I was still feeling the effects of the previous evening as I staggered out of the plane at Yogjakarta airport.Another brand new country, that I hadn't researched whatsoever!I suppose this is a measure of my confidence with traveling by now.I only realized you had to buy a visa when I arrived at customs!Yogjakarta is basically in the centre of Java, between Jakarta and the island of Bali.Avoiding the taxis again I took a public bemo into the city.This is a peculiar small bus which you can only enter and exit from a small, raised and enclosed bus stop.I'd become used to all the stares by now.Thinking it would be relatively easy, I hadn't booked a Losmen (cheap and usually dirty guesthouse) but arrived in the area to find out it was the day of an Indonesian festival.And everywhere in this district of Marliboro was full!After an hour of wandering around with my back pack, I luckily found a small boy who led me to a losmen with one free room.I was so tired, I didn't care much that there were insects crawling around on the floor, or that the bed mattress was made of 1 inch thick foam.I later realized it was peak season for holidaying in Indonesia and proceeded to reserve most of my accommodation ahead of arrival.

This country was similar to India with all the hassle.I quickly worked out that the seemingly friendly locals all wanted to take me to their Batik exhibition!There were hundreds of shops selling the same t-shirts, paintings and souvenir.And thousands of scooters - THE mode of transport in Indonesia, apart from horse and cart of course!I started off the sightseeing by walking to Kraton, the palace of the Jogja sultans inside a small walled city.The exhibitions were pretty tame and it was almost sad to see a palace in such a state that hundreds of years ago, must have been so lavishly decorated.I navigated my way to the Pasar Ngasem which is a bird market.I couldn't quite work out why there were so many birds here, as nobody seemed to be buying any, but there must have been thousands of caged budgerigars, parrots, roosters, pigeons and even owls.Next up, I was trying to find the Taman Sari (WaterPalace) when rickshaw drivers told me it was closed today.It should have taken me less than a few minutes to realize that this wasn't true as, yet again, these men were looking for my fare to take me back to Marlioboro.But I eventually found the ruins which were slowly being rebuilt.This once great palace has been destroyed by a series of earthquakes over the years, most recently in 2006.The bathing pools area has been fully restored and was quite magnificent.I finished at Alun Alun, a park with two large trees in the middle.It's proclaimed that it will bring luck, if you can walk between the two trees blindfolded.

The next day I took a bus to the city bus terminal."20,000 rupees, OK?" the guy asked.I stand there looking annoyed for a few seconds before he says "OK, 10,000 rupees".I enter the bus and spend one and a half hours fiddling with my Ipod before reaching Borobudur, billed as the largest Buddhist temple in Asia.It's basically like a large pyramid - two million blocks of stone with exquisite carvings.Apparently it was that bloke Raffles again who ordered this giant structure to be cleaned of volcanic ash and restored.There are six square terraces.You are supposed to walk around each one clockwise direction before climbing the stairs one level and doing the same, until you reach the top.This is called the Pilgrims walk and is 5km long.The final level door is supposed to 'lead to the supreme final reality of Buddhism'.After that you reach three circular stones and many stupa, where reaching through to touch the Buddha inside is believed to bring good luck.Most people visit Borobudur by way of a 'sunrise tour' which you can easily book in Jogja.However, the 5am start would mean the bus reaches Borobudur well past sunrise, with a whole load of other tourist buses.All this would make for a far less interesting experience (and twice as expensive) than taking the public bus during the day!

The only way to reach Bromo-TenggerNational Park in one day was by using the 13 hour tourist bus.The connections between the various towns were simply too infrequent.The police stopped our minibus for speeding so our driver simply handed over some cash before we set off again.We reached Probolinggo at around 9pm and were then subjected to a one hour 'sell' by the end of which most of the tourists were more than happy to hand over 90,000 rupees for a jeep ride to the viewpoint at sunrise.I thought better of this.Back into the minibus and I began to grow impatient, as the bus waited for passengers to check in at the hotels we stopped off, as we made our way up to Cemoro Lawang.I was fortunate enough, or unfortunate in this case, to have reserved a room at the very last drop-off point, Cemara Indah hotel, which I finally checked into at around 11pm.I woke up at around 9am with a stunning view of the volcanic valley, featuring Gunung Bromo and Gunung Batok.All the tourists that had booked the sunrise tour where disappointed as it had been too cloudy earlier to see anything at all!Most of them had already booked forward transport and so their experience of the volcanoes was the view from the hotel.What a complete waste of time and money!So I had breakfast and then started out.I climbed down the 30m steep slope into the valley.Walking across volcanic ash is like treading across sand or snow.There are three main volcanoes in the valley and Gunung Bromo is the active volcano which most people visit, with smoke spiraling up from inside its crater.There are 250 steps going up to the viewing platform where you look down into the smouldering crater.I previously thought this was as far as I would go.I bumped into a couple of lads from Holland who were inquisitive to find out how far you could climb around the crater.So we set off, past the end of the viewing platform and onwards around the crater.It was pretty hair raising at times, with the edge of the crater being not much wider than a foot and a drop either side of at least 100 metres.At one point, we climbed down halfway into the crater and then carried on back round.It was probably the best climb I've ever done and we managed to climb all the way round!

The next day I had planned to reach the town of Jember by 3pm as the office of MeruBetiriNational Park was closing then.I had previously been told that a bus would leave at 9am but arrived to find a couple of Europeans who had been waiting since 7am.I was told the bus would not leave until it was full.And with only three people, this seemed unlikely for at least a few more hours.So with little other option and with my luggage, I started trekking down the hill.This seemed a fairly formidable task as Probolinggo was 20 kilometres away.So I stuck my hand out at any vehicle that passed.Eventually an Indonesian guy stopped in his pick-up but only took me 10 mins down the road.I carried on walking and was then picked up by a group of Indonesians who took me another 10 mins.They dropped me off in front of a group of lads with scooters.In this country, most locals will help you if it involves money.So I climbed onto the back of a young guy's ojek (scooter).He stopped briefly at his house and bought out a helmet.Excellent, I thought, until he put it on his own head and made gestures that he only had one!Bearing in mind my scooter experience from Thailand, you can imagine my thoughts as we were going round the bends of a dust track on the back of a scooter with a rucksack on my back!After 30 mins we arrived safe and sound in Probolinggo and I caught a 3 hour public bus to Jember bus station.The bus station was the other side of town to the national park office so I took a bemo which is a small truck with seats in the back (similar to the size of a milk float).I learnt all about how difficult it was to reach the park (a journey of 6 hours) and that as there had been rain the previous night, there was a slim chance I would be able to cross the river to reach Sukamade beach, where green turtles come ashore to lay eggs.

I took a becak (3 wheeled bike rickshaw) to Hotal Sulawesi in Jember and set out the next morning for the national park.I won't bother to explain the route involved, but suffice to say the river was too high and I wasn't able to go any further.So I simply turned around and stayed another night in Jember.The next day involved more traveling; a public bemo to Pakusari bus terminal, a bus to Banyuwangi, a bemo to Ketapang, a ferry across to Gilmanuk in Bali and then a long bus ride to Denpasar.By the time I reached here I'd had enough and stayed the night at Hotel Niki Rusdi.Two more bemos the next morning and I reached Kuta, which is the resort most people stay for their holidays in Bali.

Dave was due to arrive in Kuta later on that day.So I had to politely refused a shared room from a German girl as I left the bemo.After an hour of trudging around losmen, being told 'We're full' I almost wished I hadn't!But having learnt that perseverance often pays off in these games, Runta Bungalows inbetween the Poppy gangs, finally came to the rescue.Kuta is very touristy and similar to Hat Rin in Koh Phangan.The beach was nice but nothing dissimilar to what I'd experienced before.Dave and I spent that evening catching up and the following afternoon on the beach.You could say we'd become pretty experienced at this, but it wasn't long before we were chatting to a pair of Dutch girls.I wished I'd spent a little more time relaxing but after sunset we all ended up at a beachside bar.And then we met them again later that evening for more drinks.Unfortunately the bars and clubs in this trashy resort were as bad as you could predict.

The next day we spent researching and booking ahead.We booked most of the accommodation for Japan.You can reach the Gili islands many ways, but the quickest and most expensive is by speedboat.So after much haggling with the local 'travel agents' Dave booked a return Eka Jaya speedboat ticket and I chose a single, thinking I would arrange the return leg in the Gilis.What a plan this turned out to be!On arrival at the port, Dave duly handed our booking slip over in exchange for the actual tickets.And he was given back two return tickets!The journey took an hour and a half, during which time, one of the boatmen came looking for me.'Where's your ticket?'I acted dumb and pretended we'd lost it, made easier by the fact Dave was feeling queasy and had gone to sit at the back of the boat.When we arrived at Gili Trawangan, the boatman tried to march me to the office but we managed to lose him and went onto play the 'find a place to stay' game once again - Gili was as full as Kuta had been and twice as expensive.With the promise of a room, I followed a local woman and her son on a trike, all the way through the village and then a field.This family had built a small three bedroom apartment.It was actually fairly decent and I would've stayed there if it wasn't so far away from the beach.Some time later we came across Creative Bungalows and its friendly manager, Gecko.

The Gili islands are known as being Indonesian's take on paradise.Gili Trawangan is the far western island of the other two, Gili Air and Meno and all sit beside the north western edge of Lombok.Trawangan is the most popular of the three and is known for its parties as well as a total lack of police presence.The island has a chief and any misbehaving locals or indeed tourists are sent back to the mainland.It's also known for its drugs and one local offered me everything from marijuana to heroin.Gecko was the most interesting character we met here.He had a vanilla farm on Lombok and had lived in Melbourne for a few years.It turned out that the best party happened on the first night we stayed but even this was a campfire and a few people dancing.Unfortunately I had developed a brief cold and wasn't interested in staying up too late.The next day I spent listening to Dave moan about his lack of sleep and spent sometime on the beach, before walking all the way around Trawangan.There was a lot of dead coral washed up on the beaches, as was explained to me, because fisherman had historically used explosive methods to catch fish.This took around two hours and the sunset on the western side of the island was stunning.I was also struck by the potential for development here.Tourists have been coming to Gili for the last twenty years and there are still many prime spots available for bungalows to be built.Gecko explained that he'd bought blocks of land for six of his tourist guests, as only Indonesian's are legally permitted to own land here.That evening, Dave and our bungalow neighbour Mike went to the party which can be best described as music for weddings.So the parties were ultimately a big disappointment.The other frustrating aspect was the prices.Literally everything was twice as expensive as the mainland, but the food was all of average quality.The beaches were stunning and views spectacular - I finally made some time to write a lot of postcards from here.But ultimately, the Andaman coast in Thailand easily beat the GiliIslands for the paradise award.

On the last day Dave and I clambered up the hill to the viewpoint.For the speedboat back to Bali I attempted to disguise myself in a cap and sunglasses.Luckily there was a completely different set of boatmen and no bother whatsoever.So, I had gotten away with my single ticket and saved around £30 in the process!We spent the early evening back in Kuta, before catching a taxi to the airport, paying the departure tax and flying overnight to Japan.

We arrived in Osaka around 7am, having had broken airplane sleep and so very tired.Before we left England, this was the country I'd most wanted to visit so was proud the funds had eventually stretched all this way.We took a train into town and managed to find the hotel, after many attempts at asking friendly Japanese locals who knew no English whatsoever.This was just where we had started, landing in Brazil and knowing no Portuguese!The film, lost in translation, began to grow in its relevance.Osaka was flattened by the World War II bombs so everything is very modern.We stayed at a hotel in the Tennoji area.After a rest we set out on the subway system, only to realise we'd boarded a pink 'girls only' carriage which was fairly embarrassing for a few minutes!It was dark by now so we took a ride on the Giant Ferris Wheel in the Tempozan area, said to be the largest ferris wheel in the world at 112 metres high.The view of the lit up Osaka-Kobe conurbation was spectacular.We then headed to the Minami area (city centre) and had our first delicious meal in a small Japanese restaurant in Hozenji-Yokocho Alley - thick savoury pancakes containing potato, spring onions, cabbage and egg.This is fried on a hot plate and then transferred to a smaller hot plate, built into each restaurant table.

The next day we were due to catch the train to Kyoto.In the morning I spent some time checking my expenditure - slightly over budget from the last 3 months but doing reasonably well I thought.We took our luggage to Osaka station and stored it in lockers for a few hours, whilst we visited the Umeda Sky building.This twin tower complex looks like a space-age version of Paris' Arc de Triomphe.The train to Kyoto took just 30 mins.

It took us a little time to realize the best way to reach our destination, made slightly hilarious by the state of Dave's luggage.We both had back-packs and a smaller rucksack.But since I'd met him again in Bali, Dave was also carrying an ever deteriorating plastic bag, full of stuff he didn't really need.I think I found this funnier than Dave as whenever we had to walk any sort of distance he became grumpy.After two metro lines he decided to take a taxi and I carried on walking for ten minutes to reach Ryokan Hinomoto, a Japanese guesthouse near Kawaramachi Station.Almost all its surfaces were made of wood, with beach mat type material on the floor.We slept on futons on the floor, were supposed to leave between 10am-3pm for cleaning and back by the 11.30pm curfew.That night we ate more pancakes and noodles in Gion, which is famed for its Geishas.These are ladies walking around in elaborate dressing gown type dresses with large bows on the back, oversized hats and fine makeup.This is the traditional dress of the Japanese lady and it was normal to see women wearing dressed similarly, all over Japan.But only proper Geishas operate in Kyoto and are known as women of exquisite grace and refinement, who entertain Japanese gentlemen of considerable means.

We slept in the following morning and were woken by the cleaner.Dave and I agreed to split-up for the sightseeing as I knew we were too different in what temples we wanted to see and how long we'd spend.So I walked to Higashiyama in east Kyoto.Kiyomizu-Dera was first built in 798 and is now one of the most famous landmarks of Kyoto.The main hall has a huge veranda that is supported by hundreds of pillars and juts out over the hillside.Just below this hall is the Otowa-no-taki waterfall, where visitors drank sacred waters believed to have therapeutic properties.At the Jishu-jinja shrine, tourists try to ensure success in love by closing their eyes and walking about 18 metres between a pair of stones.

Just on from here is a lovely restored neighbourhood, the Ninen-zaka-Sannen-zaka area.These two charming streets are lined with old wooden houses, traditional shops and restaurants.I brieftly stopped by at the closed Yasaka Pagoda before entering Ryozen Kwan-On, which is a tribute to the unknown Japanese soldier from World War II and has a giant Buddha on the roof.

By the time I reached Maruyama-Koen park I began to realize that we'd definitely slept in too late, as all the temples were now closing.Slightly frustrated, I resolved to wake up much earlier the next morning and walked back into the city.I stopped of at the Museum of Kyoto which covers Kyoto's history and culture from the founding (AD 794) although most of the displays had no translation!There was a small orchestra rehearsing in the museum hall which, along with several locals, I watched for a while.

This turned out to be possibly the biggest sightseeing day of my travels.First stop was Chion-In, which is still the headquarters of the Jodo school of Buddhism and is probably the grandest of the temples in Kyoto.The 17th century, two storey San-Mon temple gate is the largest in Japan.I popped into the immense hall where monks were chanting away and ringing bells.Just up the road is Shoren-In, which was originally the residence of the chief abbot of the Tendai school of Buddhism.Its beautifully crafted wooden rooms lead out into a tranquil and well-kept garden.I stopped off for breakfast and briefly saw Dave before leaving him behind again.Nanzen-ji contains expansive grounds and numerous sub-temples, including the LeapingTigerGarden which is classic Zen.Right alongside is the Oku-no-in garden with a waterfall in a beautiful mountain glen.What struck me most of all about these gardens was the circular pathways that led you back to where you started.This seems much more logical to me than the traditional English straight garden paths we're familiar with.

I then walked north for nearly an hour, along ShishigataniRiver to reach the GinkakujiTemple.This translates as 'Silver Pavillion' but the designer of 1482 never managed to realize his ambition of covering it with silver.But its still one the premier sites in Kyoto.It's said that this is where Higashiyama culture was formed and the modern life style of the Japanese.After getting lost for a little while, I caught a bus to the Shimogama-Jina shrine which dates from the 8th century and is nestled in the fork of the Kamo-gawa and Takano-gawa rivers.I approached it along a shady path through the lovely Tadasu-no-mori.This wooded area is said to be a place where lies cannot be concealed and is considered a prime location to sort out disputes.The shrine is dedicated to the god of harvest.Traditionally, pure water was drawn from the nearby rivers for purification and agricultural ceremonies.This was probably my favorite of all the sights in Kyoto.

Another two buses and I reached Kinkaku-ji which is the famed GoldenTemple, originally constructed in 1397 and is covered with gold foil.It's set in some glorious grounds which also feature the mirror pond and ryumon taki (waterfall) a visitor's teahouse.It's a shame it was raining during my visit here.One more bus and approaching dusk, I reached Daitoku-Ji, which belongs to the Rinzai school of Zen and contains an extensive complex of 24 subtemples, most of which were closed by the time I was there.So that was eight attractions in one day!I was pretty pleased with my efforts and rewarded myself with more noodles. The only downside was that most of these sights were classic examples of Zenism, which completely opposes all my rushing around!

The following morning we were due to travel to Tokyo.But Dave wasn't sure if he was staying another day in Kyoto.So I left him asleep again and caught a bus to the train station, put my luggage in lockers and bought a ticket to Tokyo.I then went to Nishiki market, famed for all its different types of Japanese food ingredients, most of which I didn't recognize!Next up was the KyotoImperialPalacePark which has a large variety of flowering trees and open fields.I strolled through the park, to find the tours of the ImperialPalace were fully booked for the next three days! I took the metro back to Kyoto Station to catch the Shinkansen (also known as the bullet train) for a three hour ride to Tokyo.

I'd become pretty adept at using the metro systems by now, despite all the signs being in Japanese.The Tokyo metro system is huge and complicated, much more so than the London underground.The trick is to use the tourist map to find where you want to go, then count the number of stations you which to travel on the station map and locate the ticket price.Finding Hotel Kawase in Asakusa was relatively easy this time.My single room featured a TV and DVD player, complete with a range of pornographic DVDs.But the hotel also featured the infamous 'capsules' but I was surprised to see they were very similar to hostel dorm bunk beds - a rectangular cube with an open side to the middle of the room.It was Friday evening so I ventured out to Rappongi, famous for its nightlife.Perhaps it was because of the Summer Sonic music festival that was taking place this weekend, but most of the bars were dead quiet.So I went to look at the TokyoTower and headed back to the hotel.

The Shibuya crossing is probably one of the world's most visually famous four-way intersections.This was easily my favorite part of Tokyo and I ended up visiting Shibuya several times.I've never seen so many video screens at once and at night it seemed magical!However this time was in the day and I was going to find out about nightclubs that evening.It appeared, as I'd suspected that going to Womb would be the best bet.

Onto Shinjuku then, which has nearly everything that makes Tokyo interesting; upscale department stores, discount shopping arcades, flashing neon, buttoned-up government offices, swarming crowds, streetside video screens, hostess clubs, shyly tucked away shrines and seamy strip bars.I walked to the Hanazono-jinja shrine which has a reputation for bringing success to business ventures (both legitimate and otherwise) and is nestled close to Tokyo's most infamous red light district, Kabukicho.The network of alleyways of Golden Gai seems suspended in a moodiness time warp, with many of the miniscule bars being Japanese only.

Back to the hotel and no sign of Dave yet so I headed to TokyoBay, where the fireworks display (to celebrate summer) had already started as my metro train drew into the station.The police had blocked off all the obvious places to stand, which was a shame considering there was so much decent viewing space!Undeterred, I managed to find a hole in the fence and sneaked up to the edge of the bay.12,000 fireworks went off inside an hour and a half.It was spectacular and probably the best fireworks display I've ever seen.All the crowds meant reaching any metro station took a far old while.Later that evening I was back in Shibuya and on my way to Womb.Firstly, lockers instead of cloak rooms - what a good idea.It consisted of one main room with a balcony bar area and another smaller room.I met up with Dave who had been on the Womb boat party earlier and we bumped into a group of Japanese girls who took most of our attention.Heidi was Djing, who is connected to Minus and we were one of last people out of the door when it closed at 5am.Luckily, the metros had started again so it was quite easy to travel back to the hotel.

A heavy head the next day, as I'm sure you can imagine.I took another metro to Ginza, Tokyo's answer to NYC's Fifth Avenue.It was one of the first areas to modernize with the city's first department stores.The SonyBuilding showcases new Sony products including tiny MP3 players and a 3D aquarium.Everything was remarkably cheap - you could pick up a decent sized flat screen TV for less than £100.I bought some new headphones.I took a quick stroll to Kabuki-za and its dramatic exterior.The 333 metre high TokyoTower was completed in 1958 and stands as a kind of gaudy orange counterpoint to the ultramodern Roppongi Hills.It's based on and is nine metres taller than the EiffelTower.The night view is stellar and the best I've experienced.I took another lift (and long wait) to the special observation deck at 250m.Photos speak for themselves in this case.

Internet Cafes in Japan were incredibly hard to find, but still worth a mention.But when you do find them, you are transported into an ultramodern world of technology.You can hire a cushioned booth for as long as you like that contains a PC, LCD screen, DVD player and sex toys.Some people even use them to sleep in.The toilets have seat warmers and electronic flushers.Asakusa was heavily bombed in World War II.I took a stroll in the heavy rain to Hongan-jiTemple and then to Senso-jiTemple, which enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy).

It had come to be a normal experience to be denied cash at an ATM.But it was only after checking on the internet, that I realized that I managed to spend £800 inside one week in Japan.This is a fairly normal amount for a holiday, but for traveling it is simply ridiculous.So Japan certainly lived up to its reputation for being the most expensive country in the world.This meant that my budget was now destroyed.A few calls home and a few more to the airlines and my flight back to England was arranged for the following day - slightly disappointed that I didn't make it to China as was planned, but proud to have made it through 10 months.

What else can you do in circumstances like this, but start drinking?!Dave and I went out to a local restaurant and chose the, all you can drink inside 2 hours option.This included beers and sake, which I surprisingly enjoyed.We went onto Shibuya and found the only place open on a Monday night - Womb!I left Dave in the middle of the bar at 3am - a fitting departure I thought.My flight was due to leave at 11am the next day but was delayed to 5pm as BA had messed up my flight rearrangement.The trip to the airport took two hours and that was on the express train.A 30 hour traveling experience via Hong Kong and I landed back at Heathrow early in the morning.

I've been laying low since my return, mostly due to lack of funds.My reflections on this trip will be recorded at some point in the future.This blog has been such a hit with family and friends that I will probably incorporate it into an image based book.I hope you've enjoyed reading all my ramblings and look forward to seeing you all again very soon.