We
were supposed to get up early-early to head to the bus station, but I sort of lazyishly
woke up, so we were unable to get out the door until maybe around 8:00 AM. We arrive
at the bus station all fired up to pick up a bus and head out immediately;
however, every single individual living in Surabaya has decided to travel
somewhere that day. Enter a minimal amount of stress. We wait and wait and
wait, only to find out that the ‘nicer’ buses with AC are all full for the day.
Enter more stress. We then try the ‘less nice’ buses without AC, but for some
reason or another, we were off of that bus pretty quickly. Likely my fault. Anyway,
I suggest that we try to get a taxi down to Blitar; however, Noni is not so
fired up about the idea, as she thought that it would be too expensive. I at
this point, am pretty determined to get to Blitar, as we already have hotel
arrangements at Hotel Tugu Blitar. Noni interestingly has already commenced
calling Hotel Majapahit in Surabaya to see if we could celebrate New Year’s Eve
there for the night. I was a little frustrated that she had already begun to
give up on traveling to Blitar, but that is neither here nor there. Patience is
advantageous during any type of traveling, and life in general, so I went with
that. I decide to bargain with a taxi driver, and in the end got us a taxi for
what I thought was a pretty reasonable price (i.e., it was cheaper than some
taxi rides that I have taken inside the city of Chicago, let alone outside of
Chicago); however, Noni thought it was still expensive. We mount the taxi, and
are finally on our way to Blitar. Crisis averted.
The
drive is pretty quick and we traverse some of the most beautiful countryside
that I have ever seen in my life. In particular, there was lots of agriculture (especially
beautifully managed rice fields) and small villages. We arrive at Hotel Tugu
Blitar, and I am floored at how amazingly beautiful it is. The entrance drive
is completely covered with small vines and showed us beautiful sneak peeks of
the restaurant, sitting area, and hotel as we slowly entered it depths.
The
room too is beautiful, with a large wooden door, and a nice inviting sitting
area. The bed was hilariously too high, were I had to get a running start, just
to get on top of it. Everywhere in the room is traditionalesque Javan furniture,
which gives the room a warm majestic feel.
Heavy
rains come, and after they pass, we head to Candi Panataran. Candi Panataran is
a Hindu temple, and actually a part of the largest temple complex in East Java.
It is thought that the complex was built under the kingdom of Kadiri and was
still in use by the Majapahit kingdom. We are able to get two becaks to drive
us out. I am never going to forget how ridiculous I looked in a red hockey
helmet that one of the becak drivers had as an extra helmet. The candi is
beautiful, and sort of appears in the area out of nowhere. It’s presence
suggests importance, but it’s lonely placement implies a private importance
that I would only romanticize if I wrote any further. Similar to that which is
present at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the beauty of the candi and surrounding
areas is amazing. The reliefs are beautifully crafted, with the main temple
placed central to everything, and a large elevated flat viewpoint directly behind
this main temple.
We
travel back to the hotel, where we walk a bit around the grounds. Just at the
hotel, the numbers of photographs that I took was ridiculous. It really is a
stunning hotel to visit. We relax later in the afternoon with a traditional
Javan snack and some tea. And then, we are back to the hotel room for some
relaxation and such before we head out for the night.
After
an amazing dinner (note that all of the food at this hotel was delicious), we
travel along the street to observe the festivities and wait for the fireworks.
For such a small town, I was shocked at the number of people that had come to
see the festivities, which included small vendors, an exhibition, and also a
concert. We grabbed a decent place to view the fireworks, which we the longest
series of fireworks that I have ever been a part of. It was 1 straight full
hour of fireworks; with dozens of what Noni and I thought were finales. Once
the fireworks were over, the crowd started to disperse, and Noni and I retired
back to our hotel.
The
rest of the night, was, well, ours. The atmosphere of Blitar, the hotel, the
day/evening spent with Noni, and the New Year’s festivities combined for a
priceless holiday. It was definitely a good place to start the year anew with
Noni. I couldn’t help but thinking that when we left, we had also started a new
chapter in our life together.
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