Swimming with Crocodiles

Cheers mates, A lot happened since I left Jakarta to go South-East and I have just returned from one week Australia. Basically I followed the tourist trail which goes from Jakarta via Yogyakarta and Bromo to Bali. Saw the fascinating Borobudur, the biggest Budhist temple in Indonesia and I went to the Prambanan, a big Hindu temple complex. Ironically all the guides that run these places now are Muslim. Merapi volcano, one of the most dangerous in the world.                                                             To get the smog of YokYakarta out of my lungs I went to the Merapi volcano one of the most dangerous in the world. Though we did not see much because of the clouds, it is interesting to hear the reason why people continue to live in little villages which have a close to 100% change to get buried in lava the coming 50 years.

It turns out that the Sultan of Yokya got a visit from the queen of the sea at some point in time. The queen gave him an egg as a present and went back to sea. The sultan didn't dare to eat the egg himself and gave it to his chauffeur. He ate the egg and turned into a giant. Then he said to the sultan that he could not live in the village anymore with this body and the Sultan gave him a job as the bodyguard of the region and his house was the Merapi. Every year the Sultan (currently Hamengkubuwono X, he is one of the new government ministers) goes back to Merapi to thank the ever-living bodyguard. Therefore the people in the villages belief they are protected against an eruption. Massage on the beach of Merapi. I didn't want push my luck too far and left Merapi after one day to go to Bali. On my way I joined forces with 6 fellow travelers, Guido, Carlo, Francesca and Andrea from Italy, Pablo from Argentina and Alison from the USA. We hired a bus which Pablo and I drove around the island. We saw good beaches, had a nice massage on the beach and received a short course in Italian cursing, when a monkey stole the glasses of Andrea from his nose. A win-win situation was reached when the monkey agreed to give the glasses back for a piece of banana. (What a great work-force they could be if they would only do what you want...)

Rice fields. We nearly had a free lunch by winning a bet with some Indonesian men over a chess match. They said they could beat any of us in chess not knowing that Andrea has been the junior chess champion of Italy and also Guido was a professional once. Unfortunately the Indonesians felt something was wrong and withdrew before the game started.

After Bali I went to Lombok and together with Nick, from England, I drove around the island on a motorbike and we had some very good snorkeling on the Gili islands. And then I ran out of my Visa for Indonesia and decided to see what Australia is like. My friends in New Zealand told me that a week was enough to see the "West Island". Australia It was great to leave the rice for a while and step back into the world of hotdogs, steaks, pizza's and hot showers. I arrived at 5 o'clock in the morning at Darwin airport. A few weeks before I met a Dutch couple on Bali who had abandoned their car on the airport.

Hennie's car, now used by some unkown hotel receptionist. The car was still there and the keys were inside so I took it and drove to Darwin. When I was followed by a policecar I realized I was driving without a license (stolen in New Zealand) and with nothing to prove that I had not stolen the car. But I was lucky and arrived without problems. Gave the car as a present to the surprised receptionist of my hotel. She was happy with it.

The Crocodile Hunter, as known from Discovery Channel. Darwin has a typical outdoor-sport-beer-party culture and I went with the stream by joining a tour through Kakadu national park. It was qualified as "extreme and for fit young people only". We were with 7 and a guide with a 4 WD. Ignoring the warnings for crocodiles we swam to the most beautiful places, and I suppose that was the "extreme" part. (But I don't know why you have to be young unless the crocodiles have a preference for a mature taste of meat...) Crocodiles? What crocodiles? The Crocodile Hunter did a good job! At night we camped without tents and slept in so called swags. Did some games and I was champion "pick-from-ground-with-teeth-while-hands-behind-back-and-standing-on-feet" (don't try if you are not sure your nose is well insured!). We learned all about the Australian BBQ laws in which women are not allowed to touch the barbecue, and the men must always have a beer in one hand. Enjoying a crocodile pizza.                                                             Anyway the nature of Kakadu is absolutely stunning and it all ended in a big party when we came back in Darwin. Though my Kiwi friends might not agree I definitely have to go back to see more of the West Island.

Now I am back on Bali again recovering a few days at the beach. Then I will head towards Flores...