Three days,
Twenty-five HOT hours in six buses,
Two jeep rides,
One ferry ride,
Two sunrises greeted,
Two boxed breakfasts (AKA a hard boiled egg, a teeny tiny banana, and two pieces of bread with butter and chocolate sprinkles--seems to be an Indonesian thing),
Two craters/volcanoes hiked...

...And I've finally made it to BALI!!!

From Java island (west of Bali), there are two ways to get to Bali: fly or bus it. I opted to save money, pack in a few adventures en route and bus it to Bali. I chose the 3 day/2 night trip from Jogjakarta, stopping at Mt. Bromo and Ijen Crater along the way.

I ended up traveling with three other girls I had met in my hostel in Jogja--we all signed up for the trip, one after the other, without even realizing it. Safia from Bristol, UK; Carly from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Emily from Aussie. Safia and Emily headed straight to Bali after Bromo and Carly headed for Surabaya, another city in northern Java, but it was fun to be together and get to now everyone a bit better. We also met Marley, a Canadian from Toronto, Bude from Jakarta and Leonardo from Switzerland. There were lots of other people (mostly couples) on a few other buses (it's a popular way to get to Bali), but this was my little group of solo travelers. So many different cultures, languages and nationalities all traveling together--it's amazing--and it was great (and also a bit comforting) to see so many other girls traveling on their own.

Ever since arriving in Indonesia I have been dripping--just absolutely dripping--in sweat. But today, on the beautiful beach, was the first time I've been somewhere and it didn't matter--I have the blues of the sea to cool me down.