Day 34 - 38: Jakarta - Gili Trawangan (Lombok)

Jakarta, in addition to being one of the hardest to love places I have ever been to (and I say this after much soul searching and five attempts to enjoy the city), is obviously a subscriber to the assertion that best laid plans shouldn't always reap rewards as Day 34 turned into one of the most frustrating of the trip so far.

Lulled into a false sense of security by our decision the night before to have a travel agency arrange our bus tickets (it always seems impossible to me to work out where in Jakarta each company's buses leave from), our semi-bright eyed and bushy tailed moods were in for an early disappointment as the agency's claimed bus departure time slipped from 9am to 11am to 1pm to a definite 3pm. The bad start continued as the agency decided to bajaj (like a prehistoric tuktuk - see photos) us through Jakarta's tangible to the eyes, nose and taste bud pollution to the bus station, the same bus station we had been dumped at the night before.

"Executive" buses from our company Lorena came and went, yet none apparently were ours. As time ticked by, the metal benches became less and less comfortable and our frustration at losing time, a frustration compounded by the fact we were still suffering bus hangovers from the previous leg, grew and was only partially soothed by cold drinks and Ayam Goreng for Will and fresh mangoes for me.

Our frustration and persistence eventually paid dividends as Lorena got fed up with us and shunted us onto another operator's service with us finally wheels rolling at 6pm. A very frustrating and sweaty day, which has done little to improve Jakarta's standings in our league table of places we'd like to come back to.

Rant over. Shell shocked by the day so far and with our bodies seemingly numbed from the discomfort of the bus journey from Jambi, we settled in for the reported 18 hour ride through to Denpasar, the capital of tourist central Bali. We must be becoming used to these journeys as the hours passed reasonably rapidly, the (surprisingly good in my book) food stops came regularly, the scenery was at times pleasant (note to go back to the central Java volcanoes sometime) and even the traffic jams seemed to be limited to only the main cities, and some place near Surabaya where an over zealous gas exploration company hit a mud volcano.

Our popularity with young school girls on trucks and buses as our coach slalomed the 500km or so through East Java seemed to extend to the first of the two ferries on the journey, the hop from Java to Bali where an entire school trip including the teacher got their cameras out. That apart the ferry journey to Bali was uneventful other than finalising our pay off to the bus drivers to let us stay on all the way through to Mataram in Lombok. An agreement that seemed to make us new friends for life.

More bus, and a five hour ferry across the Lombok and Jakarta + 41 hours we arrived in Mataram fully ready for, and only one step away from, our mini break in the Gili islands. Taxi (yes we were getting pretty tired of buses) to the beach and a quick boat hop saw us leaping with joy onto to pristine sand of Gili Trawangan, a true gem of the tropical island world and a sign of where the real beauty of Indonesia lies.

2 days off. Just what the Doctor ordered.

Ps. Check out our updated Google Map of the route and our stop off points (click on the map to zoom in).... "not far" to go now!

Jakarta - Mataram: 41 bus hours including 2 ferries / 1,200 km
Mataram - Gili Trawangan: 1 taxi hour & 30 launch minutes / 35 km
TOTAL TO DATE: 17,665 km

FUND RAISING TOTAL: GBP 3,570 including Gift Aid - please keep these Doctors of the World donations coming - click here!

Day 1 - 2: London - Berlin - Warsaw

So after not much preparation and a lot of talking midday saw us set off from London's Tower Bridge with a mere 24,000 (at our most conservative estimate) kilometres to cover in our 56 day trip to reach Sydney. Meeting on time, even if Will had a massive hangover, put us in good stead and with the obligatory photos taken we made for our glamorous first major departure point, Victoria Coach Station. Despite TfL not running the district line, and the replacement Routemaster being too full, our quick (for a Sunday) thinking got us to Victoria and on board our first Eurolines coach just in time.

A quick "Das ist verbotten" speech from the rather German coach crew later and we were on our way racing past the sights of south London and onto the Chunnel for a rather un ferry like crossing to the flat, flat and grey skied lands of northern France. Although we were enjoying the company of our fellow, and rather eccentic, passengers, detours into the centres of Lille, Brussels, Hannover and another German sounding place was enough for us and we were glad to reach the outskirts of Berlin after only 19 and a half hours on the road. A journey that could have been significantly shorter if we'd gone for a coach with more drivers than tachometers.

3 hours in Berlin was enough for a reinvigorating breakfast (and beer - a German custom apparently) courtesy of Rory, then a whistle stop tour of the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate and Jewish Memorial before ambling over to the rather impressive Hautbahnhof to take a mere 5 hour train ride east to Warsaw passing through the rolling plains of eastern Germany and Poland reaching the Polish capital. Thanks to Andrzej for an awesome evening of steak, beer, beer, then a night time tour of the surprisingly attractive Warsaw Old Town including the apparently olibligatory litre Tyski before a road racing trip to a well earned bed for five hours kip and a 6am start tomorrow!

London - Berlin: 1,000 km / 19 hour bus (£42)

Berlin - Warsaw: 530 km / 6 hour train (€48)

TOTAL TO DATE: 1,530 km