t all that great or numerous, nothing like what we had at the Club Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur a few months earlier, nor did we get any other perks, not even free internet access. I would recommend paying less for a regular room, which pretty much looks the same anyway. We had several glasses of wine and watched the bats flying around outside. I can’t even remember what we did for dinner.
The next morning after breakfast, we went to the pool since the sun was out. The Hyatt’s pool is really beautiful. It’s actually a series of pools and we found a nice secluded spot with no one around so it was nice and quiet. After showers, we decided to go to a restaurant for lunch that Indri recommended, Legion, on Malioboro Street. The restaurant is upstairs and looks out onto the street. Part of it is covered and part is in the open. It’s a good thing we were in the covered part because it began to pour while we were there. We had a few beers and some very uninspired food. I can’t recommend this place for the food as it was mediocre at best but it was very nice sitting there. And the beers were good. We were the only ones in the entire place. After it looked like the rain let up a bit, we decided to go across the street and do some shopping. This was our last day in Java and I hadn’t bought anything other than the earrings at the factory and a pair of shoes at the airport in Jakarta. We walked around a little and although we were having a good time, I didn’t really like what was being sold, nor did I feel like bargaining, so we decided to go to Mirota Batik, a big crafts shop with reasonable prices that I had read about. We got to Mirota Batik and I was in heaven. There were several floors of crafts and jewelry, all very inexpensive and very nice. I got a shopping bag and began to load up. I bought lots of filigree jewelry, for myself and as gifts for my mother and sister, puppets for gifts and a bunch of other stuff. I wish I had come to this place earlier in the week. I was also finally beginning to like Yogya. Before this day, I wasn’t too impressed but I was now starting to see its charms. I really think had it not rained so much, we would have liked it better much earlier on. The rain was so depressing and it rained every single day. Not just in Java but in Thailand as well. We didn’t have one day without rain on the entire trip. When people say, don’t let the rain bother you, it’s not a big deal, don’t believe them. It is a big deal and grows very tiresome very quickly. I’ve never experienced so much rain on a trip, not even when I’ve gone in rainy season, and this was supposed to be the dry season. Everyone in Yogya did say that having rain at this time of the year was very unusual. It didn’t make me feel better!
That night we had our cocktails at the Lounge and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant since we had a 7:40 AM flight to Jakarta, and then a 12:45 flight to Bangkok From Bangkok’s airport we planned on getting a car and driver to take us to Hua Hin for three nights at the Sofitel, where we had reservations.
The following morning, May 27th, we were up by 5 to take showers and have breakfast. After breakfast, we went back to the room and called to have our luggage taken down. We were on the 6th floor. The bellboy came and collected our luggage and got into an elevator and we got into the other elevator. It was about 5:55 AM. The doors closed and we began to descend when the elevator car started to jerk around violently. We weren’t sure what was happening but for a few seconds, I was sure we were going to die. At first I thought the elevator cable had broken but when we looked out the back of the elevator, which was a wall of glass, we could see the back wall of the hotel with lionhead fountains shooting out water from the mouths, and outside the hotel, and could see the wall and everything else moving in different directions. We also heard screaming. At that point I think we realized it was an earthquake, and we were stuck in an elevator, in a building we weren’t sure would start to collapse on top of us. The power had gone out and the elevator was shaking like mad. By that time, all fears of dying had gone and all I thought was, what do we have to do to stay alive? It’s like something takes over and it’s all that matters. The elevator doors wouldn’t open so I stuck my fingers between the two doors and pulled them open. We had just about made it to the bottom floor so we jumped out and ran out the nearest door of the hotel, where we saw some of the hotel staff staring at the volcano and pointing and saying “Merapi Merapi!” Sure enough, Merapi was erupting like crazy with lava clouds rolling down the sides and front. I was pretty shaken up at this point but glad that I didn’t panic and was actually able to think clearly enough to get us out of the elevator. I always assumed that if I was ever in a life threatening situation, I would panic and freeze. I didn’t. I really believe that humans are hard wired to survive, it’s instinctual. I found that confronted with that kind of situation, you don’t even think about it, you just do what you have to do. I think the key is, really believing you are going to die. My sister asked me what it feels like to be in an earthquake. It feels like very bad turbulence; turbulence on the ground.
When we saw the hotel wasn’t falling down, we went inside to check out. The man at the front desk kept first apologizing that we were in an elevator when it happened and then that he had to do the credit card manually since the line to the credit card machine was down. I kept telling him he had nothing to be sorry about! He couldn’t get any information on whether the airport was open so we decided to go and see if we could get our flight. When we got to the airport, it was absolute pandemonium. There were loads of people mulling around outside and we were told it was closed but no one knew for how long. I went up to the terminal to see what I could find out and could see that part of the roof had collapsed. They were carrying injured people out on stretchers and it did not look good. I went back to Eric and told him it didn’t look like the airport would be opening any time soon and so we went back to the Hyatt to try and figure out how to get to Jakarta. Back at the hotel, we were talking to a young German couple who were also supposed to be on our flight to Jakarta. We decided taking the train was out as the tracks would probably be out of alignment due to the earthquake. Driving was out as this would take 12-14 hours on a good day and this was anything but a good day. Then I remembered the airport in Solo. Before we left on this trip, Eric asked what we would do if the volcano erupted ash and planes couldn’t fly in to Yogya and I said we could always fly in or out of Solo if necessary. It was now necessary. I asked at the desk about the Solo airport and while we were standing there waiting, the German guy said to me “do you feel that?” I said no but when we looked up, the chandelier in the lobby was swinging from side to side so I guess there were aftershocks. It was really eerie. Eric had taken off, apparently he went outside where there was a crowd of people watching Merapi erupt, and he was taking some video of it. The Hyatt man came back and said that the airport in Solo was operating normally and there was a flight to Jakarta at 11:15, did we want to take it? He said there were only 6 seats left and they were in first class so we would have to pay an extra $150 each to upgrade our economy tickets. We said no problem. This flight would get us into Jakarta at 12:15 at the earliest and our flight to Bangkok was at 12:45. There was very little chance we would make it but we needed to get out of Yogya. I thought we would be lucky to just get to Jakarta and spend the night there and worry about getting to Thailand the next day. The Hyatt arranged a car and driver for the four of us. I have to say, the people at the Hyatt were so nice and so helpful, putting us ahead of their own concerns for themselves or families, and making sure we were comfortable and doing anything at all they could to help. I cannot say enough good things about them and Indonesians in general. I always say that South East Asian people are the nicest and most gracious anywhere. Well, the Indonesians stand out among them and that is saying a lot. Every single person we met was helpful, warm, hospitable and then some. I am so impressed with them that I can’t wait to go back And in fact, we are going back to Indonesia at the end of August, to Bali. I’m very happy to go there and help their economy recover from all of the disasters that seem to befall them. They call Thailand the Land of Smiles but it applies to Indonesia even more so.
When the four of us and our driver set out to Solo, as soon as we were leaving the grounds of the Hyatt, we encountered a mass of people coming from the direction we wanted to turn. Someone ran over and told us we couldn’t go that way, there was a tsunami warning and we had to go back. I thought, great, we hit the trifecta: earthquake, volcano and now tsunami. I didn’t think we were that close to water but what did I know. I began to get very nervous but the German woman got so terrified that I ended up comforting her. We went back to the Hyatt and the driver got directions to get to Solo a different way, which should have added maybe 15 minutes onto the one hour trip. It ended up taking us over two and one half hours because of the amount of traffic, Everyone and their brother was trying to get out of Yogya because of the tsunami warning and they were leaving on any means possible. It looked like the fall of Saigon. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I said to Eric, it’s only 8:10 AM and we’ve already had an earthquake, volcano and now tsunami. Do we really want to fly today? I didn’t want to think about what else could happen.
On the way to Solo, we began to see just how bad the destruction was. There were collapsed buildings everywhere and people outside afraid to go into the buildings that were still standing, We could see Merapi erupting in the background. The driver was listening to news on the radio and trying his best to translate for us. His English was very limited but he did get across that many people had died. We still had no idea how bad it really was as the count was still in the hundreds, not thousands. He told us the tsunami warning was called off for areas more than 5 kilometers from the water but apparently this message never got to the people as they were still trying to leave. We all wondered where they thought they were going and realized that Java needed a good public emergency system to get word out to the people. Something like what we have here in the States with TV and radio stations alerting people to the situation. The German man thought SMS would be good as everyone seems to have had cell phones. We all felt bad for our driver who had not spoken to his family so he didn’t know how they were and they didn’t know how he was faring.
We finally made it to the airport at Solo and when we went up to the check in agent, I gave her our tickets from Yogya to Jakarta and the paper the Hyatt gave me. She told me there was a flight leaving for Jakarta in about 5 minutes and asked if we wanted to be on it. I said YES! She gave us boarding passes, took our luggage and we ran out onto the tarmac and up the stairs and onto the plane. The flight was almost empty so the FA told us to sit wherever we wanted. We sat near the front so we could get off quickly and try to get our flight to Bangkok.
We landed in Jakarta a little before noon. By the time we got our luggage, it was after noon and we literally ran to the international terminal and to the Thai check in desk. By the time we got there, there was less than 30 minutes before our flight was leaving. I handed the e-ticket printout to the agent and expected I would have to beg to be allowed on the flight, but she just took it, issued us boarding passes and tagged our luggage. So much for being at the airport two hours early for an international flight! We went through security and ran to the gate and onto the plane. We couldn’t believe it, we actually made our scheduled flight to Bangkok! We both sat there pretty much stunned. After we took off and the FAs came around with drinks, we drank ourselves silly, just downing one after the other. It hadn’t really hit us that we had been through a major earthquake just a few hours earlier.
Next up, Hua Hin.
The next morning, Didit, our driver and guide for the next two days picked us up at the Melia. The car was new and roomy and there were cold drinks for us. We chose to take the scenic route, which took about 1 hour and twenty minutes as opposed to one hour, and it was well worth the extra time. The scenery was beautiful. We arrived at the Amanjiwo at about 10:00 AM and were led to the lobby for check-in. The first impression of the place is that it’s not like any other hotel—it is stunning architecturally. The general manager, an Australian named Sean Flakelar, came by to personally greet us and assist with the check in. He was very nice but I got the impression that this is only done because when you are spending $700 per night, it’s expected. Besides, with only one other paying guest (a couple actually, who were not there at the time) and the current yoga instructor and his girlfriend who were there gratis, he probably had nothing better to do anyway. Since it was not exactly full occupancy, I decided I would ask how much it would cost to upgrade to a pool villa, hoping we would just maybe get a free upgrade. No such luck. I was told he “could do it” for another $100 per night. No thanks. Sean did have a lovely dog, a big thing that looked part shepherd, named, I think Tigger, although Sean pronounced it Teega (well he IS Australian!)
We were shown to our villa, which was lovely. It was very large with a very large patio as well. There were his and hers sinks, an outdoor tub, a Bose sound system, but no TV. One very major complaint about it is the room was unbearably warm even though we had the air-con at the coldest setting. If I’m paying $700 per night, I should be able to get that room to be frigid if I want to. We both had trouble sleeping and woke up several times during the night drenched.
We walked around the hotel to check it out and had lunch by the pool, where we spent a couple of hours. At 5 O’clock our bottle of chilled champagne was brought to us, along with a nice spread of appetizers, a very nice touch. We brought the champagne with us and our “butler” offered to chill it for us. We had it out on the patio. It had rained earlier (of course) but stopped so at least our champagne wasn’t ruined. We had dinner at the hotel, mainly because there was no where else to go. It was very good but I can’t remember what it was other than a typical Indonesian meal. Before dinner, we had cocktails and Sean came over to chat for a while, as did the yoga instructor and his girlfriend. During dinner, we were hovered over by about 3 attendants. I guess Amans pride themselves on their service but I really don’t need, nor do I even want that level of service. It makes me uncomfortable. I’m not royalty and have no desire to be treated as such. I don’t like being made to feel that I can’t do anything for myself and I don’t want someone running over if they see me lift my arm to pour a glass of water. I just felt the whole place had “airs” about it and it made me feel pretentious.
We went to bed early since we had to be up at 4:30 for sunrise at Borobudur. When you book the sunrise, the Aman provides a light breakfast of coffee and pastries. The coffee was good (pressed) but again, every time I wanted to pour myself another cup, someone was there to do it for me. Enough already!! Do they want to drink it for me too?
Didit was there at 5 to take us to Borobudur. We also booked the Intellectual Tour and he was our guide as well as diver. The sunrise wasn’t as clear as I had hoped for, it was a bit misty, but it was still spectacular. The only bad thing was there was a tour group there who were VERY loud and screaming constantly and really ruining the atmosphere for everyone else. Didit could see that and went over and said something to them and they finally did quiet down. What was really nice was that you could see Mt. Merapi from there giving off steam and it really added a nice backdrop. Borobudur is certainly one of the greatest sights in South East Asia and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been there. It’s definitely worth the trip.
After the sun was up and the monument was officially open to other tourists, we started our Intellectual Tour. It was interesting and at least not too expensive, it added about another $50 to the sunrise. It costs about $50 each to have the Aman bring you to Borobudur for the sunrise, which is annoying since it’s a 5 minute drive and that $50 per person includes nothing, other than the light breakfast. While at Borobudur, we kept running into schoolchildren who wanted to have their pictures taken with us. They weren’t all that young, some of the groups were teenagers. Didit said they were from East Java, probably poor, and they wanted the pictures because they would have something that no one else in their village had, pictures of themselves with foreigners. We obliged and are now probably hanging on the walls of several homes in East Java. After Borobudur, we visited Mendut, a Hindu temple, worth visiting but obviously pales in comparison to Borobudur. Didit then brought us to a rice field where Borobudur can be seen for some nice photo opportunities.
When we got back to the Aman, we had breakfast, nothing big, just coffee, I had what I thought was going to be French Toast (it wasn’t and I didn’t like it) and Eric had eggs. This cost over $30. The big shock came when we were checking out. Our 24 hours at the Aman cost us an extra $500. This is on top of the $700 for the room so our one night stay at the Aman ended up costing $1200! I was not happy. It was NOT worth it. If I’m going to drop $1200 in one day, I would like something to show for it. A nice piece of jewelry perhaps; a coffee table; a refrigerator! All we got was a funny video we made of me playing tour guide showing the room. I was afraid that after staying here, I would only want to stay at another Aman resort. Not a chance, unless it’s severely discounted and in a place where I don’t feel held hostage to take their tours and eat their food.
When we were leaving, Sean came out and said goodbye, I’m sure because it’s expected at that price. Before driving us back to Yogya, Didit took us on a one and a half hour tour of the surrounding rice terraces. This was an extra $100 or so but I really wanted to see this. I’m sure had we arranged this on our own it would have cost a fraction of what we paid, but since there was nothing around, we felt we had no choice. Anyway, the scenery was exquisite and I’m glad we saw it. It would have been a shame to not see some of the absolutely breathtaking countryside. Pictures do not do it justice. Along the way, while walking in a small village, a group of about five or six little girls and one boy started to follow us so I took some pictures of them. Every time I showed them the pictures, they would giggle and giggle. I wished I could have printed them out and given them to the kids. After a while it began to rain so we decided to head back to Yogya and to the Hyatt, our next hotel.
By the time we got to the Hyatt, it was pouring so we just stayed around the hotel. I was tired and decided to take a nap for a couple of hours. At 5 we went to the Club Lounge for cocktails and snacks. We paid an extra $40 per night for the Club Room but it wasn’t worth it. The snacks weren’t all that great or numerous, nothing like what we had at the Club Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur a few months earlier, nor did we get any other perks, not even free internet access. I would recommend paying less for a regular room, which pretty much looks the same anyway. We had several glasses of wine and watched the bats flying around outside. I can’t even remember what we did for dinner.
The next morning after breakfast, we went to the pool since the sun was out. The Hyatt’s pool is really beautiful. It’s actually a series of pools and we found a nice secluded spot with no one around so it was nice and quiet. After showers, we decided to go to a restaurant for lunch that Indri recommended, Legion, on Malioboro Street. The restaurant is upstairs and looks out onto the street. Part of it is covered and part is in the open. It’s a good thing we were in the covered part because it began to pour while we were there. We had a few beers and some very uninspired food. I can’t recommend this place for the food as it was mediocre at best but it was very nice sitting there. And the beers were good. We were the only ones in the entire place. After it looked like the rain let up a bit, we decided to go across the street and do some shopping. This was our last day in Java and I hadn’t bought anything other than the earrings at the factory and a pair of shoes at the airport in Jakarta. We walked around a little and although we were having a good time, I didn’t really like what was being sold, nor did I feel like bargaining, so we decided to go to Mirota Batik, a big crafts shop with reasonable prices that I had read about. We got to Mirota Batik and I was in heaven. There were several floors of crafts and jewelry, all very inexpensive and very nice. I got a shopping bag and began to load up. I bought lots of filigree jewelry, for myself and as gifts for my mother and sister, puppets for gifts and a bunch of other stuff. I wish I had come to this place earlier in the week. I was also finally beginning to like Yogya. Before this day, I wasn’t too impressed but I was now starting to see its charms. I really think had it not rained so much, we would have liked it better much earlier on. The rain was so depressing and it rained every single day. Not just in Java but in Thailand as well. We didn’t have one day without rain on the entire trip. When people say, don’t let the rain bother you, it’s not a big deal, don’t believe them. It is a big deal and grows very tiresome very quickly. I’ve never experienced so much rain on a trip, not even when I’ve gone in rainy season, and this was supposed to be the dry season. Everyone in Yogya did say that having rain at this time of the year was very unusual. It didn’t make me feel better!
That night we had our cocktails at the Lounge and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant since we had a 7:40 AM flight to Jakarta, and then a 12:45 flight to Bangkok From Bangkok’s airport we planned on getting a car and driver to take us to Hua Hin for three nights at the Sofitel, where we had reservations.
The following morning, May 27th, we were up by 5 to take showers and have breakfast. After breakfast, we went back to the room and called to have our luggage taken down. We were on the 6th floor. The bellboy came and collected our luggage and got into an elevator and we got into the other elevator. It was about 5:55 AM. The doors closed and we began to descend when the elevator car started to jerk around violently. We weren’t sure what was happening but for a few seconds, I was sure we were going to die. At first I thought the elevator cable had broken but when we looked out the back of the elevator, which was a wall of glass, we could see the back wall of the hotel with lionhead fountains shooting out water from the mouths, and outside the hotel, and could see the wall and everything else moving in different directions. We also heard screaming. At that point I think we realized it was an earthquake, and we were stuck in an elevator, in a building we weren’t sure would start to collapse on top of us. The power had gone out and the elevator was shaking like mad. By that time, all fears of dying had gone and all I thought was, what do we have to do to stay alive? It’s like something takes over and it’s all that matters. The elevator doors wouldn’t open so I stuck my fingers between the two doors and pulled them open. We had just about made it to the bottom floor so we jumped out and ran out the nearest door of the hotel, where we saw some of the hotel staff staring at the volcano and pointing and saying “Merapi Merapi!” Sure enough, Merapi was erupting like crazy with lava clouds rolling down the sides and front. I was pretty shaken up at this point but glad that I didn’t panic and was actually able to think clearly enough to get us out of the elevator. I always assumed that if I was ever in a life threatening situation, I would panic and freeze. I didn’t. I really believe that humans are hard wired to survive, it’s instinctual. I found that confronted with that kind of situation, you don’t even think about it, you just do what you have to do. I think the key is, really believing you are going to die. My sister asked me what it feels like to be in an earthquake. It feels like very bad turbulence; turbulence on the ground.
When we saw the hotel wasn’t falling down, we went inside to check out. The man at the front desk kept first apologizing that we were in an elevator when it happened and then that he had to do the credit card manually since the line to the credit card machine was down. I kept telling him he had nothing to be sorry about! He couldn’t get any information on whether the airport was open so we decided to go and see if we could get our flight. When we got to the airport, it was absolute pandemonium. There were loads of people mulling around outside and we were told it was closed but no one knew for how long. I went up to the terminal to see what I could find out and could see that part of the roof had collapsed. They were carrying injured people out on stretchers and it did not look good. I went back to Eric and told him it didn’t look like the airport would be opening any time soon and so we went back to the Hyatt to try and figure out how to get to Jakarta. Back at the hotel, we were talking to a young German couple who were also supposed to be on our flight to Jakarta. We decided taking the train was out as the tracks would probably be out of alignment due to the earthquake. Driving was out as this would take 12-14 hours on a good day and this was anything but a good day. Then I remembered the airport in Solo. Before we left on this trip, Eric asked what we would do if the volcano erupted ash and planes couldn’t fly in to Yogya and I said we could always fly in or out of Solo if necessary. It was now necessary. I asked at the desk about the Solo airport and while we were standing there waiting, the German guy said to me “do you feel that?” I said no but when we looked up, the chandelier in the lobby was swinging from side to side so I guess there were aftershocks. It was really eerie. Eric had taken off, apparently he went outside where there was a crowd of people watching Merapi erupt, and he was taking some video of it. The Hyatt man came back and said that the airport in Solo was operating normally and there was a flight to Jakarta at 11:15, did we want to take it? He said there were only 6 seats left and they were in first class so we would have to pay an extra $150 each to upgrade our economy tickets. We said no problem. This flight would get us into Jakarta at 12:15 at the earliest and our flight to Bangkok was at 12:45. There was very little chance we would make it but we needed to get out of Yogya. I thought we would be lucky to just get to Jakarta and spend the night there and worry about getting to Thailand the next day. The Hyatt arranged a car and driver for the four of us. I have to say, the people at the Hyatt were so nice and so helpful, putting us ahead of their own concerns for themselves or families, and making sure we were comfortable and doing anything at all they could to help. I cannot say enough good things about them and Indonesians in general. I always say that South East Asian people are the nicest and most gracious anywhere. Well, the Indonesians stand out among them and that is saying a lot. Every single person we met was helpful, warm, hospitable and then some. I am so impressed with them that I can’t wait to go back And in fact, we are going back to Indonesia at the end of August, to Bali. I’m very happy to go there and help their economy recover from all of the disasters that seem to befall them. They call Thailand the Land of Smiles but it applies to Indonesia even more so.
When the four of us and our driver set out to Solo, as soon as we were leaving the grounds of the Hyatt, we encountered a mass of people coming from the direction we wanted to turn. Someone ran over and told us we couldn’t go that way, there was a tsunami warning and we had to go back. I thought, great, we hit the trifecta: earthquake, volcano and now tsunami. I didn’t think we were that close to water but what did I know. I began to get very nervous but the German woman got so terrified that I ended up comforting her. We went back to the Hyatt and the driver got directions to get to Solo a different way, which should have added maybe 15 minutes onto the one hour trip. It ended up taking us over two and one half hours because of the amount of traffic, Everyone and their brother was trying to get out of Yogya because of the tsunami warning and they were leaving on any means possible. It looked like the fall of Saigon. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I said to Eric, it’s only 8:10 AM and we’ve already had an earthquake, volcano and now tsunami. Do we really want to fly today? I didn’t want to think about what else could happen.
On the way to Solo, we began to see just how bad the destruction was. There were collapsed buildings everywhere and people outside afraid to go into the buildings that were still standing, We could see Merapi erupting in the background. The driver was listening to news on the radio and trying his best to translate for us. His English was very limited but he did get across that many people had died. We still had no idea how bad it really was as the count was still in the hundreds, not thousands. He told us the tsunami warning was called off for areas more than 5 kilometers from the water but apparently this message never got to the people as they were still trying to leave. We all wondered where they thought they were going and realized that Java needed a good public emergency system to get word out to the people. Something like what we have here in the States with TV and radio stations alerting people to the situation. The German man thought SMS would be good as everyone seems to have had cell phones. We all felt bad for our driver who had not spoken to his family so he didn’t know how they were and they didn’t know how he was faring.
We finally made it to the airport at Solo and when we went up to the check in agent, I gave her our tickets from Yogya to Jakarta and the paper the Hyatt gave me. She told me there was a flight leaving for Jakarta in about 5 minutes and asked if we wanted to be on it. I said YES! She gave us boarding passes, took our luggage and we ran out onto the tarmac and up the stairs and onto the plane. The flight was almost empty so the FA told us to sit wherever we wanted. We sat near the front so we could get off quickly and try to get our flight to Bangkok.
We landed in Jakarta a little before noon. By the time we got our luggage, it was after noon and we literally ran to the international terminal and to the Thai check in desk. By the time we got there, there was less than 30 minutes before our flight was leaving. I handed the e-ticket printout to the agent and expected I would have to beg to be allowed on the flight, but she just took it, issued us boarding passes and tagged our luggage. So much for being at the airport two hours early for an international flight! We went through security and ran to the gate and onto the plane. We couldn’t believe it, we actually made our scheduled flight to Bangkok! We both sat there pretty much stunned. After we took off and the FAs came around with drinks, we drank ourselves silly, just downing one after the other. It hadn’t really hit us that we had been through a major earthquake just a few hours earlier.
Next up, Hua Hin.
Jun 18th, 2006, 09:14 AM
#34
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,897
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow, what a tale, Laurie. I'm just glad you made it out of Yogya safe and sound.
This post was worth the wait.
Glad you are feeling better. I had a similar middle ear virus with the associated vertigo about 10 years ago - no fun at all.
This post was worth the wait.
Glad you are feeling better. I had a similar middle ear virus with the associated vertigo about 10 years ago - no fun at all.
Jun 18th, 2006, 10:10 AM
#37
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,552
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Laurie- thanks so much for the post . This is how people must have felt waiting for Dicken's latest installment in their 19th century magazines!
It's an extraordinary story and I'm so glad that thanks to the quick thinking of the Hyatt you were able to switch to the sirport at Solo.
As to the Aman it was a fascinationg report. I agree the building is lovely and we greatly enjoyed our lunch there and the wonderful view. However, given how quiet they were I think it's quite extraordinary that they didn't upgrade you to one of the many empty pool villas. The problem they have is that they need to "protect" the values of their rooms...if it's know they commonly upgrade, people may not book the higher classes of rooms. However, conversely this policy stands in the way of you feeling their hospitality is genuine, and in contrast draws attention to the comodificationi of every gesture.
There has been alot of debate on the board about the law of diminishing returns on expensive hotel rooms...but it's certainly true that the more you spend the more you expect (not least of which would be efficient air conditioning) and at some point it may become impossible for you to feel you recieved enough "value".
Having spent a little time in Java I would imagine that the enormous contrast between the costs at the Aman and elsewhere would be grating. Java is just so cheap. The Hyatt is quite a nice resort and pleasant place to stay and it's far less than $100 per night including breakfast and tax! Having stayed there I can imagine exactly the glass evelator you were stuck in.
Fascinating report, if you came through this without going back on the smokes I'm very impressed!
It's an extraordinary story and I'm so glad that thanks to the quick thinking of the Hyatt you were able to switch to the sirport at Solo.
As to the Aman it was a fascinationg report. I agree the building is lovely and we greatly enjoyed our lunch there and the wonderful view. However, given how quiet they were I think it's quite extraordinary that they didn't upgrade you to one of the many empty pool villas. The problem they have is that they need to "protect" the values of their rooms...if it's know they commonly upgrade, people may not book the higher classes of rooms. However, conversely this policy stands in the way of you feeling their hospitality is genuine, and in contrast draws attention to the comodificationi of every gesture.
There has been alot of debate on the board about the law of diminishing returns on expensive hotel rooms...but it's certainly true that the more you spend the more you expect (not least of which would be efficient air conditioning) and at some point it may become impossible for you to feel you recieved enough "value".
Having spent a little time in Java I would imagine that the enormous contrast between the costs at the Aman and elsewhere would be grating. Java is just so cheap. The Hyatt is quite a nice resort and pleasant place to stay and it's far less than $100 per night including breakfast and tax! Having stayed there I can imagine exactly the glass evelator you were stuck in.
Fascinating report, if you came through this without going back on the smokes I'm very impressed!
Jun 18th, 2006, 10:44 AM
#39
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for your report, Laurie. It sounds like the Hyatt people were so helpful and gracious. I also found the people of central Java to be remarkably warm and helpful. I'm glad you finally found some shopping. I consider the Jojga area to have the finest selection of crafts anywhere!
Your experience at the Aman was really bad... I found myself cynically wondering what would have happened at the Aman - would it have cost you several hundred dollars to have one of their drivers take you to Solo? When they can't provide the basics for you like airconditioning that works, it stuns me what they charge for other things. Do you have any idea how they added $500 to the bill? Was it just sunrise at Borobudor, dinner, etc??
I'm glad you and Eric were safe and sound after your adventures in Java. I was cheering for you to remember the Solo airport!
Your experience at the Aman was really bad... I found myself cynically wondering what would have happened at the Aman - would it have cost you several hundred dollars to have one of their drivers take you to Solo? When they can't provide the basics for you like airconditioning that works, it stuns me what they charge for other things. Do you have any idea how they added $500 to the bill? Was it just sunrise at Borobudor, dinner, etc??
I'm glad you and Eric were safe and sound after your adventures in Java. I was cheering for you to remember the Solo airport!
Jun 18th, 2006, 11:35 AM
#40
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 682
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Laurieco,
Wow! What an earthquake story. I'm sure you will remember that for the rest of your lives!
I'm so sorry that the two of you didn't enjoy the Aman. Just curious, what did they do for you when you reported the problem with the air conditioner? Did they offer you a different room?
Wow! What an earthquake story. I'm sure you will remember that for the rest of your lives!
I'm so sorry that the two of you didn't enjoy the Aman. Just curious, what did they do for you when you reported the problem with the air conditioner? Did they offer you a different room?
