To start the week off we left katut's uncles house and drove 5 hours up to Dieng Plateau which is a small, rural Muslim town high up in the clouds 2093m above sea level. We stayed in a 'hotel' called Bujono which was by far the funniest place i have ever stayed! The walls were covered in watermarks, paint was flaking off the walls, wires where hanging down everywhere, the walls were just plaster boards, damp everywhere and the shower was a bucket (like most of indonesia i later learnt). I found the whole thing hilarious even more so when i remembered the convosation i had with one of the girls in the truck up who was looking forward to an air conditioned room (not that you need it up there) laundry service, a warm shower and a comfy bed!! But to be honest i don't think it would have been as much of an experience had we of had home comforts and clean beds!

But despite all of that, the place was beautiful, our hotel was surrounded by active volcanos, craters and colourful lakes. The colourful lake was the first port of call and was called 'colourful' due to all of the alkalis in the water which when basked in the suns rays reveals a spectrum of colours. Unfortuently it was overcast that day so we didn't witness any of this however it still looked pretty cool!

The following morning at 03:30am we got up and walked for an hour and a half up a mountain to watch the sun rise. It was spectacular! You could see for miles, the villages and mosques below, volcanos and hundreds of paddy fields.

Once everyone had captured their kodak moment we trekked back down the mountain and went to bed! After a couple of hours rest we headed back out again and trekked to a big bubbling crater which was steaming furiously and giving off some seriously funkey smells!

After 2 days in the Dieng Planteau we made our way back down the mountain and headed for Magalang. It took us just over 5 hours to get there and they were some of the most anxious hours of my life due to the Indonesian public transport. it's a miracle the buses/ancotes didn't kill us or anyone else!

Once in Magalang we went in search of Borobudor temple which is the biggest Buddha temple in the world, and it was, pretty massive! My camera didn't do the place any justice but you can get an idea of how spectacular it is! it has 10 levels in total, on 5 of them there are statues engraved in the walls all the way around which tell a story. It would take a week to follow the whole story right the way around and up the temple! On every level there are statues of Buddha and bells so its no wonder that it took 100 years and 4 generations to build! And it used to be one of the 7 wonders of the world!

in the second week we also went white water rafting on Progo river which was definitley an adrenalin rush! Half way down the rapids the guy who took us out said we could get in the water and swim down the rapids if we wanted. We had our helmets and life jackets on so we all thought yer why not! Well we soon realised why not, we got absolutley battered! Slammed into huge rocks, dragged under water and just bashed to pieces! We forgot that there's no such thing as health and safety in indonesia! Once we all made it safely out of the rapids (miracle!) we jumped straight back into the raft and clung the the sides

The following day, feeling bruised and achey we travelled to Yogyakarta where we stayed for a couple of days to do some shopping and see the royal palace and water palace (neither or which were anything to phone home about or even worthy of a photograph!)

To end the week we went to Solo which is well known for its Batik, here we stayed in a really good hostel/hotel for travellers as recommended by the lonely planet guide to Indonesia! We went on a bike ride which took us off the busy roads and into the rural, working villages. Whilst cycling along we stopped off at a place where they make Batik and were welcomed to give it a go ourselves. We were there for 2 hours drawing our design onto a piece of cotton and then going around it in hot wax before dipping it in ink. It was much harder then it looked so it was a poor effort all around compared to the the intricate and precise designs the well practised women were reeling out! The women were so quick and so accurate it was amazing to watch.

We also went to Prambanan which is the Hindu temple in the photo, it was built in the 7th century and is supposedly 'the most beautiful Hindu temple in the world'. it was alright to be fair, but i wouldn't have gone out of my way to see it, not after we'd been to the biggest temple in the world!