Pilgrimage in Kuningan, West Java, Indonesia

I have heard of pilgrimage tours you can do in Indonesia. However, because I live in Europe near the famous pilgrimage sites such as Lourdes, St. James Way or the many smaller pilgrimage sites near my home town, I have never shown any interest in a pilgrimage tour in Indonesia

In early June 2016, I was invited to join a pilgrimage tour by the local parrish St. Ambrosius, Melati Mas, near Jakarta. The location was in the area of Kuningan near Cirebon, very close to the border from West to Central Java. The cost for the tour, food, drinks, tour leadership, entertainment was IDR 100.000 or 8 EUR,-. The duration of the drive was about 6 hours one way, most of it on the newly built toll road between Jakarta and Cirebon

The bus trip
We had a couple of committed volunteers who took over entertainment, organisation like ordering buses, ordering and distributing food. So members of our parrish were invited to share their story about God, their life, an important person in their life or just sing a song with the group. In fact all the participants of the tour shared a bit of what they have with the other members of the parrish. It was really something that Jesus taught us and our parrish put it in practice. We all tried to help the engaged members to distribute the food and drinks we pre-ordered beforehand. The toll road was newly built, smooth, going through rice fields and mountainous areas. Different from the older toll roads, there were no tellers on the gates and we need to use a bank card.

Our parrish sharing experiences and songs in the bus

The pilgrimage venue in the village of Cisadana in the Kuningan area
Before we realised, we had reached the village of Cisadana on the foot hill of Mount Ceremai  where the worship cave is located.. It is called Gua Maria Sawer Rahmat or Mother Mary's Cave spreading grace in abundance. From the legends I heard that the village was once very poor and the crop failed every year. After the Holy Cave was finished and active, the village farming crop started to flourish due to the grace spread by the cave. Another reason for this might be the touristic significance of the village and the very famous culinary specialties in the area

Climbing the steep steps of the passion walk

We had to climb up the steps of a fairly steep hill to get to the Holy Cave. It was a little bit slippery after a prolonged period of rainy days and I can't imagine what it would be like if it had rained the day before. I pretty much admired the elderly and frail gentlemen and ladies who managed to climb up without complaining. It seems that their strong belief in God made them strong and able to do things they otherwise cannot do, like climbing a fairly long steep hill. This is normal for a seasoned trekker like me but certainly not for a less physically active and frail elderly person.

These are the good angels who did everything to make the tour a great experience

There were a couple of worship stations where we were about to contemplate Jesus Christ's passion walk to Gogotha. Jesus had to bear his cross, Jesus was flogged and insulted, Jesus fell down  and a stranger had been commanded to bear the cross, the woman who cleaned His face and Jesus' face was printed in the cloth. This cloth is still guarded in the Museum of Vatican. Finally we reached St Mary's cave, a worship venue with a small fountain. We met the priest who was scheduled to hold a service in the chapel. He invited us to attend the service which we did.

Our late lunch in Cirebon 
We were later than usual due to some traffic jam and the additional 2 hours that we attend the beautiful Holy Mass. Our lunch in Cirebon became nearly an early dinner. As we entered the restaurant, it looked smaller than it was and the appearance was not very impressive. Just after we entered, we noticed that the restaurant had 3 levels and we were seated at the upper level. From here we could have a breath-taking view on a vast area of rice terraces and being located on a hill, we could view the city of Cirebon from up high. The restaurant itself was nicely appointed, with wooden floors and chairs in traditional Sundanese Style

View from Kelapa Manis restaurant on the rice fields and the city of Cirebon

The local pastor Santo who unexpectedly invited us to the service in the chapel

Last station: Trusmi batik in Cirebon
A 3 hour stay at Trusmi Batik was planned but it had to be shortened to barely 1 1/2 hour due to the unexpected events we had. I thanked God because I have been warned that Trusmi Batik was very touristy, expensive and crowded on the weekends. The Trusmi street is a well-known culinary area in Cirebon where you can sample a numerous selection of cheap traditional foods. We arrived around Iftar time during Ramadhan, so we could experience the rushing traffic and people who came to the area to buy their food for Iftar(break fasting during Ramadhan). Unfortunately we all had just eaten at the restaurant and nobody was hungry. Besides, crossing the street with the crazy traffic made me fear for my life. I just had a relaxing break and a glass of freshly squeezed frosty juice, a very well-known Iftar beverage in Indonesia.

Tip: Avoid the Trusmi Batik shop and instead shop at the neighbouring Batik shops in the same street. They are cheaper, less touristy and at least of the same quality.


The trip was the highlight of my stay in Melati Mas. I must say thank you to all the people who took so much time and effort to organise the tour. Our parrish community leader Pak Sandy and his wife, former leaders Richard and Rudy and their better halves, a lot of other comitted Christian people that I met on the prayer evenings in Melati Mas. This tour is not only a nice trip to a beautiful area on the border to central Java, it makes you contemplate about Christ's passion and his suffering, is a good exercise for young and old, a lovely tour through the mountains and rice terraces to the village of Cisadana on the foot hill of Mount Ceremai.

Members of our parrish spent a whole day on a marvelous tour, shared experiences and knowledge together,  came closer to each other and practiced the teachings of Christ in their day-to-day life without any special effort

Bali off the beaten track

Many tourists prefer locations in Bali such as Kuta, Sanur, Nusa Dua or Ubud city centre because they are easy to reach from Ngurah Rai airport. These places can be beautiful, have a strong surf break or scenery but they are so swamped with the type of tourists I prefer not to meet. So this time we visited the less touristy and well-known places like Uluwatu and Padang Padang beach, Mengwi and Batukaru area as well as Munduk and Beratan surroundings.

Uluwatu beach region
Uluwatu and Padang Padang beach and surrounding rocky areas are relatively expensive for local standards and you hardly find any local eateries offering local prices. They mostly cater to Western tourists and expats. However, we still enjoyed the atmosphere in places like Single Fin Bar at Uluwatu Beach or Mango Tree Cafe near Padang Padang Beach.

We stayed at Zona Greens Homestay which had a lovely view over the hill, forest and water. Uluwatu beaches especially Blue Point Beach had a strong surf, we needed some efforts to climb down the rocks but it had a magnificent view over the cliffs, rocks and the surfers in the water. The Uluwatu Temple is located in the forest, overlooking wild cliffs and ocean. Occasionally we could watch a monkey eating a whole bag of chips.

The Kecak performance along with the Ramayana dances at sundown was not necessarily traditional but the fire acrobat comedians still did a great job and interacted with the public. The sunset just added the right atmosphere to the beautiful temple and the breathtaking view of the cliffs and ocean.

Mengwi and Umabian village
Our next trip was the Mengwi area: Our first impression was not great especially after our stay in Uluwatu. However, we quickly changed our minds after entering the resort, saw the tastefully appointed rooms and garden where we received an extremely warm welcome from the staff members. Our hotel Umasari Terraces was located in the middle of the rice terraces where we already had the chance to be part of the village. The staff was extremely professional, genuinely warmhearted, every room was equipped with a flat screen TV, fridge, coffee and tea making facilities and free water. There was a beautifully decorated verandah in front where we were also served breakfast and sundowners.  It was close enough to the town of Mengwi, around 15 min by scooter. We visited the beautiful Pura Taman Ayun Temple, a relatively large HIndu temple surrounded by a beautiful park near a beautiful river. In the morning there was a local farmer's market with local produce, snacks and cakes.

Our homestay host and his family invited us to be part of the Galungan Festival, a religious festival in Bali. We joined them into their family temple. As the neighbours announced that a pig would be slaughtered nearly at our doorstep, I found an excuse not to watch it. I told them that we needed to do some shopping in town. From what I had heard later, the screaming animal needed around 20 minutes to die, in fact it was being bled to death to gain its blood. Occasionally they would widen the wound to let more blood flow and the poor animal even screamed harder.

On Galungan Day we walked through the hilly rice terraces to the family temple, past a small river where ladies took their bath. Our hotel lent us a sarong and sache because otherwise we would be denied entrance to the shrine. It was a serene and holy feel, the type of spiritual atmosphere we found difficult to capture in a blog text

Batukaru area
Our next journey led us to Batukaru temple, one of the major temples in Bali which I would definitely recommend instead of Besakih temple. People from all over Bali and Indonesia came along in beautiful and colourful costumes to worship God and their ancestors . We experienced the first day of Galungan, had the opportunity to watch beautiful ritual dances welcoming the ancestors from the afterlife, performed by young girls of premenstrual age. Women in their period or pregnant, baby who haven't grown teeth were not allowed into the Batukaru temple.

Each temple had its own regulations because other temples had no problems allowing babies or pregnant women. It was a different atmosphere, more worldly than in Umabian village because people came from all over Indonesia in their best  kamen(Balinese sarong), kebaya(traditional blouse) and anteng(sache tied around the kebaya). Apart from the beautiful dances and costumes, we could watch several people who acted as though they were possessed. Local people told us that the gods and the ancestors descended onto the earth and communicated through designated people with their families. The Galungan festivities take place twice a year and symbolises the battle between good and bad. The Gods and ancestors will descend to earth and remain there for fourteen days until Kuningan Day. On this day, they will return to heaven again and there will be modest but impressive temple festivities.

Jatiluwih, Beratan, Candi Kuning market, Munduk
Our driver took us through less frequented small roads where we passed impressive rice terraces and our  first stop was Mirah Agrotourism plantation, beautifully located on top of a hill. We could sample many different types of coffee and chocolate and view the plantation. We saw luwaks in a cage, the cage was relatively big compared to some other plantations but we still decided not to support this inhumane business. The coffee was also the worst and the most expensive compared to what we had in other places like Uluwatu, Batukaru or Munduk.

We needed to pay the amount of idr 15 k  for international and 10 k for local tourists to pass the stretch through Jatiluwih Rice Terraces. It was a huge and wide-spread area of rice terraces surrounded by beautiful mountains. The weather was not nice and suddenly it started to rain. Normally visitors had the chance to do a real hike through the rice fields but we didn't have the opportunity to do this due to the heavy rain

Munduk and surroundings
After visiting the Candi Kuning market and passing the Beratan lake, finally we reached Munduk. Because of the rain, I didn't bother to go through the market which I found too touristy and agressive anyway. I planned to stay in Munduk just for one night and never expected that I ended up staying for 10 days. My first visit was the Tamblingan Lake where we could see 3 temple ruines. The lake itself wasn't worth the entrance fee, it was much more picturesque to view it from the road. But the road between Munduk and Gobleg had a breathtaking view on the lakes and plantations. Later I walked or rode the stretch between Munduk and the two lakes Buyan and Tamblingan in Gobleg at least 4 times. I also visited the giant Banyan tree which fell down during the storm. The giant Banyan roots were open to viewing and we could just imagine how gigantic the tree was.

Unfortunately Munduk and Gobleg were villages and just started to develop tourism. They are nice but when you are not lucky, you will be continuously bothered by people who wanted to sell you overpriced food or souvenirs. Nevertheless, most people were friendly and after I have been there there for some time, people started to loosen up and became very loyal and protective

Waterfalls and plantations
There was a strong GPS signal where ever I walked although I preferred to walk the main road with occasional treks through plantations. Later I found out that the trekking members paid a fee to the plantations but people were friendly enough to let a lone lady trekker pass through their land. Whereever I walked, the heavenly fragrance of the coffee beans and cloves caressed my olfactory senses. I wasn't too impressed by the Munduk Waterfalls because it was full of tourists and I had difficulties to capture a moment without a backpacker on it.

Later I found out that the path leading to the waterfalls had been a dispute between the villages Munduk and Gobleg. Munduk wanted to boost tourism and built steps leading to the waterfalls. Gobleg protested because some local residents had their homes all the way down on these jungle paths. So they broke up the steps and built a small path for scooters. Sharing such a narrow path with fast motor vehicles was not pleasant at all and I felt unsafe, so I wouldn't really recommend the Munduk or Melanting waterfalls at all

My favourite waterfall was the Golden Valley waterfall, around 3 km upwards from Melanting . The way down was slippery, had no bars to hold on but as an experienced bush walker I knew how to hold on to plants without injuring myself. After all, locals who live on this stretch do the same. This waterfall was small but it was a real hidden gem owned by an organic coffee plantation. So you could see coffee plants all over on your way down to the waterfall where you could have a coffee in the organic Cafe. Tip: If you need an umbrella to protect you against rain or sun, you can use a huge tarot leaf. Tarot plants grow everywhere in the area and you don't need to carry an umbrella.

At least they only had coffee from wild living luwaks(civets) and the animals weren't kept in small cages. The next waterfalls was Git Git where you could ride a scooter through the beautiful forested and mountainous landscape. Unfortunately at the entrance there were many little children pushing to sell you overpriced souvenirs. Please ignore them because they really disturb the tourists.

I celebrated Kuningan Day, the last day of the Galungan Festivities with my homestay host. They lent me a real temple attire, I could help in the kitchen and join them praying in the family temple. Maybe initially they didn't plan to involve me in their family plans but finally they decided to invite me to join the family. Apparently they had seen that I have put much efforts in creating the offering plate with fruits, sate, BBQ chicken and flowers. By that time I had enough knowledge of the local culture to smoothly participate in their ceremonies..

I grew accustomed to this place and saying goodbye always hurt a bit. It was quite touching to see my host family and neighbours bringing me to the car to say good bye. On my way back to Denpasar airport, I bought some fruits at Candi Kuning Market and visited Beratan Lake in Bedugul. We stopped for late breakfast in a delicious local eatery somewhere aong the way. I hope I will have the opportunity to explore more places off the beaten tourist track in the future. I seriously consider living in Bali after I have found the place where I would like to live. So for the next trip I will explore the Ubud surroundings and Batur area. The latter is also tourist hell but I hope I will find quieter times outside the main season.

Bali can be really God's Island if you come to the right place at the right time, but if you come to the wrong places at the wrong time, just be prepared to experience what hell would be like.

Luxembourg city and surrounding

I needed to do some business in Luxemburg city and thought I could combine it with a short holiday. The most impressive combination between culture and nature is the Petrusse Valley in the heart of the city. The Petrusse and Bock casemates are historic works worth looking at. When you arrive at Place d'Armes you look down into the valley at a beautiful park with a lot of greenery.

From here we can get straight into the city centre and old town where we can look at old architecture, do some shopping and buy coffee, Belgian chocolates and the famous Belgian speculoos cookie sandwich spread. The grand supermarket Auchan in Kirchberg is located in a huge shopping mall with many cafes and restaurants. Here you can buy all sorts of spirits and wine for nearly half the price you would pay in Germany. Many Germans who live close to the border come here, do some shopping and return to their home on the same day.

Lac Esch sur Sur

This time I used Couchsurfing again and made great friends. I had a couple of days laughing and talking to them. Unfortunately it was midweek and they didn't have time to join me to explore the beauties of the country. On the first day it was raining, I visited a few museums, saw the Palace of the Duke, The Cathedral  and the winding roads in the old town. The Cafes Chocolate House and Oberweiss are the most renowned and not quite cheap cafes. The other cafes are a lot cheaper and not all that bad.

If you travel everyday, you can buy combined tickets for EUR 16,- you can use on all the trains, trams and buses in Luxemburg. So on my first available day I went to Mondorf, a small spa town with a pretty park and thermal sources in beautiful nature. Then I continued to Remich on the Moselle using the same bus service. A one-hour-tour by boat on the Moselle gives you the feeling how  close Europeans live together. The left side belongs to Luxemburg with beautiful Luxemburg vineyards, the right side is the German side with lots of forested areas and camping sites.

In a small country like Luxemburg you can do three different tours to three different places with different nature and ethnic cultures within one day. The average Luxemburgian speaks four languages: Luxemburgian or Letzeburguesch, German, French and English. German, French and Letzeburguesch are the official languages but most people speak Letzeburguesch among each other, French better than German. Some of them speak even six languages.

Me at Place d'Armes looking into Petrusse Valley Park

The north of Luxemburg, the Ardennes bordering very close to Belgium is one of the most beautiful places in Luxemburg. Just the train ride along the Petrusse Valley in Luxemburg city, through the Ardennes to Clervaux is a trip on its own. I walked a steep walk from Clervaux Palace to Clairvaux abbey.

The day was long enough to return to Luxemburg city. Unlike by car, the bus and train lines only operate between Luxemburg city and other towns. So I had to return to Luxemburg central station to catch the bus to Echternach. I enjoyed my time at the Echternach man-made lake, went to a huge supermarket and then arrived at Echternach station in time. Another huge shopping mall was under construction.

One of the most picturesque places are Vianden and on this day I forgot my camera. I never thought that the pictures would rest in my mind so a camera wasn't even needed. The bus ride between Ettelbrück train station and Vianden was another trip through breathtaking scenery. Vianden itself was another harmony between nature and architecture. Beautiful weeping willows hanging onto the river, hills, forested hiking trails, a beautiful palace, castle ruines and an ancient bridge were the highlights of this village.

My Couchsurfing hosts Michael and Pipoc

I took a walk in the old town before I climbed up to the castle ruines and the castle itself was beautifully refurbished. Nearly approaching the end of the day, I discovered a hidden campsite on the other side of the river.You could pitch your tent by the water, barbeque the meat you just bought in town and have a relaxing day. It is just very close to the old town. Unfortunately they don't have many supermarkets in both Vianden and Clervaux. So prepare yourself by buying food at Auchan Kirchberg super market before going on a camping trip. It is different from Echternach where the county expected a lot of revenues from nearby cities in Germany.

Last but not least I am so grateful and happy that I could surf Julia and Michael's couch. It was such a nice family who of course spoke several languages and we were so amused that Michael, his brother Bruno and father George spoke German together. My faith in Couchsurfing is now restored, not exactly  in the management and staff members but the interesting people I got to meet and stay with. Of course  we had already made plans for them to visit us next year.

What to do in Mainz in a day

I have been living in Mainz for most of my life now and it has become like my hometown. However, I will always find hidden places that I didn't know much about. As somebody asked what to do during a 5 hours layover in Mainz, originally I have written an article called "5 hours in Mainz". Later I thought it will be too superficial and hectic to see too much of Mainz in 5 hours, so I have directed it at people who spend at least a whole day in Mainz.

 Mainz, the capital city of Rhineland Palatinate is only located half an hour by train from Frankfurt Airport. However, unlike Frankfurt, Mainz is a city geographically small enough to put your arms around. You can gain good memories by visiting for the day, although to really enjoy the city you need to prepare off the internet or stay longer. I would recommend at least one night stay in Mainz. Hotels are expensive but you can look on AirBnB or other websites. There is a nice hostel in Mainz too. A day ticket for Mainz is paramount if you take at least 3 trips. If you have more time, you can use the same ticket to see Wiesbaden, the capital city of Hesse. Wiesbaden is located at the foot of the Taunus Mountain range and used to be a famous spa city for German and American nobilities .

Antique excavations near Fort Malakoff and Lothar Passage mall:
Mainz dates back to more than 2000 years and there are many excavations not yet discovered. Two antique Roman excavations were found by accident as the city started to build shopping malls. The Roman Theatre ruines are just opposite Fort Malakoff at the Bahnhof Süd(train station south).The ruines were so vast and gigantic that they cancelled the whole construction of the mall. The second one was at Lothar Passage shopping malls. The Roman Isis temple ruines were found by accident. Unlike Südbahnhof they went on with the shopping mall from where you can enter a shop with Roman books, wines and other artefacts. Just walk down the steps going down to the Isis temple ruines

Malakoff, Roman Theatre, Rhine walk, Fischtorplatz, Dom, Augustinerstr
From Malakoff shopping mall, you are ready to start your walk past the beautiful small parks, old houses and medieval fortress Reduit while enjoying the other site of the river. There is a Rewe shop in the Malakoff mall to buy your beer and food. Have a beer on the steps by the Rhineside between Fort Malakoff and Hyatt Hotel. This way you can save your money for a pub.

Continue your walk and have a short break at Holzturm(wood tower) and continue walking until you reach Fischtorplatz. The Dom(Cathedral) will be your point of orientation on the left-hand side. Walk past the large Cathedral square(Liebfrauenplatz) towards Höfchen(small court), the center of the city. Here you can find any type of cafe you would enjoy.The real old town Augustiner Str with medieval half-timbered houses and cafes starts after the Höfchen(small court) to the left side.

Spend some time walking the Augustiner Str, the real Mainz old town where you can view many medieval half-timbered houses and the Agustiner church and priest seminary. You will find many places to have a drink but my favourite is the Domgickel, Klingelbeutel. and Weinhaus Blum, located a bit off Augustiner Str. The Altstadt Cafe has nice food and is not extremely expensive. At the end of Augustiner str you can view the Baroque church St Ignaz, their oven-shaped catacombes and more typical Mainz wine holes. Turn left direction Holzturm and you will be back at the Malakoff area where you can enjoy beer gardens in the evening. Takes at least 2 hours and more.

Make sure you have a day ticket for the bus to travel back and forth. This is the website that can help you find your way:
http://www.rmv.de

Dom, Ludwigstr, Mainz opera, Schillerplatz, Gaustr, St Stephan, Kupferberg
Starting from the Dom, you can also walk Ludwigstr towards Schillerplatz where you can walk into Gaustr. and walk up the hill to St Stephan church. The Mainz Balkon on Ludwigstr opposite Mainz opera is a new grill pub restaurant overlooking  most important sights of Mainz.  From Schillerplatz you can walk up the Kupferbergterasse or join a guided tour at the Kupferberg Sektkellerei( sparkling wine manufacturer). From here you can easily walk to St Stephan church.

This church is famous for its Chagall windows which Marc Chagall donated to the archbishopry of Mainz for excellent cooperation with the Jewish community. On a sunny day, the whole church turns blue when the sun shines through these windows. There is also a synagoge in Mainz if you have the time to view it.My favourite breakfast cafe is 'Dicke Lilli Gutes Kind' in the Gaustr. .Takes around 2-3 hours or more

A short summary you can hopefully enjoy within a couple of hours:
1.Fort Malakoff, steps for picnic, stroll along the Rhine side, inner city incl Dom(cathedral), architecture, other cafes, old town Augustiner Str . At least two hours including relaxing breaks.
2.Dom, Ludwigstr, Schillerplatz and St Stephan church. Cafe 'Dicke Lilli Gutes Kind' in the Gaustr., Kupferberterasse and sektkellerei

If you have more time or would like to focus on the Rhineside only, you can start your walk in the Neustadt area, see a less touristy area where mostly locals chill out in the grassy areas. You can start at the "Kaisertor" at the end of the Kaiserstraße which is part of the former fortress built by Napoleon. Here you can see nice grassy areas, flowers, picnic tables which are beautiful but far less refined than the area between fischtorplatz and Malakoff Shopping mall. Walk past the new town or Neustadt where you can still see some of the old houses, past the old town with view on the cathedral(Dom), past Malakoff passage area straight through to the Stadtpark(City park), a beautiful park with a large enough rose garden with marvelous views on the Rhine from high up. Apparently the Neustadt area has been bombed a lot more than the area near Malakoff Shopping Mall and Hyatt Hotel.

You can still see a lot in 6 hours but you have to rush and this is not pleasant at all.There is the famous hustling and bustling Mainz farmer's market on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday


Mainz official website:
www.mainz.de

What to do in Mainz in a day

Somebody asked me what to do when they only have 5 hours lay-over in Mainz, the city which is now dear to my heart because I have lived here longer than in any other place. Originally the title of this blog entry was "5 hours in Mainz".

Mainz, the capital city of Rhineland Palatinate is only located half an hour by train from Frankfurt Airport. However, unlike Frankfurt, Mainz is a city geographically small enough to put your arms around. You can gain good memories by visiting for the day, although to really enjoy the city you need to prepare off the internet or stay longer. I would recommend at least one night stay in Mainz. Hotels are expensive but you can look on AirBnB or other websites. There is a nice hostel in Mainz too. A day ticket for Mainz is paramount if you take at least 3 trips. If you have more time, you can use the same ticket to see Wiesbaden, the capital city of Hesse. Wiesbaden is located at the foot of the Taunus Mountain range and used to be a famous spa city for German and American nobilities .

Antique excavations near Fort Malakoff and Lothar Passage mall:
Mainz dates back to more than 2000 years and there are many excavations not yet discovered. Two antique Roman excavations were found by accident as the city started to build shopping malls. The Roman Theatre ruines are just opposite Fort Malakoff at the Bahnhof Süd(train station south).The ruines were so vast and gigantic that they cancelled the whole construction of the mall. The second one was at Lothar Passage shopping malls. The Roman Isis temple ruines were found by accident. Unlike Südbahnhof they went on with the shopping mall from where you can enter a shop with Roman books, wines and other artefacts. Just walk down the steps going down to the Isis temple ruines

Malakoff, Roman Theatre, Rhine walk, Fischtorplatz, Dom, Augustinerstr
From Malakoff shopping mall, you are ready to start your walk past the beautiful small parks, old houses and medieval fortress Reduit while enjoying the other site of the river. There is a Rewe shop in the Malakoff mall to buy your beer and food. Have a beer on the steps by the Rhineside between Fort Malakoff and Hyatt Hotel. This way you can save your money for a pub.

Continue your walk and have a short break at Holzturm(wood tower) and continue walking until you reach Fischtorplatz. The Dom(Cathedral) will be your point of orientation on the left-hand side. Walk past the large Cathedral square(Liebfrauenplatz) towards Höfchen(small court), the center of the city. Here you can find any type of cafe you would enjoy.The real old town Augustiner Str with medieval half-timbered houses and cafes starts after the Höfchen(small court) to the left side.

Spend some time walking the Augustiner Str, the real Mainz old town where you can view many medieval half-timbered houses and the Agustiner church and priest seminary. You will find many places to have a drink but my favourite is the Domgickel, Klingelbeutel. and Weinhaus Blum, located a bit off Augustiner Str. The Altstadt Cafe has nice food and is not extremely expensive. At the end of Augustiner str you can view the Baroque church St Ignaz, their oven-shaped catacombes and more typical Mainz wine holes. Turn left direction Holzturm and you will be back at the Malakoff area where you can enjoy beer gardens in the evening. Takes at least 2 hours and more.

Make sure you have a day ticket for the bus to travel back and forth. This is the website that can help you find your way:
http://www.rmv.de

Dom, Ludwigstr, Mainz opera, Schillerplatz, Gaustr, St Stephan, Kupferberg
Starting from the Dom, you can also walk Ludwigstr towards Schillerplatz where you can walk into Gaustr. and walk up the hill to St Stephan church. The Mainz Balkon on Ludwigstr opposite Mainz opera is a new grill pub restaurant overlooking  most important sights of Mainz.  From Schillerplatz you can walk up the Kupferbergterasse or join a guided tour at the Kupferberg Sektkellerei( sparkling wine manufacturer). From here you can easily walk to St Stephan church.

This church is famous for its Chagall windows which Marc Chagall donated to the archbishopry of Mainz for excellent cooperation with the Jewish community. On a sunny day, the whole church turns blue when the sun shines through these windows. There is also a synagoge in Mainz if you have the time to view it.My favourite breakfast cafe is 'Dicke Lilli Gutes Kind' in the Gaustr. .Takes around 2-3 hours or more

A short summary you can hopefully enjoy within a couple of hours:
1.Fort Malakoff, steps for picnic, stroll along the Rhine side, inner city incl Dom(cathedral), architecture, other cafes, old town Augustiner Str . At least two hours including relaxing breaks.
2.Dom, Ludwigstr, Schillerplatz and St Stephan church. Cafe 'Dicke Lilli Gutes Kind' in the Gaustr., Kupferberterasse and sektkellerei

If you have more time or would like to focus on the Rhineside only, you can start your walk at Frauenlobplatz in the Neustadt area and walk past the old town with view on the cathedral(Dom), past Malakoff passage area straight through to the Stadtpark(City park), a beautiful park with a large enough rose garden with marvelous views on the Rhine from high up

You can still see a lot in 6 hours but you have to rush and this is not pleasant at all.There is the famous hustling and bustling Mainz farmer's market on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday


Mainz official website:
www.mainz.de

Journey into the land of the dead

There is no culture in the world that celebrates funerals more lavishly than weddings except of Toraja Land in the northern part of South Sulawesi. We have been fortunate that we could attend the funeral ceremony of a rich and respected man. The richer their families are, the bigger and more lavish the celebration. But let us start with our first day in Torajaland. Our guides Yakub Kakke and Rante spoke good English and were very knowledgable in what they present. Our drive from Makassar was long and strenuous, we contacted the owner of Pison Hotel where we stayed for the whole time we were in Rantepao. He immediately engaged his driver to pick us up. The drive was interesting and there was a lot to see. Our airline Sriwijaya Air had a couple of massive delays and we were not able to see the mountainuous part of Torajaland during the car ride.Here is some information about Torajaland or Tana Toraja


Our car was broken into at the parking lot of Hotel Bukit Kenari Indah, Pare-pare.
We stopped in Pare Pare, a nice town by the sea but a horrible tourist city. Everything was expensive and of lower quality than what we had between Luwuk and Ampana. They brought us to a restaurant and hotel, Bukit Indah Kenari. The hotel and restaurant was nice but the food was so-so at best and relatively expensive for Indonesian standards. As we wanted to get into the car, we noticed that somebody has broken the window and stole our driver's two bags. Luckily the drivers brought their money with them and the thief could be happy with dirty smelly clothes. We brought our bags with us but the thief didn't try to steal our backpacks. It took hardly a quarter of an hour before there was a large crowd gathering at our car, everybody showed compassion, had something to advise and the police came very quickly.The owner of Pison Hotel demanded Hotel Bukit Kenari Indah to pay the damage as it was their fault. A hotel should employ security guards especially when it is so dark. Hotel Bukit Kenari Indah refused to pay the damage and apparently not prepared to take over responsibility. It was very negligent to not employ security guards and I need to write this because they should have employed security guards. We arrived late night at Hotel Pison Rantepao.


14 November 2014
We were dead-tired as we arrived at Hotel Pison and slept in until midday. Then we followed our guide Rante to see a water buffalo fight which was part of the death rite celebrations. After this we tried mie bakso kerbau or noodle soup with water buffalo meatballs. They served us fresh duck eggs and pisang ijo(green banana) for the first time. Then our trip continued to Kete K'esu where we could see a burial site and many traditional Toraja houses. It was raining as we arrived at the hotel and therefore we had some food at the hotel. Death rite celebrations last a couple of days and is a very expensive event.

15 November 2014
Our guide Yakub Kakke took us into the southern part of Toraja, to Londa, Lemo, we watched the baby graves and many megalithic stones. At Londa we needed to follow an extra guide who guided us with a lamp through the caves. Here we could see many coffins and clay statues called Tau Tau.It was impressive and we could hardly find words to see a different cultural world along with beautiful landscape. We also saw graves near Makkale and had typical Toraja food like Papiong(fish, chicken or pork) roasted in bamboo in a typical warung(Indonesian streetfood stall). On every tour we could see the Tongkonan or Torajan tradition house which is the center of social interaction between the nobilities. Also Torajans believe that death is not a sudden abrupt event but a gradual process towards Puya, the land of the souls or afterlife.Many coffins have the shape of a ship because it is said that they would be transported to Puya by ship. The buffalo slaughtering has a unique meaning: The soul of the deceased person will ride the soul of the buffalo on their way to Puya. Only those families who had sacrified at least 24 buffaloes will be given a Tau Tau or statue near their grave. One buffalo cost IDR 1 billion which is roughly about EUR 80.000,-

16 November 2014
Today Rante took us into the northern part of Toraja, into the mountains with breathtaking views and man-made stone graves. While in the south, natural limestone caves could serve as a resting place for the dead, in the north they were cut into the stone with chisel and hammer. We saw beautiful Lokomata and Batu Tumonga. AFter this we visited a market where I bought a black Torajan sarong and greyish scarf for the funeral celebration tomorrow. The dress code to attend such funeral celebration is black or dark, shoulders and knees covered.

Funeral celebration 17 November
We were expected to donate a package of cigarettes although this is not a requirement. There were virtually thousands of people gathering while some were Western tourists. Yakob could find a good spot for us to sit and we could watch the many people dancing and chanting. Unfortunately it was not the main slaughtering day where virtually 15-24 bufalloes can be sacrified. There was only one water buffalo sacrifice on that day. The butcher did a good job with his machete and before you realise the buffalo was dead. I think the buffaloes were drugged while the pigs were not. I felt very sorry for the pigs because very few people know that they were sensitive and social animals. I saw the pigs virtually shivering awaiting their turn to be slaughtered while they could watch the others being slaughtered. We had lunch like pork satay and fish papiong along with some sweet snacks

Trip to Central Sulawesi

Central Sulawesi is not yet frequented by mass tourism and we thought it was a beautiful and challenging place to travel. We decided to fly because we only had 15 days for our Sulawesi trip and flights were not more expensive than a chartered car.  Advice for Central and South Sulawesi travellers who don't have all the time of the world: Fly as much as possible instead of driving. It is a lot less stressful, hardly more expensive if at all. It is definitely worth the effort to fly back from Luwuk to Makassar first before heading to Torajaland by car. Luwuk itself is worth staying at least one night. The religious tension in the Poso area encouraged us even more to fly and skip Lake Poso.

Our first flight was from Jakarta to Luwuk via Makassar.  Before arriving in Luwuk we contacted Mr. Edy Lamy at our hotel Marina Cottages in Ampana. He arranged a car to pick us up at Luwuk airport to drive us directly to our hotel in Ampana. After a couple of days on the Togean islands, we drove back from Ampana to Luwuk. It was a beautiful scenic drive along coastal area, forest and over many hills. A stop in Pagimana gave us the opportunity to taste freshly caught chargrilled fish for a more than reasonable price. We never regret to have done this drive twice and stayed at the wonderful hotel Aston Luwuk for one night. From there flight to Makassar. Through Hotel Pison, our hotel in Rantepao, we had booked a car from Makassar to Rantepao, Torajaland.

Misconnection between Jakarta-Luwuk by Sriwijaya Air
Mishap on our flight before reaching Luwuk was adventurous enough As we arrived in Makassar by Sriwijaya Air, the staff told us that the flight would be soon and our names would be called out. We waited and waited, our names have not been called. As I asked again, it turned out that the departure was already 5 am. Our flight from Jakarta was 5 am and there was no way that we could have caught our flight to Luwuk. Apparently there was a misplanning. An employee from Sriwijaya Air arrived and offered us a hotel in Makassar to catch the flight next morning. The hotel was horrible and run down but the owners were  nice and caring. We rented a car, went to Losari Beach, Makassar, I tried a grilled banana which was typical for the area. The next day we flew to Luwuk. This time Sriwijaya Air confirmed the flight change and delay in time........ several times.

Luwuk - Ampana
Angela contacted Mr. Edy from Marina Cottages Resort whom I had contacted before from Germany. We arranged for a chartered car from Luwuk to Ampana which was all-inclusive like petrol, driver, driver's accommodation and food.
Next tip: If you negotiate a price regarding chartered cars in Indonesia, always ask for an all-inclusive price. Otherwise they will add costs for the driver, petrol, driver's accommodation and food which we have little control over. At least ask for an estimation of those additional expensies. We paid IDR 850.000, the owner was the driver and he had a co-driver with him. Luwuk airport is just a very small one which could hardly be called airport, very crowded with people. So we were very happy as our driver Tiar was already expecting us.

He showed us Bukit Keles or Keles Hill, one of Luwuk's landmarks where at  night you can see the view of the whole Luwuk Bay. The road between Luwuk and Ampana was much better than we expected too. It has just been repaired and we saw road construction all over. The forest as well as the streets were very clean. It was a beautiful stretch with views of sea, forest and mountains of different altitudes.We could also feel that the temperatures became cooler the higher we drove into the mountains.  There were short stretches on the road which were stony and under construction. We were also lucky that it was still dry monsoon.

We had a late lunch break in Pagimana at the restaurant Umroh. The location was not the best but we chose a sunu fish, a delicious rather expensive fish. Anyway, we paid IDR 30.000 or 2 EUR for a set of char-grilled fish, vegetables and rice. The whole trip lasted around 7 hrs including the 2-hour lunch break. As we arrived at Marina Cottages by the sea in Ampana, Mr. Edy was already waiting for us and we were shown into our cottage. A simple, basic but clean cottage by the water. We still sat by the sea in the evening and had a chat with Mr. Edy. Marina Cottages REsort in Ampana is definitely to be preferred over Hotel Oasis. The next morning we had a short walk on the beach before heading to the harbour to embark on the ferry.We met a Polish couple at our hotel Marina Cottages who were offered a speedboat ride to the Togeans by some private operators. As the sea became rougher, the boat operator suddenly decided not to go. At first they refused to return the money but finally after some arguments with the couple they decided  to give the money back.
Tip: Always go by public ferry from Ampana to the Togians, if possible the government-owned Tuna Tomini. I have read it already in many blogs but this time we experienced it first-hand. The private vessels Puspita Sari and Lumbalumba also operate between Ampana and Togeans, they are less comfortable but you will ride the boat with many Indonesian people. NEVER EVER take a private speedboat, no matter how much they promise you that you will save time. You will, but it is very safe and worth the effort to take the ferry with Indonesian people.

The car and speedboat mafia is lurking for victims in Ampana. Just put your guard up and only contact hotels for rental cars. Don't let these Mafia people pressure you because they notice that you don't have anough time

Ampana - Togean Islands
The taxi took us from Marina cottages to Ampana Harbour which is about 4 km distance for IDR 30.000,- or EUR 2,-. On our way to the harbour, the taxi driver showed us the construction site of the new airport in Ampana. The runway was at least as long as the street between Marina Cottages and Ampana Harbour. So next year, when the airport in Ampana is ready it will be easier to travel to the Togeans. This will probably mean the end of the secluded location of the Togeans and the beginning of tourist hell.

At the moment, ferry services cater to the needs of the local island residents and not to the traveler. Local islanders need to travel to transport their fuel and water from the mainland. Travelers are not the market and therefore boat schedules leave much to be desired. For this reason, the ferry ride can be an interesting loca experience for the adventurous traveler.

The government-owned car-ferry Tuna Tomini operates from Gorontalo to Wakai, the main island on the Togeans via Ampana. For the schedule you need to check regularly on the internet or contact Ampana Cottages Beach Resort Mr. Edy or one of the resorts on the Togean Islands. Probably the ferry will not operate when the sea is too rough.. I strongly prefer the government-owned Tuna Tomini to Puspita Sari because it is technically more advanced, more convenient with a more reliable schedule and more reasonable prices

We bought tickets for business class 2 which meant economy class plus private matress to lie down. Many people only book economy and then look for a free matress and nobody ever said anything. The ride was more comfortable than we thought. There was a large flat-screen TV showing horror movies like Saw(ouch). The trip took us about 5 hours. As I started to get bored and had a look at the wheelhouse. They showed me the wheelhouse, it was quite large and up-to-date technology. The captain and first officer were graduates of the marine academy. They took over the wheel  every time when the ferry left or entered a harbour.

After our arrival in Wakai, the main island on the Togeans, the manager of Kadidiri Paradise Resort was already expecting us and we were once again fortunate to be able to ride the bigger boat. It was a beautiful trip along the beautiful islands and the crystal clear sea revelaling itself in different colours. Kadidiri Island was the closest to Wakai and the ride wasn't very long. We were the only guests and that also made the ride very comfortable for us.

Kadidiri Paradise Resort
It was low season and we got the bungalows Honeymoon Suite and VIP Suite for as much as EUR 30/25 a night including 3 authentic local meals, free-flowing Indonesian tea and coffee..You don't need to be an excellent swimmer because on the Togians marine life already start not too far from the coast. What I found unique about these two bungalows was that they were located in the water on stilts with a ladder going straight into the water from the sundeck for snorkeling. I found the water around the bungalows a bit dirty with plastik bags, bottles and who-knows-what, so for snorkeling I preferred the ladder from the private jetty. Every morning I was woken up by the fishes splashing in the water. I could spend hours observing marine life such as corals, several types of butterfly and parrot fishes. In the evening I enjoyed the sunset from my room which by chance was also called 'Sunset'.


There was a British  filmcrew making a documentary of the childhoold, adulthood and present life of the 80 y/o old fisherman from the islands. The Bajo ethnic group have been sea nomads for their whole life. They showed us their footage very often and we could gain some insight into filming in such a remote area. One of the filmcrew had lived in Indonesia for 9 years and acted as interpreter. I could also watch many shootings from my room, among others the fisherman with his old boat followed by a camera drone.

We did some island-hopping among others Malenge Island which has a nice snorkeling beach called Sera Beach, the Malenge Village, Hotel California Reef, jellyfish lake. The food in the resort was very good and I admired the cooks Nano and Elin.  We couldn't find anything more authentic local and yet it had some Western inspiration. The only downside was that a bottle of drinking water, not even the famous brand Aqua, was more expensive than a gallon elsewhere. While I can understand that shipping them can be expensive, the price of IDR 15.000 per bottle of not even the best quality water was a total rip-off. They knew that water was essential on those islands and thought they could take advantage of us. Overall the whole resort had a vibe of young white long-term backpackers. You will like it when you are into that sort of thing but it was not quite for me.

Fortunately we brought plenty of water from Ampana. The ride back was less organised and I found it upsetting. They took us in a small boat where we had to walk a plank, the Puspita Sari privately owned ferry was a shabby small vessel  filled to the brim. The resort brought us too late to Wakai and the ferry was already crowded with people from the islands who go on their regular tour to Ampana to buy petrol for their generators, water for their tanks and for drinking. The vessel was full of gallons. It was quite shocking to see the huge gap between tourists living in abundance and island sea gypsies who lived totally below the usual Indonesian standard. They had to buy petrol for their electricity generators and fresh water for daily needs and drinking. Apparently the government has listened to the many pleas and hope that next year they will install a fresh-water equipment on the islands. Anyway, the government is also expecting much from tourism and this means that everything will turn into tourist hell in the coming years. I am glad that we went there this year