Road Trip

In mid-March 2003, I moved from Surabaya to Bandung.

I went to Bandung with 'Argo Willis' daylight, air-conditioned express train. This is the only air-conditioned train that went on this route on daytime.

Somewhat, this is the first time for me that I travel on Javanese's Southern line on daylight since 1996 (back then my trip ended in Yogyakarta).

The trip generally went faultless. And, frankly, the service is much satisfactory than the 'Turangga' overnight express train, that I usually used when I went to Bandung.

More than that, the stewardeses are prettier than those on 'Turangga'. ( : - D ) I already spot them before I board the train, and they looked too pretty for East Javanese. Somewhat, this factor is adding the comfort of the journey. But sorry, I don't have their picture on my website.......

And the trip has some variety in climate: it was hot and sunny when I depart from Surabaya, then it goes rainy in central Java. But when the train arrived in Yogyakarta, it was sunny again. And when the train reached the mountain in West Java, it was rainy all the way to Bandung.

But on final note, I rate the journey as impressive.

And the photos in this gallery will show you the rest of the story.

	This person is selling vegetable rice with spicy peanut sauce (yumm!), a local delicacy of Madiun. While other person is selling a candy which is made of extract from fermented rice and This shot was taken when the train is making a stop over at Madiun.
	A CC201 locomotive is waiting in front of the old facade of Railway Factory. The small office in front of the loco is a railway police office. Err..that mean if you're trying to steal this loco, the police will quickly arrest you. Or if you hijack a train, the police will chase after you with this loco!!! (just joking : )
	The train is waiting for another train to pass, in one country station in Central Java. Note: the red loco is partially visible in the background, behind the left signal pole.
	Now the train entered the station emplacement. The loco turned out to be a CC201 (with long hood leading).
	This railway line is the mainline that goes from Kroya to Purwokerto. It is used by most express trains that goes from Yogyakarta and Surakarta to Jakarta. The line will eventually joined the noth coast line in Cirebon. Despite its importance, the line has an appearance of a branchline: after this, the railway line goes straight into the trees and villages in the background, not to the clearing on the left of the picture.