Hello all - it's been a while since I saw you… how are the children, the wife, the husband the cat, etc.. I hope you've had a brilliant summer, let me know how it's been. Greetings from Indonesia.

I've not been too well in the last few days, having foolishly and inadvertently drunk the local water. As a result it's been a dull few days of visiting the hospital, visiting the smallest room, resting in bed and in between travelling. I've got the cheekbones of Zac Efron which is great until its countered with the eyes sockets of a 'daylight deprived child miner' - it's really not a great look. More annoying is that I feel like I've missed out on a few special places and things that Indonesia has to offer, and that has disappointed me.

In the previous 20 days spent roaming Indonesia, I saw as much of the country as I could - which has been quite a difficult task, considering it is a country with the land mass of the US and over 13000 islands. When I booked the trip, I decided to go to Bali - but to be honest, I didn't even know that Bali was part of Indonesia or even the size and cultural, religious, political and ethnic makeup of the country. All I knew Bali was a 'beach resort place and that was about it. However the trip has been interesting and challenging to me as a novice single-person traveller.

I've pondered how to set this section up, as a lot seems to have happened and gone on over the last few weeks. This first section I've decided is just laying the structure of the visit and some of the thoughts I've had about Indonesia. I've decided to include a few of the weird and interesting things that happened as additional 'blogs'- so have a look and hopefully it will make sense. Just to let you know they may not be on the site immediately, but you'll get the notification when I add it; the same applies to the photos - at the moment I'm having difficulties with finding computers that will upload them quickly.

As I said the journey started in Bali in a quiet 'town' called Ubud. From this early point I decided to avoid the 'tourist' routes as much as possible. I took the strategy of finding the cheapest flight to a random place.

I found Kupang, West Timor. I had no idea what was there, or actually where it was, but once I discovered it - I decided I could still get where I wanted to go.

Once in Kupang. I had decided to get a boat to Ende, Flores Island, part of the Nusa Tengarra islands - but discovered the shipping information in the Lonely Planet was painfully out of date, so instead I had to fly.

I then made my way across the island to Labaunbanjo with stops along the way in Bajawe and Ruteng. On arrival to Labaunbanjo, my aim was to find a flight back to Bali - a possible problem, as I'd been told all the flights had been booked up till close to the end of my time in Indonesia. I found a flight, and then spent a few days in Kuta, Bali - kind of the surfer's paradise/Ibiza/party capital of Bali.

After a few days, there followed a 16 hour bus journey from Denpasar, Bali going to Yogyakarta, Java.

The final leg of the journey took me - by train - from Yogyakarta to Jakarta, Java - a city of 22 million.

The things about Indonesia that have surprised me have been have been;

1. The diversity of the people - perhaps it should be less of a surprise given the size of the country, but each of the islands has its own culture and way of doing things. For example on a religious basis to start with, Bali is Hindu, Flores a mixture of Catholic and Muslim that changes town to town, Java is almost totally Muslim.

2. With the exception of when I've been at airports/bus stations/ train stations (see additional blogs), the kindness and willingness of the Indonesian people to help me. I've met people who have gone out of their way to help. The people who helped with travel arrangements, the people who helped with medical arrangement, those young people who came to try and talk to me (they couldn't speak any English) in Kupang, when I obviously looked lost and really not sure what to do. I've been seriously touched by people's concern and interest.

3. Indonesians seem like a really happy people - wherever they've been from, regardless of how little they might have. A large amount of this happiness seems to be based on faith. The people in Bali follow their version of the Hindu faith. It is their own distinct version compared to the version I witnessed in Mauritius. The major difference to what I saw previously is the devoutness that appears to exist. There is a daily ritual of giving offerings that occur and very public praying at the numerous temples. It is common that the women of the family produce 'offerings' every day. Another factor, perhaps related, is the sense of community that seems to be enveloped all over the island. Definitely, people have it - even if they do move away from home towns, I've notice people remember them, and in turn they remember those who are still there. My perception is that people here seem to be born into a community, stay and marry in their own communities, and die in their own communities. Travel out of Indonesia is not really an option for people. Speaking to a young man about travel, I found out its really only the 'seriously rich who leave Indonesia. To leave the country for locals is complicated - lots of costs, taxes and visa issues all add up. All off which is compounded by the knowledge that a 'good' monthly take home before deductions is 1500000 (about 100 pounds). Most people will earn much less.

4. The lack of knowledge that Indonesians have of outside their own country, you know what for some even inside their own country. It has been an enormous surprise that anyone non-white could come from a European country. I'm not proud to admit it but in the first weeks the number of people calling me Indian began to tap at some psychological weak point that I have somewhere. One day I heard it being said as I walked by, and I just indignantly said - NO, English! Certainly the further away from Java I have been the more intrigued people have been. When I've been on some of the more remote areas, I have literally stopped traffic - there's a look of disbelief, bewilderment. I nearly look like them, right colour, but am slightly different, definitely not wearing 'local clothes', wearing sunglasses. Sometimes its giggling girls, sometimes open mouthed boys, suspicious looking women, some older people who've seen everything. It's all been very sweet.

5. Good food - Until I got ill, I ate 'local' everyday and enjoyed it immensely, even as a vegetarian.

I think that there is a lot for Indonesia to do to become a successful country. It is very much a developing country. Despite the glossy TV images I've been forced to watch for the last couple of days - the reality of Indonesian life is not really all that. Perhaps for some of the people in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Bandung, three of the main cities in Java it may be but from the time in Kupang, Flores and on the train journey into Jakarta, I did see very basic lifestyles and a lack of 'maintenance' of the basic governmental infrastructure for the people. From talking to a number of people who have visited over and over again, and who have historical knowledge of the country, it seems the country has not really moved forward as it could have; hasn't really used its natural resources as much as it could have. Corruption would seem to be rife within its makeup and it is something that needs to be removed.

My ability to deal with situations has improved dramatically from the start of this part of the trip to the end. The embarrassing stories that I've included are classic examples of me overreacting and have been included because they are quite funny (I hope) but also part of my learning experience (God, I sound like a teacher) and have enabled me to learn how to 'deal' with different cultures or ways of doing thing. I've met a lot of people from different places and done the 'traveller' thing of sharing information and advice.

Oh yes - I've learnt not to look at the Lonely Planet for information (or even maps) too closely when its three years old, as things tend to change quite a lot. I'm looking forward to getting rid of that book - it weighs too much.

Until I get the chance to add to this thing I've started take care and I be intouch soon. Next stop is Bangkok, tomorrow!