Climbing a volcano for sunrise!

I'd booked on the trip with Mel and Jodie from Manchester, to climb the volcano- Mount Batur, for sunrise. I slept through my alarm and ended up madly rushing around at 1.55am to meet the group at 2am!

We were taken in the car for about an hour where we stopped to have a breakfast at 3am (!) of banana pancakes. 

The night sky was incredible. I don't think I've ever seen so many stars. We were given a flash light, and with our jumpers and trousers on, as it was quite cold, we started the climb. 

It took a while before it started to get steep. It felt more like we were going for a stroll rather than climbing a volcano! After walking for a while, we climbed further. Some places were quite steep and we had to use our hands as well. 

As it was dark, the climb didn't seem as bad as you can only take it one step at a time - as that's all you can see. You could see the flashlights of the people in front like stars on the hill.

When eventually we reached the top, the sunrise was beautiful. The sky was a array of orange and red, with the silhouette of another mountain poking through the clouds. 

   Another mountain with the sunrise

Me celebrating getting up the mountain

        Me, Jodie and Mel

Just when we started to get comfortable, the guide told us that we actually weren't at the top and needed to climb up some more to get there. We waited until the sun had risen and then climbed to the top.

The climb seemed pretty hard as I was getting tired by then. Some of it was just the ash from the volcano so it was quite slippery in places.

        Climbing up to the top

The climb was definitely worth the view. From the top, you could see right in the volcanic crater. 

   The river where the volcano is

          Me at the top

       At the volcanic crater

After we'd had a second breakfast of banana sandwiches and a boiled egg (!) and were done absorbing the view, we made our way down. The sun had now fully risen in the sky- it was about 7am. 

The journey down was almost as hard as the way up. Where the ash and rocks were loose it meant it was easy to slip and slide down! I spent most of the way down sitting down! 

The slippery ash

Trying to climb down the steep bits

Some areas had gravel like small stones so my shoes were quickly filled with them. As Mount Batur is a live volcano, on the way back, we stopped at a cave and felt the wall. It was really hot! 

      At the start/ end of the climb

We were glad once we made it to the van to take us back to the hostel.

A forest full of monkeys, Ubud, Bali

After the short boat crossing back to Bali, past the mountains in Lombok, I arrived in Ubud, Bali, with Jodie and Mel from Manchester, who I'd met in Gili.

 Leaving Gili T - Lombok's mountains 

Ubud is known to be a good place for trekking and seeing beautiful rice fields. We went to explore the monkey forest. On the way, we passed some temples and rice fields, which at first, appeared to be just waterlogged trenches. I only recognised them as I had seen similar ones in Vietnam. 

The ricefields on the way to the forest

In Bali, 90% of the population are Hindu so the temples are very different to the ones I'd seen in Vietnam (where the population is Bhuddist.)

           A temple 

In contrast to the Monkey Forest I'd been to in Lombok, there were monkeys everywhere here! 

Monkey right at the entrance

These monkeys aren't cute and cuddley  like people imagine, but actually quite vicious! We were a bit wary of getting too close to them as some of them were jumping on people! There was a few monkeys who had little baby monkeys clinging on to them.

A Mummy monkey with her baby

The forest itself was pretty cool though, with lots of different statues and interesting looking trees that gave it a jungle book feel to it. 

     Some of the monkey statues

A load of monkeys playing.. Or picking each other's flees! 

There was also a deer enclosure though we didn't get to see much of this as loads of monkeys started to come towards us, so we didn't stay long! 

      Next to the deer enclosure

We went back to our hostel and chilled out for a while, before booking a trip for the next day to climb a volcano to watch the sunrise! My friend Laura from uni had just got to Bali so we met up with her, and Rich who she was with, briefly after dinner, then got an early night to prepare for our early start! 

Living it up in Gili T

I arrived in Gili Trawangan the next morning. Gili Trawangan (Gili T for short!) is a beautiful little island off the coast of Lombok, full of amazing beaches. There are no motorised vehicles on the island and everyone gets around either by walking, cycling or horse and cart.

Arriving in Gili T

I spent a relaxing day at the beach before meeting some people at my hostel. I went to the beach with some of them the next day and we decided to go wake boarding! You have a board, similar to a snow board, attached to your feet, and you have to hold on to a rope and a boat will pull you along! It was so much fun and I managed to stand up for a bit on my first go! 

           Beach at Gili T 

I had a great night with people at the hostel- from Germany, Holland, Wales, Australia, Canada, France, South Africa and England, and the next day I headed to the beach with 2 girls I'd met from Manchester.

We walked for a while down the beach, past all the restaurants and bars, to a spot that was meant to be a good place to see turtles. We hired some snorkels and waded out until we could swim.

         Us with our snorkels on

The sea was beautiful! It was clear blue and there were loads of different kinds of fish. I ventured out to where the sea started to get deep and I saw a turtle! 

             The beach

We all ate at the night market that evening. There were many stalls with loads of different foods, and you could choose what you wanted to eat. The food was really good and so cheap as well! 

          At the night market

After spending another chilled day at the beach- and seeing 3 turtles! - we thought we'd take a trip to Gili Air, which is one of the Gili Islands, half an hour boat ride away. 

Gili Air is a lot smaller than Gili T, and a lot less touristy. We barely saw anyone else walking round the island. After a relaxing afternoon on the beaches, we headed back. 

                     Gili Air

The tiny, empty streets in Gili Air

        Us all having lunch on Gili Air

Me waiting for the boat with my sun turban!

Once we got back to Gili T, we went to the sunset bar with a load of people from the hostel. The bar was a bit of a walk away but it was great to see a bit more of the island. The sunset was beautiful, glowing red over the sea.

            The sun setting

            Us all at the sunset bar

 The sun glowing red at sunset

I left Gili T the next day to go back to Bali, to a place called Ubud.

My first taste of Bali and Lombok

Once I'd checked into my new hotel, I went in search of food. I ended up at the beach. After lunch, I was walking along the beach when I got chatting to some Australians who were with a surf instructor from Bali.

After a while I decided I'd get a surf lesson. The beach at Bali is not only a really nice beach, but it's also great for surfing.

The beach in Bali

I got an hour surf lesson for about £7. The guy taught me how to get into position on the sand before we ventured out. The waves weren't very big so it's great for beginners.

I really enjoyed it and even managed to stand up a bit! 

I booked my boat to Lombok for the next day, and got dinner with a Canadian and 2 Kiwis I'd met at my hostel. I was so tired from all the travelling around that I fell asleep pretty quickly.

I left Bali at 6.30am and caught the slow boat (it's was $15 cheaper!) to Lombok. The journey was pretty nice actually. It was cool to see Bali and Lombok from the sea. 

Bali from the sea

Views from the sea

The next day I hired a taxi driver to take me around the island. He took me to the monkey forest, which is in the mountains. It started to rain really hard so I only got to see a few monkeys. From the top, the view was amazing- I could see all the mountains and forests. 

The monkey forest

More of the forest 

After that he took me to a beach. We passed through some beautiful scenery.

Some of Lombok

The beach was nice, with the mountains and blue water. I noticed that the meter had got to £10 already and I mentioned that the trip seemed really expensive for not very much, so he offered to take me to Kuta beach Lombok which is meant to be really beautiful, for free.

The nearer beach 

He took me on his scooter for the 2 hour journey down to the beach. The beach was really nice, with amazing blue water- but it was a long way to travel on a scooter!

Me holding a rock at Kuta beach

Me holding the rock again

I went swimming but didn't stay too long as wanted to get back before it turned dark. The area was very remote around Kuta beach, and the surrounding beaches, and we had to go along dirt roads for a while before we got to the main road.

Another shot of the beach

The sun setting over a temple

I booked my boat to Gili T for the next day when I got back and enjoyed some really good live music at a restaurant before heading to bed.

Making the most of my stop over in Singapore

I had to get up at 3.30 in order to pack my stuff and get to the airport by 5. After a bit of drama checking in- (the girl at the desk said I couldn't get on the flight cos I didn't have a return flight!) I made it on the plane.

At the airport

As I had 16 hours before my next flight, and as you don't need to pay for a visa for Singapore, I headed out of the airport. I headed to the metro to catch a train out of the airport. A man at the airport had advised me of a good place to go, so I got the train there.

The tube in Singapore 

Singapore is a city- country, so you can get round the entire country using the metro. It felt very different to the rest of Aisa as lots of Western businesses are based there, so it reminded me a lot of London.

Me by the buffalo 

After checking out the mall which seemed pretty cool, I checked into a cheap hostel to get some sleep. I have a friend who lives in Singapore so I'd arranged to meet him after work.

I headed out on the Metro and we headed out to the (sky bar) - the bar in a very posh hotel that overlooks the whole city. 

Looking up at the sky bar

The hotel was ridiculously posh and wearing my shorts and t-shirt I didn't think I'd get in. Luckily we were allowed up to the bar at the top.

View from the top

The harbour side

The view was incredible and you could see for miles. A lot of banks and businesses have offices in Singapore so it is full of tall buildings. 

Me and Prash at the top

When we'd finished our drinks and taken in the view, we headed to China Town for dinner. It is a whole area full of Chinese restuants, temples and stalls.

A blurry picture of China town

After dinner, I went back to the hostel for a quick nap then back to the airport to catch my 2.30am flight. The flight was pretty uneventful. When I touched down in Bali, I checked into a backpackers who told my after I paid that I couldn't check in till 2, or have a refund. I stayed there until 12 then checked into another hotel.

Back in Saigon- the Fine Art museum

After 17 hours on the night train, I arrived back in Ho Chi Minh City. The train was pretty uneventful- I had a bed so slept the pretty much the whole way, (in spite of the woman in my carriage who hadn't heard to headphones, and was playing her music out loud!) 

I checked into the hostel I'd stayed in before and met an English girl and a German girl in my dorm room. We went out for dinner together and attempted to go on a pub crawl which didn't seem to get going very well- but I had a nice evening none the less. 

The next day, having already seen most of the sights, I thought I'd go to the Fine Art Museum. The English girl had been there the day before and said it was good. After walking for a while, getting lost a bit, and getting chatted up by a weird Vietnamese guy who wanted to buy me lunch (!) I eventually found it. 

Back in Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnamese art is very good and it was interesting to see. They had a modern art section- post 1975, a sculpture section and a ceramics section.

One of the sculptures 

Some Vietnamese hats, painted with Christmas patterns by school children

As well as some interesting, and original artwork, they also had some propaganda paintings from the war. These were Anti-American- depicting all American soldiers as evil and stupid.

Some of the posters

Some more of the posters 

They had some masks stuck onto a bit of wood in one section. One of them was made up of $1 notes.

The masks in the art gallery

Some of the artwork in the gallery

After I had seen the rest of the gallery, I chilled at the hostel before grabbing some dinner, and getting an early night in preparation for my early flight!