After the serenity of Borobudur we are due to leave the tourist trail for a while and embark on a road trip over four days. Our trip starts in Mojokerto, and Jenn has elected to mix things up with a three and a half hour train journey. The station is incredibly civilised, train arrives on time and after double checking that we have not brought either a reptilian companion or a supply of Durian fruit on board, we are off!
Comfortably ensconced in my seat, I take the opportunity to get the tablet out and draft a blog post, admiring Jenn’s brand new Mac book as I do so. I decide to use said device as a makeshift table for my own PC as I type. After completing a reasonable draft and going through editorial review with Jenn, I carefully put our machines back in their bag before placing them both in the seat pocket in front of me.
I watch the world go by for a bit and then return to teaching myself Groot courtesy of the Avengers – End Game.
After a relaxing journey we ensure that we allow plenty of time to gather our things before disembarking. Nothing worse than hurrying and accidentally leaving something on the luggage shelf.
Safely off the train, we take in our new surroundings as the doors shut and the train starts to pull away. It’s at that exact moment that I have one of those gut wrenching realisations.
Yep – I’ve left both of our laptops and their bag in the seat pocket!!
The train by now is gathering pace. I’m left with Hobson’s choice. I can either attempt to open the train door whilst being dragged along at high speed, or fess up to Jenn about what I’ve done. It’s a close call – and I mentally calculate that the survival rates associated with each option are roughly equivalent. I decide on the latter…
Anyone who knows my wife will likely guess the reaction I got. Lets just leave that one to the imagination.
Our driver for the next few days – nice lad called Hengki is at the station and smiles in acknowledgement as we walk towards him carrying our stuff. He falters on seeing my expression. Presumably I look like a haunted man – with Jenn’s words echoing in my ears – ‘I’m so unbelievably angry with you.’
He asks what’s wrong – so I tell him I’ve left my laptop bag on the train. He actually laughs! He clearly has a dark sense of humour.
‘You’ve left a laptop on the train?’ he asks in bewilderment.
‘No’, I say – ‘I’ve left two laptops on the train.’
He laughs again – not quite a belly laugh, but close enough. He then stands there and smokes his cigarette unperturbed. I ask if there is any chance he can help at all…
Security officers speak no English, so very grateful to Hengki, for translating what I can only imagine was ‘this English twit has left two laptops on the train – can you believe it?’
A long 40 minutes ensues whilst they contact the train and send someone in search of our lost items. During this time Jenn alternates between – ‘I told you to make sure you had everything’, ‘we’ll never see those again’ and ‘I’m so angry with you.’ I have no defence. I also have previous. It’s not the first time I’ve done this – I once left my passport in the seat pocket of a plane, and more proximally, I have already lost a debit card on this trip.
I’m not a natural optimist – but I believe in not panicking until there’s a need. I cross my fingers and hope for good news. The alternative does not bear thinking about.
After an anxious wait we are told that they’ve found our laptops and will send them back on the return train. The relief!
We have to wait a while – but when we return to the station in just over an hour, we watch as security guards walk towards us. Cue photographic evidence of handover – possibly the broadest smile that anyone will see from me on this trip!
Jenn’s anger dissipates upon recovery of our laptop bag and it’s off for dinner and an early night.
I’m in the dog house – but I live to fight another day. My only concern is what’s next. I’m a big believer that things come in threes – I’ve lost two laptops in one sitting and a debit card so far. I go to sleep wondering what the third thing will be!
I don’t have to wait long to find out. Next morning I’m looking for my hiking boots…
Of course – they’re not there. I’ve left them in Kuala Lumpur! As you do.
Now most people would be pissed upon realising they’ve left a pair of shoes in a hotel room several thousand miles away. I’m relieved – I knew a third mishap was coming and a pair of hiking boots is not too bad. So rapid email to customer service, provision of forwarding address in Bali, and my third mistake is well on the way to being rectified. Jenn barely bothers to chastise me – she’s moved past anger into incredulity. Fine by me.
With that we start our road trip. First stop Jodipan village, a former slum. The locals have very enterprisingly created a kaleidoscope of colour – with a rainbow village one side of a bridge and a blue village the other. Tourists are charged a nominal fee to visit. It’s a nice way to break up a journey and one of the more entrepreneurial ways I’ve seen to monetise a collection of houses.
From there it is a 3 hour drive to Kapas Piru waterfall. As we arrive our driver announces that it’s exercise time. He’s not kidding! The waterfall is located at the bottom of a steep descent – there are no western tourists – and the small number of regional visitors all look half our age. The walk down is steep and requires the aid of a myriad of handmade rails and bridges all made for people considerably smaller than my good self.
The waterfall when we get there is suitably lovely. I busy myself trying to work out how to capture the waterfalls so that the water looks ‘misted’. I’ve carried my tripod down there specially. Quickly discover it’s not necessary and I can achieve the desired effect whilst holding the camera. Even worse, I discover that Jenn can do it on her iPhone!
Nonetheless it’s a nice spot and having taken a few pictures and enjoyed the spectacle we begin the climb back up. Dear lord – if I thought our last ascent was rough – this one feels twice as bad. I begin to realise that whatever happens when I get back to the UK – joining the SAS reserves or mountain rescue is not an option.
We eventually make it back to the top – I’m literally drenched. What makes it worse is that Jenn seems fine! How?!
That night we are at a local hotel. It’s fine – aside from the fact that everything is damp, there’s no hot water, and there is a local wedding taken place next door. It would have been less noisy if Pete Tong had set himself up in the corner of our room and played a full Ibiza set!
Next morning we are on the move again. Fortunately for us the music had stopped at around 10 – so we got a decent nights sleep. So it’s up at 6am for a drive to the next waterfall at Tempuk Sewu. Our driver gleefully informs us that the walk is steeper, longer and less accessible (I told you he had a dark sense of humour).
We have a local guide for this walk. It can be done unguided – but I wouldn’t advise it. The terrain is steep, uneven and involves traversing some pretty fast moving rivers. I’m also told that my Adidas cross trainers will not suffice. I explain that I don’t have anything else with me. No worries they tell me – you can buy some water shoes. Great!
Now, I don’t have enormous feet – a modest UK size 10. However, the biggest size they have is an 8! Brilliant.
For most of the descent I wear my trainers – swapping them out when we hit the deep water bit. Going uphill is okay (ish), but going down – gravity works against me. Result – every few yards, half my foot slips out of my new rubber sandals. I look like Flipper – but without the elegance and grace.
The waterfall when we arrive is beautiful. Given that it’s still only 8 in the morning – it’s relatively quiet.
The walk back is not as bad as the previous day. I want to cry – but not with the same intensity as 24 hours earlier. I also enjoy watching a Chinese tourist walk down in a lovely cream dress. It would look great in the pictures if she didn’t have to traverse muddy rocks and several rivers. I realise that our drivers’ dark sense of humour is starting to rub off on me.
So to our next hotel, another 4 hour drive away. The Plataran Bromo is gorgeous – high in the mountains and covered in low hanging cloud. Beautifully maintained tropical gardens await and the best Nasi Goreng I’ve eaten thus far.
Our wake up call next morning is at 2.40 am! We are due to join hundreds of others taking jeeps up the mountain to watch the sunrise over Mount Bromo, an active volcano. Again, very few western tourists and a heady number of drones in use. It’s the first time in weeks that we’ve felt cold. The locals sit in front of buckets of hot coals.
The sunrise when it arrives justifies the early start, the two hour wait and the jostling for position. It’s a pretty stunning view that improves with the intensity of first light.
From there it’s back in the jeep to view the crater. We walk across black volcanic sand to yet another ascent. The volcano is active – expelling a steady cloud of vapour. I’m not one for heights and watching as visitors leave the safety of the rails and head up the path that winds around the volcano is enough to make me feel nauseous. Jenn had read a blog about a girl who had fallen over the side and had to be rescued by the flower sellers. I really don’t fancy that so watch from a safe distance.
Final day of our road trip sees us visit the Wonosori tea plantation. Nice gentle walk – which is just what the doctor ordered. Post that it’s a drive to an airport hotel, a fond farewell to our driver and another early morning start for our flight from Surabaya to Labuan Bajo for the next part of our Indonesian tour. Wonder how much much of my luggage allowance I’ll arrive with…
Honestly David, Jenn must be pulling her hair out. However the pictures of the waterfalls and volcanoes are stunning and look to be well worth the effort.
You’re supposed to be on my side! 😉
I think you’ll be the next piece of luggage that Jenn leaves behind, you absolute cluster 🤣🤣🤣🤣. Looks like a great trip so far x
Harsh but fair Joey! 😉
I know the feeling of panic. We once left a purse with all of the holiday money, in a phone booth at Mousehole. Luckily someone handed it in to a nearby shop! Interesting volcano shots. I have taught about them, but never seen one//!