The flight took 6 hours from Sydney to Bali, Denpasar.

We went to Kuta in Bali because Marika and Erno's friends were there so we met them there. It was like Phuket, full of tourists and bars…

We were surprised how expensive Bali or Indonesia was.

After Bali, we left to Lombok, Sengiggi, which was supposed to be really nice island with nice beaches. You dreamed it. It was just a small village and crappy beaches. So we stayed there just one night and decided to go to the Gili Islands. There are 3 Gili Islands called Trawangan, Meno and Air. First we went to Gili Trawangan. It was ok, nice beaches but a lot of tourists. We stayed there 4 days and then took a boat to Gili Meno, where we would celebrate Erno's 30th birthday party! We met Marika's and Erno's Finnish friends in there, who came to party Erno's birthday with us. We found 3 bungalows next to each other about 100 meters from the beach. It was in a field where there were chickens and cows running around. The roosters and chickens were so annoying! They started the signing or screaming at 5 am and never stopped. We were planning to cook them for a dinner!

For Erno's birthday we ate in a restaurant where they had cooked a big fish for us and we made a pancake birthday cake to Erno. It was really fun, and I think Erno was happy too! After we had a after- party in our bungalows. I went to bed earlier because I didn't feel very well. Actually I didn't feel well the whole day. And about 5 am I woke up and I was really 2 hours sick. I stayed in the toilet about 2 hours, because I couldn't move and had to stay near the toilets. The next day I was still feeling bad, but better than the night before.

Finally we went to Gili Air, which means Water Island. I think it was the best one of the three Gili Islands. The atmosphere and food was great, and our bungalow was the best!

We left Gili Air after 4 days and started our big trip towards Java. We started with a boat ride to Lombok, from there a bus to the harbor to take a ferry to Bali (4h). Then once in Bali, we took a minivan to Ubung, where we took a night bus to Java. Total of 10 h trip with ferry. Arrived in Probolinggo in the morning to take a minivan to Mount Bromo. In total it took us 26 hours from Gili Air to Mount Bromo!

We wanted to go to see a volcano so we decided to see the Mount Bromo.

About the volcanoes in Indonesia:

Indonesia lies on a significant segment of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where 2 large crustal plates (the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific) are forced under the massive Eurasian plate, where they melt at approximately 100 km beneath the surface. Some of the magma rises and erupts to form the sting of volcanic islands across Indonesia.

One of the top volcanoes to see in Indonesia is the Gunung Bromo ( Mount Bromo) which is a sacred and eerie peak surrounded by a sea of sands. From its summit you can see 2 other volcanoes, one in various stages of activity.

Mount Bromo is in the Gunung Bromo and Bromo Tengger- Semeru National Park. The volcano is 2392 meters high and the steaming cone of Bromo stands in the sea of ashen, black volcanic sand. Bromo is best at sunrise, after it is covered in mist and quickly clouds over.

That's why we woke up at 3 am to have our jeep to pick us at 4am for the sunrise view over Bromo, then to see the crater.

There are many legends and myths about Bromo. It has a particular religious significance to Hindu Tengger people, who still populate the massif and first fled there to escape the wave of Islam in the 16th century. The Tengger believe that Bromo once fell within the realm of the childless King and Queen, who asked the god of the volcano for help in producing an heir. The god obliged, giving them 25 children, but demanded that the youngest be sacrificed to the flames in return. When the queen later refused to fulfill her promise, the youngest bravely sacrified himself to save the kingdom from retribution.

Today, once a year, the locals come to Bromo to throw offerings of vegetables, chickens and money into the crater of the volcano.

After Mount Bromo, we went to Yogyakarta. It was a very nice town, touristic but more cultural than the other places we have been. Yogyakarta is said to be the soul of Java, full of arts and culture. We visited the Borobudur temple in Yogyakarta. The temple is a Unesco site, that's why it was so expensive to get in. Borobudur temple was built above a hill like a pyramid from over 2 millions rocks. It was really amazing temple!

We stayed in Yogyakarta 5 nights and then left by train to Jakarta.

When we arrived to Jakarta and the pack-packer place, we were so disappointed! It was full of drunken middle-age men and prostitutes and expensive hostels. We didn't have choice; our flight was from Jakarta to Vietnam. Java is the main political and economic island of Indonesia, and the most developed also. Jakarta is the capital. Barack Obama moved to Jakarta in 1967 and lived there 4 years studying. I don't understand how he could live there that long! We were done with Jakarta after 1 day!

We just hung around in the malls with air-condition! For my birthday we went to a mall and ate in a Japanese restaurant. It was so good! We didn't party because the next day we had our flight to Vietnam.

For a conclusion, I would say that Indonesia is a huge country, and very hard to travel through. It's full of Islands and the distances are huge. If you would really want to enjoy Indonesia, you should have at least 3 months and more money than we had to spend! It's not really a budget traveller's country. Also, I thought that it was hard to have a real contact with the locals. It was always about money or bargaining about something. But the country has a lot to offer and it's really beautiful!