Yogyakarta In the Midst of Exhaustion

Yogyakarta - I've been in 3-day long train travels and 2-day bus rides, but for some reason, this takes the cake as among the most exhausting, most uncomfortable rides despite a comfortable van with AC and soft cushioned seats. This point-to-point car rides didn't know how to break the journey at all - to make it a little less painful. Imagine, for the second time within 3 days, lunch would be at 5 PM in the middle of nowhere, with a Cap Cay meal ("chop suey", pronounced "chap-chay") worth PhP150. In this ride, people were either hungry or needed to pee. Mork eventually spoke up at around 9:30PM requesting for a "toilet break" that even took 30 minutes after his request. Talk about responsive customer service right?

After traveling from 12 noon to 10 PM, we finally reached Yogyakarta. "What was the name of the place?" asked Tom about the hotel i was eyeing on. I prayed it would be acceptable as I was really sore all over. Our driver would take us straight to our choice hotel. And one of the pleasures, I thought, was finally getting rid of Mork and Mindy - the most sociable Dutch twats I've ever had the pleasure of traveling with!

UNPLEASANT SURPRISE

But guess what? Right after checking in, who decided to follow us (Tom and myself)? Mork and Mindy - Holland's answer to congeniality! Ugh! Where was an insecticide spray when you needed one?

The good news was that Delta Homestay, along Jalan Prawirotaman II was such a marvelous place. Our rooms had good space, and right across our own verandas was a swimming pool teeming with Mount Merapi's ashfall! I was later informed (without even asking) that their filtering system was compromised by the eruption's ashfall and they couldn't buy a replacement part from within Indonesia. That was fine with me. I didn't plan on taking a dip in their pool. But come to think of it, Merapi really wrecked havoc in Java.

Later that night, as I was lazily sprawled on my bed, it was ironic to feel exhaustion draping over me painfully consciously like a shroud. I was literally too tired to sleep. But it came to me in the midst of thinking whether I should go to Parangtritis or not. Must have been the mythical gods of Parangtritis casting their spell on me.

This is the Eye in the Sky!