Bandung

Yesterday we arrived in Bandung. After a stressful few hours walking around to different ATMs and having our cards rejected, we were finally directed to a hotel by a friendly policeman. We walked to the hotel thinking how lucky it was that we had taken some US dollars otherwise we would have been stuck in the mountains! When we got to the hotel, we were told they didn't exchange money however a very friendly owner agreed to change 25 dollars for us at a good rate! We could now afford the bus.

We took an economy bus again and once again met some really friendly locals. On the bus journey we met an Indonesian lady called Erika, who had a degree in English. As she wanted to practice her English and we wanted to learn about Indonesia, we quickly became friends. After talking for a few hours we both got off and she directed us towards 'Braga' where we would find a hotel. We were not expecting to find a hostel as good as the one we ended up finding. For around £6 we finally stayed in our first place with a hot shower, air conditioning, good WiFi and clean rooms. For the next few hours we sat in the lobby feeling very relieved to find such a great place.

We have spent most of our time thus far wandering the streets and exploring the city. Tomorrow we have planned to meet Erika again at local volcano crater 'kawah putih'. To demonstrate how friendly Indonesian people are, she is leaving at 6am and riding her scooter for 3 hours just to meet us there!! It is funny when you think both of us have friends that we have known for years, who are closer than that and we rarely see them.

Puncak tea plantations

The local economy bus is an adventure and introduction to the culture. It gets unbelievably hot in the bus as for the money you pay air conditioning is not an option and having all the windows opened doesn't help much. They don't have many bus stops here in Indonesia although the bus stops a lot. You just have to raise your hand up and whilst the bus is slowing down jump in or out. There are also a lot of people coming in the bus trying to sell water and snacks, and musicians singing a few songs and then asking for money. So the journey can be bit more expensive, even the poor local people give money to people who ask.  The 80 km journey took us around 3 hours in the end.

We got chucked out of the bus in the middle of nowhere at the top of a mountain surrounded by tea plantations. They said it was called Puncak, the place we wanted to go. As we hadn't done any research we then realized that Puncak was going to be a little village not a town. Seemingly the locals there hadn't seen many white people and it took us about 10 minutes shaking their hands and being asked for pictures with them. We started walking in hope to find a cheap place to stay but unfortunately due to heavy sudden rain ended up in a bit overpriced hotel. In the end it wasn't too bad, it included breakfast and even a pool.

Quite a nice hotel in the end

In the morning we had a lovely walk around the tea plantations which were just on the side of the road. Lucky people who can have this view from their bedroom windows. After we had checked out of the hotel and waited till yet another sudden hour long rain had stopped, we took a local minibus to the next village around 8 km away called Cibodas. Cibodas has 85 hectares of natural botanical gardens and again we had no idea it was this big as we had done no research before arriving. A very helpful local guy nodded us to follow him after asking directions to a guesthouse. We walked with him about an hour up and down the mountain roads. After the first guesthouse being full he took us to Freddy's home stay and funnily enough Freddy happened to be his dad. Freddy was a very kind and helpful old man who did everything possible to make sure his only guests enjoyed their stay.

Tea

If one person asks to take a picture with us, then there are always more

We planned to trek up to the hotsprings in the botanical garden however when we arrived and found out the special tourist price was more than 10 euros we decided against it. This may not sound like much but in Indonesia it is a lot of money and more than we even had on us at that time. When we told Freddy he agreed and told us "better in Bandung" so that became our next destination. 

Jakarta

Its hot. With the humidity of almost maximum. Our first impression after stepping out of the airport was that we had arrived home, as that is what we had planned since leaving Asia the last time. In the first couple of minutes before taking a local bus to the city centre, we had never seen so many smiley faces. Once again after withdrawing just under £50 in Indonesian rupees we became millionaires.

After getting the bus to the central train station we met a Dutch couple and a Slovakian guy who wanted to head down to Bali. Together we decided as it was a national christian holiday that it would be better to sleep on this idea and decide where to go next in the morning. As they were travelling for a month and we were planning to stay in Asia longer, they opted for a good night sleep and we found the cheapest place possible and didn't sleep. That first night cost about £4.50 and although the owner was very friendly the hostel was the worst place we had ever stayed. By the morning the Slovakian guy who only had a week until he had to be back in Jakarta had flown to Bali. We met with the lovely Dutch couple Rabin and Tosca who were trying to get tickets to another city Yogyakarta. They had met a really friendly local who was driving Rabin around on his scooter to find tickets. When they returned the Indonesian guy who unfortunately never told us his name, basically planned our trip for us.

We stayed one more night in Jakarta in a hostel that was 50 pence more, filled with Indonesians seemingly staying there long term. The guys in the reception were really nice and after Jack rolled them some cigarettes, he painted us each a lighter one with 'Jack' and the other with 'Scorpio' as Marianne was a little long. Because of our experiences in Thailand we were worried the guy was going to ask for money, but the Indonesian people we have met have all been sincere without looking to get anything out of you. We had a little walk around the town but the weather had other ideas and a storm forced us to head home.

The next morning we took the bus to the coach station and got an economy bus to Puncak. The inter city bus in Jakarta is ridiculously crowded and we felt quite bad as with our backpacks on we not only took up more space, but also posed a danger to the slightly shorter locals.

Our first yummy street food in Indonesia

Venice

After a quick visit to our lovely friends and families we took a plane to Milan and made our way to Venice on the train. We stayed in a caravan park about 20 minutes outside of Venice, which was by far the cheapest place we could find as we left it to the last minute to book. We actually thought this was the best way to do it, staying outside of Venice and the crowds. It was more relaxing and allowed you to get completely lost in Venice and easily find your way home.

Grand canal

When we looked up the top free things to do in Venice, getting lost was the top. This was easily accomplished with all the narrow streets, alleyways and canals. The weather was beautiful, almost 30 degrees throughout both days, which was a welcome change to English and Estonian weather. It was also good practice for when we head to Indonesia on Tuesday as all we did in Venice was walk all day. We found our way to St. Marks square although heaving with tourists the architecture was impressive. Whilst being completely lost we stumbled upon the self proclaimed 'most beautiful book shop in the world' and whilst looking around we had to agree. Venice was completely unique and beautiful although we couldn't imagine visiting in the summer, it was busy enough in May!

After we spent two months visiting family around Europe, Venice finally felt like the start of our travels as for the first time there was nobody to meet us or to stay with. It was just us, it was a mixture of relief and excitement (no offence family). Next stop Indonesia.

Crowded st Marcs square

Italy

We have had fabulous time with Jacks' nan Carole in Italy. It's been hot and sunny. We feel like we are in a sanctuary here living in her second house on top of a mountain with stunning views. Her dogs and cats and herself are good company in this beautiful place. Almost every morning we have had breakfast and coffee at our favorite cafe in town. 

We have done a few walks around the area although walking up and down the mountains in this heat is not easy. We have spent most of our days chilling in and around the house, playing with the animals, sunbathing and helping Carole around the house. 

The team

The first full day in Italy, was market day and Jack had been waiting to get his hands on the local specialty Porchetta, a pork filled roll. We brought one each and they were so good we decided to buy them in bulk, breakfast sorted for the next few days. Our main day out was getting the train up through the mountains to Perugia. To get to the city itself you take a series of escalators up through an old village built into the hillside. Once you get to the top there are lots of beautiful buildings, squares and restaurants to see and enjoy. One of our favourite parts of Perugia was the incredible views you get from the top. 

In the queue for Porchetta

Perugia

Little local trains 

France III

The parents and more importantly puppies, have arrived! We have had a lovely week although the dogs have probably enjoyed it more as we spent most of our time walking them. The weather has been lovely and we have been topping up our tans whilst drinking french beer.

Choosing our cheese course

It was great to see Jacks' parents again and the highlight of the trip was having a 5 course meal at the nicest restaurant in the area the 'Cheval Blanc'. I don't think I have ever had so much food and wine at lunch time and the rest of the day we spent sleeping off the food, dinner was not needed. We have had lots of BBQ's and other lovely home cooked meals. We also had a wine tasting at a local vineyard where we got to try the local specialty 'Pineau' although neither of us particularly enjoyed it, the wine was great though.

France II

The house is lovely and warm, which took a while and a lot of logs on the fire. The weather has been typically English and we have rarely seen the sun, just clouds and rain. We have actually been having a great time, chilling by the fire and generally playing home. We have well and truly exhausted Nan and Grandad's DVD collection as well as their firelighters (we won't mention the logs, sorry nan and grandad).

We have still been getting around and seeing as much of the local area as possible. Our neighbours Kirsten and Dave and their twin children Dillon and Ella very kindly took us to the big supermarket nearby. We went with Dave in the morning after he had written his shopping list in the order he walks (or in daves case, sprints) around the supermarket. Once we were in the supermarket we turned around and dave had disappeared into the distance and his shopping trolley was already half full. We shopped as quickly as possible and managed to get everything we needed as well as learning the art of man shopping. 

Apart from the shopping trip we stuck to old fashioned transportation and cycled a lot. The nearest shop apart from the local Boulangerie (bad spelling) selling croissants is in Aigre, 5km away. The first time Jack cycled there alone in desperate need of biscuits, not realising it was a Sunday and the town was shut. The next few trips were much more successful and many biscuits were bought as well as the ingredients for a pancake cake. We also cycled through Luxe towards Mansle, stopping of at a pizza restaurant that Jack remembered on a lake in Eschoisy, which looked like it had been shut down for the best part of a century. We got to Mansle which is actually pronounced 'mal', the french seem to have a lot of useless letters in their words. It was still a fairly small town but we cycled through the town, down to the river and very much enjoyed the cakes at the local bakery. Jack brought a cake shaped like a penis whilst giggling like a child, although the rather miserable looking baker obviously didn't see the resemblance or get the joke.

It has been a quiet but very enjoyable and relaxing week, tomorrow Jacks' lovely parents and the dogs arrive. Marianne has been talking constantly about how much she misses the dogs. They arrive at 6am, I will be suprised if Marianne gets any sleep.