Day 86

24/09/2009

Lazy morning to make the most of the beach location. Simon and Pat caught us up last night and are staying in a hotel 5 minutes down the beach. They have also decided to stay 2 nights.

Checked out at 12:00 and drove across Bali to see a few of the volcanoes., and a lake between two of them. Stopped to eat on main road overlooking the lake from where you can see the lava flow from the 1963 erruption of Batur.

Got to the Lombok ferry about 18:00 and were in Lombok by 22:00. Two hour drive across Lombok and we were on the Sumbawa ferry by midnight.

There doesn't seem to be much to see on either island so we'll press on through the small hours.

Lat 8 28.67 S
Long 116 40.85 E
Town Labuhao Lombok

Day 85

23/09/2009

Very lazy day - swim in the pool at 6, breakfast at 7, then claim a sunlounger under a tree by 8:30.

Lazed all day with occasional dips in the sea and pool, the odd beer and not much else.

Watched the dive boats come and go and people snorkelling on the coral reef about 100m off-shore.

Day 84

22/09/2009

Left at 7am in the hope of a couple of hours of easier driving which we got. Maybe the east of Java is a little less manic than the rest as the roads were better all the way to the Bali ferry at 11:30. Or maybe it was just a Ramadan thing.

Crossing takes about an hour and a half, including the half hour wait off-shore for a berth to become available.

Bali is refreshing afer Java. A slower pace of life, quieter roads and nicer beaches. We've decided to spend a couple of nights here and enjoy it. We could have driven across in a day and got the Lombok ferry but .... sometimes you have to stop driving for a day.

Walked along the beach, lazed by the pool, read some more Lonely Planet. Bliss.

Lat 8 08.72 S
Long 114 39.27 E
Town Pemuteran
Distance 23884km

Day 83

21/09/2009

We were the first to buy tickets for the Prambanan temples this morning at 6:15. They are Hindu temples built in the 8th and 9th centuries and bear a considerable resemblence to parts of the Angkor complex in Cambodia. They have suffered over the years from the many earthquakes in Java and maintenance and restoration are never ending tasks.

We wandered around the site until 8:00 before returning to the hotel for showers and breakfast.

The usual story with the roads today - mostly slow. In the end we covered about 335km by driving until 8pm.

The low point of the day was while waiting in one of the many traffic queues with the usual idiots hurtling up the inside of us, seeing a motorcyclist trying to cross the stationary line, hit by one of the small buses and thrown in the air. Even worse as he was crossing the stationary line directly in front of us, and I saw in the door mirror the bus along side us. The surrounding pedestrians immediately came to his aid and carried him and his mangled bike to the side of the road. It looked so organised you could believe it was a frequent occurence. He appeared to have a few broken bones and his helmet had come off during the collision (chin strap not fastened).

We've stopped tonight at the foot of Bromo, which is the most visited volcano on Java. Not sure if we will drive up to it in the morning or get across to Bali and find a nice hotel on the beach for a couple of nights.

Lat 7 45.34 S
Long 113 13.16 E
Town Probolinggo
Distance 23633km (re-revised the adjustment due to tyre size from +5.5% to +3.5%)

Day 82

20/09/2009

The standard of driving in Indonesia is not vastly different to that in China where as soon as a queue of traffic forms due to some hold-up, lots of drivers will try to jump the queue by using the other side of the road or drive along the verge on the nearside. Road rage doesn't seem to have arrived here yet otherwise there would be a blood bath most days.

The most frustrating part of this is the total disrespect for the police in both countries, where they can be stood at the road-side while this is going on but seem powerless to stop it.

Driving today was a bit better than yesterday as the Cirebon to Semarang road along the north coast of Java has 2 lanes in each direction. After Semarang it is a mixture of 1 and 2 lane and we covered a little over 300km in total.

Took a detour from the best route across Java this evening so we could see the temple complex at Prambanan early tomorrow and stay in a nice hotel where each room is in it's own block and has an outside bath and shower.

There have been a fair number of older VWs around in Indonesia, exclusively beetles and bay window vans. Some wave to us, others are oblivious to seeing a later version of their vehicle. We did see two bay windows travelling together to the south of Bandar Lampung (Sumatra) as we were waiting at traffic lights and they stopped and waved to us but we were trying to reach the Java ferry in daylight so didn't stop. I hope they understood.

Lat 7 44.93 S
Long 110 29.28 E
Town Prambanan

Day 81

19/09/2009

The beach was as disappointing as expected, with about 1 metre of grey sand and non too inviting water. The range of barges moored just 25 metres off shore provided some interest.

The swimming pool was a lot better but they were cleaning it when I checked about 7:00 so we skipped that too.

Driving this morning was very easy with a toll dual carriageway taking us east to Jakarta and then south-east to Bandung.

Then it all went horribly wrong. We joined the back of a queue of traffic at 13:00 and moved 6km in the next 3 hours. The flow wasn't much better after that and the 100km to Cirebon took us until 22:00. Ramadan finished at 14:30 - we should have stopped at noon and joined in the party.

Got a scrape in the passenger rear wheel arch when a yellow lorry decided he wasn't going to let us filter in front of him into the single lane ahead. Same corner as the damage in Turkey, so will need some filler and the spray gun when we get home.

Lat 6 43.14 S
Long 108 34.12 E
Town Cirebon

Day 80

18/09/2009

Left at 6:45 this morning as there was no breakfast and stopped about 9:00 to make tea and eat cereals, crispbread and jam.

Realised today that my left arm is getting a bit burnt from the sun when we are travelling east. The sun is now moving across the northern sky during the day.

Roads not quite as good as yesterday, and definitely busier. Decided it was worth continuing a little in the dark to reach the ferry this evening, which we did by 18:30. Crossing costs $19 for a car and passengers. The ferry is ex P&O and looks like they were the last to do any maintenance on it.

Remarkably little queuing at the Sumatra side and the ferry was not a quarter full, but things were manic at the Java side.

We arrived in Java at 23:00 after sitting off shore for nealy two hours, presumably waiting for the berth to be available. Drove north out of the port to a place called Pantai Pulorida (I think it translates to Florida beach) intending to free camp but stumbled on a restaurant with some holiday cottages so are staying in one of those.

Will probably have a later start tomorrow as it's passed midnight now. From what we can see tonight, the beach here isn't going to be very impressive in the morning so probably won't have a swim before breakfast.

Pat and Simon stopped at Bander Lampung, about 2 hours from the ferry so won't be across until midday.

Hearing about some bombings in Jakata - pleased to be avoiding the big cities.

Lat 5 54.26 S
Long 106 00.69 E
Town Pantai Pulorida