I have rejoined society! Back on the mainland in Ampana after our week with no internet or phone connections, and catching an overnight bus to Palu this evening. I have to say the fare was very cheap and we caught a sight of the bus just now... we think it might be a rough 16 hours!

So Togean islands really was a little slice of paradise. We had a fantastic time! It was the first island group that I've REALLY enjoyed, i think because it is just so genuine and different from all the others. The focus is not on ridiculously expensive beer and partying like you're back home, but like living simply in an amazing place. Every day we woke up in a rustic hut on (literally ON) the beach, 5m from the sea. you pay 100,000 rupiah (6 pounds) a day for your accom (simple bucket showers and pit loos!), 3 meals a day, tea/coffee/snacks, all island transfers... and you need very little else! It wasn't resorty at all - we stayed in 2 places, 1 was the "social island" with 3 places to stay, not more than about 30 people on the island, the 2nd was a hostel on its own island, so it was just the family who run it and the 7 in our group. It was just great! We went on snorkelling trips, fished for out own dinner, swum in a lake with jellyfish that don't sting (one of the only places in the world where you can!), trekked to a bat cave and saw a wild reticulated python, the longest snake in the world, as well as an eagle that visited the second place we stayed regularly for a fish dinner! Plenty of time for chilling out and reading as well as activities. I did 2 dives, which were by far my best yet - just absolutely stunning underwater and was nice diving for fun, not as a beginner - and spotted some baby black tipped reef sharks. We had a big day yesterday. Whilst on the boat the driver spotted a rare school of dolphins. We followed, a couple of us dived under and actually saw them, swimming underwater in the wild. Really amazing, and cool to get away from what most other islands are like and really live like a local... and with Tom and I both very happy to find ourselves now well under budget!

So after a lovely week we are now faced with a couple of days of heavy travelling, although hopefully for me the last big heave, as road travel is quick in malaysia. We've got our bus tonight (apparently there's roadworks), a night in Palu. Then I say goodbye to Tom, and I'm back on my own! I've got a flight to Tarakan in Indonesian Borneo via Balikpapan, an overnight, then a quick border hop over to Tawau in Malaysian Borneo. This sounds like fun.