Blogs from Gunung Agung, Bali, Indonesia, Asia

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I got chatting to Christine, a girl from Belgium, also travelling alone, on the boat trip back to Lombok. We got momentarily separated by a horse man who insisted i get in his carriage. we went about 100meters and then he wanted 70.000 from me! Here that's big money (fiver lol). I was furious but then his mate arrived and my idea of running off went out the windeow. Instead I give him 10,00 and stormed off. Apparently this happens often. Anyhoo - Chritine wanted to do aAgung too. We exchanged deets and then went our separate ways in Padangbai. Me back to Kuta to find Christoph. Then that night at 8pm. Christoph and I travelled to Besakih, a village that has the great besakih temple. It's the holiest sight in Bali. Simply because of it's ... read more

We spent a few days in Ubud sorting our bags out, doing some washing, shopping and eating lots of lovely food! We then decided it was time to see some of the island as we had only been to the harbour and to Ubud so, we set off with Ketut our host, on a trip around the island for the day. We visited Goa Gajah, the elephant cave, followed by Tirta Empul and it's holy springs. From here we went for lunch overlooking Gunung Agung, the holiest peak in all of Bali, it was pretty chilly looking out over the massive volcano and i even got goose bumps - very nice sensation! After lunch we took a lovely drive through the rice terraces and through some handicraft villages along with a trip to a coffee and ... read more

At 4am a bluebird pulls up to the gate. For the next half hour en route to Juanda, as the meter ticks away, Teghan recounts the previous late night out when she’d met with a few friends at the Lido to wish our collegue Dave farewell. She didn’t drink too much and left around midnight. She noticed a motorbike pull into the bar’s car park only to turn around and exit just after her. The journey across town follows well light avenues with ocassional traffic. But pulling into our neighbourhood in east Surabaya, a less travelled road obscured by tall tamarinds, the motorcyclist pulled alongside Teghan and tried to snatch her purse containing her plane tickets and a considerable sum of cash. The purse strap wrapped around her neck did not snap as the thief had ... read more

Day 5: Gunung Agung It’s pitch black. My knees ache. My legs are loose, wobbling with each unstable step. This is not helping in the least bit. The scree beneath my feet, the chalky volcanic rock, crumbles with the slightest pressure. I grip a flashlight in my mouth with clenched jaws and take a large step over an ice-less crevasse, then reach out for the boulder opposite, quickly feeling for handholds. Up ahead, as a streak of light breaks the horizon, there is a tussle. Irregular noises catch my attention as a chorus of stone ring down the mountainside. A voice sounds alarm. Someone has gone down. I quickly pull the light from my teeth and look into the darkness. It isn’t long after dinner when Laura & I are in bed that I find myself ... read more