Novotel Yogyakarta

... a new person came along it cracked me up and I jumped into the photo with gusto (ludicrous word), as well as making sure they took a photo with my camera. As a result I have a whole selection of photos with these random people!

Once we left Borododur we headed for Mount Merapi, an active volcano which erupted as recently as three years ago. This drive took about an hour, during which time I began to feel like death. My head hurt, I felt exhausted and I ...

... as I had to tell him repeatedly I wasn't buying, although I did get the craft of Batik explained to me and free tea. However as I walked down the street I was hassled some more and politely refused. The market stalls stretch for as far as the eye could see, it was a nice way of passing the time, seeing some of the touristy things. Everything seems to be at your fingertips in Jogja; food, accommodation ...

... Meanwhile, Andy final beat the basketball game! Happy days!] [Andy: Possibly the greatest achievement of my life!], before hitting the worst internet cafe we'd ever experienced. It was horribly slow, and the computers crashed alot, which meant we had no time to blog, upload photos, or check the football news. Oh well.

On the way back, Tom decided to stop off at a local 7/11 copy-cat shop, I had to wait outside with my cigarette. I got speaking to one of the ...

... right now it doesn't have any lava flows but it was still awe-inspiring and I wanted to stay well clear of the top! We caught a night train to Jakarta and arrived there early in the morning. Even though we were tired we attempted to look around the city, but there isn't much to see. It's basically one section for the very rich and the tourists. Full of air-conditioned shopping malls and Starbucks. And the ...

... to get into cages, others trying to get out - lots of flapping anyway. I walked around for 30 mins then went on through the maze of streets to the watercastle. It is tax free living so the houses are piled into the area and the 'roads' are no more than pavements - so small! So I weaved through and came accross the water castle from the wrong side. This had its advantages. I just walked straight in - didnt pay and saw the whole place - chatted to some kids ...

... inch to spare on any side from the houses and life still existing around it. The small alleyways also exist outside of the kraton but they are off the modern main roads although you still can get around ...

... si vous n'entendez pas parler de nous. Nous avons maintenant un nouveau livre. Un echange avec un bouquinier. On a du malgre tout lui donner une petite commission (affaire oblige!) Rejean a du reparer ses souliers neufs. Ils n'ont pas resister au Mont Kinabalu. Il voulait aller chez le reparateur de pneu de velo ou un cordornier mais il a pris les choses en main. Donc, grande recherche pour la colle, pas toujours aise a se faire comprendre. On ...

... The upper level is nirvana where all the Buddha's are in bell shape structures. The bell reflects the shape the leaves on Buddha's tree. It was really hard to pay attention to our tour guide because we were stopped about 653 times to take pictures for the other Indonesian people. Turns out westerners are a better tourist attraction than the temples, who knew?