Our boat back to Ambon is "only" two hours late in leaving port, which can be considered "early" by PELNI standards. During our short stay in the Spice Islands, the Bukit Siguntang has been all the way to Sorong in West Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya) and back. No surprises as to the reason behind the delay - have a guess...it begins with a "K" and ends with "ARGO". I'm not quite sure what's being transported (not nutmeg) from a place like this to the bright lights of Ambon, but there sure is a lot of it...And since the boat is far too long for the jetty, it's having to be loaded first onto a small wooden canoe using nothing but elbow grease - the canoe is then punted twenty metres or so away to ... read more

Eyes still heavy with sleep, I extract myself from my little niche to have a look around. No sooner has my head risen above the edge of the parapet that a terrifically strong wind threatens to blow me off the ferry ! It must be about 6am, and our destination is in sight, dead ahead. A place I have dreamt of visiting for years - the Banda Islands. The Bandas are a small cluster of islands about 200 kilometres south east of Ambon, comprising six inhabited and four uninhabited islands spread out over 50 kilometres in the deep Banda Sea. Centrepiece of this miniature archipelago is Gunung Api - Mount Fire - an active volcano that rises suddenly out of the deep waters to tower 650 metres over its neighbours. Now, a bit of history. Tiny ... read more

The next morning a small van - called a travel in this part of Indonesia (the range of names for these little vans is extraordinary - angkot, colt, bemo, pete-pete) - awaits us just outside the homestay for a nine-hour drive eastwards to the very Javanese-sounding (as you should now recognise) town of Probolinggo. Driving parallel to Java's fiery spine, we pass numerous volcanic peaks. Actually, we are heading for one of Java's most famous volcanos: Gunung Bromo. The drive takes us through a mish-mash of rice fields and sprawling industrial towns, all to the tune of Java's ubiquitous honking horns. As ever in this archipelago, the driving is reckless, gung-ho and a smidgen suicidal. I close my eyes at every overtaking - so did the driver, I think. Nevertheless, we arrive safely, albeit rather tired, ... read more

Java, Java, Java...The name alone never fails to conjure dozens of images in my head. Images of rumbling volcanoes, tumbling rice paddies, crumbling temples. Images of coffee plantations shrouded in mist. Of graceful dancers, shadow-puppets and mythological epics. It conjures the sound of the gamelan wafting through the Sultan's palace. Modern Java offers all of these things, of course. But that is only half the story. This long, thin island, only two-thirds of the size of Great Britain with over twice its population, is at the heart of 21st-century Indonesia, its seat of government and economic powerhouse. An island of polluted metropolises, traffic-clogged highways, impoverished shantytowns and filthy waterways, of churning factories and neon-lit shopping centres. Mobile phone ringtones and modern pop compete with the centuries-old gamelan here. Home to some 125,000,000 people... read more

After our exploration of Borneo's underwater offerings, time to see what lies above the surface ! As if Sabah didn't sound exotic and mysterious enough, our next destination is Sarawak, which to my mind conjures up vivid images of tribal villages deep in the jungle, accessible only by longboats along steamy, brown rivers. How close to this is reality going to be ? We leave the marine delights of Sipadan behind, flying from Tawau to the Sarawakian city of Miri, with a short stop-over in Sabah's capital city, Kota Kinabalu (we decided not to climb Mount Kinabalu - too easy you know ?). Miri, a self-styled "resort city" (don't make me laugh) is apparently a small place with big ideas - it's been flooded with money from the lucrative industries of logging and palm oil production. ... read more