WARNING: If you are a dog/cat lover I recommend you do NOT read any further; unless getting a genuine glimpse of the 'Macabre Market' in Tomohon, Indonesia is of cultural interest. To put it in context - the Minahasa tribes here in Indonesia have a reputation for 'eating everything with 4 legs, apart from the table and chairs'. In addition much of Indonesia (Bali included!) has streets full of feral cats and flea-covered wild dogs, these dogs run in packs and are...

Sulawesi is a place where we have been a close witness to all aspects of death. From the sacrificing, slaughtering and butchering of animals to the unusual and lengthy funerary arrangements and the frankly weird burial and post-burial practices.Sulawesi was not even on my radar and before this trip and I would not have been able to place it on a world map. It is a large tentacled island east of Borneo, north of Bali and a popular tourist destination in Indonesia....

We spent about a month in Bali, a bit earlier in the year than last year. This meant the weather was more prone to tropical showers and thunderstorms and the temperature was never below 30 degrees. With that heat, what could we do but sit at our favourite beach side cafe Rosetta's listening to the gentle sound of the waves lapping the shore, feeling the cool of the breeze and sipping cold diet cokes accompanied by shrimp crackers.We would be in Bali for their new...

Lombok is the next island along, east of Bali. We chose to stay at Senggigi a beach resort on the north west coast. We were glad of a nice hotel in Senggigi. We stayed at Bumi Aditya with air conditioning, hot shower and swimming pool - luxury at £17.50 a night including breakfast. Senggigi was not too exciting, some nice restaurants but no real culture or atmosphere about the place. The beach was also uninspiring and uninviting. We hired a scooter from the hote...

We boarded the boat at 5.30pm for the welcome party/farewell party for the people departing at Labuan Bajo, Flores. The boat trip is nomally a 5 day one starting from Lombok, but we were on the return leg only (3 nights 2 days). It was 2 million Rupiah each full board. Millionaires at last! We were shown to our cabin a cozy little room with a double bed with a single bunk bed above it. The room had a window with two small sliding panels. The toilet facilities wer...