Editor Pick
Bladok Losmen
- May 19, 2002
- Rated 4 of 5 by
uncoding from San Francisco, California
Sitting for a bite to eat at the Bladok Losmen is good for people watching among the buzzing becaks. Horse carts pass, too. When I had the stuffed potatoes after three weeks of a lean diet* among the orangutans in Borneo, I raved about them for days, then tried them again after filling up on mee goreng, pizza and thin Indonesian steaks and ‘just liked them’ as I do back home. Try them anyway. The Indonesian dishes are excellent with elegant presentations, though more expensive than some of the ‘good’ places nearby, like New Superman.
Bladok Losmen offers affordable glamour with a pool, surrounded by sculpted ornaments of Indonesia, perfectly fit in the back. It’s popular with those who have a little style- including backpackers who bathe before meals.
Rooms are very comfortable with nice coverlets and shades for windows and modern bath and the restaurant has the best Western food on the strip with a fine casual décor to match. The staff is friendly and accomodating.
The singles were often sold out- in the summer before 9/11- and reservations kept them sold out. Please practice the backpacker’s noblesse oblige and DO NOT make reservations so there will single rooms available for last minute arrivals. Those singles will run you US$5-6, and deluxe rooms maybe US$9-12.
After spending a couple days in the alleys of the Jalan Sosrowijayan area of Yogyakarta, I found the district and the streets beyond along Jalan Malioboro to the kraton to be Ubud meets Khao San Road. That means backpackers and those who break a sweat only when shopping can be found among the low-budget accomodation along this busy street. Tours can be booked on this Jalan Sosrowijayan and the 10PM Music Pub just an alley away.
*Including tempeh- what the hell is that?- for a couple meals.
From journal The Temples & Volcanos of Java