Hello!!

3rd attempt at writing this blog!! the last two efforts have simply disappeared into offexploring space!! bloody website!

Anyway, we woke at 4am to catch our moped ride to the beach for our fishing expedition in Lovina. Our skipper and his mate drove like mad men to the beach where we boarded our local fishing boat, and proceeded to spend 4 hours catching nothing but a bit of sun burn. The trip wasn't a complete wash out as we saw loads of dolphins swimming by the side of the boat, presumably eating the tuna we were trying to catch! b*****s! ha

So the following morning we were collected from our lovely guesthouse by a less than interested local man in his very local truck. We sat in this death trap of a vehilce for nearly two hours sweating profusely, and travelling at a teeth shattering velocity. The fact that the suspension on the truck was shot to peices gave the ride an added kick and made the potholed road an even greater thrill than usual! We were very gald to reach the ferry terminal for Java where we changed vechiles and jumped into an air conditioned bus, however the bus driver, was on some sort of mission. The bloke drove like a blind formula one driver, over taking on blind corners and slamming on the brakes every five minutes. Even the locals seemed scared however when anyone tried to get out of their seat to have a word they went flying due to the buses speed! Not the most enjoyable of rides, however we some how managed to arrive in Yogyakarta in one piece.

Yogykarta is a large, dirty, polluted city however the locals were very friendly and seemed very pleased to see and talk to us. We visited the Sultans Palace, where the man still resides. This was not the most interesting of stops as all there was to see were photos and the odd family tree and even the locals seemed more interested in taking photos of us, with one man proceeding to film me for a few minutes. We get lots of stares over here and everyone shouts out and waves at us. It's a bit surreal really, but i suppose we look pretty odd to these guys.

Whilst touring the city we were helped by a local man to cross the road. We ended up chatting and it transpired that the place we were heading was actually where he worked. I thought he was lying, however i think he did actually work at the art centre. He took us in and showed us the local students creating Batik art. The process was amazing, the artists are so highly skilled, we were impressed and decided to purchase a couple of pieces for oursleves.

The next day we were up at the same time as the morning Muslim Prayer call, around 4am, ready to head to Borobudur and Pranbanan, the famous temple sites in Java. Borobudur, a large Budhist Temple, was built in the early part of the 9th century AD, however following the decline of Buddhism in Java Borobudur was abadoned, and covered in volcanic ash following an eruption in 1006. It was only rediscovered in 1814 by the then British governer, Raffles - Thanks Lonely planet!! It was an amazing site at sunrise!!

Prabanan, is the grandest Hindu temple complex in Java and features some 50 temple sites. Built around the same time as Borobudur this temple suffered huge damage following an earthquake in 2006 and is still being actively rebuilt.

So following our tour of the temples we decided to indulge ourselves in some local cuisine from a road side stall! This was nearly Bolivia all over again, as my guts went mental and i was in need of rest, recupertion and a toilet for the next two days!

We travelled from Yogyakarta to Semarang on the train this time as bus trips are now only a last resort! The train ride was ok, we were in with the locals on some pretty dirty trains but the trip was quite a plesant experience, sitting their and chatting to a few characters. Semarang, is a large city, and only really a resting point on route to Boreno. Next stop Kalimantan, to go and see our orange cousins in the wild!! Can't wait!!

Hope everyones good?! Speak to you all soon.

Love

Jon and Kate xxxxxxxxxxxx