Blog 54 Maybe we were somewhat pampered by the amazing beaches we'd seen on our trip but Lombok didn't seem anything too special as far as black sand beaches go. The waves were pretty ferocious meaning we couldn't swim without fighting for your life on each occasion. All worked to our advantage I guess because we had some gorgeously chilled out afternoons sat on the bungalow patio reading and writing in our cook books. I now have a few recipes in my baking bo...

Blog 53 We arrived in Yogy at 10pm and walking the streets to find accommodation didn't prove too easy. Every hotel, hostel and guest house had a full sign hanging on the door. And all because the Chinese have to be different and celebrate a different new year and that means holidays for the Indonesians. We finally found somewhere after a good hour and a half looking. A small pokey single room where only one person could stand up at a time and the toilet was so...

Blog 52 Going off the lonely planets' definition, Jakarta wasn't going to be our favourite capital: "First impressions of Jakarta are not good. One of the world's greatest megalopolises it's hot, relentless urban sprawl appears for tens of traffic-knapped kilometres across a floor plain with barely a park to break the concrete monotony" Thankfully lonely planet let us down again! We had a lovely time, particularly in the evenings chilling in the bars and dri...

Blog 51b A rather sickly making car journey and we were dropped off in Medan airport to catch our flight to Jakarta. Airport food this time included a microwaved hotdog in its bun and a sweet lasagne both from the k-mart. Good to taste some real cheese for a change although why the hell do Asian people insist on adding sugar to everything! Love Jo x x x

Blog 51a A wonderfully relaxed 4 days. Nice not to be hopping onto the next place after a busy couple of days. We were recommended a place to stay and it's was perfect for us. A bungalow on the lake for 100,00 rupiahs, which is £4 a night. The market on the mainland opened every Saturday so we caught the boat back across after the first night to stock up on meals for a bit of home trangia cooking. These included pumpkin curry and green bean stir fry, all w...