Mount Bromo

For me this was the highlight of our trip: the visit to the (still working and steaming) Bromo volcano. We started out from our hotel in the middle  of the night, at 1.00 AM, driving for hours in busses and landcruisers to a observatory on a mountaintop. There we watched  the sun rising, at about 5.00 AM. And as the sun hit the mountaintops we saw an awesome scene, which I tried to capture on below sketch.
Bromo is the little steaming crater in this 10x10km sea of volcanic sand, an ancient volcano crater in itself.
After this we drove with the jeeps towards the crater, and climbed to its rim, a difficult trip through thick layers of volcanic ashes. I was able to make a quick sketch of the waiting jeeps on the bottom of the plain.
We finally made it back at the hotel in Batu about noon, a long but rewarding trip. Time for a bath, some sleep, and a dive in the swimming pool.

Busride,day 8

Day 8: we made a long busjourney from Yogyakarta to Batu, 400 km or so. Not much to tell, except the delicious mocca cake we had buring our coffee break.
I made sketches of a vegetable market we visited on the way, and of workmen waiting to repair broken down scooters or selling bottles of gasoline.
The sketches are wobbly, these were made or finished during the shaking busride.

Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta, day 7. No rest after the busy program of the day before. Early morning we visited a batik-painting workshop and were brought with rickshaws to the sultans palace, where we found a plastic teasieve on display. Then to a silver jewellery factory, and a leather workshop (see above sketch of the craftsmen). In the afternoon we visited the ancient Hindu temples of Prambanan, fantastic temples, although large parts were still in ruins due to recent earthquakes.
After the temples we did the best part of the day, a 10km cycling tour through the rural parts surrounding Prambanan. I love that kind of thing, cycling through villages and fields.
And in the evening we enjoyed a nice juicy hamburger, some change after a week of rice.

Rural Java

 After Borodudur we made a tour in horse carriages through the rural surroundings (still our 6th day).
We visited some farmhouses, saw how local families lived, how their houses were built, how they prepared meals and what they grew on the fields.
All in all very interesting, and I enjoyed the open and friendly people.
I was able to make above sketches on location, sometimes you get just enough time. The below sketch of the ricefields was made during the traintrip, and was a compilation of what I saw through the window.

Borobudur

On the same day (6th) as our visit to the Dieng plateau, we also visited the famous Buddhist temple of Borobudur. Actually it's a small hill converted into a huge temple, with a long winding path circling around its base. And on top/roof of the building you see a lot of these bells (stupas). In each a Buddha is seated (hardly visible); fortunately one of the bells missed its top, see sketch. I managed to make the ink sketch on location, before the guide and our group proceeded to the next sight. Bezoek aan de Boeddistische tempel van Borobudur.

Dieng plateau, day 6

 

This day was one of the busiest days of our trip. Early morning at 6 we left for a trip to the Dieng plateau, about 2000m above sealevel. There we visited a multicoloured lake (due to volcanic activity and minerals), and an active geiser. And a beautifully detailed old hindu temple, over 1200 years old (see sketch). This region has a lot of potato and tobacco agriculture, which is manually transported over the steep fields.

 

Bandung station, day 5

The above sketch is the view from the Ashton hotel in Bandung, we had a room there on one of the higher floors.
Early morning we set out for a trainride towards Kroya. A sketch of our train just before we were leaving, and the dinner in the train (nasi goreng with salad and eggs). It was a beautiful trip through beautiful landscapes.
Schetsen van de treinreis tussen Bandung en Kroya.

Bandung, day 4

 This day we spend in Bandung, an old colonial city, with very beatiful old colonial houses, although not all in good shape. Early morning we visited the still steaming and sulphur smelling volcano Tangkuban Perahu, where I was able to make this sketch. I used my grey ink fountain pens and waterbrush.
Later that morning we visited a teafactory and bathed in hot water springs.
And finished the afternoon by visiting a music school, where a traditional puppetshow (wajang) was shown, and children showed us traditional dances. At the end of the show we all made music together, with traditional Angklung (bamboo) instruments. 

We finished the day with dinner in Bandung, eating the best sateh of our trip.

Java, day 3

Day 3: we left Jakarta for a busride to the famous botanic gardens of Bogor. These gardens are the largest in Asia (60ha), and already 200 years old. We saw all kinds of exotic trees, plants and flowers, of the kind we only know from expensive florists. Below a sketch of the buildings and palmtrees.
After that we continued towards Bandung; during a brief stop I had the chance to draw the above hilly teafields.

Some of the pages of my sketchbook.

Indonesia

The past 2 weeks my wife, some friends and I went for a 16 day tour through Indonesia. We had a fantastic journey, not only because of the beautiful country, good food and fine weather, but also because of the excellent guide and pleasant group of fellow travellers (26 in total).

Above you see the 10-day route through Java, by bus and train.
After a 19 hour flight (we had 3 hours of delay in Dubai, during which we had to listen to ancient christmas songs) we arrived in Jakarta around noon on Tuesday.
Notwithstanding a huge jetlag we immediately proceeded to the harbour where old wooden ships were being loaded by hand (see sketch). Still yawning we visited a colonial museum in the city center of Jakarta. After that we we were allowed to catch up on our sleep deprivation.
De afgelopen 2 weken hebben Gertie en ik een 16-daagse rondreis door Java en Bali gemaakt. Een fantastisch land.

Elena

Domodedovo, near Moscow, Russia, an older drawing I made a few years ago when travelling in Russia. There is something weird with my blog lately: I can post, but in my office and the hotels I am staying in, the comments part is blocked. So I can't react anymore. I'll have to check this problem out once things are calmer.

Slagveld

Another scene in Brielle, a canal called "Slagveld" which means Battlefield. Een kanaal in Brielle, genaamd "slagveld"