Labuan Bajo 14th May 2009

After 26 hours of traveling, that included: 2 Buses, 2 Ferries (one over 9 hours) and a gruelling 12 hour delay at the grim port town of Sape, we eventually arrived under the shadow of darkness (5am) on the tip of Flores. A rustic harbour town, where we recuperated and planned our onward journey.

Komodo National Park (The Islands of Rinca & Komodo) - 15th & 16th May

We boarded our Charted boat with 2 crew and headed off into the waters of the Archepelago. The waveless (and at times even rippleless) water and distant island vistas made it feel more like a lake than an ocean. Our first stop Rinca is perhaps less famous than its neigbour Komodo, but what it lacked in fame was made up for in its rugged prehistoric landscape - bracken, palm tress and treeless hills. Our guide (a 16 year old skinny student armed with a stick) was our protection from any potential man-killing 2 metre Dragons. Our Dragon hunt was not only successful in spotting 5 or 6 Komodo Dragons (most of them sleeping behind the kitchen) but we also saw Water Buffalo. Although most dragons were very docile, Claire was shocked to find two charging towards her as she left the toilet and was delighted to see the 16 year appear to the rescue.

We spent the rest of the day on deck sailing on to Komodo being fed amazing food.

In the evening we anchored up just off Komodo, where Fruit Bats emerged from their caves and streaked across the amazing sunset in their hundreds. We slept on deck.

Komodo was a similar affair to Rinca but this time we also spotted a baby Dragon - which was hiding up at the top of a palm tree to escape from its cannibalistic parents. On the way back we anchored at 'Pink Beach' for a spot of snorkelling. What a treat, a stunning kaleidoscope of coloured corals, giant blue starfish and all sorts of fish in all shapes and colours.

Our boat, flanked by flying fish, headed onto our next destination Seraya.

Seraya Island - 16th 17th 18th May 2009

A beautiful paradise island of 10 bungalows, 1 simple food shack, 2 hours a day of Fresh water and 3 hours of electricity was our home for the next 3 days. With little to do each day we had plenty of time to swim, snorkel and sunbathe. We we very sucessful in all three: morning swims before breakfast, spotting Stingrays, a Turtle, sea snakes, Pipefish, Pufferfish and many more, and last but not least became at least 2 tones darker (and that is not because we only had 2 hours of water). Simon also became backgommon King of the Island!

Trip to Kelimutu - 19th May 2009

A quick boat to Labuan Bajo and we were on our way across Flores to Kelimutu's 3 different coloured crater lakes on the east of the island. 2 hours of hairpin bends, terrible roads and steep hills and disaster struck...... 1/2 of Simons top Molar tooth inexplicably fell out. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no Denists for miles we were forced to head back along the 2 hours of hairpin bends, terrible roads and steep hills to arrange a flight back to Denpasar. The icing on the cake was that our accommodation for the night was full of bedbugs which gave us bites from head to toe! Lovely!

Legian - 20th May 2008

After carefully choosing a 'tourist friendly English speaking Dentist', Simon had a rather nasty experince with a non-friendly and non-english speaking 'Dentist' who managed not to notice half a tooth missing and instead prescribed some medicine at an eye watering price. A few choice words later, we managed to point out the reason we had come, only to recieve an equally expensive temporary filling and were told to return in 3 days.

After a day to unwind at the huge beach and tourist central of Bali, we moved on to Ubud.

Ubud - 22nd May 2009

Ubud - a delightful collection of little villages linked and interwoven with rice terraces - is the artistic capital of Bali. Fearful of returning to the previous dentist we managed to find a local dentist (who was very professional) who gave Simon a new permanent (and reasonably priced) filling (be it without any anaesthetic!). Now able to use both sides of his mouth again we both enjoyed some fantastic food and shopping in local craft shops. Claire also spend a day doing a Batik course.

Mount Bromo - 24th May 2009

Wanting to climb a Volcano, but without enough time to get back to Kelimutu, we began an epic journey to Yogyakarta with a quick climb to the smoking summit of Mount Bromo:

• 6:30 Taxi to Ubung
• 7.00 Bus to Gilimanuk
• 11.00 Ferry to Ketapang (Java)
• 11.30 Bemo (small taxi/bus) to Banyuwangi
• 12.00 Bus to Probolingo
• 16.00 Bemo to Mini Bus Stop
• 16.30 Minibus to Cemoro Lawang
• 18.00 Arrived to Guest house
• 20.00 Fast asleep!

NB - The above had less than a five minute break between each mode of transport and required some hard bartering and negotiation on prices.

25th of May

• 4.00 Under the cover of darkness we set off to our climb to the summit. Thick fog, only 2 metres of visibility made finding the correct route tricky.
• 5.30 Teetering on the smoking craters edge we watched the sunrise over a sea of mist (see photos shortly).
• 7.00 set of back to our Hotel
• 8.00 Breakfast
• 10.30 Minibus to Probolingo
• 12.00 Bus to Subaraya
• 14.45 Taxi to Subaraya Train Station
• 15.15 Half an hour break for lunch
• 16.00 Train to Yogyakarta
• 21.50 Becak (peddle powered rickshaw)
• 22.00 Beer and bed!

Yogyakarta - 26th May 2009

In need of a less intensive day, we pottered around this ramshackle city on a leisurely walking tour, taking in the main sites: a museum, the Sultan's palace, a colonial dutch fort and a crazy 'bird market' which not only sold pigeons, parrots, barn and other owls, kingfishers, sparrows in all manner of cages and quantities, but also fruit bats and lizards(used for their blood in Chinese medicine to help asthma and diabetes respectively), monkeys, mongoose, wild cats, rabbits, dogs, snakes and many more, including cockroaches and maggots to feed all these poor creatures. It was a disturbing experience!

The following day, we had a great trip to explore the UNESCO sites of Borobadur and Prambanan, spectacular Buddhist and Hindu temples. Built in the 8th and 9th centuries respectively, it was easy to see why they have held such spiritual importance for so long.

Preparing for our final stop in Indonesia (Jakarta), our final day has been spent swimming and relaxing.