This trip came about when a friend (Terry, met in Iran in 2014) sent me photos of his trip incorporating the "Stans", specifically Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It only took about 5 minutes to once again shelve Mongolia and completely switch destinations. I knew nothing at all, in any shape or form, about Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan, I'm not so sure that I'd even heard of them before. Immediately I took to scouring blog sites (like this- Shane the Travelling Camel, Dancing Dave and Dave and Merry Jo in particular), independent blogs (The Adventures of Lill Nicki), info boards, forums, TA, IndyGuide, Caravanistan and Lonely Planet (etc, etc, etc.....) to construct an itinerary. It was a tough one as there were absolutely endless places to see, mountains to climb and things to do in these 2 incredible countries. ... read more

The West Highland Way (AKA- The West Highland Apple Pie Way) To set the scene- this hike is one part of my 3 and a bit week trip to Scotland. I was very keen to do as much of it as I could backpacking and sleeping in my tent so I packed my usual hiking set up (minus my gas canister). I bought a new Osprey Transport pack cover and shoved as much as I could into the backpack plus one soft holdall bag for the multifaceted trip (wedding/city sights/hike/Isle of Mull). My baggage allowance with Qantas was generous but everything still came in well under 20kg. In terms of the planning I bought the West Highland Way guidebook by Charlie Loran, read lots, and talked to a few people who had done it. I decided ... read more

Day 7 Today's 14 hours on the road highlights: 06:00- up and out for early stroll - knee is loosening up, stumble (not literally) upon local local market on footpath- particularly impressed with no less than 15 varieties of bananas. If you went through yesterday's blog entry and all 60-ish photos you will have seen a good bunch of them. The stall holders were predominantly women and all consented to having their photos taken with their produce. I speak fairly dismal Bahasa Indonesia but my basic sentences are OK and seem to be understood. 07:00- breakfast at homestay is as colourful as the room, best one I've had so far. The peanut sauce on the Cap Cay is 10/10. 08:30- convince Dosi I don't need to be escorted wandering the streets of downtown Probolinggo. He drives ... read more

Day 5 So you want to go on a Jamu Tour? Best laid plans went astray so instead of catching a morning train to Surabaya I had to catch a flight. Went for the $40 cheap option, which as a bonus, also happened to be the earliest flight I could take (3pm). My time in Surabaya was going to be short. So, back to the story- what to do in the morning? Shopping on the famous Malioboro St? Nope - experiences, not things is the new mantra (apparently). The nearby "proper" (read... decent flat white) coffee place, aside from selling coffee (which it actually didn't on Days 3 & 4 due to broken coffee machine) also offers "experiences" (read... tours) my short notice/ short time frame meant I could choose from a cooking experience, a walking ... read more

Day 2 I was really excited to be going to Borobodur. Not sure if it was sheer excitement causing me to wake up at 23:30 last night and about hourly until 03:00 or my lifelong habit of fear of sleeping in causing the hourly wake ups. At any rate, I didn't sleep in! Grabbed a cup of tea and a banana and barely had time to down it when the driver arrived on the dot at 03:30. We drove through the very quiet streets to the Manohra Hotel in Borobodur, about 40km northeast, it took an hour or so. Beautiful temperature, so quiet. The Manohra Hotel, by contrast, was pumping! There were hundreds of tourists in buses, on bikes, on foot... Went through a metal ... read more