We would soon be leaving monkey world and entering marsupial world, the Wallace Line, another border to cross!
Before then, 2 more train journeys and some very comfortable accommodation!
Surabaya
Another delightful and comfortable train journey to Surabaya. Here we stayed at the Majahapit hotel (at the insistence of The Man in seat 61!) he writes:
Surabaya: The Majapahit Hotel
In Surabaya, the place to stay is the historic Majapahit Hotel. Don't argue, trust me on this. I'll give you three reasons.
First, it's easily the best place in town, a true oasis amongst the tower blocks with elegant suites opening onto colonnades surrounding gardens with fountains. They simply don't make hotels like this any more. Great staff, two great restaurants, free WiFi, spa, and a good swimming pool.
Second, this old-world charm is no accident, this is no ordinary hotel. It's a genuine Sarkies Brothers hotel like Raffles in Singapore, the E&O in Penang and the Strand in Rangoon, opened in 1911 as the Hotel Oranje by Lucas Martin Sarkies, son of Martin Sarkies, co-founder of Raffles. But Raffles costs upwards of £400 a night, a similar suite at the Majapahit can be yours for £80. Like I said, don't argue, even if you're on a budget, splurge here.
And there's a third reason. There is major Indonesian history here - the Flag Incident of September 1945 is a key event in the history of Indonesian independence and it occurred right here at the Hotel Majapahit (at that period called the Hotel Yamato) in Room 33 and on the left-hand lobby flag tower, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Surabaya. I couldn't resist staying in a bit of history - on our way back through Surabaya I contacted the hotel and upgraded our room to the Merdeka Suite, the famous Room 33. Though I still don't know if Dutchman W.V.Ch.Ploegman met his end inside or outside that room. The Sarkies Suite next door (room 32) is the room that was reserved for the Sarkies family when they stayed.
Another delight, if a little colonial! We didn't upgrade to a suite!
The Flag incident:
Val's abbreviated History :After WW2 the Japanese left Indonesia, the Dutch and English met at this hotel in secret in order to plan its recolonisation. Indonesian militants were incensed when the Dutch flag was raised over the hotel. They stormed the flag tower and tore off the blue section of the flag, leaving the red and white, the Indonesian Flag.
This was a pivotal moment in Indonesian independence. The British response, in my opinion, not our finest moment.
We were nearing the end of our travels and as many of the tourist attractions were still closed post pandemic we didn’t venture a long way from the hotel. We enjoyed the wonderful pool, had a guided tour of the hotel and took high tea!
Indonesia's largest shopping mall was close to the hotel and air conditioned so it seemed worth a visit. So strange to hear the Christmas music Oh come oh come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel playing through the sound system. it was perhaps the only place we visited in Indonesia that was not crowded; prices far too high for most? Or too many husbands! Saw this sign in the mall
We also spent far longer than we intended as were totally lost. We could travel across the world but we’re unable to navigate out of a shopping mall!
Great coffee shops in Java, we took our time to sample them!
The next morning a 4.30 am start to catch the early train to the Bali ferry at Ketapang. No executive carriages on this train! 
Well used by the locals and personal space was quite limited. Plenty of smiles and wonderful scenery. We really should have built time in our itinerary to visit Mt Bromo: next time....
For the first part of the 7 hour journey we shared our carriage with extended families. I mused how much we in the west “hover over our little ones”. These young children wandered the train, jumping onto the platform (with all the smokers) at each station. Do they have more injuries than UK children?
For the last half of the journey we shared the carriage with a group of young people. Opposite us, at knee touching distance, was their chosen make up artist. He polished, pasted and painted the group with much giggling and a liberal sprinkling of the make up over the surrounding passengers! Men were transformed into lady boys, hair extensions brushed, fitted and flicked! This was a huge test of our acceptance of another culture/generation...”its just not the way we do things” !! Everyone else was looking on with a smile, we tried very hard not to be grumpy!
A tuk tuk ride to the ferry, and we were Bali bound. The safety sign made me smile as a barefooted porter carried my rucksack onto the ferry via the car deck, and as the local youth swam by the side of the departing ferry diving for money that passengers tossed into the sea.
The exhaust from the funnel probably negated all our Co2 savings of the past 2 months!
The crossing is about 45 mins. and clocks go forward an hour but the culture change is huge! The most “Western” place we had visited since leaving Europe; Australia on holiday!
Bali, of course has its own unique culture and beauty. Tourism is big business, but our driver (we had booked a car to take us to Ulluwatu, no trains on Bali, all road transport, with one major road) told us how difficult it is for local people as the tourism pushes up the prices.
We had visited Bali before, so headed straight to our hotel, Mu Bungalows, recommended by my cousin a bit of a treat (yes another!) to celebrate the end of our overland journey.
2 days of reading, swimming, monkey watching, shopping, reflecting.
Grateful for so many things. Excited to see the family one last short flight, across the Wallace Line, to Australia.
We arrived in Darwin in the middle of the night (seems midnight -2am is Darwin airports rush hour) An excited Charlotte bounded into our room at daybreak, she remembers us!
Not long before Lyra was also at ease with us, a big help when cleaning the car! 
This featured blog entry was written by Valfowles from the blog Granny on the rails ( Part 3).
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