YOGYAKARTA cont...
I think by now it was the weekend and I had to find somewhere with fast
wifi so I could watch the Australian Football on my laptop. I have a
subscription that allows me to watch every game live if I have a good connection. The place was Andrea Hotel in Gang 2 I think
it was, the owner is a great guy and most obliging.
The first night there I actually brought my own beer to watch the footy as he was out of stock, it was a great little place to sit and watch the happenings up the tiny alley or get some work done on the computer.
I would have stayed there but he was booked solid the whole time, but we did end up leaving our bags there while we did a road trip later. Like I said, a really nice guy and by the looks of it, a great establishment.
Yuni actually ended up enjoying the football on weekends, we would relax with a beer or 2, though she rarely drank more than 1, but she seemed to enjoy the little shorts and muscly physiques on the players more than the game!
As I can watch the games anytime, we only stayed in town to see my team play, the mighty Sydney Swans, then set off on a road trip to the south coast to explore the numerous beaches there.
Our backpacks sorted and our other gear left at Andrea Hotel, we set off on another trusty scooter (I really should have got pictures with every bike I rented) and tried to navigate the often confusing streets of Jogya.
They have some one way sections that aren't listed on the map so it makes for some confusing routes if you don't know them, we learnt the hard and long way. I couldn't work out why the signs kept leading us in the wrong direction until we got to the one way streets.
Once out of town the riding was.... insane to say the least. I love getting out on the bike but these guy's were fucken crazy, as I said, there are seemingly no road rules anywhere in Asia, but this was perhaps more wild than riding in Thailand. At least there we all understood the system and it kinda worked, but here it was a free for all and no unspoken rules that were adhered to. I loved it!
We were out on these country roads but there was as much traffic as the cities, mostly due to the holidays, often jam packed the whole way, but fun as hell. We would be dodging and weaving through layers of traffic, sometimes doing around 100kmh, with buses, bikes and cars to avoid.
You have to ride like that in Asia, fairly aggressive because nobody is gonna give you a break, but 100% aware of everything around you. It can get quite tiring being on full alert all the time, I always say ' i'm not worried about my riding, just everybody else'.
These guys will, and do, pull out right in front of you without a thought to look around. Most bikes don't even have mirrors and those that do are merely for aesthetics and never used. You just concentrate on what is ahead, those behind you will have to fend for themselves.
When learning in Thailand I used to just get behind the craziest, fastest maniac on the road and follow them, it was usually the mototaxi guys, but it was a good way to learn.
Now I find I am usually the craziest, fastest maniac on the road and i'm rarely ever passed by anyone, so if you're travelling in Asia and you see a foreigner wearing my normal scooter riding outfit you will see in the pics (long sleeve fishing shirt, face mask and gloves for the sun) then follow me!
The pedestrians are just as mad, they will just step out into oncoming traffic with a little wave of their hand and everybody usually stops as they cross the road. Well they didn't count on the fact that I was totally unaware of this and quite a few people were nearly run over on my journey. Sorry!
The first night there I actually brought my own beer to watch the footy as he was out of stock, it was a great little place to sit and watch the happenings up the tiny alley or get some work done on the computer.
I would have stayed there but he was booked solid the whole time, but we did end up leaving our bags there while we did a road trip later. Like I said, a really nice guy and by the looks of it, a great establishment.
Yuni actually ended up enjoying the football on weekends, we would relax with a beer or 2, though she rarely drank more than 1, but she seemed to enjoy the little shorts and muscly physiques on the players more than the game!
As I can watch the games anytime, we only stayed in town to see my team play, the mighty Sydney Swans, then set off on a road trip to the south coast to explore the numerous beaches there.
Our backpacks sorted and our other gear left at Andrea Hotel, we set off on another trusty scooter (I really should have got pictures with every bike I rented) and tried to navigate the often confusing streets of Jogya.
They have some one way sections that aren't listed on the map so it makes for some confusing routes if you don't know them, we learnt the hard and long way. I couldn't work out why the signs kept leading us in the wrong direction until we got to the one way streets.
Once out of town the riding was.... insane to say the least. I love getting out on the bike but these guy's were fucken crazy, as I said, there are seemingly no road rules anywhere in Asia, but this was perhaps more wild than riding in Thailand. At least there we all understood the system and it kinda worked, but here it was a free for all and no unspoken rules that were adhered to. I loved it!
We were out on these country roads but there was as much traffic as the cities, mostly due to the holidays, often jam packed the whole way, but fun as hell. We would be dodging and weaving through layers of traffic, sometimes doing around 100kmh, with buses, bikes and cars to avoid.
You have to ride like that in Asia, fairly aggressive because nobody is gonna give you a break, but 100% aware of everything around you. It can get quite tiring being on full alert all the time, I always say ' i'm not worried about my riding, just everybody else'.
These guys will, and do, pull out right in front of you without a thought to look around. Most bikes don't even have mirrors and those that do are merely for aesthetics and never used. You just concentrate on what is ahead, those behind you will have to fend for themselves.
When learning in Thailand I used to just get behind the craziest, fastest maniac on the road and follow them, it was usually the mototaxi guys, but it was a good way to learn.
Now I find I am usually the craziest, fastest maniac on the road and i'm rarely ever passed by anyone, so if you're travelling in Asia and you see a foreigner wearing my normal scooter riding outfit you will see in the pics (long sleeve fishing shirt, face mask and gloves for the sun) then follow me!
The pedestrians are just as mad, they will just step out into oncoming traffic with a little wave of their hand and everybody usually stops as they cross the road. Well they didn't count on the fact that I was totally unaware of this and quite a few people were nearly run over on my journey. Sorry!
My usual scooter mission outfit, to keep the sun off
