Our train journey this morning took us from Surabaya to Yogyakarta, a 4.5-hour journey, where we had decided to stay for 3 nights at the Phoenix Hotel. The hotel was beautiful, built in 1918 and like a colonial mansion in the heart of the city, again we were benefitting from out of season rates. Once we had settled in, we decided that we would actually extend our stay to a week and in between seeing the "must sees", spend some time relaxing and planning for t...

After our exciting early morning adventure to Mt Bromo we were on the road again and another train to the city of Surabaya, Java's 2nd largest city. After 2.5 hour train journey we picked up a Bluebird Taxi (recommended as they have meters) and our strange taxi driver. The back seat pockets were filled with sweets, hand sanitiser and various other unrecognisable bits. "Help yourself" he said, "terima Kasih" we replied but decided against it. As he was drivi...

We rose at 6:00 am then headed for breakfast, this was our last meal in Bali and we had it on the beach - The sun was rising, the sea blue and the sand reflecting the morning sky, it doesn't get better than this. All too soon it was 8:00 o'clock and our driver had arrived to take us to the ferry port at Gilimanuk - We were travelling again. The ferry port seemed to have more ferries than passengers and there was obvious congestion as incoming boats waited...

On the move again, heading west towards Java to our last stop in Bali, the Taman Sari Resort and Spa located in Pemuteran and about 1 hour from the ferry terminal. It was a quality resort located on the beach with adjacent pool and bar facilities, we also had a private pool just in front of our terrace, 6 paces from our room (not bad for a couple of backpackers) - No pretence at culture here just a couple of days R&R. Amazingly cheap rates as we were agai...

Today we are travelling away from the coast up to the central highlands and staying in a mountain village at 1500 metres, Munduk. Of course, there was a stop on the way which was to see another temple, but this one was Buddhist, Bali's largest Buddhist monastery, and also a meditation retreat. It has an impressive mini replica of the world's largest Buddhist archaeological site, Borobudur, which we are planning to visit in Java ……. Heather is planning to ...