Day 55-77Indonesia

Bali

After our short and messy stay in Singapore it was time to see some old faces as we made for Indonesia, first stop, Bali. The trip was very painless and we made it to the hotel to be greeted by Cam's mum and gran, Ange and Isa. After 3 months of travel it was great to see some family, and it was made even nicer as we were greeted with ice cold beers!

We had a lovely catch up and then went for dinner. Shortly after we got home we were joined by Cam's brother Fraz, who was full of beans as he has been working hard. Inevitably he convinced Cam to go out and have some drinks. The pair headed out on scooters (without helmets which was pretty dumb) and visited some of Fraser's old hang out spots. They ended up absolutely blootered and came home at god knows what time, but a good time was had and that's all that matters.

The was no time to dwell on the hangover as Fraz had organised Finn's beach club for the three of us. Whilst it was an incredibly fun day, not much can be said of it as not much is remembered. All we can remember is ending up back at the hotel at around 9pm trying to not make too much noise as we celebrated Scotland scoring 50 points against France!!

The next day was pretty painful... The piper had to be paid after a night of to much fun and the gang were suffering. Cam managed to summon the energy to get a haircut and then met a sheepish Fraz for lunch. Kirstin all the while couldn't make it out of bed. I'm fairness she had food poisoning just a few days before so it's an impressive feat she had as much fun as she did... The rest of the day was left feeling sorry for ourselves and we had some dinner.

Lombok

After a whirlwind introduction to Bali it was time for a new island; Lombok. We regathered with Ange and Isa, it was really so lovely to be in their company and have some fresh chat! We arrived at our hotel and immediately got settled in and had some beers. Fraz took us out to a lovely Chinese and afterwards we went and visited one of his old haunts which offered class (and cheap) cocktails. We sat there and listened to music and got drunk whilst the children on the street sold all of their tatt to Isa. She must have bought about 20 bracelets. It was just a fab night!

Just chilled out the next day and then went to the gym. Fraz had picked up a bug so wasn't feeling up to much the rest of us went out for some lovely pizza then called it a night in anticipation for Angela's birthday the next day.

It was an early start as we had arranged for balloons and a cake to be set up in the villa. Credit where it's due, the wee band of Indonesians came and set up a cracking birthday display and did so really quietly! Woke up and then had some breakfast. Fraz still not feeling well, we went out to a beach club and spent the day basking in the sun on a stunning beach and got a little tipsy. Given that the beach was quite remove, we sruggled to get a taxi home but Kirstin managed to convince a local to give us a lift! We got ready and went out for some dinner.

The next day was very chill. We had a lie in, and then went for some lunch and a wander. Cam went to gym and then we went for dinner. This time Fraz was feeling up to it so joined us, which was lovely! It was so nice to slow down after a chaotic couple of months.

They following day we were treated to an even more beautiful beach than the one we visited on Angela's birthday. This time we were there for surfing. We had a 2 hour lesson which was a lot of fun. Whilst Cam had a better day out the first time we went surfing (in Sri Lanka) it was Kirstin who managed to show off her skills on a board this time. Typically, she has witnesses so Cam can't try to argue that he was better! We went back and had another lovely meal together and just hung out.

Final day, Andgla treated us to an excursion to go snorkeling. The drive was tiring but we eventually made it and were lumped on a bit of a sketchy boat. We took it in our stride and went out to explore the islands. They were stunning and we managed some really good snorkeling, Ange even saw a sea snake! We went to get some food, which to be honest looked a little sketchy too, but we diligently ate it all, apart from Isa who couldn't stomach it. And then it was time to head back to get ready for our final night. Cam, Kirstin and Fraz went to a Greek restaurant, they tried anchovies ceviche to try and be adventurous, it was not great... But the gyros were class! And then it was off to the pub to watch super Saturday rugby. If Scotland won it would mean a chance at the title. Due to the time difference however, the first game did not start until 10pm and the last one wouldn't finish till 7am. Sadly, Scotland were well beat by the Irish so it was off to bed. Thankfully, had we had to stay up we would have left Lombok very dejected as the French did enough to win regardless of the result. And with that, we set of for the island of Flores in search of Komodo Dragons!

Labuan Bajo

The day started off a bit meh as the hotel we had been staying in had wrecked some clothes and had started up construction (despite ensuring the noise would not an issue) on the last couple of days and were a bit rude about it when we mentioned. So we left with a sour taste in our mouth. However, it was the start of an other adventure and time to fulfill Cam's life long dream of seeing Komdodo dragons!

Cam had spent the last couple days trying to negotiate the price of an over water villa, but was unsuccessful. He did manage to save a bit on a basic room however so we settled for the hotel, which turned out to be stunning. It had a lovely view of the bay and the staff were incredible. We chilled the first night and then went to bed.

Up early the next morning we set off on our tour. The first stop was a lovely climb on Penida island which was reminiscent of the one we did in Thailand. It was beautiful and thankfully a little earlier in the morning so not quite as hot. We went a wander on the beach and enjoyed the views after the climb and then it was onto stop 2, the pink beach. A beach which has a pink hue due to the red coral which makes up the sand. The contrast between the pink sand and turquoise water was really impressive and the photos just don't do it justice. We had some noodles and hung out. Next, it was time to see the dragons!

We arrived at Komdodo and were treated almost immediately to the sight of a small dragon which was cool. A small adventure into the jungle we spotted another two lounging about. Whilst they are really big and impressive, we both felt like we expected them to be bigger in order to live up to the dragon name. It was cool nonetheless. We spotted another two dragons as well as a deer which was bleeding a little so would likely become dinner for the dragons. It was a really cool experience but there was more to come for this tour.

We set off for a small outcrop of sand in the middle of the ocean which was super cool to see. Here we snorkled and saw loads of fish and some little reef sharks!

Next we went into the middle of the ocean to find some Manta. We sat on the roof for this leg which was awesome and took us back to riding atop the jeep in the Indian desert.

We found out spot and jumped off the boat. It was a little nerve wracking because you were floating in the middle of the ocean unable to see a huge deal in choppy water. But all the nerves quickly vanished when we spotted out first Manta ray. Where the Komodo dragons may have fallen short from our imagined scale, the Mantas absolute blew our expectations out of the water. They were nothing short of magical to see. About 3m across, they glided through the water seemingly effortlessly. Truly incredible. We also spotted a turtle!

Unfortunately we forgot our camera so didn't manage any photos at this stop. Thankfully we learnt our lesson and remembered it for the next stop which was Turtle Point. Here the reef was much more shallow so you could make out the incredible coral structures and see a lot more of what was going on. The colours were immense and we were lucky enough to get even closer to the manta rays. The memory of the massive rays swimming directly below us will stay with us forever. It was truly an unforgettable experience and up there with seeing tigers in India!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6LSI5E0dPg

With that it was time to head back to shore. We relaxed the rest of the evening and started to plan our next steps. Unfortunately we failed to take into account religious festivals occuring all over Indonesia for the next week so we couldn't leave Labuan Bajo. So, we extended our stay at the lovely hotel for an extra 4 days. We really didn't do much other than the odd wander, gym session or massage. It was lovely just relaxing. A highlight of this time was definitely realising (on the last night) that room service had no extra charge. We both chuckled when ordering out third round of Long Island Iced Teas and mojitos when the person on the phone said cheekily "oh you really like those drinks don't you?". Whilst it was great to just relax, the routine we had every day was pretty similar and Cam was left shocked when Kirstin said she had had enough of lounging in the sun! Back to the adventure we went...

Yogyakarta

We made our way to Yogyakarta via Jakarta and were left slightly maddened by the indonesian systems in the airport (all of our flights to this point had been delayed and they had a weird habit of using a single gate for multiple flights, all leaving at similar times...). We arrived late on the first night and it was straight to bed.

One we pried ourselves from our bed we went a wander to get Kirstin's glasses fixed and to try and get another patch for her bag. We had some lunch and then went for a quick nap as we had a late night excursion planned. Well rested we jumped into a car and went towards the active volcano called Merapi. We had a 40 mins climb through the forest dodging moths, spiders and bats to get to the top of a viewing platform to watch the volcano erupt. Whilst the weather wasn't great so visibility wasn't ideal. We had a great couple of hours blethering at the top. Twice we were interrupted by a break in the clouds which revealed lava flowing down the side of the mountain. It was insanely cool!

The next day it was once again up early for a tour. This time we headed to the Prambanan and Borobudur temples. The Borobudur temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the world and is truly impressive. We had a lovely time wandering around.

We were on tour with a couple of french girls and one of them wanted to visit the chicken church. So off we went, and as it said on the tin, it was a church in the shape of a chicken. Why you ask? Indonesians like chickene I guess? We had a snack and some ice tea and enjoyed the view, which in fairness was pretty stunning!

Then it was off to Prambanan, which is a hindu temple reminiscent of Angkor Watt. It was really nice and we enjoyed the sun setting and once again had a blether.

The journey home was almost 3 hours because of the Ramadan traffic, so when we got back we had dinner at the hotel and went straight to bed.

We awoke and asked for a late checkout as our flight wasn't till late. We sat on the rooftop bar and read our books just chilling out. Inevitably the flight was delayed so we didn't get to Bali until late. But we were lucky to have some familiar faces waiting for us on the other side. We were greeted in the AirBnB by Jack and Sarah and had a couple of beers and a catch up before calling it a night!

Bali (take 2)

Back in Bali we were up early as Kirstin had ANOTHER interview for a job in Aus, the clever clogs she is! We mooched around the place for a bit with the calm being informed less than 2 hours after Kirstin's interview that she would be getting a job offer, a fact that only surprised Kirstin... In celebration we went to get some drinks with more familiar faces, Angela and Isa. We met them at the pool bar they have been sunning themselves at and got ourselves suitable pickled whilst enjoying each others company before heading back for some pizza and beers. We didn't stay up too long however as we had another day at the beach club arranged the next day.

The next day was a blur as we pretty much woke up, got changed and went to the beach club where we had a big kitty to spend and were greeted with a magnum of bubbles. Needless to say we ended up pretty pickled with Cam and Kirstin in bed by 9pm and Jack and Sarah completely sun burnt. Great fun all round.

The next day we just hung out feeling sorry for ourselves trying desperately to feel better. We ordered some fried chicken and just completely relaxed. Jack was too unwell to leave his bed... Cam and Kirstin went out for another meal with Ange and Isa which was lovely and a couple of aperols had Cam feeling normal again! It was then off to bed as we had some more snorkeling in the morning.

It was a fairly early start as we wandered to get some breakfast, unfortunately the only tour that didn't start ridiculously early also had a pick up zone that was just outside where out hotel was. Easy fix, get breaky in the pick up zone. An hour long journey and we were on the other side of Bali ready to get a boat out to the first island. It started off with some very choppy water and Sarah being sea sick. We didn't know it, but this would be a sign of things to come....

Once we arrived on the island we swapped to a smaller boat and made way to some snorkeling spots. The weather was initially very calm, but all of a sudden it picked up and we were cresting massive waves which threatened to snap the boat in half. Surely we weren't getting out to snorkel in this. Almost as soon as we had this thought we heard our guide shout "manta manta manta, quickly get in"... Rushed we jumped into the ocean and sure enough there were some manta ray, however, in addition to the manta were some tiny jellyfish which stung us all over, rubbish that had drifted in from Bali and waves that threatened to smash us against the cliff. Kirstin has read too many accident enquiries with work to end up the subject of one, so she quickly decided to get out and Cam followed suit fairly quickly. As a result they were not feeling up to getting in for the second spot, but Jack and Sarah were not put off and jumped right in. They were rewarded with a sight of about 10 manta rays swimming right up to them. It was impressive even from the boat!

The next two stops were a lot calmer so Cam rejoined Sarah and jack and saw loads of fish, beautiful coral and some sea turtles. It was really stunning. We got back to shore had some lunch and it was back onto the vomit comet! Every one struggled, but no one more so than the woman sat behind Kirstin who cried hysterically the entire trip home. We got back to the AirBnB knackered so ordered a mexican takeaway, had a couple beers and then called it a night.

On the final day Fraz made a surprise early trip back to Bali and we all went for lunch with Ange and Isa. Had a few beers and then said goodbye to the Fraz, Ange and Isa. Kirstin and Cam jumped on an earlier taxi than planned as they had been warned that Bali airport was a nightmare (thanks Ange!). We queued for over an hour just to put our hold luggage in and then had to get through security. Thankfully, we had enough time for some food and a final farewell pint with Jack and Sarah!

And that was that for Indonesia. We had a great time with some amazing familiar faces. Saw some incredible nature and natural phenomena and even managed to make it through Indonesian beuraucratic minefields without falling out. It was a great time.

Now off to Japan!!!