September 29th, Nils' birthday party couldn't be celebrated anywhere better than in Kuta, Bali's infamous party capital filled with drunk Australian youngsters drinking and surfing 24/7. Not the most cultural city in Indonesia but anyway a good place to celebrate. Gerrita flew in from the Netherlands to spend some weeks in Indonesia with us so all one happy family.

After recovering from an eventful birthday party (where Nils almost lost his third phone this trip to the local Kuta street gang) we decided to do some sightseeing around Bali (yes, Bali is more than just Kuta beach). We were invited to a coffee plantation where we tried some tasty Luak coffee (basically they feed coffee beans to a possum lookalike creature, wait for the animal to s*** the beans out and brew the coffee from the leftovers… apparently very expensive around the world). Driving around Bali on some motorbikes we came across amazing temples, rice fields, waterfalls and the Bali Police Department… While driving the Balinese highway on the way to Sanur we were pulled over by the hardworking men in police uniforms directing all tourists to the side of the road. Obviously we all had to pay a hefty fine (250.000 rupiah each) in order to continue our journey because of having an invalid driving license (or in Nils' case no license at all). Actually it does not really matter if you have a valid license or not, if it's not your license there could be something wrong with the helmet you are wearing, the bike's registration certificate or you are wearing the wrong sunglasses…

After some great days of exploring, laying by the pool and drinking a few too many Bintang I left the two lovebirds alone and took a ferry to the Gili Islands. Started off on romantic Gili Air for some scuba diving, stayed a day on Gili Meno admiring the empty beaches and was joined by Nils and Gerrita again on Gili T(rawangen) for a party or two. The three Gili islands are incredible snorkeling hotspots as you do not have to go far out to see all the multi-colored fishes, corals and massive turtles.

While Nils and Gerrita spend some more days on the Gili's I left for Lombok to extend my Indonesian visa (one month is just not enough for this immense country). While waiting for an Indonesian official to stamp your passport you can either wait three days in Lombok's capital Mataram with absolutely nothing to do or head for Lombok's south coast to explore all the beautiful bays it has to offer… the decision was not that difficult. The main town on Lombok's south coastline is Kuta, not to be confused with Kuta Bali as in Kuta Lombok there are no such things as McDonalds, nightlife or annoying people trying to sell you sunglasses, shirts and other stuff you don't need. No, South Lombok is filled with some of Indonesia's best beaches, best discovered by motorbike. You just follow the coast and find some of the most amazing bays with literally zero tourists on these beaches.

After I got my passport back (which was of course not yet stamped after three days, this happens during pick-up…) and Nils said goodbye to Gerrita we both met again in Labuanbajo. Labuanbajo is situated on Flores' west coast and is known as the main gateway to Komodo National Park. Of course we did not fly all the way to this part of Indonesia to see the Komodo dragons, which to us looked like some big lazy lizards, but to do some world class diving. During the six dives we did in the park, by far the best diving so far, we saw literally everything we came for: White tip and Grey reefsharks, Manta rays, Devil rays, turtles, schools of dolphins, octopus, sea snakes, huge fishes like tuna and barracuda and some of the most beautiful coral gardens yet.

After spending another week on Bali, recovering from our adventures, and releasing some baby turtles into the ocean, the Brothers on Tour went different directions. Nils flew to Darwin, Australia, trying to earn some much needed Australian Dollars while Sven decided his time in Asia was not over yet.

I decided to fly to Sumatra where, after some short stops in Padang and Bukkitthingi, I relaxed on Samosir Island, situated on Lake Toba, which is the largest island situated on a lake in the world. After a long nightbus and a boat to this beautiful island I followed a crazy American with a machete into the jungle exploring a waterfall.. not the best idea after a 12 hour night bus with non-stop karaoke music.. Samosir was an amazing experience; discovered the island by motorbike on probably the worst road conditions I have seen so far and partied with the few backpackers that actually take the time to visit this amazing part of Indonesia.

After joining up with a nice group of backpackers we all decided to head for Pulau Weh, but not after a stop in Bukit Lawang, famous for the many orangutans inhabiting the Sumatran jungle. After some quick snapshots of the monkeys another night bus to Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh province. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia with their own set of laws and regulations; Sharia law is more important than the rules set by the government in Jakarta. It didn't take long before we encountered the local guidelines as our taxi driver on the way towards the Ferry to Pulau Weh Island, explained the girls in our group that their dresscode was highly inappropriate for this part of Indonesia…

Pulau Weh, being the most touristic spot in Aceh province, has a somewhat less strict form of Sharia-dresscode as girls are allowed to enter the water in their bikinis.. Not bad considering this island has some outstanding beaches and snorkeling spots. Forget to have a drink after a day of snorkeling though, alcohol is only sold in the form of very expensive Bintang cans and the local Banana Brandy, which is smuggled in by small boats at night, is very hard to find.

For the last few days I have been diving the many dive sites around Pulau Weh; the most inexpensive diving yet as 2 dives including lunch are rated at €32,-. So besides the good backpacker company on the island not a bad reason to stay at least a few more days!