Equipment review - lessons learnt from a trip through Java

So I'm home after 2 months backpacking in Java. I've come back to balmy weather, not too hot, not too cold, for the first week of winter. After hot, sweaty Java it's nice to be comfortable again.

I went to a lot of trouble picking and choosing just what to bring on my recent trip. You'll find the links to what I packed by clicking on the headings below.

So how did I go? Did I make the right decisions? Bring too much or too little? Did products perform as expected?

Electronics

Bringing the laptop was a great decision. Along with the iPhone, an Indonesian SIM card and a data package, I've had access to the internet via WiFi or the mobile hotspot on the phone pretty well everywhere. I've been able to import and edit my photos, and publish them, write and publish blog posts, watch movies, use the digital guidebooks and Indonesian language dictionaries I've installed, surf the internet, use google maps and google translate when needed, and of course keep my Facebook status up to date!! I've been able to do my internet banking on my own computer, not one in an internet cafe, and reply to emails in a timely manner. The laptop takes up little room and isn't heavy, and has meant I haven't had to search for internet cafes, which these days are much more difficult to find now that everyone has mobile internet access. I know a few years ago I couldn't see a reason to bring a computer on the road, now that the situation has changed, it's almost a necessity.

I can also Skype mum, only her freaking computer is so old and lame that Skypeing seems to bugger up all her computer settings. Never fear mum, I'm buying you an iPad for your birthday, enough is enough!!

One issue I had was that my smartphone runs out of juice in less than 6 hours if I am using it to take photos and navigate in a strange city, even if I hardly update my Facebook status all day! This means using it as my only camera on a day trip isn't actually viable. I had planned to bring a spare battery, which would also be able to power my other electronics, but decided to leave it behind due to weight. First thing I did when I got home was buy a small power bank just for the phone that can easily fit in a pocket for those day trips, and will give me that piece of mind I'm lacking at the moment. Having to put the phone in airport mode to save power gets a bit tedious after a while.

Having mobile internet access has been great. It's awesome to have the hotspot on the phone, but the internet data packages in Indonesia stink. If I purchase a pack from the national provider which has the best coverage, you purchase 12GB of data, but 11GB has to be used between midnight and 9am! This can work OK if I edit during the day and then upload photos early in the morning...

Yes there's WiFi, but choosing your accommodation based on whether there is WiFi available really reduces your choices, and inevitably increases your accommodation costs as well. Those places where I had WiFi it wasn't that reliable anyway, so the mobile cellular hotspot was by far more convenient. In total I spent just over $32 on internet, including purchasing a SIM card and all my phone calls and texting, great value for money.

I've learnt at my expense that purchasing cheap electronic gadgets on eBay is a really bad idea. Cheap card readers that corrupt your camera card, USB cords that turn off your computer.... Lesson learnt: buy quality electronics from reputable sources.

Bringing two portable hard drives and maintaining exactly the same redundancy, backup and photo editing workflow as I do at home worked really well. In the end I got sick of deleting older Lightroom catalogues from my Dropbox folder and just purchased 100Gb. It means I can be a lot more flexible with what I store in the Cloud on future trips.

Camera

Bringing the dSLR camera and tripod was always a given, and I'm glad I did. Restricting my lens choice to a 10-22mm wide angle and 50mm prime has affected my photography options, but in a good way. I've had to think about my compositions a lot more, not just stand there with a telephoto and zoom it into a composition I'm happy with. I've particularly enjoyed spending time using the neutral density filters taking delayed exposure shots, although it has sometimes pissed me off to find no photographs I am happy with after making so much effort to reach a place to take the shots. I console myself with understanding that I have still had the experience, I've learnt what doesn't work (and maybe that will help me find what does work), and that just because I don't have a good photo to show for it, doesn't make the experience any less.

I'm not very happy with my 50mm prime though. Almost all my shots with it are very soft and out of focus. I think it has a limited focal length and I've been expecting more out of it than it can deliver. So I'm still working on what lenses are right for travel.

Getting absorbed in photography can be incredibly destructive. There have been times when I have negated an experience simply because all my photos didn't work out. Yes I could go back again and try again, and committed photographers do just that. I'm yet to work out a balance between travel for the experience, and goals related to my photography. There have been times when I've thought that the photography gets in the way of the experience, and other times when it has totally enriched it.

And then a few days before the end of my trip I flooded my camera! I wasn't devastated, I just accepted the inevitable and took the last few wildlife shots with the iPhone. Remember I went to NZ one year with just the iPhone and took some great shots with it, so I wasn't completely lost without a camera.

Because of my self imposed weight restriction for this trip - OK the airline imposed it but I decided not to use check in luggage - I used a much smaller lighter ballhead on the tripod. It's unfortunately a screw on attachment to the camera, which has been a total pain in the arse, and it's not the quality of my Markins ballhead that is much easier to position and has a slide in plate attachment. The Gitzo ballhead does the job for 500g less weight, but at the cost of ease of use. It's also possible that the heavier ballhead would have made my tripod more stable and prevented it from toppling over and dunking my camera.

The new camera harness worked well, certainly more snug fitting and less bulky than the previous harness system, but I think it's too big for me. Being quite short in the torso I'm at the extremes of the straps, and think it could be slightly more comfortable with a smaller sized backplate. I'm going to modify it and see how I go.

Camping gear

As it turned out I didn't do as much mountain climbing and trekking and camping as I'd originally planned. Lots of reasons for this - the weather, poor logistical choices, timing and prices - but the camping I did do was totally worth it. Sure it rained all night on both my camping trips, but besides that inconvenience, both experiences were otherwise exhilarating. Those few hours in the afternoon in the sun on Teletubbies Hill were just magical.

However, bringing a hammock to camp at altitude was a bad idea. Not only are you limited in your choice of campsite - there need to be two structures of appropriate distance apart to erect it from - you are limited in your orientation as well. If the wind or rain come in from an inconvenient angle you can't just reorient the hammock. Also, I need a little more than a space blanket and sleeping bag to keep warm at altitude.

Whether next time I'd bring a tent or just hire one when needed, I'm undecided. The latter seems like a smarter option yet am inclined towards maybe having an emergency bivvy or tarp, as I'm pretty keen to spend time out in nature on my trips. It really does change the dynamic when you go the rental option, because it usually means hiring a guide as well. I really enjoyed being self sufficient and ending up camping with local hikers, also self sufficient, rather than being on a "tour".

The sleeping bag was a great buy. Not only is the outside water repellant, it's warm, light and packs down to almost nothing. I've used it a few times in hotel rooms when I've been cold as well, as it unzips from a cocoon to a duvet easily.

My cookstove is fantastic. Small and compact without any excess gadgets, it's a perfect piece of camping equipment. I had a little trouble finding fuel initially, but now I know to just go to a paint shop, I'm cooking! It's been a godsend to cook up some hot noodles and a coffee after a cold night in the hammock. And having it in Baluran meant I didn't go hungry there either. The lightweight bamboo cutlery set given me for Christmas by my lovely neighbours has also been well used, and well appreciated. The chopsticks are perfect for stirring and eating noodles, it's a present I'll cherish for a long time.

This is the first trip I've brought trekking poles. I've always used a stick or such when I've gone trekking, so packing lightweight collapsible poles for use when needed has been a good decision and they've been well used. I feel much more comfortable doing descents now I have poles, having had a few nasty falls in the past...But I probably don't need both pairs, next time I'll just pack one.

Backpack

The new 44L backpack is an improved design on my smaller one and has been wonderfully comfortable to wear, especially when fully loaded on treks. But I felt it was just a bit too big for day to day travel - if I wasn't carrying the camping gear the smaller 33L would be my choice.

In the end I used absolutely everything I brought with me, except for one thing.

My Pstyle.

I just squatted!!

Out of Africa

From Surabaya I took a six hour train trip to Banyuwangi. Having taken my time in West Java, lazed away in Karimunjawa, contemplated buying lots of beautiful wooden furniture in Jepara, and had a few days of exploring Surabaya, I'd run out of time to do much more in East Java before I had to head home. I couldn't face another cold night camping at altitude, so had decided to forgo Bromo and Semeru for now and spend my last week in Africa!

Again I forced myself to stay awake as the whole purpose of a daytime train trip is to see the scenery but the rocking of the train makes this difficult and I did doze off from time to time. The rail line follows the coast until Probolinggo and then heads inland, skirting the mountains of the Yang Plateau and Mt Raung before arriving at the end of the line near the ferry terminal to Bali. Knowing I was staying in Banyuwangi I jumped off the train one station before at Karangasem, which is much closer to the actual town of Banyuwangi and simply a downhill walk. The inevitable ojek mafia wanted 50,000 Rp for the pleasure of delivering me to my hotel, instead I wandered along, chatted to some ladies planting rice seedlings and used the wonderful facilities of my iPhone and Google maps to find my way to a hotel. The other great advantage of walking is you get somewhat oriented to your surroundings,  and you get to note the sate warung and the baked fish restaurant for later patronage.

At the hotel were an Austrian couple and a Polish chap, newly arrived from Bromo, and off to Ijen in the morning. I think they were a little bemused at my slow wanderings through Java, as they were on much more destination driven timelines, and anyway, almost everywhere they had been or were going, I'd been to already in past trips. I'm really liking this slow travel, taking my time, going where I fancy and staying until I'm ready to move on. Of course I'd love to extend my visa and stay longer, but I've got to return to work at the end of the month. Next time, however, there won't be any return planned. Looking forward to that!


The next morning I slept in and then went wandering around town. I tried to find a motorbike to rent, without success, so just walked instead. The town is a lovely quiet place, with quite decent sidewalks, very friendly welcoming people, and a nice little Chinese temple. I'm in no hurry to leave Banyuwangi as I have a few money concerns that cause me to stay a little longer.

First, I am using a new Visa debit account from Citibank to withdraw cash from ATMs. This card doesn't charge ATM fees - these fees can account for up to $50 in every $1000 - so I'd transferred some money into this account from my usual bank account. Only it was a weekend, and computers take holidays on weekends and don't credit your new account until Monday. Or rather, they then take another 24 hours processing your transfer and don't credit your account until Tuesday. One day I could put up with, two was ridiculous, so I swallowed the fee and withdrew money on Monday from my home account.

The second reason for my dilly dallying, was that I was going to visit a national park, and since the start of May the entry prices for foreigners have sky rocketed from $2-5 per entry, to daily entry fees ranging from $15 per day on weekdays to $60 on weekends and holidays at some of the more popular parks like Bromo. This new fee system has altered my plans a little, because I can pay considerably less by avoiding weekends, and means I had to really seriously consider whether climbing Semeru (which is in Bromo NP) was worth the expense.

So, armed with the necessary cash, a couple of packets of noodles, some biscuits, snacks and water, I took a couple of bemos out to the bus station (15,000Rp), had a yummy breakfast then boarded a crowded little Situbondo bound bus (8000Rp) and was deposited at the entrance to Baluran National Park. At around about the same time a couple of French chaps also arrived, baulked at the entry price tag and were never seen again. I wasn't surprised, French backpackers seem to be genetically predisposed to refusing to pay more than 5 cents for anything, and even then they'll complain. I may exaggerate and generalise, not all French are like this, but it happens often enough with that nationality to notice.

from a Bangkok cafe (thanks Warren) but you see my point?

I marched on, got to the office proper and engaged in an around about conversation with the ranger about how many days I might stay in the park and where I might stay, and how much accommodation cost. What we didn't discuss was whether food was available at my destinations. I was under the impression there were canteens at the accommodations, but had brought noodles and snacks just in case. Lucky I did. Anyway, having completely failed to directly state how long I'd be in the park, the ranger said it was fine just to pay for one day entrance fee, so I coughed up my 150,000Rp, hoisted my backpack and started walking the 12 km through the forest to Bekol. Yes I could have got a lift, but I wanted to walk, this was a wildlife rich National Park I was entering, what better way to see it?

The road was shaded the entire way, so although it was hot and humid, I wasn't pestered by the sun. There were numerous dry creek crossings, with spots to rest whilst watching the monkeys in the trees. Mostly I was alone with the trees, birds and butterflies, but the park must be directly over the flight path from Bali, because my reverie was frequently interrupted by the sounds of the modern world flying by. A few cars and motorbikes passed me, usually with a smile and a wave, although the two foreigners I passed on the back of ojeks had the meanest frowns of all. No doubt their bums were hurting from the bumpy road! I was also passed by a group of cyclists, and one more westerner on a motorbike who stopped to enquire if I had enough water. It was only 12 km, which took me about 3 hours to walk as it was flat all the way.

Just before Bekol the trees opened up into savannah land, dotted with acacia trees. OMG! I'm in Africa!!

Baluran is unique in Java for its savannahs, which support a few species of deer, banteng, water buffalo, peafowl, a wild dog called a dohle, and leopards. And lots of long tailed macaques. Sadly, no giraffes, zebras, lions, elephants or cheetahs. Not quite Africa after all... It's rich in birdlife, and along the coastline it also has mangroves and coral reefs. Bekol is smack in the middle of one of the savannahs and has a large watch tower on top of a hill so you can look out over the grasslands and see the buffalo roaming. It also makes a great vantage point for sunrise and sunset, as the nearby mountains of Ijen, Raung and Baluran can be seen clearly. I booked in for a night, to discover there's no canteen, and the canteen down at the beach is also closed because they've taken a holiday. Oh dear, time to start food rationing....

When I return to my room after sunset I discover the cyclists from this morning also staying the night. They are 3 fellows from Jakarta, the other 2 from Singapore, all off road cycling enthusiasts. One writes for a cycling magazine, and cycles in Jakarta, what a brave chap he is! They had planned to stay at the beach but the accommodation was booked out, so they'd ridden back to Bekol. They told me the canteen at Bama was due to reopen the next day, so it looked like I wouldn't starve after all. Even better, they'd paid someone to head out to the village near the gate and purchase some food, so I joined the boys for a little rice and sate for dinner, and staved the hunger pangs.

The next morning we all rose early for the sunrise and to go animal spotting. I succeeded in neither. One of the chaps saw a huge python! I got some passable shots of the nearby peaks unencumbered by clouds. The sunrise itself was uninspiring. I then cooked up some noodles, had a cup of tea, purchased another bottle of water, said goodbye to my new cyclist friends and headed off on the walking track to Bama.

Trekking isn't really that common in Indonesia. Especially when there's a perfectly good road to the beach that you can drive down, and the road goes through the savannah so you can watch for wildlife as well. But I was having none of it, I planned to walk the walking track in, and the road back. Best of both worlds. So off I went, instructed by the ranger to turn right at the intersection. Not that I needed this bit of information, there was a ruddy great sign telling you.

Well that was the last of the signage, as the trail headed off through overgrown shrubbery, the only footprints I was following belonged to some really large water buffalo. I took a couple of wrong turns, but backtracked to the main trail and after a while noted that there were stones placed on both sides of the path to guide you. Not that the stones were particularly visible most of the time, the overgrown jungle kind of intervened. I felt pretty intrepid, but also a little foolhardy, I mean what if I actually did get lost here in the jungle? I knew it was only a couple of kilometres to the coast, but that doesn't stop a lost person going around and around in circles does it? I had food, water, shelter, I'd be fine..... why was I thinking these thoughts instead of enjoying the scenery? Well because it felt more like bush bashing than a gentle stroll along a trail.

I saw evidence of buffalo - footprints, places they'd trampled, manure - and even smelt them at times, but I never saw any. Not that I really wanted to come face to face with a large beasty out there in the bush. I frightened some peafowl and deer, saw a few more packs of macacques and crossed a small muddy river a couple of times. There's some really huge palms here, that lose all their palm leaves when they flower, and then die. They make really stark silhouettes in the sky.

At last I reached the beach, which was crowded with local tourists, secured myself a room and went for a swim. The canteen, thankfully, was open for business, and all my fears were allayed. It meant I could stay longer if I wanted.

I went for a bit of a wander along the beach, past stands of mangroves and away from the crowds at Bama. The water is really shallow for some distance out to sea, and it's muddy rather than clear water, and tepid at that. It makes for a refreshing paddle or dip, but it's not really a place to linger for long. A pity. The beach is also over run by bands of macacques so you have to keep a close eye on your possessions or the cheeky monkeys will start exploring them. My cycling friends back at Bekol had left one of their tents on the back of one of the bikes overnight, and I caught the macacques trying to rip it apart on my return to the lodge after sunrise. Cute, but destructive...

In the evening I wandered up along the road back to Bekol, seeing some large herds of deer, a flock of wild peafowl, and even sighting a dhole - the wild dog. At least I think it was a dhole. I didn't walk the whole way as that's planned for the following day, on my return out of the park. The buffalo come out of their mudholes onto the savannah in the evening, so it's the best time to spot them.

The next morning I got up for sunrise and took some lovely long exposure shots before a momentary lapse saw my tripod upended and my camera in the ocean. Guess who has just fucked up her camera?

I immediately tried to drain the water and rinse off the salt water with a little fresh water but I'm pretty sure it's buggered. The memory card is fine, so I won't lose any shots, in fact the two photos here are from the fateful shoot. I've still got the iPhone to take photos, and at least it's the end of my holidays not the start, so I'm not lugging around a heavy piece of equipment for nothing.

After a few hours Bama beach becomes unbearable. The rooms are stifling hot as you can't get air through them by opening doors and windows due to the marauding monkeys. There's no electricity except for a few hours in the evening, so no fans either. The beach is either full of Indonesian tourists being noisy and asking me to be included in their photographs, or alternatively the monkeys hassle you. Finding a quiet spot to just read a book and munch on some snacks in the cool shade means being stalked by increasingly aggressive male monkeys. In the end I packed up and sat near the guard post in the shade for a couple of hours, read my book and waited for the heat of the day to wane.

I headed off back to Bekol along the road. The herds of deer were still there as were the macacques. I also saw a band of black faced monkeys, much larger than the macaques and much more camera shy. On the savannah I spied a group of buffalo wallowing in the mud so I crept over as close as I dared. Then I continued on to Bekol, dropped off the backpack and returned to the savannah for sunset and to see the buffalo emerge from their mudbath and meander over to a nearby waterhole. I also saw a beautiful peacock, and a Jabiru.

Up early the next morning I cooked up some noodles for breakfast then hit the road early, before the sun really got some punch. The road was less shaded than it had been 2 days ago, but it wasn't that hot at 7am. It was still 12 km to walk, and by 9:45 I was back at the entrance gate, dousing my head in cold water and contemplating the next leg of my trip.

I'd really recommend Baluran, but I'd suggest staying at Bekol rather than Bama. Not only is it cheaper, it's much quieter, you have a few other options for birdwatching and wildlife watching than what I did, the monkeys are not as aggressive, and you can always go down the beach if you want. To go snorkelling, you need to go out on a boat as it's just mangroves and shallow water at Bama itself. Of course, you need to be more self sufficient at Bekol - and there's a rat that will try to eat your food if you leave it out...

So, after Baluran??

Bogan's paradise of course!

(there are a few more pictures here)

Musings on a tropical island

Currently I'm spending a few days doing very little on Kurimunjawa. These are islands six degrees off the equator, north of Semarang. Most of the people who live here originate from Java, Madura or Sulawesi and live a fairly simple life fishing or supporting the tourist trade which arrives in strength every weekend. The village is small, everyone knows each other, and it's pretty friendly, especially if you stay beyond the busy weekend.

One of the purposes of this 2 month trip was to trial long term travel, to see this short sojourn as an experiment in adjusting my mode and outlook to travel, and to test equipment. It's been a really good lesson and I'd love to share what I've learnt.

I've known for a long time that travel to strange places doesn't scare me at all, that I am not overwhelmed by difference but instead look for and find the similarities and then explore the new experiences. I never wake up feeling I am in a strange unfamiliar place, in fact the familiarity I experience often shocks me. I could be anywhere, yet feel perfectly at home.

This trip began with a list of destinations in mind, but as often happens with me, the journey becomes the experience as my priorities change, or some other option presents. This is only possible when you make no fixed plans, when you don't book ahead, when you trust that there'll always be a bed available somewhere.

My primary goal when travelling is not to see monuments and great scenery, but to meet and try to understand the lives and culture of the people who live there. It's not to say I'm not fascinated by the beauty around me or the history and culture associated with ancient buildings, but it isn't the primary goal. It's why I don't seek to associate with large groups of foreigners when I travel - in this case I am not looking for similarity with my own kind - but instead try to make myself approachable to local people. Travelling alone in Indonesia makes this very easy, because it is such a foreign concept for the locals that they instinctively want to include you. We in the west could learn a lot from the generosity displayed by complete strangers to foreigners that I experience on a daily basis.

When travelling for a fixed period of time, the destination based itinerary tends to be foremost, and in my experience most people tend to put too much on that itinerary. I like to absorb what I've seen, reflect on what I've learnt, not hurtle on to the next destination, and the next after that. I too am sometimes guilty of wanting to see too much in too little time, but on this trip I have curbed that tendency and slowed down even more, and not chided myself for "wasting time".

As a long term traveller, you just can't sustain the continuous sightseeing indefinitely. Packing and unpacking every day becomes a source of irritation, dealing with transport touts and bargaining for hotel rates becomes exhausting, and it's easy to lose sight of the reason for travel in the first place. You need days off to do absolutely nothing, to read a book, sit in a cafe, lounge on a beach or in a hammock, play with the neighbours children, whatever, but something that isn't about the inexorable onwardness that can make travel a chore rather than a delight. And if you don't plan ahead, when you find a place that feels right you just put your feet up for a few days, a few weeks, a few months.... and relax.

That's what I'm doing right now on Karimunjawa. As yet I have no idea when I'm leaving....

Kidnapped on Kurimunjawa

The ferry left at 8:30 am from Jepara. Anna dropped me off at the port and I had to stand in a long line to get my ticket. I'm taking the slow boat (4 hours) which costs $4. The fast boat was full, so I had no other option.

By the time I boarded the ferry all the seats inside were full, as was any free floor space. What with everyone smoking it was a better option to climb a further flight of stairs to the top deck. A sunny blue sky, fresh air, available seats, and a four hour shadeless crossing ahead of me...

I found a place near some other foreigners and next to a bunch of students from Semerang. I chatted for a few minutes with the students until the ferry departed and they went off to find some shade. The foreigners ignored me. I sweltered, happy I had my hat, and then found a little shade by rigging up my sleep sheet between railings to give me a little respite. With a small breeze and being out of the sun I even managed to snooze for most of the crossing.

As we entered the harbour at Karimunjawa the clouds looked ominous and it began to rain. Not much, but enough to take shelter. Then as we docked and were about to disembark the students from Semerang kidnapped me!!

They just decided I was joining their holiday. I suppose I could have said no but hey, I was up for the adventure.

We waited for "Mas", which is a generic name for a young man, to turn up and drive us to our homestay. The six of them (four women, 2 men) shared 2 rooms and I took the third so we had the whole homestay to ourselves. There are heaps of homestays on Karimunjawa lining all the streets in the small village and scattered along the roads out of town towards the beaches. There's an alun alun near the boat harbour which comes alive at night with street stalls selling food and souvenirs, and a few scattered restaurants elsewhere. Because most people are out island hopping during the day there are slim pickings for lunch, but dinner is quite a different affair. We went for late lunch around 4pm and found a lady selling grilled fish, so we chose 3 fat fresh fish from her icebox and she prepared and cooked them on the spot. Mmmm...

My kidnappers are all from Sulawesi, in fact South Sulawesi near Wakatobi, and I have an open invitation to come visit them should I wish to visit that part of the world. Ha ha, my diving friends, it pays to be kidnapped by the right people!!

After our late lunch we wandered down to the boat harbour to watch the sunset then back to our homestay where we discussed plans for our holiday. My kidnappers wanted to go island hopping and snorkelling for two days, despite the fact that most of them can't swim. For the seven of us, the price came in at about 150,000 Rp per head per day. That's about $13 for boat hire, guide, lunch, snorkelling gear, and hire of underwater camera. And that's just for the seven of us, not on a big boat with 20 strangers. I immediately agreed to go in with their plans. Is this what they call the Stockholm Syndrome?

So let's give my kidnappers names shall we?

First, Endy. He's doing a masters in business and is a bit of a character. He's the one who I struck up the conversation with on the boat and who organised the kidnap.

Then there's Febry. Febry is also doing a masters but is a trained journalist and photographer. He gave me a few tips on slow motion photos and reviewed some of my recent shots and gave me really helpful advice on how to improve them.

Next is Annink. I think she's Febry's partner (wife, girlfriend I didn't ask) and probably has the best English. But there was very little English being spoken by anyone, so this was a kidnapping in Indonesian language. Which is "diculit' by the way. I looked that up on google translate.

Now Diyan, who flirted outrageously with Mas, who was our guide and underwater camera operator. Seriously, these girls may dress up in their veils and what not, but they play the vixen just as effectively.

Then petite Fatma, who everyone teased about the size of her feet. She was terrified of snorkelling and kept a firm hold on Mas when in the water. Even though she was in a life jacket, as were all the others who couldn't swim. It's a wonder she didn't drown him.

Finally Vina, who's a lecturer in economics, and has an even healthier appetite than the petite girls, who all ate at least twice as much as me. I love how attacking food with gusto is not a negative trait like it appears to be in the west amongst so many insecure women. Vina happily says she's chubby, finishes off all the leftovers, and is the first to get up and model for the camera. Go Vina!!

Which gets me to what we actually did on our holiday. We took three hundred million shots of ourselves: swimming with sharks, snorkelling, walking along a beach, climbing a tree, jumping in the air. Oh yeah, we also went on a boat trip.

The level of narcissism of the average Indonesian is pretty hard to articulate. You could almost call it a national trait. Febry loves doing portraiture, which meant we just hammed for the camera all day. Including when we went to see some white tipped reef sharks in an enclosure, went snorkelling, had a huge grilled fish pigout for lunch, went snorkelling on another reef, and went to another beach to watch the sunset. After a time I got a little bored with the continuous selfies, something they never tired of. It wasn't helped by me having a funny tummy for the last few days and suffering from a bellyache that even trips to the loo couldn't sort. There's only so many times you can jump up in the air after lunch when your tummy's feeling a little tender...

For those interested, the reefs we visited weren't exactly teaming with fish and there was alot of coral that had been bashed around by snorkellers and boats. There are lots of mooring buoys on the reefs, but there's more boats than buoys so that doesn't work. I'm sure there are much better reefs that get less visited by the hundreds each weekend, and given that the underwater camera was hardly used for fish shots, and my companions didn't really spend much time doing anything else but take selfies of themselves snorkelling, it's best that they wreck a couple of reefs and leave the rest alone. Endy, however, suffering from fear as he can't swim, ended up really enjoying just swimming around with me holding his hand and pointing out various fish and corals. And they have Wakatobi on their doorstep!!

That evening we discover that my kidnappers have to return to Semarang early. All because a photo of Endy's is unacceptable and he must redo it. Presumably the only day it can be done is Tuesday, so instead of just Endy returning, they all cough up the price of the express ferry back to Jepara for Monday, and leave me!! But I have their phone numbers, we're all on Facebook, and I now have some very important contacts in a part of Sulawesi I was pretty keen on visiting anyway.

So now I'm on my own. It's Monday, which means the weekend madness is over and island life settles down until the fast boat arrives next Saturday. I'm looking forward to a few days cruising in paradise, maybe hire a bike for a day, or climb the nearby hill for sunrise or sunset. There's no hard sell here, no party atmosphere, prices are cheap and everyone is friendly. There's only electricity from 6pm to 6am, unless a generator is used, and you mandi a few times a day in cold water to keep cool. And there's as much fresh fish as you want to eat!!

Yep, this is a holiday!

Visiting a friend who isn't there

After Dieng I jumped on a bus to Semerang. After the cold wet weather there, Semarang is a bit of a shock. It's hot and steamy, the sun shines from a blue sky all day, and there's no rain!! Let's just say I'm loving it!!

I'm staying at a friend's place. I met Mega 4 years ago in Pekalongan, and she gave me a ride back to Semarang on her motorbike. We've kept in touch over email and Facebook and I contacted her a few weeks ago to let her know I'd be visiting. She's also a couchsurfer and host. Since I met Mega a lot has happened to her, including the death of both her parents in a car accident. She's now working for international companies supplying Bali type furniture to the West. She has a store in Bali, and is over there at the moment running around for a client. I'm hoping to catch up with her at some stage.

Meantime, I've got a cute little dog called Snowy to play with. She's got a lovely temperament and she's smart and cheeky - we get on well!! She likes to sit in the drain outside at night and bark at passersby, which means she isn't so "Snowy" in the morning, more like "Muddy"....

Mega's house isn't too hard to find, as it's about 500m down the road from the Genuk angkot terminal. It's just off a busy dusty road but you wouldn't know it. It amazes me how quiet the kampungs are, no heavy traffic just a few motorbikes going past and the kids calling out to each other, and to "Naomi" - didn't take them any time at all to learn my name...

I've got the house to myself so took the opportunity to do a whole lot of laundry and clean all my camping gear. There's also a surplus of paint shops up the road near the terminal should I need more fuel for my stove. Not that I've any more camping planned for the next week or so. Once the washing was done I headed into town.

Last time I was in Semarang Ditya had shown me around the old town, known as Balai Kota, and the Chinese Temple. This time I got to do a whole lot more wandering. There's lots of old Dutch buildings here, including the old church, in fact there's quite a few Catholic churches and schools in the vicinity.

I'm liking Semarang a lot. I like that there are still lots of people cycling on bicycles, that there's less veiled women (maybe they aren't moslem, I'm not sure), and that there's places I can get Durian. The people are also very friendly and the place isn't frenetic.

There's some pretty cool street art too, some that would give Banksy a run for his money.

Just down from Balai Kota is Chinatown. Semarang has one of the largest Chinese communities of any city in Indonesia, but because Chinese have been persecuted and massacred in the past, the place doesn't look like your regular Chinatown with Chinese writing and lanterns and all that. Actually, there are quite a few lanterns, and there's lots of reflexology and Chinese medicine shops and there's a lovely working temple by a canal. I went here last time and had my fortune told. Didn't go for another reading this time though...

There's lots of really waif like people in Semarang, particularly amongst the Becak riders. Becak are bicycle taxis, and these people are some of the poorest people around. I also saw an old lady living in a small wooden box by the side of the canal, not much bigger than a dog kennel. I'm a little ashamed to ask to photograph them, but these people have such wizened faces that they interest me as portraits. Many of them are also begging for food. It feels exploitative to photograph them for money, gosh I wish I didn't have such strong morals...

On my second day in Semarang I went to Lawang Sewu. This name is Javanese for "1000 doors", because there are a lot of them, maybe there are even a thousand!

Lawang Sewu has a chequered history. It was built as the offices of the Dutch company NIS, which built the first railway in Indonesia. In fact Java owes its extensive rail network to the Dutch, who built lines to supply goods and produce to the ports for export. Aside from a couple of lines in Sumatra, Java is the only Indonesian island to have transport by train. There's a great old black and white Dutch silent film showing the trains running over bridges and through countryside, and featuring the stations, which shows you how uncrowded the country was 100 years ago. There are spaces between the houses!! There's also a bunch of beautiful watercolour paintings of many of the stations from throughout Java, and exhibits about the trains.

Lawang Sewu gained notoriety during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, when it was used as a gaol and people were tortured there. Local legend says it's haunted. It certainly has a bit of an aura about it...

When I was here in 2010 it was a run down ruin with restoration just beginning. 4 years later, not all of the buildings are open for viewing, but the facade is essentially finished. You can wander around inside a couple of the buildings but the main office building is still under renovation. There's also a couple of train replicas outside.

After Lawang Sewu I decided to take a wander back to the Pasar following one of the canals. Narrow lanes on both sides mean little traffic and you can wander from one local community to the next without all the noise and hustle of the main drag. I walked a long way, but nothing that an iced tea or coffee can't fix. I stopped in at Gang Lombok for lumpia for lunch for the second day in a row - they are essentially spring rolls, but very yummy ones! Judging by the long line of locals queuing for them, I'm not alone in my appreciation of them.

Back at the Pasar I indulged in another yummy sweet dessert called Es Dawet. It's an amalgam of various sweet things, including Durian, then topped with shaved ice. It's delicious, sweet and refreshing.

That evening Mega at last arrived back from Bali. As she spends her time sourcing products for international clients she sometimes needs to stay longer than planned fulfilling their demands. I was glad to see her though, as I'd kind of run out of things to do beyond aimless wandering through kampungs....

So the next day I did nothing, besides sleeping in, internet surfing, editing photos.... before we headed out to the posh Elizabeth Hospital in the hills above Semarang where an expat friend of Mega's was recovering from his first bout of Dengue fever. I have been bitten alive by mossies in the last day or so wandering along the canals, let's hope I don't end up with the same...

After enjoying the air conditioned comfort of a hospital room we emerged into the sweltering evening and headed back down to town. Mega took me to a great Bakso place where they serve all the different beef offal along with the meatballs. It was pretty scrumptious. Reminded me of a hot pot meal in Vietnam when poor Joe was recovering from Dengue!

The next day Mega took me to Jepara on the back of her motorbike. I'm couch surfing at the house of a lovely lady named Anna, a local married to an Englishman. But tomorrow I'm off for a few days on a ferry to some tropical islands. Yep, little old me is beaching it for a few days...

See you when I get back!

The rest of the Semerang photos are here.