I had no time to see around Jakarta but by all accounts I didn't miss anything. On the journey into town from the airport I was struck by the urban poverty and slum housing, on a scale I haven't witnessed anywhere else in Asia.

Five of the guys I'd travelled down from Bangkok with came with me and we were joined by some new people from Australia, Malta, Canada and England - all had travelled quite a bit already - Indonesia doesn't seem to be a first-time traveller's destination. Our new trip leader, Sally, is from Australia and her mother was visiting her in Indonesia for the first time and coming along on the trip too.

Sally took us to a fantastic restaurant with amazing decor based on the Prambanan temples which we will visit later in the trip. I had a huge platter of different Indonesian dishes. It was resonably priced though Sally said it was likely to be by far the most expensive meal we would have in Indonesia. However, with almost 17,000 Rupiah to the Pound, everything is in big numbers!

I was surprised to learn that Indonesia has the fourth highest population of any country in the world (after China, India and the US) with over 220 million people (about 130 million of which live on Java island alone, giving it a population denisty four times that of the UK). Apparently the government ran a campaign a few years back entitled 'Two Children is Enough'! Plus it has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, and Ramadan is about to start, which will be interesting...