OK so had a few problems with the old blog.

Ropey old internet technologies, eh?

So here I am in Yogyakarta, or Jogja. I got here on Saturday after a fairly crazy bus ride. in between Gili Trawangan and here I spent a few days in Candi Dasa and then a few days in a tiny village near the volcano known as Mount Bromo.

Candi Dasa was quite nice. I dived the libery Wreck which is a WW2 wreck just off the coast (like 20m off the beach). It is now quite stunningly covered inall manner of sea vgetation and full of pretty fishies. I dived with a place called Yes Dive. Would I dive with them again, No! My divemaster was prefectly lovely but their equipment was quite odd. I had to get them to give me different equipement after they tried to put the respirator on upside down and the back up air source didn't work properly. The next one had the tubes coming off of the first stage in an unusual way. My divemaster kept vanishing and swimming off but I coped ok and had a good dive. The biggest problem was that there was quite big surf and the beach was mainly large volcanic rocks. When I tried to stand up with all the kit on to get out a wave hit me and knocked me on my face dragging me over the rocks. I now have the grazed elbows and knees of a five year old.

I also had a bit of a moment when I thought I had lost everything. It turns out that I accidentally packed Beth and Osyth off with my travellers cheques as we had put everything together in a safe. Not realising this I thought I had left them in a hotel. Whilst calling up to stop them in a bit of a panic I couldn't find my passport which sent me off into mild hysterics. The guys at my bunglaows were great and helped me go to the police and make a report and I was very glad off my multiple photocopies. When I went to pack and head to the embassy to gt a replacement what should I find, my passport!!! Great giant numpty. I had put it in a plastic money envelope in my money belt. All a great relief but a terrifying morning. So I mainly took it easy and tried to relax for the rest of the day.

It did mean that I got on great guns with all the guys who worked in the bungalows. They invited me to a meal for another long term guest who was leaving the next day and we had lots of spicy satay and some arak. Arak is scary stuff, it gives you "helicopters above the head" in the words of Nyoman. It also leaves you with a vile hangover based on the experience of Osyth so I managed to not over-imbibe and got to bed reasonably early.

The next day I got to Denpasar (2 hour drive) to be put onto a bus to Probolinngo. All quite straightforward. An older chap came and sat on the seat next to me and nodded hello. Good, thinks I, he does not speak English so I can sleep happily. After 2 hours we got to the ferry for Java. The old chap escorts me around the boat and tries to talk to me. After fifteen minutes he started grabbing me by the wrist and saying something to the other Indonesian men on the bot who all laughed. I went and sat on the bus and when he got back on he slapped some vile smelling stuff on his head, sat down and then tried to snuggle into my arm. Some fairly basic sign language later he was sitting a good two feet away from me and did not give me any further hassle for the next six hours of the trip. It did mean I was not entirely relaxed though. At least it prepared me in some way for attitudes on Java.

He was very polite as he got off the bus and the bus driver was good enough to drop me where I could get transport up to Bromo. I met a lovely girl called Deb in the travel agent and we had a good chat in the minibus to the villages surrounding Bromo (another hour long trip). Needless to say I was knackered by the time I got to the hotel. It was also much colder up the mountains so I went for the luxury of a room with hot water. Deb, a guy there called Chris and a German girl called Nina spent a couple of hours swapping horror stories of touts, optimistic men and places we had been. It was lovely to have a good chat. The area around Probolinngo is famous for rip-offs and tourist hassling tricks.

The next day I took a walk up the mountain to get to the volcaninc rim and from there to gt a look at Bromo. "Up" is definitely the only description for that walk. It was 7km of stright up hill. I was walking through the villages which was nice. All the kids shouting hello, and waving and exchanging nods with people sitting on their steps.

Bromo is an active volcano which sits with a few other active and dormant volcanos in a giant ancient volcano. To get to it you cross the "sea of sand" a wide expanse of black sand with a temple near the volcano. As I dropped down the crater rim a man came up and hired me his pony as my legs were still scremaing from the uphill. Guess I am not as fit as I thought. So I had a lovely leisurely ride across the desert before tining up the pony and climbing the steps to the volcano. The next morning I went up in a jeep to a higher peak to the northwest to watch the sunrise and then back to bromo. Seeingn it in daytime is a very different experience to the tourist frenzy that goes on in the morning. About fifty ponies and their owners flock to very jeep that arrives and tries to convince the occupants to ride a pony. All in a cloud of black sand and early monring fog. Quite crazy.

I had made an error of judgement in deciding to stay there for three days as there was really not that much to do and I finished my book. Luckily Chris had left me Freakonomics which was eally amusing although I finished it after one day. A waiter had offered to take me to some waterfalls. It was about an hours drive on a scooter. Scooter driving in those mountains is a bit like a rollrecoaster ride that goes on forever, with no safety equipment. The waterfalls were stunning though. A 400m drop into a lovely blue pool. I jut wish I had brought my swimming gear. Doo-doo, my driver took me back to the hotel and then tried to talk to me about "the first time he made love with his Stockport girlfriend". It must have made quite an impression on him cos he went a bit odd every time he mentioned it. I decided it was not suitable lunchtime conversation and managed to extricate myself to get the minibus back to Probolinngo and my onward travel to Yogya.

The minibus was also a world of fun. After being moved from a good empty bus to a really busy one we were all asked to get out so that they could replace a flat tyre with a spare. I have never seen such a bald tyre. They then brought a better one and changed it again (thankfully). I eventually got down to the travel agent and spent a few hours waiting for my bus. The agent was a bit crazy and seemed friendly enough until he started stroking my hair and telling me how sweet I am. I pointedly remarked that my boyfriend would probably disagree and that he should bugger off. When the bus did turn up we drove around for an hour before heading off and seeming to go to the same plce three times to pick up various people. I was then driving at great speeds and frequently on the wrong side of the road for 10 hours to gt to Yogya at 5.30 in the morning. Thankfully there was someone in reception and whilst there was not going to be a room free for three hours, they did let me have a sit down and fed me tea.

So here I am in Yogya. I thought it would be a bit more cosmopolitan for the big tourist centre but it is a big, busy and fume filled city. I had also hoped there would be better shopping opportunities so that I could stock up on pretty things and souvenirs. Not really. I may get a fwe of you islamic headscarves as they are quite pretty, apart from that it is leather knock offs and peculiar ornaments. I went to the Sultans palace yesterday which had some fantastic displays of scouting memorabilia of an Indonesian hero.

I did make it to the Prambanam temple complex on the first day and went to a Ramayana dance performance. The tenmples are lovely, although nothing compared to Angkor Wat. I did have lots of fun having my photo taken by Indonesian tourists. Apparently they don't see white people often so I had a large group of men all sit beside me to have their photo taken and then a large family grabbed me for various combinations of family members. Quite odd, but at least I have been famous for five minutes and can amuse everyone back in the village.

I am planning to go to Borobodur tomorrow for the night and then either Dieng Plateau or a walk up Merapi (a very active volcano). I quite like the idea of a trek up merapi, although not sure about the "5 hour uphill slog through spider and snake infested forests" as described in the Rough Guide.