We have  full days here before catch the plane to Darwin, Australia!

It feels so mad that this is our last place in Asia. We first hit Asia in Istanbul on week 3 or something and we are now leaving it for the very final sprint to the finish line. I am so excited to have pretty much made it but I am nervous about leaving the truck. I will miss a lot of the people who will be dispersed all over the world and I don’t know what I’ll do without Lu telling me when to in and exhale! Now is the time to really make sure I am not taking this trip for granted. The finish line in sight is making for a vivid ‘carpe diem’ mindset at the moment.

The first couple of days in Ubud were spent relaxing by the pool, getting massages and wandering around the beautiful markets. I had an issue with the markets here though. They were stunning and the romantic idea of an Asian market but the sellers refused to haggle. For me that is half t fun of market shopping. It was due to t older tourists letting the side down. I watched them. They would be quoted a ridiculously rip off price for something and respond with ‘awww your making an amazing profit outa me hey!! ok then here you go’ ?!?!!! this goes against all my market shopping principles. It was not a completely fruitless mission in the market but not as successful as I’d hoped.

Having four full days here means there is no fast paced rush to see everything in one day. On day 3 I woke up and unwound by the pool. I was going to go off with some friends in a hired car to explore the island but the pool beckoned me to stay! That night our friend Julie came to visit us, she had been away from the truck for Bali with her boyfriend that she met when we were in Mumbai. We went out for a lovely dinner and it was great to finally put a face to a name!

I came back that night to write my diary in the rain. I love rain. I was afraid of the heat in Asia and I have been blessed by luscious refreshing, perfect rain storms and I couldn’t have wished for ore. Ok it increases the humidity but when it rains I feel like a child and if there’s a body of water in sight, god help it!

The next day I went to visit the Monkey forest which was amazing. Despite the rabies warnings I had to go and see this. They were jumping all over me and one dived from a tree and landed on my head. My friend Nancy was screaming ‘kiss of death kiss of death’ which obviously made me a lot calmer!! Luckily there was no broken skin and I am so far rabies free, and I still got to cuddle a curious monkey. Fortune favors the brave!

On the final night, after a week of sate indulgence, we had an ‘End of Asia pool party’ in the hotel. My bath tub was filed with ice and beers and we put on some music and reminisced the last few months. This is also our last hotel as the rest of the trip is entirely camping. The night went on late and everyone had a great time. It was nice to have us all together to celebrate the end of this amazing continent for now. The night ended perfectly with a tremendous storm which chased none away.

After here we catch a plane at 3 am to Darwin and begin the very last drop to Sydney, who can believe it’s nearly here already? I can’t.

Love from Indonesia and Good Bye from Asia x

58 sleeps until xmas! x

From my previous blog you’ll know I went clubbing two nights in a row when I was in Kuta. The same area where there was a bomb in a night club and just afterwards on the street outside killing many Australian, New Zealand and British travelers among others. The ones who ran away were still caught in the after bomb. It was a horrific time and being there as a young British back packer in a sweaty dark night club really shows you, more than a memorial, how unsuspecting they were and how monstrous an act it was.

I said a little prayer for the victims family and realised how lucky we are to have been allowed to travel relatively safely thus far. We even missed the earthquake and tsunami for those who wondered!

with love xxx

Bali is split into two stops. The 1st being Kuta Beach on the south side of the island. Although a couple of days here were fun and easy going, it was enough. The best way to describe the vibe of this place to you would be to say it is the Aussie version of Benidorm!

We had some nice food and attempted to dance the night away without catching any fungal infections from near by Aussie chavs!

The reason this beach s so popular is beacuse it is one of the original surfing beaches. The water was dirty and the beach not much to look at but the surf was awesome so I spent some time wave hopping and sun burning because you can’t really not while you’re here. The great thing about being surnburned (odd sentence start) here is that te Aussies on the truck have lost al right to comment on Brits abroad after the worst representation of thier country we could’ve had. At least we know when we get there we have seen the worst.

The last full day here I did a spot of shopping, had my hair cut and had a lovely Balinese full body massage with warm oils. We found a restaurant  I wished I’d found on the first day and spent the rest of the evening suitable inebriated in true Kuta style. At 5am we left the last club and went down to the beach to swim through t sunrise.  By the time I got back to the hotel it was time to grab brekkie, pack up and head to the next stop in Bali, our final Asia destination!

It really didn’t feel like we were in Indonesia anymore. The vast flat plains and dramatic volcanous craters were a stark contrast from the palm tree-esque scenery we had been indulging in of late and the freezing temperatures forced out fleeces, hats and gloves out of hibernation unexpectedly.

At utterly ridiculous o’clock (3am) we woke up, wrapped up and jumped into a mean looking jeep, the only vehicles capable of reaching the view point for the most stuning sunrise I have ever seen, over the volcanic range. The sky was on fire and we could see the perfect silhouettes of the smoking crater and its opposite sulphur puffing mound next to it. There were locals playing guitar and singing, and mountain worshipers burned juniper in prayer as we huddled together and welcomed the new day.

The jeeps then scrambled across the desert plains to the base of the crater. Whilst aging tourists cruelly rode crippling mini ponies up the hill we took the 30 minute climb on foot. The sun warmed things up a bit and I ended up carrying 6 of the 7 layers I had began with.

We climbed right up to the crater and there was nothing but value of our own lives to tell us when to stop climbing in. The eggy stench of sulphur also drew a proximity line for us.

I climbed around the edge for some peace from the crowed with my friend Arthur. As we marvelled at the view the smoke seemed to be getting more aggessive and the bubbling decibels increased. I spent the next few minutes calculating how to get back to the jeep again in time before the flowing lava caught up with me had the volcano decided to blow, call me paranoid.

Luckily the volcano decided not to break years of tradition and stayed innocently smoking away so the rest of the day was spent catching up on some zzzzz’s and relaxing. Certainly one of the highlights of the trip so far.

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Dropped

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Monsoon Drinks

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Got Up

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Shopped

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Dropped

I crack on with my Larsson trilogy for, oo about 10 minutes! These books are seriously weighing my bag down I need to get reading. I spent the rest of my time [laying cards, watching movie on Arthurs laptop and lapping up the luxury of my hardest decision being weather to eat something or sleep more.

After 32 hours in total we docked in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. It all felt very Titanicy and new world discovery being on the old fashioned boat but this feeling was left behind on the boat as we alighted. There is becoming a bit of a theme with countries with the prefeixing letters IND. This place had the lerching pervy men, rotton bin smellans crap roads of India and it was a bit of an unwelcome blast from the past at first.

Areas of Jakarta were quite clean and modern but it couldn’t shake it’s IND by nature roots. We did a Delhi and his in the air-conditioned cinema for a few hours and anti-bac-ed religiously. Jakarta did have the best street food yet by chance discovery as all the best ones are. This satay spectacular was the best meal I have ever eaten sat on a car park floor!

We only spent a day in the capital and that was enough I think. We then hopped on a stupid O’clock morning train to Yogyakarta. Nothing particularly getting me excited about Indonesia at the moment. Perhaps the chisled Bali surfers will change this. Oh and last minute Aisa shopping and massages…the long goodbye

Love from Indonesia, 68 sleeps until xmas!!!!!!!!!

Jen xxxxxxx

Aussie customs are incredibly strict so, to reduce hold ups at teh border for the truck, we are carrying all our own camping gear through Indonesia. My bag is so heavy now I have my tent and sleeping bag extra in an already overflowing bag! This kind of risks me being over on weight for the flight to Darwin but I got to test my bag out on the ferry scales. I am allowed 20kgs and I was at 19.9kg! Despite the sight of me, I am in fact a weight managment guru it seems!

So Singapore, not quite as pristine as I was expecting. Having been blown away by KL my standards are a little unreasonably high right now.

Our hostel was a modern clean set up in the Little India area of the city. There were plenty of ‘the grottier the yummier’ hole-in-the-wall style eateries here. The first night, post Indian indulgence, I headed out to an understandably overpriced bar for the birthday drinks of Jeff and Kai. Singapore is a Muslim country which adds to the alcohol being even more pricey than central London bars. This hurts even more on a back packers budget! It was a lovely evening and the birthday boys had fun.

The next day my friend Fran and I went wandering aimlessly and ended up getting a good feel for the city.  Chinatown was very acurately depicted if a little cleaner than the real thing. This was again one of those places i will visit again one day when my purse is a little plumper. Orchard Road screamed this message to me. It is a road of bright lights and a Prada the size of my nearest Tesco! The call it the Rodeo Drive of Aisa or something.

What struck me as strange was the fact that Singapore is a country in its own right comprising of just a city and a smal surburb area. I had always wondered if it was a country or a city and the answer is both.

The next day Fran, Rich and I headed out to Singapore Zoo on the outskirts of the city. The word ‘zoo’ gives the wrong impression. It’s more of a safari park. The amimals have ample room to roam and nice living conditions. I went to the orangutan enclosure to catch up with teh relatives. The zoo was awesome.

As girls we tried to get in to the hotel Raffles which had the worlds longest bar and is the birthplace of the cocktail the Singapore Sling. They were having a picky day that day and were only letter residents in so we couldn’t get in afterall.

From Singapore we catch a ferry to the Indonesian Island of Batam to await our 30 hour ferry ride to Jakarta.

Love from Singapore! Jen xxx

I have taken this opportunity here to catch up on the blog. I’m sorry it’s been a bit dry recently, I have a lot going on but now intend to get back to normal and keep you updated on the very final leg of my big trip if you still want to know about it.

I am feeling the vibe amongst the truck now of loving this trip so much and being so excited about going home. As the finish line approaches we are making plans for back home and then getting excited about living life after the big orange truck.

77 days until Christmas!! I need letting loose on an oven I miss cooking so much. Ok now I’m getting excited and random on my blog. More appologies.

Tomorrow night I’ll be in Singapore.

Love from Malaysia x Jensk x

I visited the famous Petronas twin towers at night when they were lit up. They looked like to sparkling Madonna boobs and made me really want to work there. I’d like to start collecting cool buildings to work in after The House of Commons then here. Where else? Suggestions are welcome.

I visited teh central market and China town and posted a big box home. It was ridiculously cheap to post here and the funny thing is this time I will be home to receive this box from the postie. The trip is hurtling towards the finish line now.

It was Danny’s birthday here so we went out for dinner and drinks which was extremely expensive but a good laugh. Alcohol in this Muslim country in naturally, very expensive.

Malaysian food is not very identifiable although I tried to go local it was pretty similar to most of the stuff I’ve seen so far. The was a huge shopping mall, th biggest in the world where I had my hair done whilst watching the indoor rollercoaster. I also saw the new Julia Roberts film Eat, Pray, Love which turns out by overall opinion is much better than the whinny book some girls have read and hated on the truck.

I would like to come back here as a business trip or something when i can see the other side which costs a lot more money than I can justify right now. Another Beijing feeling.

Love from Malaysia x

Our beach huts were right on the beach and near a town which had an awesome night market (I know food is the center of my universe more than usual right now but it is awesome here) and surrounded by funky beach bars which are responsible for a few ly-ins here. We were just slightly away from the town though which meant for relaxing quiet days on the beach.

The sea was as warm as a bath and when the monsoon hit I went in again, this time with no fear of burning and had an exhausting slap0h about with some friends in the sea. we were carried down the coast a bit at the high wonds and heavy rain messed up our current a little. You care less about the rain when you are already soaked.

I booked my flight from Bali to Darwin here as we now know dates and headed out to get a pampering which included a Thai massage. One of the most interesting yet. Lots of cuddling and stretching but it was a goody.

I went to see a lady boy show here and it was hilarious. Awful miming and ultimate cheese. I have never been more aware in my life that I’m not wearing any make up! The girls/boys whatever the PC way to say it is, were gorgeous and put on a great show.

After considerably reducing our pulses here we hopped back onthe ferry to Surat Thani for one more night before heading to Malaysia.

Love from Thailand x