We flew to Bandung airport in Java for the second half of our Indonesian adventure. Since we had heard only bad things about Jakarta we knew we didn't want to go there if possible. The guide book recommends a homestay in a town called Cianjur. I normally Tripadvisor a place to death before I agree to stay there but this place wasn't on Tripadvisor. However, the description looked good so I decided to risk it.

Getting there was very interesting. We had chosen the public transport option to save a bit of cash. This involved getting on a decrepit looking bus for what we had been told would be 2 hours. The bus was quite empty when we got on which was great. However, we crawled along the main road for the first hour of our journey (which turned out to be 4 hours not 2!) picking up passengers along the way. When I was sure they couldn't fit anymore in, as they were all standing down the aisles, they stopped a few more times and let loads more in! Every now and then buskers would hop on and sing a song with their guitar and ask for money. Some of them were good, others really couldn't sing in tune! The bus drivers here are something else. They weave in and out of traffic as if they were driving sports cars and overtaking is horrendous to watch. Basically everything else moves out of the way of the bus! Since there were no official bus stops, we had no idea where or when to get off the bus and started to panic when we realised nobody spoke English. It was now dark and we became convinced that we had missed our stop. Bryan somehow managed to communicate with the woman sat next to him by pointing to the address on my phone and using a variety of hand gestures. We hadn't missed our stop, it was just an incredibly long bus journey!

Tired and weary we eventually made ir to the homestay by the evening. We were welcomed by Yudi, the owner, and his sister who promptly brought out mugs of green tea and dinner. Having not eaten all day there was no better sight than a substantial home cooked meal, even if it was quite simple. There was a Swiss couple there too who we chatted to while we stuffed our faces. After we had finished, Yudi offered us a lift to our accommodation. This was a little confusing as we were under the impression it was a homestay. We got in a minivan taxi and were driven 5 minutes across town where two little bamboo bungalows were. I was a little uneasy about this given our last experience in a bamboo bungalow (mosquitos and cat poo), however, this was totally different. It was spotlessly clean, hot water showers, wifi in the bungalow, a drinking water dispenser, and they had even done as much as possible to get rid of mosquitoes. They sprayed the room before we went in, there was a mosquito tablet plugged in and free sachets of repellant. Just to make doubly sure, I still slept under my mosquito net. We spent the rest of the evening chatting to our Swiss neighbours and swapping travel stories and advice before getting an early night. It was odd hearing the wildlife outside, a bit like camping, but you get used to it. What does take some getting used to is the call to prayer at 4.30am. I've heard this many times before in Pakistan but from our bungalow there was a chorus of about 5 of them from all the mosques in the area. It was very loud!

We woke up the next morning with a traditional breakfast on our balcony and an amazing view overlooking some rice paddies with the volcano, Mt Gede, in the background. We had a power cut in our area so the family took us back to their house for a shower. This is when we found out that all transportation from now on would be on the back of their motorcycles!

In the morning we decided to have a wonder around the compound. This was most definitely an experience! It was almost like we were celebrities. The people of Cianjur are really not used to seeing westerners, Yudi's place is the only tourist connection in the whole city. Everywhere we walked people smiled at us, said hello, stared at us, or stole quick glances when they thought we weren't looking! Groups of children would look at us and giggle until the bravest one shouted "hello" which prompted them all to shout "hello" repeatedly and then "hey bule". Bule means westerner. Sometimes they even followed us or chased us when we were on the motorcycles!

After an early home cooked lunch we decided to go on one of the homestay tours to a place called the floating village, about an hour outside of Cianjur. It was nice because it was our own personal guided tour done by one of Yudi's friends, Ankang. Again we were driven there on motorcycles, me on the back of Ankang's bike. He's a very tiny man and I was worried when I got on the back that he wouldn't be able to keep the balance with my weight! Somehow he managed though. The floating village is basically a fish farm. It consists of lots of little huts quite literally floating on the river by using barrels and polystyrene blocks. We took a little boat and had a tour around the village. We visited one man's fish farm where we learned how the farming works. Here, I did the unthinkable....I actually put my feet in the water with hundreds of flesh eating fish!!......

....They were only those horrible little fish that are used for pedicures, but still, for those who know me that is overcoming a major fear. It was incredibly ticklish and a bit gross but I managed it. We all sat there with our legs dangling in the water being nibbled by fish while we chatted to Ankang and swapped stories about his life and our lives. As part of our tour we also went to the nearby cocoa plantation where they picked the fruit from the trees and gave to us to try. Not knowing exactly what to do, both Bryan and I put the cocoa beans into our mouths and started chewing. It was a horrible taste but we kept chewing and smiling to be polite; that was until Ankang told us we were only supposed to suck the sweet flesh on the outside and then spit them out! We both immediately spat out our mouthfuls and tried it again - much better!

By the time we got back for dinner, a new guest, Emilie, had arrived to replace the Swiss couple. She was a little bewildered and confused as she was travelling on her own and had attempted the crazy public transport option like we had. Bryan and I had gotten so used to having 3 home cooked meals a day (Bryan had more like 5 a day if you factor in second helpings) and we were enjoying the local atmosphere so much we decided to stay 3 nights instead of 2.

There were many excursions available that were put on by the homestay but we decided it would be too pricey to do another. We had wanted to climb Mt Gede. That would have ticked something off my bucket list - Climb an active volcano and see sunrise from the top. However, after thinking long and hard about it we decided I may not be fit enough to make it to the top and back. Apparently it's a very steep 6 hour hike up and then 6 hours back down. All with no sleep as we would start at 11pm. It cost way too much money to risk not being able to do it. It's made me realise somehow I need to seriously improve my fitness levels before the Inca trek.

Instead of an excursion we decided to go to the city centre to have a look around. Yudi's son offered us a lift in his truck as he was going that way anyway. On the way he stopped off to pick up a giant painting wrapped in newspaper and put it in the back of the pick up truck. However, halfway to town it started raining so we had to pull over and haul the painting to shelter and wait for the rain to pass! In the city we got more stares and points and hey bules. Bryan got the bulk of the attention, being blonde and fair he stood out like a sore thumb! It had a very bustley market and a big mosque but apart from that there wasn't much else to see. We went to the supermarket to get some supplies that were running low and to stock up for our train journey the next day. The female shop assistants here seemed to have taken quite a fancy to Bryan. Every aisle he went down they seemed to be there giggling and looking at him!

Our final night at the homestay was really nice. Two more guests turned up and another of Yudi's helpers, Hendri. He is a uni student and helps out at weekends to improve his English. We all chatted while we waited for dinner, then after dinner Hendri got out his guitar and we all sang songs until bedtime. They even managed to get me to play a song. Since Bryan and I had to leave at 5am in the morning, Yudi kindly offered for us to move into one of the guest rooms in his house as it would be easier to catch the bus from there. Also, Bryan could watch the football on his tv. As this would have left Emilie on her own she also moved into the house.

We both really enjoyed the homestay, it was exactly what we were looking for from our travels - culture and a taste of life how the locals live, and we definitely enjoyed having 3 meals a day! It's a shame there aren't more places like it.

PS photos added of Cianjur and also album 9 - Ubud. Sorry it's out of order, technical problems!