5th - 7th January - Jakarta via Jeddah

So we haven't travelled since flying back in from St Kitts on New Year's Day 2020.  News was just breaking about a strange disease in China, and the rest is history.  A couple of short stays in a caravan in Bridlington and the Trough of Bowland and one pub meal eaten outside about 3 weeks ago for Joan's birthday.

However, a few months ago we decided that it was time to resume our travels as the clock is ticking by and Covid seems a permanent fixture.  And if we are going to travel and risk illness, then we want to make sure it was worth it.   So somehow we decided that we wanted to see the bad buggers that are Komodo dragons.  (The fact that Indonesia has some of the world's most active volcanoes might have been attractive to Joan.)

So, flights were booked, and due towork pressures, the sketchiest of plans were cobbled together.

The logistics of moving animals around took up Friday morning.  Serafina, Apollonia and Freyja went to Spondon, the hens to Kevin's mother and Fuchsia went to Awkwright.  Then it was head down to Gatwick, the furthest Kevin has been from home since 2019.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Povey Cross in a hotel modelled on the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.  We decided on a Deliveroo pizza and order one for 2/3 people and wedges too.  When it came, it was the size of a paperback, with ten wedges and was cold!  Still, a glass or two of wine helped.

We eschewed a hotel breakfast and headed over to the airport.  After check-in and security we headed to an airport lounge which overlooked the runway.  Despite being 11 am, there was no breakfast foods.  Instead a curry with roasties, cauli cheese, mixed veg and a salad bar.  As everyone knows, airports have their own unique timezone and it is all right to drink beer and wine any time of the day!

Joan was in her element with olive bread, olive oil, balsamico, olives and pickles.

We were flying with Saudia via Jeddah.  We had middle aisle seats but three between the two of us.  Jeddah was about  6 1/2 hours flight.  Being Saudia, the flight is dry.  Kevin had ordered veggie and Joan vegan so Joan was a little dismayed when her food came with butter and paneer.

The flight entertainment was limited.  What was interesting was that the plane had several prayer rooms and the flight display told you where Mecca was and when the next prayer times were.

We also noticed several men is what looked like white bathrobes.  It turns out these were pilgrims going to Mecca (Makka).

We landed at Jeddah with a long wait for our next flight.  The restaurants were mainly burger and fast food bars with little on offer for veggies apart from sweets and crisps.

Kevin ordered a tea from Starbucks which came with frothed milk!

We boarded the 10 hour flight to Jakarta at 0330 and the plane was packed.  Compared to the previous plane, it was as if an extra seat had been squeezed in across the cabin.  It was hard to sit without encroaching on the next person's space and if you sat in the aisle, you got bashed every time someone passed by.  Somehow we managed some shut eye despite a gent across the aisle having a deafening snore.

When we finally arrived in Indonesia, we noticed groups of people on the plane who wore matching outfits as if they were on a tour together.

A visitor visa had to be bought on arrival and then customs had to be cleared.  When we got there we were told that we had to go back to a noticeboard in the baggage hall and scan a QR code, and fill it in.  If we had known, we could have done it whilst waiting for the bags to be claimed.

Once we were out, we saw our driver waiting.  He was parked in a multi-story and it was like a sauna in the heat, trying to navigate crowds.  The roads around the airport were busy, with few traffic lights, motorbikes weaving in between cars and heading in the wrong direction.  We're glad we didn't hire a car as driving here is for the brave and the mad.

After nearly two days of travel we reached our sea front apartment at Green Bay condos.  The flat is on the 35th floor with views of the city and sea and the local power station.)  All we wanted was a beer and some real food.  There was a mini-market opposite but it only sold convenience food like noodles, microwave meals and pop.  No beers or wine - the important stuff 😆😅)  A few doors done we saw a shop with a few (maybe 6) bottles of wine in the window and which seemed to be offering a tofu meal.  Unfortunately we don't speak Indonesian and the waiter/chef didn't speak English.  Somehow with Google translate, we managed to order two teeny portions of chips that had cheese on them though we had said no cheese, but no visible mushrooms despite being called mushroom chips!

Beer is cheap here, but we learned the hard way that wine is not.  Nearly £16 for a bottle of ordinary plonk.

We really hadn't the energy, patience or inclination to try elsewhere so we took our meagre take out and ate back in the flat.

What was touching was that the chap who served us had his phone propped up on the table where he was smoking.  He had a live time feed of his partner and child, which was both lovely and sad.