Leaving Yogyakarta

In the morning we started to have second thoughts about staying at Fuji Villas and thought about catching the shuttle into town at 9:00 and seeing what other accommodation there was. After breakfast we asked one of the ladies about the shuttle and she told us it was full but we could go at 12:00. There were no other guests at the hostel so I can only assume it is a shuttle for the area. Around 10:00 the lady came and informed us that the shuttle driver had been in an accident, guess it was a good thing we didn't catch that shuttle to town, but they could take us into town on the motorbikes if we wanted. We did not want to go on motorbikes and asked her to call us a taxi. We decided at this point that we would just check out and have the taxi take us to another hotel in town. In the time between making this decision and the taxi arriving we changed our minds yet again and decided to leave Yogyakarta altogether and hop on a plane to Bali. We would come back later and go to Borobudur, Prambanan, and Mt. Bromo.

The taxi ride back into town was definitely the scariest so far, and it wasn’t even a taxi, it was actually a private car. At one point the driver decided to pass a truck and another truck came around the corner in the opposite direction, it was a close call. At the airport we went to the Lion Air booth and got a slip of paper from them with the flight info on it but we didn’t pay here, we had to pay inside. We then had to go through the first security check to the Lion Air check-in and stood in line for about 15 minutes. When we got up to the desk the lady informed us that this wasn’t where we paid for a ticket, she pointed over to the left where there was a small hallway and told us to go there. Down this little hallway was another little hallway and this one had a few different doors with windows and the airline logo on them.  This is where we got our proper tickets and paid for them and it was just the back of the place we got the first piece of paper. When we got back to the check-in the lady told us that because the flight wasn’t until 9:00 we couldn’t check in until 6:00, it was about 1:00 at this point. So we had to find something to do for five hours. I had seen a little café outside the security and suggested we go there and get a coffee. Rain was pouring down when we got out there and we found a café called Horizons and decided to sit outside on the patio. We spent the next five hours eating, playing cards, and writing in our journals. During that time the rain came in spouts, as it does in tropical climates, and I saw my first rat ever, it was huge. We spent about Rp. 300,000 at this café during the five hours, which isn’t bad considering we had lunch, dinner, ice cream, and drinks. Around 6:00 we went and checked-in for our flight and made our way to the waiting area. Mel and I both bought postcards to send home and Mel got a photo of this really cool statue. It reminded me of the grim reaper, but a female version, and it was made completely out of nails. We met an older couple from Ontario, who are currently living in Chiang Mai, Thailand and she is the vice principal of the international school. I mentioned to her that I may be up in Chiang Mai in April and she told me to come and see her at the international school if I made it there.