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Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon

Hi everyone, and my sincere apologies for delaying this to this extent. Hope you guys enjoy this part 

So, continuing from the previous part – a couple of tips if anyone is having a long layover at KLIA2: If you do not want to go to a hotel / spend on lounge, and still want to have some rest, then do not enter any of the piers (L / P / Q). Stay in the shopping area – as you cross the skybridge coming from side of pier L, get down at pier P & Q side, turn left to pier Q, and get inside the toilet block immediately on the left. There are many sets of chairs without the arm rests, and that area is much quieter, so you will be guaranteed a sound sleep 

View of KLIA2

So – finally at around 10.00, we started gathering around our stuff, and went upstairs to find something to munch. And then we realized that we were not carrying MYR. Got INR 1000 exchanged for MYR, had breakfast at McD – one of us did try some Indian restaurant, which was beyond doubt a ‘farzi’ one, and we were all set to go to pier L to catch our next flight to CGK. Security was a quick affair – though the lady caught a deodorant in one of our hand bags and removed it (in India, the limit is 250 ml I believe, but in Malaysia it is 150 ml).

The gate was L22 & was at one of the far ends, so a bit of walking and we entered the hold area to find that 9M LNP will be carrying up to CGK. Custom cards were handed over, and the boarding started at 10.45 or so. It was quick & efficient, loads looked like ~80%. At 11.32 we pushed back & started taxiing towards runway 33-15. At11.44, we were cleared for take off.

Hold area

LNP

This was a typical 2 hour flight on a low cost carrier – resembling something like DEL-BOM on 6E. Though, OD did give a biscuit packet with a glass of water free of cost. No earphones on this leg. The IFE also had lesser choice compared to the last flight. The flight went eventless, except for the landing. This time around, again it started shaking after the captain announced landing – at around 12.15 Jakarta time. A weird sound followed right from the belly of the aircraft – as if the landing gears were down (though it had nothing to do with the landing gear as it kept coming for next 2 minutes), and with another shaky approach, we touched down at 12.35, AND THERE WAS A BUMP, though a small one. The noise, the shaky approach, and the bump, rather a scary fun. Landing was on 07R. We quickly exited the runway & rushed to the gate. A Citi Link flight landed behind us, followed by a Batik Air.

Citi Link

A Batik Air

Lot of Garudas there

All those defunct carriers - Merapati & Batavia

Aerobridge was connected & we waited for another 5 minutes till the doors opened. The exit was very quick – 15 minutes flat, including the Visa on Arrival part. A guard was standing there, checking for the passports & redirecting people in appropriate direction. There were just 7 of us for the VoA – with a passenger who had forgotten his passport inside the aircraft. He was assisted very promptly by the guards as well as the staff. It took us 5 minutes to pay for the visa for all 4 of us – a USD 10 bill was rejected by the lady over counter – the major issue across Indonesia (they don’t accept USD bills issued before 2006). Once we got the receipt, we went to the next counter, where the guy asked a few questions, checked our return tickets & the visa was pasted on the passport with an entry stamp. No duty free shop at CGK, and we were out quickly as the customs guys were not really bothered.

A view of CGK

Get set go Smile

Waiting for a cab

Got some money exchanged, and we were on our way to Jakarta – Gambir train station on the renowned Bluebird taxi, metered. Reached there at around 14:00, and the long wait started. We had not booked any hotel for the day – so we just looked for a locker room, which was there – the same guy was selling IDR for USD at a rather decent rate, as well as the Simpati SIM cards. So the basic needs were taken care of. We had some light lunch at one of the restaurants – it was surprising to see such well managed & clean train stations, including the toilets for free (at least I had not expected it). We then took a tour of the monument that is situated right behind the station, and came back at around 18.30 hours, collected our luggage & waited for our train to depart.

Right outside the airport

The Monument that signifies freedom of Indonesia

Some exhibition inside the monument park

The trip begins with a train Very Happy

Our next destination was the cultural hub of Indonesia, where Indonesian version of Ramayana originated, and which is the equivalent of India’s Ayodhya,or Thailand’s Ayuthaya – the beautiful city called Yogyakarta, or just Jogja. It was train no. 54 – Taksaka Malam, that left at sharp 20.45. Indonesia has a Dutch built rail network, which hasn’t really expanded after the Dutch left. The rail coaches have been refurbished though, and are comfortable means to experience this huge country. Only unfortunate part is they do not have sleeper coaches. But the executive class fare is slightly higher than what our Shatabdi would charge, and they provide power ports, pillows & blankets to make the journey comfortable (though no food – which I had bought to try it out). However, the lights are not switched off during night – there is no such provision at all.

The train station at Gambir

Train interiors

The train was very punctual, I was awake till around 23.30, and observed that the train would reach & depart right on the mentioned time. And so, it reached Jogja at 04.20 hours on 27 Sep. Tired with the restless travel, we headed straight to our hotel, which was a sort of hostel, got rooms and slept till around 10.00, and headed to take a trip of the city. The next day, we visited the UNESCO world heritage site of Borobudur temples – unfortunately we could not witness the sun rise because of cloudy weather, but still, the temples themselves are marvelous and a grand structure. Next we decided to give Prambanan temples a skip for visiting the mighty Mt. Merapi – the volcano that has caused significant damage to the surrounding areas in recent past with its eruptions in 2006 & 2010 and is still active. Trekking is strictly not permitted and a jeep ride covers only a periphery, giving one just a taste of what volcano is, and what kind of damage it can cause. It was indeed a sad sight to watch those houses which stand only as a structure today.

A random structure outside a restaurant

Grand Borobudur

Inside the temple

Stupas

The bumpy ride & the mighty mt. Merapi

A bunker that is meant to save a few lives in the times of emergency - the volcano did not even spare it in 2006

The destruction Sad

Post the visit, we hurried back to the hotel, as we had to have lunch, and then catch our next train onwards to the port city of Surabaya at 16:00 which would then connect us to onward train towards Banyuwangi, and hence Bali.

I intend to cover Banyuwangi & North Bali in my next visit – though it has nothing to with aviation. And Lombok and return journey in the last part. Hope you enjoyed reading this part, and I also sincerely hope that I would be able to post the next parts without much delay  Thank you!

Nimish · Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2015 9:01 am Post subject:

Wonderful TR - thanks for sharing!
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We miss you Nalini!

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Fascinating!
Yes indeed, we had been waiting for this part.
You have mixed factual delights with interesting travel tips, extremely practical ones for a budget traveller. Thank you! Your tight-budget trip planning and execution reminds me of many of mine, which I will also try to list out, in such detail. You ahve set a nice precedent.
KUL T2 to CGK...interesting!
CGK seem like having some neat spotting locations, from what we can see in your pictures. The train ride looks very interesting. Borobudur is a dream destination for me, along with Angkor Vat: two of the largest temples outside the subcontinent. The Mt Merapi trip was also exotic, with sad and poignant reminders fo the destruction caused by an active volcano. We look forward to parts 3 and 4: thank you for sharing this with us!
Cheers, Sumantra.

Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

ahhh finally part 2 Wink

thanks for sharing
- I loved the assortment of 'unusual' carriers at CGK + the old relics/classic 737s lying around.
- The train interiors don't look like they were done up since the Dutch left Laughing

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eP007

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Thanks for posting a detailed part two of your trip report, it was fascinating to read along with the photos of Yogjakarta. Although Yogjakarta is a two hour plane ride from where I stay I have never visited yet but your photos have now inspired me to make a trip one day.

The airport/airplane descriptions were also very detailed and nice.

Sri_Bom

Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon