Semarang | Flat Tires and Slow Boats

Cirebon

While in Cirebon I had a moment of weakness. I would later have another in Malang and some have already busted my chops for that meal at McDonald’s. But this was Cirebon. I never go here at home but now that I am in a far away corner of the world I seem to have the need. Dunkin Donuts to the rescue.

Hey, I’m told they have great coffee!

The coffee and donuts are the same price as back in the US so it’s not hard to figure that I was the only one in there. I was lured in by my need for cool air and wifi. The thought being I could catch up on email; it was ridiculously hot outside.

The kind of heat that saps your energy and makes all your limbs feel limp and in need of a pool with lounge chair. You sweat profusely and your forehead drains salty droplets directly into your eyes. You wipe those away with an equally lubricated hand intensifying Continue reading →

Travel is more often than not an adventure. The mode of transportation used while traveling can often enhance that sense of adventure; none more-so than the train.

I was in search of lumpias, the fried South East Asian spring roll, and decided to ride the steel horse along the coastal track to the city of Semarang. The time it takes by either road or rail is the same but the experience can be resoundingly different.

According to what makes a place famous, it is in Semarang where the most delicious lumpias are stuffed, rolled, folded, fried, and devoured. I was on my way.

Once, when traveling in Peru and Argentina, I had a couple of train journeys that stand as experiences completely unlike each other but both incredible in their own way. The train to Puno in Peru took 12 hours and wound its way up, into the Andes. The view out the window was of breath-taking mountain scenery; snow-capped peaks in contrast against the deepest of blue skies; grass covered foothills swelling and receding like a sun burnt yellow tide. Then in juxtaposition to the topography stretching upwards were the plains. Like liquid these prairie grasslands Continue reading A Train to the City of Lumpias →