What a country! We have arrived to central Java, and I feel stuck, with the walls closing in. Only the walls are people. I used a metaphor with Amanda yesterday that I feel as though I am a large side of beef being jabbed by many men with long pointy sticks. Like a big piece of meat, or a big overflowing wallet, however you may look at it. So he...

Not much too much to say about my breif visit to Yogyakarta except that I visited the famous budhist temples of Prabanan and Borobudur which were awesome. Borobudur was definitely the most impressive of the temples I have visited so far in this region. I went to visit the Sultan Palace which is another popular tourist attraction in Yogyakarta ho...

May 28, 2007 I went to visit the new built New Ngelepen Village in Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This village is build by NGOs (Domes for the World and EMAAR) for Bantul Yogyakarta Earthquake victims. The new building type is Monolithic I domes, which is well known as cheap but strong all terrain building. In present t...

Finally I convinced Jon that we had enough strength to fly out of Bali (unfortunately not seeing more of the island due to my fading visa). So after 40 minutes in the air, 2 buses, a delay in Probolingo (due to a con-tour agent) and a further hour in a bemo we arrived to the fresh 2000m air of Ceromo Lawang in time for dinner. (Unfortunately I o...

So we flew to Yogyakarta (y is pronounced j in Indonesian - me neither, don't worry). Our first Indonesian city. And frankly after Trawangan (no cars or bikes allowed) it was a bit of a shock to say the least. This planet is going down the toilet. That is my simple stock response now if anyone asks me about Java. Yogya is STUPENDOUSLY busy. The ...

22/11 We returned to Bali and arrived at 1am - always a good time, that. It is nice to realise what huge contrasts there are between countries. Whereas Oz was really nice and clean and we had a great time and met lots of nice people, we did not have many experiences which pushed us very far. A bit different in Bali. Arriving at 1am, the immigrat...