Hi there, hello from Indonesia 🌴
I've only been here for a week, but it already feels like a month! The past week has been a full Indonesian immersion.
If I had to summarise my first days in this country in a few words I would pick: terima kasih (thank you in Bahasa), rice, heat, motorbike rides, temples, batiks, a volcano, a wedding, friends reunions... A lot in just a week, right?
Let's start from the beginning.
Pablo and I landed in Jakarta on Saturday 8, just 30 minutes before our best friend Jorge landed in the same airport - he flew from Spain, us from the UK. After hugs, a mango juice and buying a sim card, we were ready to hop on a plane to Yogyakarta.
I think "Jogja" is the best introduction you can have to Indonesia. It is a (relatively) small, yet very cultural city. People are so kind and friendly. My highlight was seeing the local girls riding their motorbikes in their very chic outfits - so cute!
In our first jet-lagged morning in Jogja, we found a cafe that I immediately identified as the perfect spot for sitting and drawing. The following morning I was there at 7am (days start early here) with my sketchbook.
I'm lucky to travel with two guys that can get immersed in a conversation about anything for hours without paying attention to me/my drawings. The following days I made an effort to find quiet spots in the day to draw, usually early in the morning. These are some of the sketches I’ve made:
One day we visited a local workshop to learn batik, a traditional craft to decorate fabric using bee wax and ink. That day I learned I have no patience to work on detailed craft (worth mentioning it was 35 degrees). So my batik is rather… simple 😅 To be honest the best part of the activity was interacting with the guys running the workshop. All of a sudden a couple of guys showed up with a guitar and we ended up singing together.
Our next stop: Bogor. A city in the south of Jakarta. Fun fact - since we're improvising a lot in this trip, we just went to Yogyakarta airport’s customer service desk and said (while putting our passports on top of the desk) "please can you put me in the next flight to Jakarta?" Like in the movies. And it worked, for just £40 🙃
We came to Bogor for the wedding of our friends Kike and Shintya. In fact, the whole idea of doing a long trip around Indonesia started with this wedding invitation.
Bogor is a different vibe completely, it has the intensity of a busy city, but there is also lots to do. Driving around here is: crazy. Cumulatively we've driven (in a moped) in heavy traffic and rain for about 3 hours. Quite an adventure! But I can't really complain because I'm not the driver (yet) so my mission is just to guide the boys with google maps.
In Bogor we managed to swim in waterfalls, hike a volcano and explore the botanical garden. But the highlight of course was the wedding!!!!
Pablo, Jorge and I wore the same batik pattern to indicate we belong to the same family (Jorge is our child haha!).
Really interesting to see how a different culture celebrates weddings. This was a mix of European and Indonesian styles, so very different to what we’re used to. No booze, lots of delicious food, speeches, games and tears - mostly from Kike.
Ok! I'm off now to enjoy our next step: Bali. I'll make sure to keep drawing and sending weekly updates.
Terima Kasih for reading,
Marta