Sophie Denise: Ubud & Java, Indonesia

Ubud - On Sunday we sadly had to hop a boat back to Bali from the Gili Islands :( we stopped in the port of Padangbai and then got a transfer to Ubud which is just north of Bali's capital Denpasar. Ubud is the other half of Bali's tourism duopoly, perched on the slopes of the central mountains it is more focused on Balinese culture. We only had one full day here so of course had to visit the monkey sanctuary!

Yogyakarta - a very last minute decision, we booked a plane to Yogyakarta in Java which is the much larger island to the left of Bali where Jakarta is. We arrived early on Tuesday morning and headed to the Edu Hostel where we were staying, (word of warning, my friend Kate was eaten alive by bedbugs and the rest of us by mosquito's which hasn't happened anywhere else so please steer clear!). Yogyakarta is such an interesting city, not really what I expected as its not that modem. There is a lots of stunning graffiti - I love graffiti, I feel like it can really define a city, London has som amazing stuff if you know where to look.

On our only full day in Java we visited the temples of Prambanan and Borobudur and Buddhist monastery Mendut. It was an early start again so we could see the sunrise over the mountains near Borobudur. We met these really sweet Indonesian girls at Prambanan who gave us a free tour of the Hindu temple as part of a class project thy were doing. On our second night we stayed at the much nicer Delta Homestay and had the most amazing meal I've had so far at Hani's Restaurant and Bakery.

Mt. Bromo - an 11 hour, surprisingly comfortable bus journey away from Yogyakarta is Gunung Bromo, an active volcano. We stayed in the small town of Cemoro Lewang at the base of the volcano and at 4am (another early start, don't think I've ever done more in one week!) we jumped in a jeep and headed up to Love Hill, the main view point for seeing the sunrise over Bromo.

We then jumped back in the jeep and headed to the bottom of the volcano where we transferred to ponies (yay!) and trekked up to the top. The volcano and views from the top were absolutely breathtaking.