Health and Safety

I always get a little obsessive about major airline disasters. And the disappearance of flight MH370 is no exception - particularly being an airline that we have flown with so frequently these last three years - and let me be clear, I think MAS is a good airline.

However, the disappearance (and presumed crash) of this flight also got me thinking about the risks that we willingly and unwillingly take when we travel.

I still obsess over the Air France (another airline I've also flown with many times) Rio-Paris crash in 2009 and had to get a Xanax prescription to get me on the Indonesian airline Lion Air (which has a 2 out of 7 star rating and is banned from the EU).

I know exactly how safe air travel is - I know the odds of crashing on the car journey to or from the airport is many, many times higher - but the terror of being completely helpless at 35,000 feet is truly the stuff of nightmares.

Like I said, this got me thinking about the risks that we take when we travel. And yes, there's the flight(s) but it's usually the other stuff that gets you.

I was in Morocco in 2006 at the Cascade d'Ouzoud when a young European tourist fell to her death from the top of the waterfall. She just leaned in a bit too close for that perfect shot and slipped off the edge - easy enough with no guard rail. That was me 10 minutes earlier.

We were in a remote part of Indonesia last year and needed a taxi to get into the local town - the 'taxi' was a fleet of 4 local teenagers on cheap, Chinese motorcycles.

There's the uncovered 6 foot deep storm drain waiting for you take a tumble into in the dark and the trip where the anti-malarials are making you so ill you say, 'to hell with it, I'd rather get malaria.'  It probably won't kill you, but a bad case of 'Delhi belly' in India will make you wish you were dead.

And most horrifically of all, earlier this year an acquaintance was killed in a violent terrorist attack at a restaurant in Kabul.

Risk is all part of the adventure and wrapping yourself in cotton-wool is no way to live. But being back full-time in the first world, I do have a renewed appreciation for health and safety.

Even if it gets a little bit absurd at times.

Java: Borobudur

Overwhelmingly the single most popular tourist attraction in Indonesia, Borobudur has nowhere near the world-renown of other famous temple complexes like Angkor Wat but I can't quite figure out why . . . I mean, look at it!

Borobudur - history

I think it's almost fair to put Borobudur on a scale with Angkor Wat.  What Borobudur lacks in size and scale (not that it's by any means small) Borobudur makes up for in symmetry and surroundings.  The symmetry is eye-catching in a way reminiscent of the Taj Mahal. And whilst Angkor Wat is surrounded by pleasant flat, dense jungle, Borobudur offers commanding views across the Javanese countryside with unrivaled views of Mount Merapi (one of Java's deadliest and most active volcanoes with major eruptions in 2006 and 2010) looming in the distance.

Borobudur dates from Indonesia's Buddhist period in the early 9th century - making it nearly 400 years senior to its Cambodian rival - never mind that Borobudur has a tale of survival that tops Angkor Wat.  Angkor has famously been victim to war and neglect but Borobudur has been cursed by geography.  Surviving 13-odd centuries of earthquakes and volcanoes is no small feat - and is even more remarkable when you see how incredibly well preserved Borobudur is (it's in significantly better condition than Angkor Wat).

Like Angkor Wat, Borobudur also experienced an extended period of abandonment. Borobudur was abandoned from as early as the 11th century when the Medang Kingdom moved east after a series of volcanic eruptions and endured further neglect when Indonesia transitioned to Islam in the 15th century. Borobudur was only properly rediscovered with the arrival of the British in the late 1800s. Since then Borobudur has been restored and well-maintained, but has still been victim to attempted terrorist attacks, most recently in the 1990s.  It goes without saying that Borobudur suffers from the same problems of major monuments the world over - vandalism, pollution, littering and over-crowding.

Borobudur - visiting

Repeatedly touted as Indonesia's busiest tourist attraction, we anticipated Angkor-sized crowds.  We certainly didn't have the place to ourselves, but by comparison to Angkor Wat - Borobudur was downright deserted.  The overwhelming majority of visitors were Indonesian - largely comprised of junior high school groups.  There were probably less than a dozen Westerners there - making us a bit famous.

We had our pictures taken - both surreptitiously on phone cameras and in countless group shots with school girls and one wailing 4 year old whose father desperately wanted a photo of us with his son (the son was clearly less impressed with us).

To Ian's eternal glory he was extremely popular with 14-16 year old girl demographic.  One girl even sidled up to him, whispered in his ear 'I love you' and ran off.  At 6 feet, Ian is a veritable giant in Indonesia and a subject of much adoration.

I have no doubt that we have been Facebooked and Instagramed all over Java.

It is always strange when you are subject to such attention solely because of the the colour of your skin.  But as in India, these groups are likely children from small, rural villages and most of them probably have never seen a white person anywhere but on the television or perhaps on the odd trip into the city.

We lingered until the sun because too much to bear, the beer craving too strong and the camera on the verge of overheating.

Rumah Dharma

Borobudur is only an hour (maniac Indonesian-style) drive from Yogyakarta but it feels a million miles away.  We decided to splurge (by which I mean spend about $50 a night) on a lovely B&B style place smack in the middle of a huge rice paddy with jungle all around.  This photo is where we sat and enjoyed our red ginger lemonade (delicious) shortly after arrival.

I don't normally plug places where we've stayed, but I'm making an exception here.  If you ever find yourself in this part of Java, take a couple of days and stay at Rumah Dharma (translated as Dharma's House, named for the owners eight year old son).

This really is a special place, the owners are a delight, she's Belgian, he's Indonesian (between them they speak about 9 languages) the rooms are tip-top, the food is delicious (if you give enough notice they will cook you dinner and have a fridge stocked with cold beer).  They are generous, accommodating and full of tips on where to go and what to do.  If you're lucky you may even catch Mehdi on night when he brings out his guitar (and a bottle of gin). 

Jamal

Wendy and Mehdi also employ a local handy-man, Jamal, who is truly a bit of a local celebrity.

 Jamal rides around in a 40-odd year old vespa with a little sidecar that is rusted through and held together with bits of string.  Jamal was kind enough to take us around town in it (everyone in at least a 15 mile radius knows Jamal).  The photo is us stopping to by petrol from a local woman on the side of the road (that's Jamal at the back supervising).

Jamal has driven the Vespa all over Indonesia - I'm pretty sure it's been on the ferry to Bali and a few years ago it even made the 7,000 foot + climb to the top of Mount Bromo. 

Jamal is a rather remarkable man. He is a Mount Merapi volunteer and has more than once helped with evacuations, he's incredibly involved in the community and has frequently been asked to become an English teacher (he learned English through correspondence with an Australian woman years ago, he's obviously very bright and I suspect he never came anywhere near finishing school). His English is astoundingly good, but the accent is very, very strong.

He loves Indonesia (except Jakarta) more than anything and he feels sorry for anyone who isn't from there.  We'd love to meet him again.

Around Borobudur

We had originally only planned for one night in Borobudur as at first glance (and from any tourist info you receive) there isn't a lot to do other than check out the temple and be on your way.  It only took us about 15 minutes - based on the surroundings and the company to decide that we wanted to stay - we  signed up for another night and would have stayed longer if we'd had the time.

For us, the real highlight of Borobudur was just having the opportunity to check out the surrounding area.  Rumah Dharma has bicycles to borrow and there are countless country lanes (and the ground is mercifully flat!) that you can cycle around and take in the views and check out the farming villages.

 The locals are almost heart achingly kind and welcoming - we were cycling around on Friday afternoon so every man and boy in the area was on their way to mosque for Friday prayers - I think it would be an under-estimate to say that 99% percent of them said hello or at the very least had a wave and huge grin for us.

The region is picturesque beyond anything we anticipated.  The villages are comprised of tidy bamboo huts and well-tended gardens.  Cockerels, toddling babies and hunched, tough old women squawk and watch you from the shade of their front porches (no doubt marvelling over what kind of idiots would be out in the heat of the mid-day sun) - and unlike in Malaysia where the kampungs are typically a bit grim and dirty, these were very much places of community and thoroughly charming.

All too soon our time was up and we really didn't want to leave.
We told Wendy that we'd be back, so if any of  our visitors want to go, we'd be glad to take you!

Ian having meltdowns about transportation, sampling local delicacies and getting a bit of urban culture in the next instalment.

To go or not to go?

After 48 hours of agonizing and intensive research we have after all decided not to chance a trip to Srinagar. It was oh so tempting: the Shalimar Gardens, a houseboat on Lake Dal . . .

and the security situation at the moment is okay - but 2010 was a rather bad year up there and it just doesn't quite seem worth the risk. I was ready to say let's do it and then I read what the British Foreign Office says and revised my position (and Ian forbade me from going):

'We advise against all travel to or through rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir, other than to Ladakh, and against all but essential travel to Srinagar. If you intend to travel to Srinagar then you should only travel there by air, and you should check the local security situation before doing so.'

This followed by about three pages of details of grenade attacks, kidnappings, bombs etc 90% of them all in Srinagar and that was pretty much all since 2008. It has the same level of warning as Iraq and Afghanistan and let's face it, I'm not planning holidays there anytime soon.

The US State Department says simlilar but I've found in the past that they get a little over-cautious, they probably put out a travel alert everytime the Canadians have an election. But the Brits, generally, don't mess around. If they say don't go, they tend to mean it.

So we're back to our original plan. It's probably going to be about 113 degrees in Delhi, but we'll survive. I live 200 miles from the equator, how bad can it be?