Seventh Sun

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Two thousand and something metres above sea level. Makes the air thin and things cold. This is the summit at Mount Bromo in Java just before sunrise. An active volcano that goes 'poo' every 15 minutes, releasing a sulfurous whodunnit. I had read in the guide book that the scenery at sunrise was pretty damn good and I must admit it was spectacular. On the downside is that everyone else has read the same thing as me translated into twenty languages. A crowd generates an atmosphere in a pub, at a footy match or even at the cinema. At the top of a volcano as the sun emerges over the horizon (sounds good, doesn't it?), I would like to fool myself that I am an explorer in an epic filmed in Glorious Technicolor. When the other two hundred 'me's arrive, that dissolves into maybe another time as I battle with the others and their huge SLRs for the best piccie of *that* sunrise.

Bali is a hedonist paradise. One day in the near future it will be formerly annexed with Australia. Kuta seems a lot cleaner than when I visited in 2000, I think it got a facelift. It it certainly a hell of a lot quieter since the bomb in 2002. The waves are bringing them back, slowly.

I tried my luck in getting a lift to Australia as crew on a yacht from Bali Marina. The cargo ship plan seemed just too, well, shite. The Bali Marina people had told me that my chances were about one in 100 of ever getting a lift, which was encouraging. To add to that, it is the rainy season (although 20 minutes per day followed by blue skies for the rest of the day is my kinda rainy season). So, far fewer boats are around. But it only takes one yacht to take me, doesn't it?

There was one such yacht, nice couple with great 52 foot baby all done Bristol fashion and leaving for Cairns in 3 days via the splendour of Nusa Tenggara. A dream. They said had had a bad experience with crew once and don't take crew on anymore. Shit. Shit shit shit. I went back a few days later to try and change their minds, but my powers of hypnosis weren't up to the grade.

I am writing this from one of three tiny islands, known as the Gilis. Fringed with coral and lacking police it is a cross between Dahab(Egypt) and Don Det(Laos). Can't be bad. I am chilling here for a few days before heading east again to see more stuff and maybe another volcano. I should end up in Timor, where there is a slither of an opportunity to get a sea passage to Oz. If I am not careful, I will end up stranded in the middle of sod-all with no time left on my non-extendable visa. It's all good.

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Photos

Thar she blows!
Mount Bromo, Java

Just in case you have never seen one...
Sunrise

Horse-pimps around the world
They have them here too

Yet more Mariachi
These ones were better on the way to Bali - and at least it was daytime.

Butt ugly
They have some damn ugly faces on the statues in Bali.

Nice
Tanah Lot temple, Bali

Interesting Davis
Denpasar, the capital of Bali, is so boring that nobody knows how to pronounce it properly. It does have a few gems tucked away, however.