My first time in Indonesia, I took a trip to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. It's the whole of Indonesia in a park. There are small pavilions, one for each province of the country. I was here in April the first time and it was a weekday to boot. The place was fairly deserted and I had it much to myself. Now it's summer holidays and there are kids out of school. It was also a Sunday this time when I went.
But it was much different this time. Before it was deserted...
...and this time there were lots of people.
This time there were boats on the lake in the park. Last time I came, there was a big wall mural that some workmen were re-facing.
This time it was done.
This time around, although there were some cultural things going on, including some kind of competition, I had come more for the museums that are also on the park.
There was one in particular that I wanted to see, the Komodo Museum. In this 'museum' there were supposed to be some Komodo Dragons. I had previously seen some nice specimens at the zoo, but I thought I would see if the ones here were as interesting. Well it was only one, but he (or she) was quite active.
I didn't know Komodos had such long tongues.
Other exhibits in the Komodo area included a couple of saltwater crocodiles.
Then there was what I am sure will be an object lesson to a child someday soon. I wish I had been the one to watch one of these little guys succumb to the laws of nature and kill or be killed. Alas, the best I was one of the chicks step on the snake and the snake strike at it. But I don't think it bit it. At least, it didn't die at that time, and it was still in the cage later, alive and well.
Then there were the AMAZING, TAME PYTHONS!!!! That was the sign talking. There were two of them out with handlers. This one was 4 meters long, I was told.
I don't know how long this one was, but before I knew it...
… I was getting up close and personal with the python. It was quite strong.
Then I went into the museum building itself. There were a series of dioramas that contained a lot of the fauna of Indonesia. And it was all explained in English. Sort of. Oh, I see... That makes perfect sense.
Another place I was told to visit as it was so interesting was the Bird Park. So I went over there and went in. I was immediately accosted by the handlers just inside the entrance, who pressed a bunch of birds on me and took my photo.
I passed on this bird of prey. He was giving me the evil eye, like he would happily rip my throat out and eat it while I was gasping my final breaths.
In the bird park they have two large sets of domes where lots of birds roam free. I saw a peacock doing the peacock thing. I don't remember ever seeing a peacock spread it's feathers before. I even watched as it went through the process. It's quite a performance.
In the second dome, there were reputed to be some birds of paradise, but I guess they are away. I had to settle for this parrot.
Then I still had a bit of time before everything started shutting down, so I thought I would go and visit the transportation museum. I figured there would be plenty of time to see it. The two animals spots had cost about a dollar a piece, and the transportation was only 20 cents. I figured it would be small and easy to manage. Then I walked in. It was absolutely huge. They had laid out a great area to show the development of transportation in Indonesia. The first spot was at the top of the bowl they had built for the museum. It contained a retired DC-9 jet that had been flown by Garuda Airlines. I wasn't allowed inside, as it was closing, but that was all right.
Nearby there was a helicopter. 
On the other side of the entrance were some trains that had been used to transport the Indonesian president and vice president to the new seat of government in Yogyakarta when the Dutch (?) tried to reclaim control of the colony.
Then down the hill is where the really amazing part of it all was stored. There were three or four large buildings housing everything from toy trains and planes to the outfits worn by the people who worked for the transportation companies.
But outside there was a full-sized train set. A set of tracks went around in a circle about 400 meters in diameter
There was even a train station.
In the back there were retired locomotives.
Around the tracks there were a couple of switching points where trains could be diverted.
There was even a tunnel, that went under the entrance to the museum grounds. I wonder if they ever sent trains around the tracks at any time.
In the middle of the museum grounds there was a lagoon (unfortunately empty of water) with a ship at dock.
The Transportation Museum was amazing and I wish I had had more time to investigate it. I wouldn't have had much that I could understand as very little was explained in English, but it was a massive area that was quite well laid out and certainly was worth the price of admission.
After finishing with the transportation area, I headed back to my accommodation and made ready to get out of town. I have my new ATM card, I will protect it better from mishap and it is time to get on with getting on with my trip.
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