We LOVED Singapore. Heres 10 reasons why: 1. The aesthetics of the city - With many bold high rises, charming colonial buildings and outstanding green spaces alike. 2. The efficient travel system - After being on the road so long you really do appreciate it. 3. The diversity - We came across Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious buildings. 4. The shopping - It is true you can buy anything and everything here. 5. The food - So many Chinese and Indian food eateries that we love. 6. The fact that the city oozed Sophistication. The resturants, wide streets, high rises were well designed and well laid out. 7. The combination of man made structures and nature here. This was evident in structures such as the Cloud Forest and Sky Garden both truly beautiful. 8. ... read more

!! Beware some photos are of a sensitive nature !! 6am. Fresh off the overnight bus, barely checked into our guesthouse and we're already drinking black coffee on the balcony at our accommodation with Jacob (pronounced Yacob). Jacob is a local guide who had somehow latched himself on to us almost as soon as we'd got off our bus in a morning haze. Before long we were deep in conversation fascinated by the funeral ceremonies and the amazing homes of the Torajans - the Tongkonans. Some very morbid stuff happens here but I guess thats what intrigued us. As we spoke, not more than 50yards across the way, a funeral was already in full swing. It was day 1 of the ceremony (food and gifts), luckily for us the slaughter was happening on day 2 - ... read more

On our 3rd day, we opted to go on a rice terrace walk with the group we had been sharing our days with (minus Tom and Laura who had moved on but now including 2 more english guys; Ollie and Alex). Surprisingly the rice terrace walk was only a 10 minute walk from the town and proved to be a thin trail away from the hustle and bustle of the town. We passed beautiful scenery of rice terraces and witnessed many people in the fields tending the growing agriculture. It was very calming watching life here unfold. The fields had such a lovely tranquility. That is until motorbikes veered the paths. Yes that's right motorbikes were going down narrow trails in between rice terraces. It surprised us too. This along with the art and tourist ... read more

The name may not ring any bells but many people may have seen documentaries on Mt Ijen on TV. This active volcano is mined for its sulphur. Day in day out miners trek deep in the crater amongst the towering noxious fumes. Like most visitors to the volcano we ventured inside it at night to get a view of the hypnotic blue flames. Getting here was no easy feat. The infrastructure for doing such tours is geared towards tour packages that move tourists from east to west of Java eventually ending in Bali. We arrived in the transition town of Probolingo with our mini bus dropping us off outside of a tour agency (typical!). Our plan was to catch the local bus from Probolingo to get to the small town of Sempol where we would arrange ... read more

Following a short train journey to Solo, we got off at the wrong train station (right city, wrong station).  To get to our hostel we had to haggle a price with the 'tricycle' man to take us there. We hate having to take these taxied bike journeys as they are so labour intensive for the poor cyclist, we cant help but feel sorry for them as they huff and pant away carrying our oversized bodies (compared to locals anyway) plus luggage. On our way to the hostel we were surprised as we passed a McDonalds, KFC and a Pizza Hut, bearing in mind Solo is the least westernised city in Java. We guess not many of todays citys can escape such franchises for long. At the same time we could count the number of western tourists ... read more