Suzanne here... I'm a bit ambivalent about night buses. It means you don't spend a whole day travelling, plus you save the cost of a nights accommodation. However they tend to be a bit more dangerous, you can't see the scenery as it's too dark, and you won't get any proper sleep as there will be toilet stops with full lights on, everyone trooping on and off and invariably there will be a pair of ass-clowns who don't want to sleep and, even though everyone else does, will think nothing of loudly chatting all night. However, it was the easiest way to get to Kalaw. The journey was actually ok. We were given water and cakes which was nice, (but then we had paid $19 each). The aforementioned assclowns were right behind us and not only ... read more

Suzanne here... Fortuitously, we snagged the last two seats on the bus from Jerantut. Cutting it a little too close for comfort, especially as we'd dawdled and let the other westerners on the bus from Kuala Tehan get to the ticket office first. Still, all worked out ok. Said westerners seemed totally clueless about the seat numbers on the tickets (surely the same in any country?) causing mayhem at the next town and getting annoyed when people who had booked quite reasonably asked them to move. We sat smugly in our allocated seats not getting involved. It was raining hard when we arrived in KL but luckily the monorail stop was just steps away and it had stopped by the time we got off. We found the City Comfort Hotel easily. A bit nicer than the ... read more

Suzanne here Our stay in Denpasar had been ok and it was nice seeing the non-touristy side of Bali. But I was happy to be moving back to the coast. Sanur has the reputation of attracting an older crowd. We might not quite see ourselves in that light, but the fact is that given our aversion to ear-splitting hip-hop and pissed-up bogans perhaps it's closer to the truth than we'd care to admit. The taxi was 15 minutes early but he was a nice chap and used the meter with no complaints. I'd recommend Blue Bird and would use them again. Especially as you can book by email (spv.ops.bl@bluebirdgroup.com). The 11km journey cost us IDR 73000, so even with a small tip it was only £5 door to door. There was no trouble checking into our ... read more

Suzanne here... We arrived in plenty of time for our 11 am boat from Gili Trawangen to Bali only to discover that the real departure time was 11.30... which then turned into 12 pm. Can't say we were too surprised but it was a bit of a long hot wait. The boat (Ganggari) itself was at least more comfortable than the one on the way over. Unfortunately I got the obligatory cockwomble in front of me that had to immediately throw her seat back, although everyone else seemed quite capable of sitting upright for an hour and a half. The crossing was uneventful but we had to wait a little while to dock, then a little while longer for our onward shuttle van as it seemed we were the only ones continuing to Candi Dasa. We ... read more

Suzanne here... A few people back home have commented on the level of detail in this blog, the specifics of meals, taxi prices etc. I know it's probably a bit dull. The thing is, these details are not really aimed at you. Of course we hope that family and friends want to keep up with our travels. But that is just part of the story. For one, this is also to help other travellers who may be interested in specifics. Even more importantly (to us), this is our diary. It is meant to jog our memories in years to come. I totally get that you may not care that the babi kecap in Lovina was amazing. But reading about it in two years time on a wet day in Nottingham will bring it all flooding back ... read more