The reason to stay in Cipanas was to enjoy the hot springs. We decided to have another night of luxury and stayed in a lovely hotel where the showers were powered by the springs. I needed to get some money and use the internet so went off in search of them. According to the hotel it was only 15 minutes away. I think they meant by bus. I walked for about three quarters of an hour and could not find where they meant. People were calling out at me, like at the beac...

We did not have time to make it over to the main temples in Java, so we went to visit a little one to keep our temple spirit going. The temple, Candi Cangkuang, was close to a town called Garut where we could stay on later. The temple is on a small island and is the only Hindu temple to have been found in west Java. To get there you had to get a boat across- it was the strangest boat I have ever seen. It was basically bamboo poles tied together, it started off w...

The 6 hour drive down to the beach area was fabulous. We got to really see Indonesia and her landscape. Beautiful tiered paddy fields with dramatic mountains, palm trees and jungle forests decorated our view. Interesting all the houses had red tiled roofs, not matter what the walls were made of. They were also mainly bungalows, a stark contrast to Vietnam. The beach we were heading to, Pangandaran, is Java's finest beach resort and the native 'Bali'. Arriving th...

Leaving Jakarta we took a minibus that went directly to Bandung. The drive was stunning and we got to see some amazing scenary from tiered rice paddies to distant mountains. It dropped us off in the middle of nowhere in the 4th largest city of Indonesia, just as the heavens decided to open. After a quick consultation with the map we found a tourist information centre besides a shopping mall. We thought this would be the best place to head to as we could decide wh...

After experiencing travelling by myself, it was time to fly over to Indonesia to the island of Java to meet Rachel. It was a joy to meet a friend from home and catch up with the news. Also luckily for me Rachel had booked us into the Crowne Plaza which meant I had a night of pure luxury. Bliss. Jakarta is a massive sprawling capital and it is not easy to travel around without some form of public transport. We only stayed the night before heading off travelling. ...