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Tom:
Well this is different!!! We're now in Jakarta, staying in a 5 star hotel in the city centre courtesy of Nil's rather awesome uncle. I have to say after 9 weeks of penny pinching we had forgotten that these kind of living conditions existed, and we didn't realise how smelly we were and how bedraggled looked. Basically after a 19 hour bus journey to Jakarta from Yogya, during which the bus broke down three times and the buses' dynamo had to be replaced, we walked into the lobby of the hotel and became instantly aware of how 2 months of traveling had affected us. Today we ate like princes, swam in the hotel pool, lounged in the sauna, and then ate like princes again - a slight contrast to haggling over the accommodation price, trapesing around to find a cheap place to eat and then haggling again for the price of our next 12 hour bus journey! Anyway, love to all at home. TY
Nil:
Jakarta is a pretty cool place, especially when you're staying in a five-star hotel! I know I've thanked Steve and Kate over and over for treating us to this week long reintroduction to civilization and then some, but I want to do it in writing! THANK YOU Steve and Kate.
I'm going to talk about Borobodor, as I realise that we haven't blogged in ages, and missed letting you know about it. Borobodor, which is near Yogya, is the most magical, mystical, awe-inspiring place I have ever visited, and although it isn't as grand in size as Angkor Wat, I would still say it is more spectacular. We arrived at 6am to see the sun lift the mist from the lush jungle surroundings which frames the temple, we took in the impressive volcano which sits in the background, and because nobody really gets up early enough in the morning to see the sun rise we enjoyed, the peace and tranquility of this incredible place. We also went to visit Pramadan which is equally spectacular, although because it doesn't have the same setting as Borobodor, I'd say I prefered the latter. So, as Tom says, we then took the night bus from Yogya to Jakarta which wasn't as bad as all that, because all the locals know that this government bus service is a little unreliable, nobody really uses it, so I had the whole back of the bus to lie down and Tom's seat reclined to a horizontal position (that's because it was broken!). We met a very friendly and helpful Indonesian man called Ben whose English was impeccable and who spoke to the bus driver on our behalf to drop us off as close as possible to the hotel in which we're staying. And you guys now know the rest...
I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my mummy! And today is doubly special because Nicole is getting married today, so I wanted to say Congratulations to the Atuneses!
Lots of love
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P.S. Thanks Berdie and Duncan for checking out our blog, and for your company that night in Siem Reap, I'm so happy you're alive after the stories you told us about your driver!!!
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