May 20, 2011 -- Yogyakarta

DATE: Friday, May 20, 2011

LOCATION: Yogyakarta

AUTHOR: Mary Gayle and Dick Van Ingen

We arrived at 7:50 AM at the Friendship Force Office in Jogyakarta, leaving on our bus at 8:10AM. Topic of discussion: We had not seen a traffic accident or banged up cars in the last two weeks in spite of heavy rush-hour traffic. With us today was Sri Ndhadhari, Maria's host, whose name means "beautiful full moon." We learned there are seventeen districts in Bandung while Jogykarta has only five. There are nineteen high schools. School is free for grades 1-9 except for the International Standard Schools which cost from $175,000 - $300,000 rupiah per month for 10-12 months, depending on the school. The school day is from 7:00 AM - 1:00 PM through grade twelve. English is the first foreign language with the next most studied being Japanese and German.

In Klaten we visited the Gondang Sugar Factory, built in the 19th century, where sugar is processed from May through September. The plant is steam operated and was down for maintenance during our visit. We saw the huge chunks of wood that are used to fire the engines. In the tropics, wood tends to have no visible grain since there are no changes in season to promote the growth rings we are so familiar with. We rode the tourist train around the factory property and had the feeling we were the first to visit for quite a while since they had to move some empty train cars out of our way and later a car loaded with sugar cane in order for us to get by. In the background were the cane fields, and in the foreground hundreds of train cars loaded with cut cane ready to move to the plant for processing. We watched train cars being automatically loaded. It was very interesting to see the volume of cane in the loading area alone which would later be transported to the nearby factory.

Before we started the tour, we had yummy snacks and music in the headquarters building which is now a high-end hotel named the Gongdang Winangoen Home Stay. This solidly-built Dutch building had boldly-designed tile floors, a koi pond in the garden, a red flamboyant (it's real name) tree in bloom, and a fountain that was completely covered in Java Moss (seemed appropriate.) There were Vanda orchids and Microsorium steerii ferns in an old banyan tree out front.



The volume of sugar produced was staggering!



Of course, we also visited the Museum Gula (means sugar) which opened in 1982. In the past, Indonesia was the #2 exporter of sugar but is now the #2 importer with most of its sugar coming from Cuba. (There is currently a 6% to 9% recovery of sugar from the cane by weight whereas it used to be 15%.)  We learned that in 1950, rice became the main crop since it was worth more money per hectare than cane. At present there are eight sugar mills still operating. Sugar cane has a 7-9 month growing season. The plant is cut five times before the field is burned and the crop rotated.  There was an old-style sugar press on display in the yard as well as some old locomotives and huge gears.

In a recreation area on the same property was a fish spa where 7 people from our group let small fish nibble their feet. Sandy Hartley and Dick Van Ingen stayed with the fish while most went on to a tour of the old mill. At noon we all converged back at the hotel for lunch and more relaxing music with seating on the broad, cool porch. 

The cleanest feet in Indonesia :)

On the way home, we stopped at the Garuda Airline office so Nancy could check on our departure tickets, and at 7:00 PM we all descended on the Burham's lovely home, where Roger & JoAnn Gatlin were being hosted, for our farewell party. Yet another wonderful assortment of Indonesian delicacies, lots of pictures, entertainment by the Simba-Negari middle-school girls who had entertained us the day we visited their school, and some of our group provided a demo of the Virginia Reel, inviting Indonesians to join in. We were presented with individual certificates for having participated in the exchange, received numerous small gifts, said our teary good byes, and went home with our hosts to pack for departure.