My Travel Adventures

My last day in Java was a Monday. No, I did not skip work or take a holiday: it was the Thai King’s birthday over the weekend, and everyone got the day off – including the staff at international organisations. I ate a leisurely breakfast and took the hotel’s shuttle to Yogyakarta Airport, leaving for Jakarta at 10 o’clock.

The sun rose over a cloudy landscape in the morning. While I could faintly make out the contours of Borobudur from my hotel, the iconic Merapi Volcano was hidden from sight, and would stay that way despite ever-bluer skies. I checked out at eight o’clock and was promptly picked up by my driver for the day: I had ordered a tour online for visiting the Borobudur and Prambanan temples a few days earlier. While the tour was advertised as being without a tour-guide, Didik proved savvy, helpful, and very good at English.

I spent a restless night at my hotel in Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport. I woke up almost every hour fearing that my alarm wouldn’t go off, until eventually it was so close to the time I had set that I simply got up and started preparing for my flight. My plane arrived in Yogyakarta a little after nine, but the Grab journey from the airport to the city centre took another hour.

As I lie in my hotel room, it occurs to me that even a few hours in Indonesia have given me a very different impression from my first few weeks in Thailand. While I gather that Bangkok can get quite smoggy during some months, this has not been the case so far, and the contrast with Jakarta could not have been greater. I could tell the plane was nearing Indonesia’s capital not because I could see the city below, but because I could not; the rough contours of buildings only started emerging at closer range through a thick milky screen. We touched down at about quarter to six, and as I walked through the rather empty airport at six, the loudspeakers started playing the Muslim call to prayer. Of course, Islam is quite popular in Southern Thailand, but I have spent most of my time in Bangkok, which is decidedly Buddhist.

I received a very welcome visit this week from Jyoti and David, two friends from my evermore distant Oxford days. The two arrived on Thursday morning, and after eating lunch I showed them around a few places in the neighbourhood: Wat Chana Songkhram, Wat Bowonniwet Vihara, the Metal Castle, and Wat Suthat. I left them to explore the Grand Palace and Wat Pho the following morning, as there was scarcely any time to do them justice once we had eaten. Despite my best efforts, the highlight of the day had nothing to do with the things we saw but with the food we ate. We had dinner at the fancy Methavalai Sorndaeng restaurant by the Democracy Monument, where we turned up without a reservation and found a table despite its multiple Michelin reviews.

I began the day by finishing my move into my new apartment, after which I set off for the city again. Walking towards the centre, I caught a tuk-tuk, and for 100 baht it carried me all the way to the pier by Wat Pho. The pier lies opposite to the famous Wat Arun, whose pale spires rise from the river in perfect symmetry. Dating to the 17 th century, Wat Arun assumed a special importance under King Taksin, who established a new capital on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River following the Burmese destruction of Ayutthaya. It was during Taksin’s reign that Wat Arun housed the Emerald Buddha and formed part of the royal palace.

On my second weekend in Bangkok, it was finally time to move from a hotel into my long-term accommodation. Fortunately, I secured a place very close to my office and just across the road from the hotel, so I did not have to lug my luggage too far in the sweltering heat. I found my apartment nice and tidy with two sets of air conditioners, a small kitchen with a fridge, and a spacious living room. Its only downside is that it is on the fourth floor of a house without air-conditioned staircases.