These are a few of my favourite volcanoes...

Indonesia has 127 active volcanoes....and god only knows how many dormant or extinct peaks. Basically every peak you see is (or was) a volcano. But we never get sick of looking at them.

Tiny Lombok is home to the enormous Gunung Rinjani, at 3726m it's Indonesia's second highest volcano and is sacred to the Balinese and Sasak people. 

Merapi Volcano (2891m) is Sumatra's most active (the name means Mountain of Fire), no mean feat on such an unstable island. We never saw the peak of this one...always covered in clouds. 

Gunung Inerie is the highest peak on Flores (2245m) and wins the award for pointiest cone. The northern side is covered in ash, the southern side in vegetation....so no prizes for guessing which side you want to be on if (when) it erupts.

Lombok to Flores by boat (or when dragons prove to be the least of your worries)

Sailing from Cartagena to Panama was one of the highlight's of our year in Latin America, so when we heard about boats traveling between Lombok and Flores, we decided to sail our second sea and get in on the Indonesian version of life aboard. 

About a week before we were due to depart, another tourist vessel sunk off the coast of Sumbawa Besar, stranding 20 odd tourists (and leading ultimately to the presumed death of two Spanish men) and casting serious aspersions on Indonesia's already questionable maritime safety record. 

We weren't exactly feeling confident about our choice- especially after trying to contact the company for about a week and hearing nothing but conspicuous silence. But after asking around, we learned that Kencana Adventures was NOT in fact the one that had sunk (apparently they just have shit customer relations skills) and our cruise would depart as scheduled.

Everyone else on our boat had of course heard about the accident, so there was much checking of lifejackets, life boats and general equipment once we got on board. We left Labuan Lombok on Thursday afternoon, sailing east for our first overnight stop near the island of Gili Bola. 

Sailing is so beautiful when the water is calm, it comes as quite a shock to realize just how horrendous is becomes when the weather picks up. On the afternoon of the second day we were chilling at the stern (oops- bow) of the boat, playing cards and drinking beers, when it became apparent that the waves were getting bigger, the sky getting darker, and everybody's faces getting paler. By 6pm the ship was pitching and rolling badly, a lot of people had progressed from white to green and jokes about shipwrecks were no longer funny. Dinner was hastily served (and eaten by a few) and then the crew set about strapping everything that moved down, handing out sea-sickness pills and helping staggering tourists onto their mats for what proved to be an insanely long night. 

The one positive thing about sea-sickness is that it makes it impossible to think about anything apart from just how wretched you feel. So while the few people who weren't sick were terrified, I was just miserable. The crew spent all night on watch and were clearly concerned; two of them were actually sick as well which made me feel less like a pathetic land-lubber. 

At one point the French girl beside me told me she was going to get life jackets and grabbed one for me as well. Water was sloshing in over the sides of the lower deck. Still, the whole thing felt kind of surreal and like I said...intense nausea has its benefits. 

When morning finally broke in the morning, we were all looking pretty fragile. The sea had subsided somewhat and we were in sight of land. Shipwreck jokes were back on the table. Banana pancakes were gingerly forced down. We were afloat. The worst was over. Life was good. 

We sailed into the glassy waters surrounding Gili Laba and disembarked for a hike up to a lookout point. Dry land felt really, really good beneath our feet and the views were stupendous enough to wipe out memories of the previous night.

That afternoon we continued to Komodo Island, home to the eponymous Dragon. Although they're impressively huge, the dragons were also practically comatose so we didn't get a sense of just how frightening they can be...that is, until a guide showed us a photo of another guide who had his leg bitten by one. Cue gradual backing away from comatose dragons.

Maintaining the recommended 7m distance from Komodo!

After dragon hunting we sailed to a beautiful, sheltered bay where we enjoyed an almost motionless nights sleep under the stars...bliss.

Hiking on Rinca Island

We woke up bright and early on our last morning and headed off to Rinca Island, home to more Komodo Dragons (which are apparently more aggressive than on Komodo proper) and even more spectacular views.

Then it was time for more snorkeling at yet another gorgeous deserted beach....and sailing the final leg to Labuanbajo where we all disembarked in time for a fast shower and a sunset celebratory beer in town.

But not before we all said a huge thank you to the awesome crew from Kencana- not only did they keep us alive, but they fed us, caught us squid and probably even held a few people's hair back as they threw up overboard. In short, they totally earned their tip.  Thanks!!!

The Art of Honking

When someone honks their horn in Australia, it pretty much means one thing: fuck you arsehole, get the fuck out of my way- and is almost always accompanied by a demonstrative finger gesture.

However in many other parts of the world, they employ a highly nuanced and sophisticated range of honking, tooting, beeping and blaring to convey a range of complex communications; such as: 

1. "Hello!! I am coming up behind you and don't wish to startle you!"

2. "Excuse me, I am about to overtake you" 

3. "Not a problem fellow road-user! Please proceed with caution and try not to hit that cow"

4. "Sorry!! I know I am in your lane, but there was an opportunity to overtake on a blind corner and (chuckle) I simply couldn't resist!"

5. "I am about to change lanes and I thought I'd save you the trouble of using your rearview mirror!"

Plus a whole range of other subtleties that I am still trying to fathom. In fact, about the only time the horn is not used is in anger which makes road rules very easy to learn!!

Do whatever you think is best under the circumstances but for god's sake, HONK, just to let everyone know what it is you're up to. 

Danau Maninjau- another day, another crater lake in Northern Sumatra

Surrounded by soaring, steep and densely forested cliffs, Danau Maninjau is even more beautiful than Danau Toba, and since it is also much smaller (just 70km around the lake) it's also much easier to visualise the former explosive life of this extinct volcanic peak. 

The approach to the shore of the lake involves a descent through a whopping 44 hairpin bends (they're numbered- I didn't count them), which according to the tourist information require "very special skills" to navigate safely. This translates to being able to wrench the car around tight curves with one hand, whilst juggling a cellphone and cigarette in the other. Luckily, most Indonesians start driving at the tender age of seven, and start smoking around a year later...so they have ample practice in multitasking behind the wheel. 

The scenery around the lake is stunning; impossibly green rice paddies, groves of cacao and coffee, water buffalo ploughing the fields and decaying mosques in every village.

We hired a moped to cruise around the lake on Sunday- which also happens to be the day of the week for getting married. On our 70km drive we saw seven weddings- and were lucky enough to score an invite to one!

We had stopped to check out the bridal couple and before we knew it, were being invited in to sample the wedding feast (delicious) and listen to traditional music (much, much better than anything I have heard on overnight Indonesian buses). 

Most of the guests were more interested in us than they were in the bride, which pretty much accounts for her grumpy face. Sorry bridey : (

If I was Indonesian, I'd be Batak.

After a grueling ten days toughing out Ramadan and Idul Fitri in Aceh province, it was rather a relief to arrive on the shores of Danau Toba and get reacquainted with a more hedonistic way of life, thanks to the local Batak people. 

The five hour minivan ride from Medan was particularly awful- loads of holiday traffic, a sadistic driver and reconditioned interior which meant 20 people could be crammed into a 12-seater- so we were pretty happy when we finally arrived at our guesthouse and found ourselves staying in a traditional Batak house, right on the shores of the lake. 

Danau Toba is the largest lake in South-East Asia and was formed when one of Indonesia's myriad volcanoes erupted in spectacular fashion about 75,000 years ago, creating a 1700sq km caldera. The Batak people originally migrated from Thailand & Myanmar and settled the lake region where they lived in isolation for centuries. Famous for their ritual cannibalism practices, the Batak repeatedly repelled attempts by their Muslim neighbours to conquer and convert. It was only in the early 1800's that Christian missionaries successfully gained the trust of local Batak kings and convinced communities to give up cannibalism in favour of God. Although Batak people today are Protestant Christians, they still maintain some ancient animist beliefs and rituals. 

Elaborate carving on the facade of Batak houses keep out evil spirits

The Batak people had a unique (and presumably extremely effective) justice system- anyone accused of a crime was brought before the king and other senior community members and judged according to the evidence. If found guilty of a serious crime (murder, rape or theft), the accused was sentenced to death...but first they would be cut and have lemon, chili or garlic rubbed into their wounds. After being beheaded, the organs were removed, cooked and eaten by the king and community. Yikes.

The Stone Chairs- where all the big decisions are made!

Batak people are big into music and tuak (palm-sap wine)- so we get along like a house on fire. We dove straight into the non-Muslim delights of cold Bintang beers and wild-boar rendeng and are luxuriating in being able to snack at all hours of the day. 

For a country renowned throughout the world for its hardline approach to drugs, it's surprising just how widely mushrooms and weed are available. Martijn is like a magnet for all the local stoner dudes- it seems chops and tattoos equal copious drug-use in Indonesia- so we turn down countless offers of intoxicating substances every day. 

We'd originally planned to be on the move tomorrow but all the buses to Bukittinggi are booked out...so looks like my 34th birthday will be spent drinking tuak with the Batak! Hurrah!