When i accepted an offer to have temporary assignment to Australia, Perth was my top-destination list to travel during my stay. Why Perth?

Only one reason, i want to visit Ajahn Brahm in Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine. I’ve read some of his books and inspired by his teachings. People think that i am very religious that i travel all the way for 3 hours flight from Melbourne just want to visit a monastery. Believe me, i am not.

Honestly, i believe that my permanent occupation is not an employee in a company, but a traveller. I’ve been travelling a lot, from one village to village, country to country, and continent to another continent. Then, i realised that travelling is not always going to tourist area and capture a lot of breathtaking pictures. Sometimes, its just following your own stream.

I landed on Perth on April 29th during this year Good Friday. That was my first time to travel alone and i was hoping that a journey start in Good Friday will have a good ending.

From my conversation with taxi driver, i knew that to reach Serpentine, i need to take a regional train that ended up in Bunburry. After reaching the hotel, i googled all the details i need. For you that confuse on how to travel, start with Uncle Google. You’ll find everything you need there. I believe that if google do not find the information, it means that it doesn’t exist.

To reach Bodhinyana Monastery, you need to book a train ticket in advance (via www.transwa.wa.gov.au). The train only stop in Serpentine if you book in advance. There is only 2 schedules for Bunburry line, one in the morning and one in the evening. I took 09.30 train from Perth City to Serpentine, and 16.15 train from Serpentine to Perth City. If i miss one of those schedule, i am screw.

Unfortunately, i couldn’t find anything from Serpentine stop to Kingsburry Drive. So, innocently i booked a taxi which according to the taxi fare calculator, it will cost me $33. I thought its better then nothing. If the taxi do not show up, i need to walk at least 9 km to reach Bodhinyana Monastery, and please don’t forget another 9 km to go back.

After the plan finalised, i decided to take a walk around the Perth CBD. It was very quite time in there. I only saw a few people in the street and apparently they were tourists, same like me. I enjoyed it though.

Langley Park

      Hay St

    Quiet Perth

After a while, because of the time difference and long flight, i felt like walking zombie and better to go back to hotel and rest. I already fell asleep on 21.00, or midnight according Melbourne time.

First surprise around the trip already happened in the first day. I woke up on 22.00, just one hour after my beauty sleep, because i heard some hard explosive sounds. Woke up in such condition is never a good thing.

        Easter Firework

I really thought that there was a bomb or something. I looked up to the window and i saw fireworks!! I remember how disappointed i was when i didn’t see any fireworks on New Year’s eve. And suddenly i’ve got two amazing fireworks. One in Sydney during Australia Day, and this was the second. After enjoyed it for 10 minutes, i went back to sleep.

In the next day, i woke up early on purpose to have breakfast outside before catch the train. Based on the schedule, it takes around 45 minutes to reach Serpentine. During the journey, i checked the taxi status, and the website said they already dispatched a taxi.

After the train took off, i observed the scenery outside the window. That was really a regional train. I saw that i passed suburbs and villages. I was kind of worried that i would be ended up in very quiet village with very less population inside. And, it was so true.

I reached Serpentine, walked out the train, and Serpentine is just a stop. In front of the stop, i only found a butcher. It was really not looking good. Then, i tried to walk to the address that i gave to the taxi website and found nothing. I tried to call the taxi hotline, no one answer. I tried to call the monastery, no one answer. Well, the worst case apparently came this time.

to be continued to part b..