HOMES IN THE VILLAGES
*** All land is used to produce food - whether it's small strips of rice, taro, cassava. he latter is an interesting plant.
It grows quite tall with leaves at the top. It's the roots that are used, often 3 - 6 tubers?
The leaves are edible to those who have high blood pressure ( not that tasty!).
The tubers can be sliced and deep fried into chips, or the starch is used to make TAPIOCA.

*** Some houses are better than others, and they all coexist.
Many also have "store-fronts', selling snacks, doing car repairs.
 . .

*** The two strips are rice seedlings.
The seedlings are grown in water.
When they are at the right stage, and the fields are ploughed and flooded,
the seedling are picked as "plugs" and planted one by one in the prepared fields
. .

*** The fields are worked by villagers.
Many of the fields have been harvested.
The crop is planted at various times, so some are new, some are fairly grown,
some are being harvested, and others being plowed and the stubble worked into the soil.
.

*** Interesting to see palm trees, banana trees, etc.
planted along the ridges between fields.
We were trying to capture people harvesting.
It's all manual labour - using a sickle and tied into sheaves.
These are dry enough for another individual
to beat against a shielded screen to take off the grains of rice.
Another would bag the rice, take it back to the village,
and spread out to dry in the sun on any available flat surface.
.

*** Some harvested fields alongside ripening fields
*** Some of the piles of stalk left - We've seen small fires and wondered
if this would destroy the nutrients in the soil. Fertilizer - potash, is used widely.
The vocanic soils are very fertile.
.

One of the many canals used for irrigation and to stock fish

*** Good to see the odd dog in this predominately Muslim country
Traditionally, domestic dogs have been seen as impure, and the Islamic legal tradition
has developed several injunctions that warn Muslims against most contact with dogs.
Generally though, according to the Qur'an the use of hunting dogs is permitted.
*** This may be a guava tree.
It's a nice fruit when ripe with tasty juice, but it contains a lot of seeds.
.

Some homes we were able to snap as we slowed down coming into a station.
We had three stops before our destination.
Vera had ordered our lunch after the second stop - a hot boxed lunch -
stir-fried chicken fried rice, vegetables, and banana fritter.
.

*** A potted Elephant ear / taro plant.
Sue-On is thinking she should move hers out to the sun more this spring.
Pots are used a great deal - easier to keep watered?
Every house has pots lining the front entrance.
*** An orchid growing on a tree.

A large bus was there to meet us at the train station and drove us to our hotel - the KJ Hotel.
It was still an hour's drive to city centre - not so much distance as for traffic.

*** Music is everywhere in this hotel.
They perform at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, in the lobby.
*** The wall behind reception desk at our hotel.
.

Vera took us out to the Playon Restaurant for supper.
This is Javanese Fried Rice Noodles with Seafood,
Delicious! We also shared a Playon Pizza with Smoked Chicken.
Lovely crisp crust. This was a favourite place for university students.
A solo performer was on stage - playing a guitar and singing through a voice doubler, etc.
He had auditioned for Indonesia's Got Talent.
Walking to and from stores and restaurants is quite dangerous
as the traffic is crazy with motor bikes, cars,
and broken "sidewalks" that are lined with food stalls.
.

. .

PHOTOS FROM A TRAIN
Bandung To Yogyakarata
Album One
Album Two
Album Three
Album Four

JAVA CONTENTS
www.hillmanweb.com/indonesia/java

 INDONESIA INTRO CONTENTS
www.hillmanweb.com/indonesia

Part of the
Hillman Travel Adventures
Bill and Sue-On Hillman