Indonesia

1.45am start 😴
I was collected by the driver at 2.10, who drove me and a Spanish couple up to the hike starting point, about an hour away. Once there, we waited with other bleary-eyed people, drank the tea/coffee/water, and ate biscuits quietly until our guide appeared with head torches and bamboo sticks. We left at about 3.30am and hiked for about an hour and a half. I don't think we went massively far but we all needed regular breaks as it was pretty steep in places. It was odd hiking by torchlight, trying to navigate narrow and uneven paths, knowing full well there is a big old drop next to you, you just have no idea how big. The climb up was pretty uneventful, it was cool seeing all the lights below us.

As we got to the top, we literally walked into the clouds and stayed there. The cloud was so thick, the touch beams stopped travelling as far. It was also cold! I had been regretting the 2 pairs of trousers on the way up but grateful for them then. We had breakfast as we waited: warm banana sandwiches, a banana, an orange, a boiled egg and a chocolate bar. I did try to eat the sandwiches but could only eat half of one 🤢 after a while we could see a small bit of light and it looked like the clouds were lowering... They weren't. We did not see a sunrise at all. On the way back down, once below the clouds, the views were still good just not as spectacular as we had all hoped.

The next bit was back to the meeting point to find our driver who would take us to the natural hotsprings! This was great. 2 hours in the hot springs after a hike and sitting in cold clouds for about an hour was perfect. There were about 7 pools, all different temperatures, all overlooking a gorgeous lake, with the sun rising in front of us. We also got a free drink as we came in, not sure what juice it was but it was delicious.

After the hotsprings, we went to a coffee plantation. Thankfully the Spanish couple weren't fussed by this either. We were given a quick tour, including seeing a cat thing that eats the coffee beans then poos them out, they then collect the poo and make coffee from it. We did a quick tasting, avocado coffee and chocolate coffee weren't too bad and mangosteen tea was delicious, before heading back to the hotels.

I had done 10,000 steps by 7.30am and was back at the hotel before midday. I had been planning on going and getting some food but had a couple of hours nap instead. Once awake again, I went and sat by the pool with a book for a bit before going for a wander. I spent a lot of time at the art market which was fun to walk around, it has a bit of everything. Very touristy but great stuff to look at. I had chicken and avocado curry on the way back which was very nice, I just wish they would stop putting lettuce in hot things (but at least I found the maggot/worm before eating it).Read more