Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 493

We flew to Indonesia with lots of preconceptions of what the country would be like. These were based on government warnings about travel to Indonesia on the FCO website, which had us fearing that all Indonesians would be terrorists intent on kidnapping us or blowing us up, and western media portrayal of what 'muslim countries' are like. It turned out to be completely different to what we expected. The first suprise on landing was that, far from being a bunch of western-hating extremists, Indonesians are friendly, welcoming people. A guard took us straight past the immigration queue at the aiport and people would smile, shout hello, point us in the right direction and be generally helpful. On the train one lady even brought her children over to say hello and shake our hands. The second ... read more

We left Lovina the next day on another night bus, because the dolphins were seemingly the main attraction and their was very little else to do. The journey to probbolingo went smoothly and we arrived there at 3am!! their was only one place open to arrange our further transport to mount bromo and he did slightly rip us off but it equated to about 75p so we wern't to fussed.our transport was a small minivan with around 30 people either in it or on it for the 2 hour trip to bromo (luckily we were in the front where there was just 4 of us). At about 6am we arrived in cemero lawang (the gateway to bromo) and hunted out some accommodation before having breakfast and then going to bed. We both felt pretty rough from ... read more

Ok guys so i'm in Bali....it's a little scary here when you're on your own, as the locals are very adament that you buy something from them....so much that they start walking with you and touching your arm to try and get you into their shop!! It's OK though as there are plenty of people around and so I don't think much could happen to me - touch wood!!hehe I've not done too much since i've been here...relaxed and did a bit of shopping and walking along the beach on my first day....where by the way I am famous!! Oh yes...two groups of kinds came up and asked to have their photo taken with me!! I guess it's because of my amazing white skin, just makes me irresistible :P They can't understand why people want to ... read more

A long and uncomfortable night bus journey north left us in the gorgeous little town of Banaue, high in the North Luzon mountains. The town itself is situated on the bend of a river, on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley, surrounded by other tiny rural villages. Many of the hotels and restaurants, ours included, are built on stilts on the very edge of the cliff and have amazing views of the entire region. The area is famous for the rice terraces that were origionally built nearly 2000yrs ago by the Ifugao people, a tribe of subsistance farmers that dominated the province at that time and continue to do so today. The terraces are cut into the mountains and built from base to summit like a giant staircase and house many tiny villages of tribes people, ... read more

It's been one of those days. You know, the ones where you accidentally find yourself invited to a Balinese royal funeral ceremony. Someone in Tulamben said I should go to Ubud and see some Balinese dancing, which would be interesting even if it is pretty much just laid on for tourists. Instead I stopped off for what was meant to be a quick bite to eat and a mooch round the royal palace in Amlapura en route to modern communication facilities in Kuta. It turned out they were preparing for a funeral, and being friendly types they suggested I stay the night in a hotel so I could watch the procession in the street the next day. On my way to find the hotel I stumbled across more preparations in the form of a team in ... read more