Driving from Yogyakarta to Jakarta

The situation in Yogyakarta was still the same as the previous day. Ashfall have already stopped but the whole city still needs to be cleaned up. It was the day we were supposed to fly back to Jakarta, but all flights have been cancelled due to the closure of 3 major airports in Indonesia including Yogyakarta Airport.

a becak driver in Malioboro

Yogyakarta and Jakarta belonged to the same island which meant we won't be stranded there and wait until the airport re-opens. We can actually travel via train, bus, or a private vehicle. The idea of taking a long train ride got us excited cause it's gonna be our first time to do that.

It was a Saturday and with the number of passengers stranded since Friday, there was a little chance we can get tickets to Jakarta. Still, we drove to the nearest train station to check out if there's still an available trip. We already prepared ourselves for the worst. True enough, the tickets being sold was already for Monday and Tuesday.

dusty becaks

We immediately left the train station and went to look for a travel agency around the city for our last option. Wisnu offered to drive us but it will be very expensive since we have to pay for his return trip so it really wasn't an option.

There are vans that normally ply the Yogyakarta-Jakarta route so we did not need to pay for the return trip. The van can accommodate 7 passengers but we decided to hire the entire car to make our trip comfortable in a way. It cost around 1200 each (in Philippine Peso) for the trip.

And so after our short city tour, we finally bade goodbye to Wisnu and waited for our driver that will pick us up at 1PM.

photo-op with Wisnu in front of Edu Hostel

Our driver (Yogya-Jakarta trip) was the craziest we've encountered. Smoking inside the van, overtaking in sharp curves, blowing his horn like there's no tomorrow, stopping in every mosque without informing us (not that I hate him for always praying) and over speeding to compensate for the lost time during stopovers.

first of the many stopovers

We didn't eat during the trip. The last meal we had was our take out food from Mcdonald's before we left Yogyakarta at 2PM. We couldn't sleep properly for fear of crashing into a truck or falling off the cliff. Waaaah. 

Average trip normally takes 12 hours but we arrived in Jakarta after 14 hours.

I just thank God we were still alive and without bruises or cuts.

Borobudur, we're still not done with you. WE SHALL RETURN.

P.S.
Should you wish to avail of Wisnu's services, here's his website:

http://tourdriveryogya.com/