Kuta, Bali, Indonesia

We had a 15 hour travelling day to get back to Bali as the ferry was delayed and in the end we arrived into Kuta at 10.30pm with no accommodation and no idea where we were. Shattered we slumped for one of the first we saw- which seems OK and is in a great location. Kuta is full of Australians on holiday, it's touristy, tacky- but I like it! We are staying 2 nights in Kuta with Ben, Roberta and Lesley flying to Perth on a morning flight and myself flying late night to Darwin. It's a great place to get bits and pieces done- internet, printing documents, laundry and haircuts (terrifying experience and my hair is now very short but it cost me less than 2 quid) before life gets very expensive in Australia.

Gili Air, Indonesia

From Sengiggi we had an early transfer to Bengsal port. Being on a budget we got the less reliable public boat. The crossing was fine but we had to wait ages for it to fill up and load all the local's supplies. Sitting at the port it feels like you must be forgotten about but all the local companies know exactly what's going on as you are passed from one person to the next and your ticket is swapped for another many times.

We arrived on Gili Air, an island just off north west Lombok and managed to get accommodation in someone's garden for very cheap. It's great as we are just off the beach and not in a resort to there's no hassle. Me and Ben are sharing a small house. It's basic but theres lots of space to spread out. I have the whole of upstairs (theres is only a bed) but the best and slightly puzzling part is the 18 electric sockets as we are usually lucky if there is just a single working one!

Gili Air is a great place to relax. Theres beach front restaurants but no party places so it's quiet and it's nice to just admire the views over Lombok. Swimming isn't great as the water is shallower than a bath but we did go on a snorkeling trip today and got pretty close to turtles 3 times. The Gili islands provide some of the worlds best diving with more fish species than the Great Barrier Reef so I went diving just off the shore. It was a fantastic experience, completely different to Thailand and Malaysia. With just me and a guide diving we saw many species I hadn't seen before including 2 type of eel, lion fish and stone fish which I was pretty convinced the guide was pointing to a piece of coral!

It's been really great to chill out for a few nights and I think it's what everyone needed as we get further to Australia and further plans.

Ubud, Indonesia

From Lovina we headed over the hills to Ubud in central Bali. It's very touristy and a lot more expensive than we are used to but it's nice to walk around. We treated ourselves (and bargained the price down a lot) to a very nice room in a bungalow complex with a pool which we all used to cool down in.

In the centre of Ubud there is the Sacred Monkey Forest which is full of the breakfast stealing Macaques (apparently they are Sacred!). Having encountered the monkeys in Borneo we were all wary of them but they turned out to be quite friendly, partly due to them being fed. It was great to see them playing in the water and sleeping where they felt like. There were some temples around but the attraction was definitely the monkeys!

Lesley had a bike for 2 days so Ben, Roberta and myself booked on a day tour to see some of Bali. We covered a lot in a few hours as the tour was in a 6 seater rather in a coach. First stop was Goa Gajah (Elephant cave temple) which being Hindu was completely different to what we have seen before and we all had to wear sarongs to enter the complex (even Ben). The temple was built in the 11th century and had been completely covered in moss and rocks were starting to fall down. The elephant cave was really odd as you entered through a very decorative face of a demon but inside it's all blank bar an alcove with a statue of Ganesh.

Next we headed to the holy spring water temple which looks very new as most was restored in the 1960's. The temple was built in 962 AD around the natural springs which was are considered to have magical powers and the water still bubbles into huge pools which is then released via a very nice fountain into a smaller pool where the locals go. It looked pretty nice water- inappropriate to take a dip though!

Also on the schedule was a visit to coffee plantations, some 'very nice rice paddies', a view of Mt Batur which stands at above Lake Batur at 1717m. We also went to the Besakih which is the biggest temple complex in Bali. We couldn't go in any of the temples but you can walk around the outside despite the local scam of needing a guide. The complex is 23 separate thatched roof temples which is 1km up Mt Agung which would have given great views out to the coast and Lombok had it not been so cloudy! Last we visited the Ancient courts which were in the centre of Klungkung. The 'hall of justice' was a pavilion with a moat with lots of paintings on the inside ceiling. The palace was destroyed in 1908 when the Balinese were fighting the Dutch.

Ubud has been a great place to spend a few days and you could easily spend longer as there is lots to do. We spent and entire day getting to Sengiggi in Lombok. We had booked a through ticket with a girl who couldn't speak English so we were not too sure about the specifics of the day. A bus collected us and took us to Padangbai where we caught the slow ferry. We got some great views of Mt Agung as we left Bali and as we got closer to Lombok dolphins came and swam by the boat. We arrived in Lembar (initially thinking it was Sengiggi) and then got a bus to Mataram and then waited for ages for a bus to Sengiggi. It was all very well organised on just one ticket but definitely not what I thought we had paid for. So now we are in Sengiggi which is not what we expected. The photos show a white sand bay that's empty. I know not to believe everything on the internet but we were a little shocked to see black sand, hundreds of locals and fishing boats lining the shore. Sengiggi is really geared up to trekking up Mt Rinjani, something I'd like to do but we all have flights to Australia booked so there's not much time. With Lombok being a strict Muslim island I don't feel I would get a lot of hassle on the beach here so today will be spend book reading and planing the next few days on the Gili Islands.

Lovina, Indonesia

From Solo we had an 15 hour overnight bus journey to take us to Denpasar, Bali. We didn't stop in Denpasar, choosing to head to Lovina on the north coast 4 hours away. We were thankful that nearly 24 hours after we left Solo we were having lunch on the beach. Lovina is an accumulation of sea side villages stretching 4km along the road. The beach isn't great as it's not the cleanest (maybe we have been spoilt in Thailand and Malaysia) but Lesley and Ben ventured in for a swim. We have rooms that open up on a very nice garden so that is where I've been the past few days reading my book. It's been nice to relax out of a city for a while. Lesley, Ben and Roberta got up at the crack of dawn to go on a boat trip to see dolphins and go snorkeling for the morning. I wasn't too fussed, I need to save some thing to do elsewhere! They had a great time though.

Next we are headed to the centre of the island to Ubud for a bit of countryside. I'm sure there will be a bit of walking, cycling and temples in the next few days.

Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo. Indonesia

Train is the easiest way to travel in Java as there is a railway going from one end to the other. We headed by train to Bandung- first class! Reclining seats, Air con, leg room, and no hawkers. It was definitely worth the extra few quid to have a relaxing 3 hours watching the very nice scenery (padi fields and mountains) go by. Bandung was what I would expect of an Indonesian city- busy, dirty, and it generally didn't have anything to it. We stayed one night and headed off early the next day towards Yogyakarta.

Mt Merapi is currently erupting so we didn't know what would be open and how bad it would be around in the city which is only 27km away from the volcano (the exclusion zone is 20km!). Yogyakarta is a really nice city to hang out in. People are friendly and there are some great places to eat. I should imagine that it is usually bustling with tourists but we saw very few, all choosing to change their plans.

The main reason I wanted to come to Yogy was the buddist temple complex Borobudur which was unfortunately closed due to it being covered in ash. We still stopped here for 3 nights. One of the in town attractions is the Sultan's complex (Kraton). Much smaller than expected we had a guided tour around (it was literally a pavilion and the current Sultan's house that we couldn't see because it was behind a wall) and learnt a little about life as a Sultan. Batik art work and clothes are very popular here so we headed on horse and cart from Kraton to a back street gallery where we saw Batik being made and made a few purchases.

It was Lesley's 50th birthday so it was only fit that we went on a bike ride. With the Prambanan temples 17km away as our destination we headed out. On the map it was a straight down the main road but we had a lot of stop start and getting lost as we navigated our way out of the busy city which is full of one way streets! The cycle wasn't quite the relaxed countryside cycle I expected as the traffic on the main road didn't let up and we headed along with all the cars and motor bikes. People were shocked to see us cycling. One man even pulled over in his car to take a video!

We made it in one piece to the temple which was very quiet with only one small tour group walking around. The hindu temples were constructed in the 9th century. They rival Borobudur, when the city was split into buddist south and hindu north. The main temples are surrounded by 250 smaller temples (now in ruins), split into 4 rows. The main temples, the largest 47m tall were very well preserved and restored after a number of earthquakes. Quick and easy to look around and set in gardens pretty similar to a British stately home it was a nice to walk around for an hour before we headed back into the city before night fall.

Yogyakarta has been a great city to spend time in and if Mt Merapi wasn't erupting there would be enough here to fill a week.

Moving on from Yogyakarta we are next headed just 65km down the road to Solo by train which led to much confusion as no one would sell us a train ticket. It turns out that you can get to train to Solo for free which I think may be something to do with evacuation of the area, but the train wasn't particularly busy though. Solo hasn't got much to it but a night here has allowed us to book onward transport on an overnight bus to Denpasar, Bali.

Jakarta, Indonesia

After a brief overnight stay in Sandakan I headed to the airport to fly to Jakarta via KL. Nice easy travel day despite its length and it went with few hitches other than me not realising the hour time difference between Malaysia and Indonesia and therefore my flight being an hour longer than expected!

Driving through Jakarta at night and it feels like a very dark and dingy city which is huge. I was very glad to get through all the traffic and was met by Roberta, Lesley and Ben in a car park of an apartment block in the posh end of the city. The 'hostel' is actually someone's 3 bed apartment and it's very nice. It's easy to see why the others have stayed when there's a swimming pool and WIFI.

Jakarta is not a walkable city so I took a taxi to Merdeka Square. Here there is the National Monument which is a 132m tall, allegedly marble tower with a sculpture of a flame on top which is covered in 35kg of gold leaf. There is a view platform at the top which provides views over the city. I felt like I was the main attraction here though as the tallest person around and everyone wanted their photo taken with me, even the off duty police/army (they looked official!). It was a very odd experience but everyone was very friendly.

The other attraction in the area is the largest mosque in South East Asia. It definitely isn't the prettiest from the outside but I headed towards it to take a look. I wasn't successful as I couldn't figure out how to cross the road! There was so much traffic and there was a protest going on so there were lots of police vans around. Jakarta is definitely lacking attractions so we are headed by train to Bandung tomorrow which is another city but with countryside a little more accessible.

Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia

Sepilok was also my leaving point for a 3 day 2 night jungle adventure. I was slightly apprehensive about staying in the jungle due to the basic accommodation but everyone I met raved about what they had seen during their stay at 'Uncle Tan'.

We headed out by bus mid afternoon and then had a trip down the Kinabatangan River. There was only 6 of us so it made transport easy. I was surprised how quickly we saw wildlife- lots of Proboscis monkeys eating in a fig tree. It was a fantastic start. It was also great to see the jungle emerging from the endless Palm oil plantations which cover Sabah. The accommodation wasn't too basic- a mat on the floor with a mossie net. I thought that Nong Khiew in Laos was much worse. We did have a resident spider- the biggest I had ever seen. Thankfully he didn't do too much wandering around!

We went on 2 morning boat safari, a dusk boat safari, night boat safari, morning walk and night walk. Unfortunately we had very heavy rain on the dusk safari and had to cut it short. The variety of wildlife was great but the highlight was definitely the orangutans sitting in the tree. They were so far away that all you could see was round orange bundles but it was what I came to Borneo for- 100% wild orangutans! Other highlights were the migrating flying foxes and a tree lizard which was laying eggs just as we walked past it. I can fully understand why everyone raves about Uncle Tan's. In just 2 nights there we saw Macaques, Proboscis, orangutans, silver leaf monkeys, gibbon, hornbill, kingfishers, eagles, an owl, bats, crocodile, lizards, and squirrels (plantain, prevost and pigmy). Surprisingly not a single snake!

From the jungle I headed to Sandakan for a bit of a clean up and bag repack. There is nothing in Sandakan. It seems as though people just clutter up the pavements so I am glad to be leaving for Indonesia tomorrow.

Borneo has been fantastic but it's not the jungle I thought it would be. It also has more to offer that what time I allowed for. I would love to come back to go to Gunning Mulu National Park and also go diving off Sipidan. I have really enjoyed travelling by myself as you meet so many more people and it's great to hear what everyone else has been up to. On the flip side it's a lot harder when there is no one to talk to and share transport costs. I am looking forward to meeting up with Roberta, Lesley and Ben in Jakarta tomorrow for a bit of temples and beaches in Indonesia for 3 weeks providing that the volcano on Java doesn't violently erupt and spoil our travel plans!

Sepilok, Sabah, Malaysia

From KK I headed east on an express bus headed towards Sandakan. Getting on the bus was crazy. I was completely mobbed as I got out of the taxi by about 20 people trying to get me on their bus (Siem Reap boat flashbacks!). I was aiming to get a later bus and was in no rush but it turned out the earlier buses had all been delayed but where leaving at that moment. Having a huge rucksack for once payed off as all these short men couldn't carry it and therefore I had a choice of buses rather than what ever one my bag got put on. Lots of running later and I was on the bus and only running 40 minutes ahead.

The bus journey was very scenic. Unfortunately the view of Mt Kinabalu was completely blocked by cloud. The bus driver kindly dropped me off at Sepilok 5 and half hours later which meant that I didn't have the faff in Sandakan of trying to get back to Sepilok.

Sepilok is the location of the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Having missed out on seeing the apes in Semmenggoh I really wanted to make a day of visiting the centre. There are morning and afternoon feeding sessions which allow tourists to see the apes in all their glory. I saw about 8 orangutans at the feeding, of all sizes. They really were fascinating. The orangutans are semi wild and come back for feeding when they feel they need to. Although the whole experience was very commercial and the fact that the tourist entrance price is 6 times the Malaysian entrance made me think how much money the government pockets, it really was fantastic to see the orangutans but it felt no different to watching them in a zoo. There are walking trails through out the reserve but they close over 'lunch' so if you go to the morning feeding you actually never have the time to complete the trail. Pretty disappointing as the day out ended a lot sooner than expected.

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

It was a full days work to get to KK. The 'every hour' airport port bus was most definitely not every hour and after nearly 2 hours of waiting it turned up. Thankfully my flight was in the afternoon so there was no need to panic. After a very quick flight (25 minutes) I arrived in the state of Sabah. It has a different feel to it- not as friendly and more expensive. I got a taxi to the hostel just in time for torrential rain.

Turns out the rain wasn't just a shower. I had 2 nights in KK but I only got 3 hours of sunshine so I had a wander. There isn't a lot to KK, it's just a nice place to walk around. Nice harbour, views of islands, shopping centres and a great night food market. Despite the rain not allowing any of the spectacular sunsets that are the attraction here it has been nice to not really have a lot to do and just sit in and read a book.