Sorry not to have given you any installments recently, between the mad travel itinerary, copious beer consumption and meeting with fellow travelers and friends, I have been busy making the stories but not able to write them down!
I'll give you a brief overview of the last month or so of travels!
I left you in Indonesia. Over the month, I traveled from Bali, via West Timor to Flores. Overland to Labuan Bajo where I picked up a boat to hop across several islands on my way to Lombok. I was lucky enough to have a huge boat and four crewmen to myself and we stopped at the infamous Komodo an Rinca Islands, hunting for the fearsome dragons. In Lombok I hastily made my way onto the Gili Islands of the north-western coast. These idyllic islands and considered paradise my many - and there are three to choose from, depending on what your personal idea of paradise is! Gili Trawangan was the party island - I spent about 4 days here, then moved onto Gili Air which was slightly more chilled out, but of course I still managed to liven things up, in my own brand of ridiculousness! I wont go into details, but it involved a psychotic Indonesian, far too much alcohol and a swiss army knife!
Anyway, after my, erm, 'relaxing' stint on the beach, I journeyed on to Bali. Here I met up with my local friend from the volcano and we spent the night partying it with with some other travelers I'd met on the ferry in Kuta.
The next day I was taking the overnight bus to Probolingo on Java, arriving pretty dazed at 4 the in morning, and was promptly ripped off by the only tour agent open at that ungodly hour, rubbing his hands and smacking his lips together at the prospect of a bunch of bleary-eyed, exhausted travelers unloading their heavy wallets to him.
So from this coffin-like bus, I was shuttled into another mini-van, without even being able to change into my trekking clothes, and hurtled up yet another mountain for the climb to Gunung Bromo.
The volcano itself was incredible, although we missed the sunrise, and paid a ridiculous price for non-service.
I trekked to across the vast, ashy sand sea with my new companions, and we snacked on some delicious nasi campur at the base. The climb to the summit was steep and slippery in places, compounded by avoiding the zillions of horses laden with fat tourists heaving their way up, charging through anything and anyone in their way.
At the summit, we peered into the deep crater as thick, sulfuric steam vented it's way into our nostrils. It was quite astounding, and more than a little nerve-wracking as we discussed the imminent eruption that was predicted. Gunung Bromo is still a very active volcano. Having been on Lombok when Rinjani let rip, and heading to Merapi, one of the worlds most active volcanoes, I was well on my way to being satisfied with the volcanic-tourism route!
Straight after our climb, we slowly made our way onto Yogyakarta in Central Java, where I spent the next 5 days, visiting the incredible temples of Borobadur, Prambanan, the caves and beaches on the southern coast and generally causing mischief in this pleasant Indonesian city.
After Yogya, I left Indonesia, and flew into Singapore, initially excited about the shopping and modernity of it all - I haven't been in a Western city for 8 months! This was quickly replaced by panic and nausea at being commanded on how to conduct myself at every moment. Singapore is a great city, that has got so many things right- but at what price! Plus I realise it's a little too much like a sunny London - you are not even allowed to eat Durian fruit on the bus - there is actually a fine for that!
I made the most of my time there, and spent 4 days hurtling around at break neck speed visiting the bird park, zoo, night safari, CBD, Chinatown, Marina, riverfront, little India and of course the clubs and post-club pool party with the local ex-pats! It was good fun, but I was ready to to head back into my comfortable traditional Asian territory!
So I flew from Singapore onto Kuching in Sarawak, Western Malaysian Borneo. I met my friend and colleague from Cambodia, Sam at the airport and we taxied to our first nights accommodation - a rather eerie Diocesan guesthouse run by the Anglican church. The deserted building was a little crypt-like and I kept expecting to see some chainsaws hanging in the dungeons, but the real reason we left the next day was the 11pm curfew!!
So the next day, we were gung-ho with the sightseeing, and managed to find the fort and lunch before we ended up in a riverfront cafe necking 3 jugs of Tiger Beer with some Americans we met!
We arranged to meet them later and headed to the festival preview, where some of the bands were playing. After that, our group grew to about 20 people and we hit the clubs in Kuching, one of which offered free drinks for ladies, and I'm sure you can use your imagination to guess how that all ended!
The next day's sightseeing consisted of half a movie at the multiplex before I passed out. We met our new couch surfing host, a local chef, and chilled for the rest of the day in preparation for the three day Rainforest Music Festival.
The festival itself is held in the Sarawak cultural village deep in the virgin jungles of western Sarawak. During the day they held various music workshops, we hung out with our new friends and drank stupid amounts of beer, then partied hard into the night as the live bands came on and tore up the stage! The first night we had a major downpour so the ground turned to a muddy quagmire, and everyone danced in the rain, jumping around not caring at the mud and water everywhere! It was really awesome, and the vibe was just electric. The second day we were a little more sedate, but the bands were fantastic. And day three was time to get the plane and head onto Sabah, eastern Borneo where me and Sam are climbing Mount Kinabalu at 7am tomorrow morning! Suddenly all those beers and parties don't seem such a sensible idea!
Anyway, I'll leave you now, and write again once I emerge from the wildlife rich jungle of Sabah and the turtle breeding islands of the coast of the Philippines!
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