BOLIVIA; LAMA'S, THE MOST STUNNING LANDSCAPES OF THIS PLANET, TWISTERS, GHOST TOWNS, SMELLY FLAMINGO'S, CHEWING COCA AND MANY SLEEPLESS HOURS IN BUSSES AND 4WD

Sunday the 14th of November; LA PAZ, GETTING ACLIMATIZED IN A QUIET CITY

Sick and stomach problems, no new stories during this trip. Why is this town so dead? Ow, it's Sunday. A stroll along so churches and a recommended market with weird stuff? Well, the Lama heads looked weird, but besides that not many weird stuff. Shopping with Johanna worked out well, we are a good team. Getting some warm clothes for Brrrrrr...olivia. And what do we find here? Chili Con Carne! What can food be sooo good some times. We wanted to do a prison tour with real prisoners in La Paz, but damn 400 Boliviana each is far too expensive! So because we didn't had enough travels the last 2 days we decided to take a 12 hour nightbus to Uyuni. Get some snacks and be prepared for a bumpy ride. And they like surprises in South and Central America, every time they come in the bus for another payment of a so called tax fee. What a night, the first 6 hours were okay (why didn't I sleep now?). After the break it started....dengedengedang! No asfalt, not even a dirt road...it was just a local bus with big wheels driving through the dark cold desert. Johanna and I kept eachother warm, there were big pieces of ice inside the bus on the window!

Monday the 15th of November; UYUNI, WHITE WONDERS OF SALT, CACTUSSES AND CHILDISH VICENTE(?)

05:30 arrival in the desert town of Uyuni, a group of people with flyers for the salt lake trips waiting for us. Everybody comes for the same thing here. So just pick a company, bargain and at 10:30 you will be in a 4WD Toyota Landcruiser for a 3-day trip with complete strangers and a Spanish speaking driver Juan. Oscar and Tony from Bolivia, Hennah from Oz, Martha from Italy and Johanna and me. First stop at a train cemetary, what a touristy picture place. Yes, and they already call me the monkey, because I'm so childish to climb in everything. The day was followed by amazing white colored land scapes of salt, islands of cactusses and climbable rocks/arches in salt lakes. Johanna was even more sleepy and dizzy then I felt the last days, so she already had a 'nice' Bolivian tattoo on her arm. A lunch with Bolivian speciality Quinoa in a salt hotel and taking all sorts of perspective pictures with the white landscapes. Crossing many ghost towns. The scenery is getting better and better. Our accomodation the 1st night was way better then expected (although you have to pay extra for a shower, using power etc.). Our group was the most active one, visiting mummy graves in a chilly evening, banging on doors in town to learn about history.

Tuesday the 16th of November; JOHANNA'S UNFORGETTABLE BIRTHDAY

07:30 breakfast, Johanna didn't expect anything for her 21st birthday. Me neither in the middle of nowhere... But after communicating with the people here I managed to give her a fresh and warm birthday cake including 1 candle. Happy birthday! Although I have to practise the birthday song a little bit beter :-) A long day full of stunning colored lagoons and lakes, unsubscribable mountain landscapes, thousands of different Flamingo's, volcanic atmosphere, more lama's and apalca's, delicious lunch, it getting better and better. Johanna, you are having an awesome birthday! But why am I wearing just a t-shirt and getting tanned and the rest of the group is acting like eskimo's? The accomadation the 2nd night was a little bit more 'basic'... Most people had to wear several layers of clothes, a sleeping bag and several blankets to avoid freezing. The pasta was the worst ever, at least there was a bottle of vino tinto. Opening it was my challange, I had to ask the locals in Spanish for a 'kurkentrekker'. A long sleepless night with a Bolivian in the room who was talking and laughing in his sleep all the time. I banged my head in the dark during my nightly freezing search for a toilet. No water or heaters in this place and it was around -10 degrees! So beds together and keep eachother warm.

Wednesday the 17th of November; THE LAST PART OF WONDERLAND

04:00 and wake up with a massive headache! Yeah, 4.200 meters high, lack of water and the freezing temperatures... Driving up the 4WD to 5.200 meters. A moon landscape and the most wonderfull star sky you can imagine. Smoking geysers and ice all over inside the car. Brrrrrrrr! The girls stayed inside the car all the time. Untill the hot springs at 4.200 meters. Take off that winter suit and jump in, we were the 2nd group that arrived so it was really quiet. How amazing, sitting in hot pools surrounded by thousands of Flamingo's in a moon landscape! AWESOME! Johanna forgot her bikini but she had to go in, so improvise :-) A long lasting day in the back of the car. Still amazed by all the different landscapes and the small villages. Having a lunch in a local restaurant where not many people stop. More childish climbing on the Salvador Dahli rock formations. Crossing green grassy valleys with streams and ice and lama's wondering around. Twisters (sand storms) all over the area. Too many things to take pictures of. Arriving in Uyuni and having a few 1ltr Potosani beers in the sun with loads of other travellers. Already leaving to Potosi. Arriving in the middle of the night, ringing door bells and banging on doors of hostels to catch sleep. Johanna and I are a good team, until now we managed to fix everything and we are both close on our budget.

Thursday the 18th of November; MINING LIFE BLASTS!

Checking out Potosi, this place feels more like Bolivian life, not too many tourists. Check out the mining tour with The Real Deal, a new company. Spending hours in the dark dusty mines. 10% of the population in this town works in the mine (under bad circumstanses). Climbing down several levels, feeling that breathing is getting more difficult. Visiting chemical factory's, where is the safety and protection here?! No wonder they get sick. The lower you get, the smaller the tunnels...sometimes you have to crawl through small holes (better not be claustrophobic). Some people don't want to continue at that lower lever where you have to crawl. Johanna kicked some stones on the people below us (not on purpose, but made me laugh a little bit). Mining life is hard, but the miners are chewing coca leaves all day and the alcohol they drink during work?... 96%! Wicked and strong stuff. Trying to push the loaded trolleys over the rails...damn, better fix those rails. If they should spent some of that tourist money in making the conditions a little bit better, it would be way more efficient for the miners. The mines are not made for Dutchies, hit my head so many times. The best part was definately making the explosives and blast! Playing with dynamite. The funny thing is that you can buy dynamite on the street everywhere in this highest town (4000mtr) of the world. And everyone is allowed to buy it. The (ex)miners are crazy, but what do you expect when you spend your life underground all the time with drunk horny guys? :-) Meeting up with other travellers in Potosi; a nice night to get some advice for the rest of our trip. And I got a new favorite (huge) dish; Pique Macho.

Friday the 19th of November; ONE NIGHT IN SUCRE...BUT IT WASN'T SWEET

Travelling...sometimes living the dream, but sometimes it's different. Enough cool people in the hostel and we all decided to go to Sucre. Floortje, Cathy, Cole, Jenna, Johanna and me. No problemo during the 3.5 hour bus trip. The drinking games started in our cheap hostal... I was quite smart with some games :-) And I learned when it's enough for me. So time to stop drinking and time for some fresh air. Some other ones thought I was a pussy....life it's not about drinking yourself sick though... I left, experiencing the Sucre nightlife on my own. Coming back, not everyone was happy with my act. Ok, if your so called good friend don't even want to take the time to really talk and going out is more important...USELESS! I know I'm not the average person. For me it has been enough; too many people with comments about my age, behaviour, not drinking enough, childish, unpredictable etc. I'm leaving and follow a way I don't even know where it goes to...

For my real friends; Thanks for all the good moments! Those I will remember...

I miss something after a long time, and it's not a 'patatje oorlog'...it are my friends, my friends from The Netherlands, from Asian and Australian/NZ/Fiji travels...you were the best!

GUATEMALA, ANOTHER RUSH VISIT IN CENTRAL AMERICA

Wednesday the 3rd of November; GUATEMALA, WELCOME TO THE WET HIGHLANDS

An uninteresting 1st flight to cold and rainy Costa Rica. The 2nd flight to Guatemala City was again lonely, but after a few Cuba Libres and some good catchy tunes I felt like having a big party :-) Woooooh I want to share this feeling with some people now...is it also the altitude? On the airport I met Stephanie, another traveller from Germany. She told me, like many others, not to go to Guatemala City so I joined the minivan to Antigua. Guatemala says 'Welcome!' What a big difference with Cuba, people speak proper English, everyone is more than willing to help you, everything is easy, ATM's work, cheap transport. After a 1.5 hour minivan trip Antigua I was there, a relaxed and colorfull town full of tourists. And the roads, like Belgium :-) Ummagumma was a recommended hostel, how the hell did we know that there were 2 here? We choose the wrong one :-) A wet room with some bugs made us sick. The staff looks impressive with their hostess outfits, but the first thing that happens when you chill on the rooftopand say you're Dutch? The staff throws a big bag of weed on your lap, welcome to Antigua! Every afternoon it rains here, it rains a lot! Where are my winter clothes?! Happy that I bought some warm stuff in Holland. A chill night with some people on the roof, expensive large pizza's and big Gallo cerveza's.

Thursday the 4th of November, ANTIGUA CHILLLLLLL...GUNS, WATERPIPES AND FLIRTS

No big plans for today, the 'biggest' thing is to change the hostel. El Cato Negro Inn was way more relaxed and OMG the food...the plates here a so huge, even a garbage bin like me can't finish it. I'm seriously gaining a lot of weight here. Nacho's, burrito's...am I already in Mexico? See what the weather does today, maybe climb a volcano. But it seems to be normal that it's nice in the morning and cold and wet in the afternoon. So just chill, do some shopping, wonder around between the huge amount op cops. And going to get some cash out of the ATM is a laugh, everywhere there is a security guy with a huge gun standing next to you to protect you whahhaaaa. An afternoon in the waterpipe (or should I say Vodkapipe) bar; hilarious! 4 goodlooking young Guatamalese girls trying very hard to seduce you. Withtheir English skills and putting on some songs like 'I know I want you...' They didn't even matter that there was someone sitting next to me. They show their hot dancemoves in front of me, a lapdance is probably an easy thing to get here. Well this was a funny afternoon. The day became even more funny after visiting the local market, first there was the chickenbus madness and then a lot of screaming and fighting on the market. Yep, I was in the middle of a big riot between locals and loads of police with big guns. Trying to make a movie, but this was only allowed for another local and I have to delete my stuff. When it got darker I found out thatb it's not that supersafe on the streets here, kids trying to rob you and weird teenagers that are kind of agressive and trying to get yopu to some prostitutes...it's all part of the experience though. The nights here are not that crazy, bars close early. So the only thing that keeps you awake here are some drunken Amrican's in the hostel.

Friday the 5th of November, ERUPTING VOLCANO'S, HIKING, GETTING SICKER AND SICKER

Get up! 6 AM and we have to be in the minibus to the Pacaya Volcano. Thinking that it was the one that we see every day...no, it was a 2 hour winding drive through the mountains. San Vicente Pacaya, I am ready for some lava! What a toruisty shithole, dozens of people try to get you on a horse (that's for lazy Dutchies). Again watch out for pickpockets here. The hike was not so heavy. A little bit steep now and then, some gravel and a little bit of wind near the top. But a 1.5 hour hike (because some people are soooooo sloooooow) is not that hard to do. You don't even go to the top because it's to dangerous with this active volcano. It's smoking and sometimes spits stones and ash. The other volcano next to it was exploding a couple of times this morning. There were some holes with hot steam coming out, but no lava like on all the pictures (this was 4 months ago). There is a cool small cave where you go into...uhm cool, I mean hot....this was hotter than a sauna. A 1 hour hike back a nd a long drive back, because traffic can be slow wqith all the trucks going up in the mountains (not even 20km per hour!). We took another shuttle to Panajachel...at least, that's what we expected :-) Not possible, but we could go to San Pedro instead and have to leave in 5 minutes. Hurry hurry means forgetting stuff Stephanie ;-) What a bumby and winding trip. This country has even more speedbumps than The Netherlands! Surprised we are, when we are kicked out of the shuttle in cold /is a shithole so just take a small boat to San Pedro, another small town on beautiful Lago de Atitlan. Surrounded by volcano's. This laidback town is known for it's 'Sex, drugs and Rock and Roll' atmosphere. I can imagine :-) It's like being on the party islands of Thailand again, complete with all the food. Easy to get lost. Buddha Bar was luckily not that far from or little lakeview palace.

Unfortunately something is getting a serious issue. Since my last dive in Indonesia (that was followed by getting lost in the mountains with the motorbike) I'm feeling dizzy and seriously dizzy. Daily headaches, musclepain, cramps in my cheast. If it's getting worse I can't ignore this any longer. But maybe it's just the winding roads, being in the mountains and the drinking (I hope...).

Saturday the 6th of November; SAN PEDRO, A DAY FOR A BREAK

A day without doing that much; just hanging around the lake, eating nacho's till you explode, check out the town and the streetlife and excape the shoe polishing kids. I'm way too sick to climb another volcano at the moment. After the first bar today I went back for a nap, not feeling well. Never been that dizzy before. I stayed in bed, my buddy partied hard in town. This sucks...

... A BREAK, SPEND SOME TIME IN MEXICO ...

Thursday the 11th of November; ADIOS MEXICO, CROSSING THE RIVER TO GUATEMALA

A ride to enjoy? FUck hell! The first part from 6:30 to 11:00 was not that bad. Okay, the Mexican border tried to rip me off and let me pay...no way, I was not in Mexico for more then 7 days. Some of us got memories of the Mekong river adventures in Laos when we crossed the border of Mexico/Guatemala. Again a small wooden boat on a river full of changing currents and whirlpools. Just 30 minutes in the burning sun. The Guatemala border costed me some money and my best camera. Yes, my 4th camera died, this time the best one so no more good pictures :-( Who cares, just a camera, it wouldn't have survive the following trip anyway... 2 hours of a bumpy dirtroad. This driver didn't like to drive faster than 20km per hour, even when we hit the concrete again. So Isla de Flores in the late afternoon. The island is okay, the hostel (Los Amigos) is very cool. The mosted crowded one as well. Don't except the first room the offer...well room, it's more a bunch of old bunk beds behind a curtain filled with mosquitos. But the place is very laidback, hammocks evwerywhere, nice people, loads of animals hahhaaaa. Don't be surprised when you are chatting with your friends on Facebook and all of a sudden a big bunny jumps on your notebook :-) There are also mice and dogs running around, parrots flying above you and the cats fall out of the trees now and then. The staff is so slow and grumpy, but who cares. Ozzy Dan, Taz, Stef and I went for some cheap local BBQ at the lakeside. Good stuff, good drinks, good people. But be careful with 'Mr. Bad Luck Dan'...he managed to break the key of our room, pretty smart when you need your stuff :-) The rastafari of the hostel knew how to work with breaking the locks.

Friday the 12th of November; TIKAL CORRUPTCY, MAYA EMPIRE?

They sold us a good story yesterday. 04:30 pick-up for seeing the sunrise at the Maya temples of Tikal (on of the most impressive Maya sites in Central America). Well, first some retarded Belgians needed their time for getting dressed so we already lost loads of time. Then an American family was not happy because a tour company ripped them off. The owner followed our bus and stopped us. Started a fight wth the family and it escalated. Constantly we were followed by this guy and he stopped the bus several times. The police got involved and they took some people off the bus. There was no sunrise, it was already light (but so cloudy). It seems that it rains here every day in the morning and the company knows that it's impossible to see a sunrise this part of year. Just a way to earn money for ponchos. Taz and I were the only ones to refuse to buy them so we were soaked after 2 hours of rain :-). The staff was not in a hurry at all. We had to pay 3 times the old entrance fee! But no tickets, the 'guide' collected our money, gave one of the security guys a hand and some money and let us in...no ticket control! What a scam! That's why they sell the early morning trip. Tikal is impressive if you never seen an ancient temple complex before. There are still many temples covered under the jungle. The sun came through later that morning, but we had enough after 6 hours of temples. So the rest of the day we spend in Flores, having a nice evening at Cool Beans. Tonight I'm taking a nightbus to Guatemala City and say goodbye to my friends from the last days.

Saturday the 13th of November; A LOOOOOOOONG DAY FILLED WITH TRAVELS

05:30 arrived in Guatemala City with the nightbus (9 hours), taking a taxi to another bus terminal to meet my Swedish friend Johanna. She arrived around 08:30, taxi to the airport. Wating and talking for many hours. Check-in, probable we didn't see the Immigrationsbecause we didn't had to pay 30 USD and we didn't got a stamp. We have to take 3 flights today to get to our destination! San Salvador, Lima and La Paz. A new record of travels in 1 day. Luckily Johanna is a good buddy to travel with. The airplane food gave me another episode of food posion adventures. Around 02:00 we arrived at the Loki Hostel in La Paz (3.600 meters above sea level). FUll! And I had a booking confirmation. So we got the better, more quiet room for the same price :-) Finally a normal bed to sleep in. GOOD NIGHT and SLEEP WELL.

MEXICO ... MEXi iiiii iiCO !

Sunday the 7th of November; MEXICO? WHY NOT

Another country in this speedvisit to Central America? I'm already used to all the Mexican food so let's do it. A 9 hour trip from San Pedro to San Cristobal in Mexico. At the border it was finally hot. But not for long, San Cristobal is a town high in the mountains (2100m) so that means chlly. And being there was like getting into midwinter; everyone with wolen hats, thick coats, scrafs etc. Like a town full of eskimo's. We took the most popular hostel? Well the name was the same, only difference is that there was nobody else staying there. It's freezing in this place! The town is nice to stay, climbing up to some churches and hills for a great sunsetview over the city. Arez serves perfect Lebanese food but barlife? Nope, I can't even walk straight with this dizzyness.

Monday the 8th of November; MANY CROCODILES IN CANYON DEL SUMIDERO

Otisa Tours, the main tourcompany here...No habla Inglis! Verything in Spanish today, so many confused faces in our bus :-) Weather was beautiful for a change, getting out oif the mountains is a good idea. Sunscreen! Jumping in a small boat for a 2 hour trip through the canyon of Sumidero. This was well worth the 14 Euro's (250 Peso). Surprised by the amount of crocodiles here, I saw at least 10. But besides many crocodiles, birds and wicked yellow spiky reptiles in trees there are also many plastic bottles in the canyon. Some parts look like a recycling factory. The guides are pretty rude, before you go out of the boat again they ask for tip otherwise they are not going to sail to the shore whahhaa Turismo magnifico! A few hours in the town of Chiapa de Corzo, not much to do, just eat and check out all the sleepy people here. Back in town it's freezing again, even the locals say it's normally not as cold as now. Tonight we are in the more crowded hostel and that's for sure! A group of locals having a good night with tables full of wine. And Stephanie couldn't sleep because of the old drunk English guy LOL. He constantly came in in the middle of the night trying to sing as loud as possible 'Hey you're my sexy bitch!' (from Akon ft David Guatta). Stef, you wanted more people in the hostel? You got it :-)

Tuesday the 9th of November; RUINAS DE PALENQUE, THE MIGHTY JUNGLE

Relax, the shuttle to Palenque will take it's time. Beginning of the afternoon we arrived in El Pachan, a collection of nice cabana's and restaurants in the jungle near Palenque. Visiting the Maya Ruinas. Some parts were inetresting to see, but the best parts were temporary closed for public. You know me, always cross the line :-) But this time angry gringo archeologico start screaming and send us away. So just climb the other old stones. Seeing how some tourists stumbling up the steep stairs was a laugh. A dip in the water to chill and a walk further in the jungle. Laughing at your buddy when she is bitten is not cool when the spiders also bite you. Damn, these annoying creatures hurt! Instead of a colectivo we took a walk back. Meeting Genevieve and Tom on the way back in a restaurant. A nice couple from Scotland/UK. Stef has a new favorite drink which In think is the most disgusting ever! (Michaleda = Corona with tomato sauce, loads of salt, lime and more). Don Mucho is the place (bar/restaurant) to be in the night. Tez, Eddy and Giomme also joined us for a good night of drinking (except m e, finally known as the 'slow drinker'). Falling asleep in the cabana surrounded by the jungle sounds, mosquitos and bed bugs.

Wednesday the 10th of November; REFRESHING MISOL-HA AND AQUA AZUR

Don't expect all-inclusive prices in Mexico. If you book a tour it's mostly only tranportation. The same with our trip to the falls and Aqua Azur. You also have to pay enytrance fees and national park fees. It's not that close as we expected, but the Misol-Ha was worth the waiting. Luckily we were the 1st minibus there and after climbing a slippery tree it was time for some jumping in the water next to the 35m high waterfallSo refreshing after not swimming for more then a week. It became very touristy in half an hour so time to leave. Aqua Azur was another long drive and ofcourse, even more touristy. Looks nice and blue, but a little bit overrated. Spending 3 hours here is way too much. So a hike maybe? The security was not happy with my idea and sended me back with their 'impressive' behaviour. The 2 angry turkeys were more scary :-) The evening was filled with delicious meals of Don Mucho (Mono Blanco was again empty), and loads of Cuba Libres. Same group as the days before so gain a good night. Genevieve and Tom had to leave after a blaze.

CUBA AND EASY? THE WAY TO ANOTHER LIFE IS LONG AND DIFFICULT...

Saturday the 3oth of October; 20:30 left the small town in Holland, heading to Rotterdam Central Station. Traintickets to Utrecht Central Station. I took some extra time to be sure in any case of delay. Well I had to spent some time on Jaarbeurs Utrecht, this Eurolines bus was 1.5 hour late! After arriving I understood why... this woman (busdriver) was so stressed and unexperienced, it took ages to do just a simple check in. It's funny, I look like a foreigner in my own country, people start talking English to me all the time. And I don't know what's going on last couple of days, but girls in Holland became pretty direct and it seems like they like me LOL :-) After some time I could finally leave, squeezed on the backseat between another guy and my face sticked to the window on the other side. Travelling in Asia was luxury! Ok, try to slep straight for the next couple of hours driving through Holland, Belgium and France. It was easy! The douane business was one of 'excellent efficiency'. Damn, arrived around 03:00 in the night. First passport check from French Immigration, bags out of the bus, in the bus, out of the bus etc. Baggage check by the French and believe it or not, another passport check by the French. You think after 1.5 hour this is over? Nope, 20 meters further on there is the UK Border Control...coorporation my ass. They also need to do a passport check. First there was only one granny sitting there to do everything and really easy going having a long chat with everyone. Well with these sort of delays it's hard to catch my flight in London. Finally we could get in the train under the Canal to the UK. Falling asleep and waking up in London at 06:00. Wow, Wintertime and skipping some pick ups and drop offs saved us loads of time. Way to early :-) Victoria Station, get some traintickets to Gatwick Airport. 07:30 I was already checked in and my flight was delayed till 12:10. Nice :-) Time to study Spanish hahaaa. But me looking different, me travelling alone, me smiling all the time...me looking suspicious for UK Border Patrol... Luckily my story was so difficult to check they gave up pretty quick. No plans, no itinerary....see ya in 3 months!

After a sleepy ride to London I saw Buckingham Palace and the clock says 06:00 AM?! Surprised we are that early. Perfect! Jump out, jump on the Southern Railway at Victoria Station to London Gatwick Airport (11.90 Pounds). So 45 minutes later I'm at the airport, online check-in to avoid Visa issues...smart. Flight delayed till 12:10. Too tired to learn Spanish for longer than 10 minutes. Eat eat eat all the stuff from Holland. And then the flight...no interesting people. Well some of the crew members were nice and funny, although they didn't have enough crew today. They warn you that they can refuse you alcohol when you're intoxicated in the plane (also because of the high altitude). Uhm, after 2 hours the plane looked more like a massive bar for 478 people! People walking around everywhere, running to the kitchen for beers, wine and mixdrinks, grabbing snacks, screaming, sweating, stupid jokes etc. Hilarious! Arriving after 9.5 hours at communist Cuba, me nervous about the insurrance papers, visa that was not valid without extra tickets etc. Well, no questions at all, one of the easiest entries ever. At the airport the flirting already started, a local chica said I was sooo hot and gave me her details and invited me for more LOL. Sorry, not interested. The taxi ripped off me and French Louis, Cuba is expensive. Louis and his friend ended the night with a 'nice' surprise, I was way to tired after my 30 hour journey! So eating lonely in a private restaurant, it was a fucking huge and good meal though.

Monday the 1st of November; DUTCH CONNECTIONS, I LOVE CUBAN WINTER

Casa de Ania, 1 of the 3000 private houses around Havana, a nice place to stay. Ania and Alexis were friendly and tried to habla Inglis with unprepared Dutchies. Yes, 6 people staying in this house and 3 of them are guess??? DUTCH! This was the beginning of a nostalgic day. I woke up at 5am and did a 2 hour run around the Malecon, loads of police everywhere. And I was already part of a photoshoot. After the huge breakfast with the Dutchies we started a long day sightseeing Habana. All those tiny squares, alleys with romantic houses, many classical cars like Buicks and some crappy Lada's and Peugeots. But also the good old Dutch DAF! More Dutch stuff here...the old yellow and red RET, ZWN busses...even the old directions are still on there (Boxmeer, H.I. Ambacht, Den Helder). I didn't even know there was a bus here going to Nijmegen :-) Believe me, it were not the delicious Cuba Libres that make us see funny stuff. It's winter here, but still above 29 degrees. The guys like to flirt with girls here, but girls do the same! All the time I heard the sound of a leaking tire behind me....pssst pssst! Come on, be more creative chica's! AFter a luxury tapas lunch on the balcony of Cathedral Square we met more Dutch people. Time to get that Cuban experience now, jump in a green old Buick for just a few CUC's... Plaza de la Revolution amigo! Besides a few signs of Che and another dude it was not impressive. The ride was more fun though. We stranded in the Habana University (where I planned my Spanish course first) and shocked the girls after being in the wrong toilet. Well, we've never seen anything dirty like that! Shit all over. Okay, maybe Oscar stumbling over the dead rat this morning was dirty too :-) I can fully imagine why my Swedish friend left this University. More Cuba Libres at the Malecon and not to forget a big sigar. 4 crazy Dutch (Rogier, Oscar, Ronald and me) getting tipsy, enjoying winterlife in Cuba, spotting old Dutch busses. The locals didn't understand what was going on LOL. We were so tired after our search for nice pizza, Rogier was sure he knew the way to Havana Restaurant. Back to Casa de Ania, or better known as Fort Knox. Holy crap, how many keys do we need to get in and out? Takes you 10 minutes to get to your room with all that searching for the right key. And always check the toilets and showers in Cuba; it's a big surprise how something works in 2010 :-) Havana, a complete different world, living in a different time, people changing State-vouchers for food, cars that are actually Flintone-cars with no bottom, techniques on the street that were used during the Roman empire...I love this place.

Tuesday the 2nd of November; HARD LIFE IN CUBA, THE DIFFERENT SIDE HIDDEN FOR TRAVELLERS

The Frenchies didn't get my message so no car trip this week. Join the DUtchies? Nope, I'm running out of money so let's go to the bank and also buy a ticket to Guatemala at Cubana Airlines. Buying a ticket was not that difficult, allthough the prices here are way over the top! 375 USD (included a 20% creditcard fee!!!). Be prepared before you enter Cuba and bring shitloads of Euro's. Because ATM's are not common here, and they don't accept Mastercard, even Visa is not working most of the time. Banking day today, memories of good old communist Vietnam :-) Taking ages before you actually have some money. Bank 1, nothing, bank 2 nothing, bank 3 ??? A lot of banks have long lines waiting outside and the system? Some people are allowed to go in, some have to wait. Why? No habla Inglis anywhere. So after hours and hours Casa owner Ania helped me out and send my to Hotel Vevado to withdraw some money, minimum commission in Cuba; 11%. Ok, I'm sick of this, change my ticket and leave Cuba for the moment, tomorrow Guatemala!

So just walk around on my own again. Take a different route this time and get lost in the many destroyed dirty streets. Yes, different neighbourhoods, not for tourists. Locals are surprised to see someone with lighter colored eyes here. I met Luis, a local from the US that lives here with his family. Explained me all about Cuba life, showed me many areas around Habana...poor and hard life. A rediculous system with books/vouchers to receive a small amount of food every month. Earning 10 CUC (30 Peso) a month. SHools and Healtcare are free, medicines aren't. The building are around 80 years old but nothing is fixed, people live in a ghetto that looks like a warzone sometimes. For them it's forbidden to invite foreigners in their house and the police is checking constantly (the same in Casa de Ania this morning, checks checks checks). Mobile phones are rare, internet is hard to find and just legal for a few years. Major jobs; police, private taxi, private restaurant (Paladar), Casa, hairdresser of prostitute. Yes, although some girls here look young and goodlooking, a big percentage works as a prostitute. And all the other people that aren't working? Play domino on the sytreet, hang around, drink Cuba Libres, play baseball and other sports. That's also what Louis and I did today. Neighbourhoods visited like Cerro, La Habana Veja, Santo Suarez, Domingo etc. Also visited the National Baseball Stadium, Rum factories and a massive sports area where all the locals practise. Travelling between all these area's with the classic private cars...fucking awesome! You just stop an old chevy, squeeze between some other locals and jump out where you want (cost like 20 Peso). The busses are an experience; LOADED! But how cool is it to be in Cuba and jump in an old Dutch bus that actually has the sign 'Rotterdam Metro' still in front? Line 13....not a lucky number. And just like the good old days in Holland, you don't have top pay :-) It was a day full of delicious meals (fish, pork etc) and many Cuba Libres. The restaurants for locals are so much cheaper (25 - 35 Peso for a meal instead of 8 CUC), and they are open 24 hours! You can have a real good time in Habana if you know the right places and the people. AT 9pm I headed 'home', not sure if it was possible to get into the Casa without keys. Walking back in dark streets, Chicas approaching me with their cheap flirting skills 'Ey pssst Nino!'. Hilarious. All of a sudden your in someopnes house playing an old piano and trying to speak Latino whahahaa. Still living the dream!

Ania was still awake later that night, worried about me and thinking I was sleeping on the streets. Good woman. I was out of money (like more travellers here) and she offered me a free bed and stuff SO NICE. Yep a short sleep before an early pick up to the airport. Sometimes it's stupid that it's not allowed to make pictures; the immigration and the money exchange desk were hilarious! They we all sleeping with head on their desk or keyboard...what an interesting job. Adios Habana!

THE UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL IN THE NETHERLANDS...

Thursday 29th of October till Sunday the 31st of October RUSHING, ORGANIZING, GOOD THINGS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS...BUT I MANAGED IT AGAIN! :-)

Welcome home in The Netherlands! Uhmmm, where my warm welcome?! Nothing? No mobile number anymore and no WIfi so I wasn't sure if someone was waiting here. After 1.5 hour I found out that my old folks were there. What do I want? Broodje Frikandel met mayo pindasaus en uitjes, Mexicano's hmmmm! So good... Search out my stuff and packages today. Booking my flight to London.

Friday was the day of the big organising; Cuban Visa, vaccinations, doctoprs visit, visit my old house and neighbours, bank issues, shopping etc. Why not visit my old colleagues to tease them a bit? ;-) Nice to see you all again, but still the drinks on Friday in the bar? It's still a gay-bar guys. Well have fun the next couple of months, I will join you next year again. It was too good, managed to arrange all these things on the same day, easy to talk yourself through the bureaucratic rules and waiting lists. Easy...I thought for a while...

Why? Saturday I receive an e-mail that Transavia cancelled the morning flights to London. WTF?! Ok, don't panic. CHecked many options to get to London from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Belgium. But they were all budgetkilling (more than 220 Euro's for a one-way) and there were no flights on Sunday morning to the right airport in London. So catch an expensive flight in a few hours and wait in London Gatwick for 24 hours? Nope... just take a risk and take the oldschool bus. So car, train, bus, ferry, bus, underground, airplane to get to the next destination in this neverending journey; CUBA!

Probably it will take a while till my next story...don't worry :-)

And for everyone I didn't see...I need the damn phonenumbers! I lost all my numbers a while ago. So send them to my email:

SINGAPORE; THE LIFE UNDER THE STREETS, TUNED CARS RACING ON THE STREETS AND THE FAKE LUXURY BEACHES IN THE SKY

Thursday the 21st of October; A WARM WELCOME NOT TO EXPECT

Hard to get with public transport to Little India?! If you ever travelled a metro before it isn't. SIngapore is well developed, lights in the metro which tell you what side opens, everything in 4 languages, strange commercials about standing up for other people. Funny and much better organised that we Dutch do in Rotterdam. Took a long time in humid Singapore, after changing 2 times I was there....dirty humid little India. Some friends told me this is a police State; the fines are high and chewing gum is prohibited. But I don't see any of that strict ruled life here. Inncrowd was a good hostel to stay. Busy and with many nice people, most of them just starting their trip around Asia / Australia. Singapore is filled with smog and grey?! No, it seems that it is from the fires on Sumatra. One of my new temporary friends is Swiss Gabrielle, who gave me loads of good massages for free. Must admit, the first ones that reallly worked in a long time. And she told me I was pretty fucked up.

Friday the 22nd of October; THE TRIP TO MALAYSIA?

Early wake up, run to the bus station and try to find a bus to Malacca Malaysia. It was not so easy as in other Asian countries to arrange this last minute, so no trip to Malaysia today. A long stroll on my feet-killing Ballibongs along Marina Bay. Nothings changed in Singapore, still humid, hot and grey. A night in another hotel to experience more things in Little India. And if you want to have a good view of the city, why not sneak in into one of the highest offices in the city and go to the top? Easy business to avoid the security, and even the whole top floor to ourselves (a place with the most exclusive restaurants in the city). Thanks for the golden chopsticks :-) The SKypark Building was another evel of architecture, one of the nicest modern buildings I've seen. Here you can go inside for free, the viewdeck costs around 20 SDL and a night in the hotel costs 399 SDL +++. With a adrenaline rushing swimming pool 200 metres high on the 56th floor. Worth a try to get in???

Saturday the 23rd of October; BORING, SLEEPING AND ILIGHT FESTIVAL

Can't really remember what I did that day...whaaaa. Must be boring :-) The evening I went to Marina Bay...shit I'm thinking about my colleague Marina right now whahahaa ;-) The whole area is decorated with Light Artwork. Good night to practise some photography skills. I was on my own so not much to do at Saturday night. So I ended up in an open air theatre with some locals watching a real bad Malaysian horror movie...but the worst horror movies are quite funny.

Sunday the 24th of October; NEW FREINDS, NEW EXPLORING OF FAKE SINGAPORE

I didn't met that many locals last time in Indonesia so it's time to do that all over. Tai was a funny Indonesian girl living in KL. My temporary Singapore friend to explore the Singapore beachlife. Sentaso Island. A very touristy island with some too fake beaches. The view is even worse than at Hoek van Holland; many freight vessels and lots of industrie in the back ground. The ziplines suck and are expensive. The police is giving you fines for smoking on the street because they have nothing else to do. The Wavehouse offers big waves for a surf, try this? First win the lottery. This rollercoaster resortplace for fat lazy tourists, who want to travel in free trams to get 2 meters further, is shiiiiit! On the other side of SIngapore there should be a better island. Rain all the time, but let's go to Pulau Ubin. An exhausting trip in public transport, waiting at the ferry before we have 12 people to pay 2,50 SDL...no time scedule. Don't expect a nice sunset on white sanded beaches. It's an island that doesn't feel like Singapore; absolutely no development. Just riding around on a mountain bike, doing MTB tracks, loads of nature and cheap warungs in a small village where times stands. Finally we know where are those old yellow Heineken-crates are! :-) Sooo tired at the end, taking a 20 SDL taxi to go back to Little India. Yeah we crossed the country severeal times today in 1 hour, where can you do that and see several islands?! Coming back in Little India was freakin madness! Indians all over the place, crawling on the streets like ants. Thousands of them, fighting in a sale for mobile phones and shirts, big lines at the ATM's. I lost Tia, she is little so I had to look under the cars. After a sleep and a cooling shower we were reunited to go out...Clarke Quay whohooo. Booming, but not on Sunday. Drinks for 14 SDL wtf?! Corrupt bouncers and no crazy party.

Monday the 25th of October; CHINATOWN, CLARKE QUAY, COLONIAL DISTRICT...WEIRD YOGA STUDENTS AND RACING FERRARI'S

I missed my appointment so a lonely walk through Singapore. Colonial District, Clarke Quay again and anoying drunk people blocking my path in a dark tunnel. Chinatown for buying some camera updates. A cheap portable hard disk and walking down town again, approached by a so called yoga student. He had this weird trick with a note and he guessed all my answers correct. Quite good and he told me he could read my mind. Well, I already knew that there was a part coming about donations. He said one of my bad habits is being to open hearted. 'Well sorry dude, you know about my other bad habit?' I'm greedy! Hahaaaa, he asked me for a 100 SDL donation...he's completely loco! Let's see if you can read my mind right now...hahahaaaa. Mr Yoga was not happy, I could only laugh :-) A waste of time, it's better to check all the Porches, Lamborgini's and Ferrari's on the streets here. It doesn't matter that I missed the Singapore GP, because many people think the city is one big racing circuit all the time. Roaring engines from tuned cars echo between the skyscrapers. I met Polaroid Tai again, it seems that many Asians like making Polaroids and I must admit that it's a damn good way to meet people. I already made new friends agian. Jesper and Fiona, 2 cool Dutchies. Tasty food at a hawkerplace in Little India. My ass is starting to hurt with all that tasty spicy food :-) Ozzie tourguide Goerge was the other laidback character that joined us. Cute Fiona and I talked and had many laughs till deep in the night. Again I was more active during the night than the staff buing busy with their work :-)

Tuesday the 26th of October; SHOPPING ORCHARD, BOTANICAL SPEEDVISIT, THE RUSH TO THE SKYPARK

After a night of Changs I felt different and dizzy. Maybe because I slept for only a few hours and it's even more hot and humid than last week. Shower and eat were a good remedy. Fiona was sick enough for a doctors visit so I waited. Jesper came back from his work so we walked to Orchard Rd for some of the world famous shopping area's. Dozens of Super Malls with all the same stores. You think the Malls are huge? Take a look underground. Many basement floors filled with even more shops! The city is much bigger underground, and cooler as well. Don't stay underground too long Vince, you will have Airconfever again. It was getting late, but just in time for a short visit at the Botanical Garden at Holland Rd, with Dutch swans, nostalgic! Fiona and I wanted to see the sunset on top of the Skypark Sands Hotel...it was already past 6pm. Taxi got stuck in traffic, MRT was fast but didn't bring us where we wanted. Still a long walk to get there. We saw the sunset, but not from the roof. After paying 20 SDL for a 5 minute visit to the viewdeck we finally enjoyed the moment. It was worth it. Darkness and a colorful lighted city. No time to try to get into that adrenaline 200mtr high pool. Ok, just jump into the elevator again to fly 56 floors down with the speed of light. A cab and a kiss, it was short but very funny friendship :-) I even waited longer on my Murtabak at the Indianplace with Jesper than I spend time on the roof...LOL. I missed the kick-scooter trip from Inncrowd (AGAIN) so spend some time with the hilarious Thai/Chinese sisters from Inncrowd, showing my imumesystem for very spicy chili peppers. SOme of the others couldn't stop sweating and crying hahahaaaa.

Wednesday the 27th of October; IT'S OVER...ASIA GOODBYE...A WONDELFUL YEAR WITH UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES

The last day in Asia, last day in humid heat, last day ? Fucking enjoy it dude! Walking around dizzy after a few Chang beers. After walking a while looking for some food it seemed that I was in a 'different' area. Many times I was approached by horny hores asking me for all sorts of sex. The hotels in this cosy neighbourhood had also unusual names like 'Gay Heaven' with special rates for an hour, night rates and more. There was a new sort of karaoke for me...Sex Karaoke. The name of the street? Geylang Road. Later that day my Thai/Chinese friend told me this is the red light district of Singapore. After some spicy stuff (no sex, just food) I discovered I forgot my EZ-Card for the bus. What do you do then? Just stop the most expensive car on the street, knock on his window and ask the Chinese businessman if he's going into the direction of Little India. So there you are, speeding and racing through the streets of Singapore in a fast Aston Martin VROOOOOOEM!!! It was a last day to remember, also all the compliments from the Asian girls (it's true, they like Europeans)...many thanks for making my ego just a little bit too big :-) A long train trip to Changi Airport, no they didn't want to send my bag to London, only to Amsterdam. So no chance for a stopover at my friends there. Just spend some time on the airport with some girls from FInland and shopping. The flight was nice and easy most of the time. Scottish Anna was good company next to me. The rum and Coke was tasty, the nuts chips and chocolate was gone before reaching the highest point in the flight. Movie madness and Anna and I were almost ready to kill the screaming baby in front of us! That annoying creature from hell was trying to break the world record by screaming at least 6 hours of all 13.5.

Asia...I loved it. I will visit it again some day... BUT THIS IS NOT THE END OF MY TRIP!!!

MASSAGE, MOTORBIKE, TAXI MAYBE TOMORROW? UBUD, AMED, KUTA...WRECKDIVING, MONKEY BUSINESS, CORRUPTION ... WET AND STEAMING HOT !

Thursday the 14th of October THE PLAN? THERE IS NO PLAN...

After some interesting words it was time to make choices. Too much rain now to discover Flores on a motorbike. Get to the airport in the packed Bemo with all these laughing school girls and book a flight. Easy done, 60 euro's to Bali. Why is it so hard to get cheap transport from Denpasar? Always that discussing with the dodgy taxi drivers and no Bemo's here. Karin and I still travel together today, arriving in lovely Ubud. A touristy place with loads of restaurant, Dutch people, art shops, beggars and spa's. We did our own thing today. The visit to the Monkey Forest was funny...baby monkeys eating chewing gum, attacking tourists and not to forget...bumping into a TV camera-team again. This time it was one of the Yorin reporters that started talking to me, having a chat with Raymond Sluiter and Fatima Moreira de Melo. How random can your day in Ubud be? Time for a Balinese massage I guess with a washing session at the end. I lost Karin today and she had the key of our wonderful bungalow. Well bungalow...? It's more a temple in a rice field that's even bigger than my own house! So no chance to get in, only option is to walk around Ubud in the evening. A night with some strangers in a warung was what followed. Large Bintangs, local food, a lot of fun with some dudes from Amsterdam. The crew kicked us out, cause nightlife stops in Ubud between 10 and 11pm...seriously?!

Friday the 15th of October MOTORBIKE - VINCENT - POLICE - CORRUPT BUSINESS :-)

It was a long time ago to wake up without any strange noises or anoying sounds. Get a new motorbike for 35.000RP a day and send that oversized baggage back home. You need an international drivers licence here, I was pulled over by the police and using a dark smiley face seemed to help. Karin was feeling a little bit sick, but still everyone wants to do something on their trip. I took her on the motorbike to the craterlake. Stopping at some rice fields, getting crazy of all the locals that jump at you with the most redicilous items to sell. Even a simple can of Coke is sold for Ibiza-prices here. Getting higher into the mountain means getting cooler. But not only cooler...this is raining season baby! Karin was in her extra sexy mood today, so not that many clothes to cover her body. Maybe that was the reason why the police stopped us? I was looking like a local, speaking a few words of Indonesian. First it was a warning and later we had to pay because I was driving without a drivers license. But this is not Holland, this is Indocorruptia. 'I won't give you a fine, but you have to give me something.' 'Well, you're not getting my travelbuddy dude!' So I payed him off with 50.000Rp, where the hell in Holland can you get away with a fine after paying 4 euro's!?!?!? Hilarious. Raining hard, just shelter at a warung and eat something while you don't know what you're eating exactly. After an hour or so it became less cloudy and we drove down to the hot springs next to the crater lake. High entrance fees so drive back. Stopping in the middle of nowhere and still being approached by so called painters and people that want to sell you something. Grey was a local farmer and showed us around in his area and showed us his big family. Karin was getting nervous about what should follow...she was right, he asked for money in the end. But you don't have to do these things. Another long drive to the biggest Temple of Bali; Pura Besakih. More ticket hassle; guides that say that you need them. Just leave us alone and let us enjoy. Well for some parts they only open the gate with a guide, we had one that 'only' asked for a donation, when he got one he thought it was too small :-) Oh and Karin, even with a sarong you walk around too sexy ;-) On the way back to Ubud it was sometimes hard to find the way. In Indonesia they don't really know what road signs are. And if they have one, they place them in the trees! So just ask your fellow motorbikers on the road 'Permisi, Ubud?'. We went to the worst restaurant so far, never go to the Art Cafe on Monkey Forest Rd. The plate is big, but the amount of food is hard to find (maybe the monkeys stole it?). For example 5 small pieces of wedges next to your not even 100 grams of meat? Ice cream and Speculaas at the mini market to fill the empty holes in your stomach makes me happy :-)

Saturday the 16th of October TEMPLE TIRED, MOTOBIKE MUST BE WATERPROOF IN BALI

Cultural sightseeing today. Wrap yourself in a shiny sarong and jump on the motobike. Most visits are around Ubud today and the weather looks good for a change. Last night was the heaviest rain and thunderstorm so far, and nice to sleep outside on our temple veranda. The closest thing was the Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah). A small cave wich you have to enter bij walking in the devils' mouth (although he doesn't look scary at all). There are some temple thingys around the cave and there is a jungle trek down some slipery muddy rocks to a river with some hidden ancient temples in caves. Really cool, but you couldn't enter them all. Some bats and a local kid that helps you with everything. Just pay double the price for a Coke to let them earn some money. Greedy Dutchies as we are, paying the smallest donations. But yeah, the prices in the most rescent Lonely Planet are 1/3 of what it is now. Expect to pay around 15.000 Rp per entrance. The Jungle temple was an interesting hike. Next stop was the Temple of the Three Sisters (Pura Samuan Tiga). No tourists and not that interesting. If you think this was uninteresting, just go the Jeh Pulu. Some rock carvings and some old chick that holds her hand up for throwing water in your face and on your camera. Ok, the Pura Penetaran Sasih is maybe worth a visit? The one with the biggest drum in Bali. Well, you can't play the drumm and there is not much to see. Are we getting temple tired?! We visisted another one and were happy we didn't had to pay, because it as filled with garbage. Warung pitstop and ask the cook to let us spit fire. Not out of 'Las knalpot' but out of our mouth...make it spicy honey! One more temple and we stop ok? Gunung Kawi was recommended. Oh no, it starts to fucking rain again, and hard! The temple complex here is a big surprise, it actually looks like you're in an Indiana Jones movie. Ancient stuff and Flinstone look-a-like buildings. Be carefull with unexpected deep waterholes and slippery surfaces :-) This last one was I think one of the best. A 45 minute drive back through the water; yeah, flooded roads are not uncommon during the day in raining season. This time it was Karin's turn to get wet and let me shelter :-) But damn, that smelly raincoat of her jagh! Spend our last Rp at a cheap warung and save some money for Cornetto Sweetheart Brownies and Bintangs.

Sunday the 17th of October SHOP TILL YOU DROP, BALINESE DANCING

Karin and I had a sort of bet who spends the most time with shopping today. Well, she walked the wrong way for miles and miles so that's not completely honest. But for me it was just hardcore Dutch bargaining. Batik pants, Asian pants, Ballibong flip-flops (don't buy them!!!) and after a long walk, kroepoek and lunch with the owner of a drumm factory I managed to buy one of muy favorite instruments; Bongo drumms. Just for 4 euro's, you gotta be kiddin' ?! So that will be many sleepless nights for my fellow guests in the hostels :-) More shopping; singlets for 1 euro...I love this place. Even free fruit when you buy some mango's on a dirty market. Hours later I had to help Karin making decisions for her interior and choose some Indonesian lamps. It took ages whahaaaa. I also had to rent a scooter to pick her up, she was exhausted. Balinese dancing shows for a laugh, damn those guys were funny. Half of the orchestra was falling asleep in the beginning. But they were making so much fun with eachother not to get bored. And they also know where tourists get sick off here in Ubud; 'Massage? Painting? Transport? Taxi, maybe tomorrow? Sarong?' It was good to have a brochure to understand the story, the monkeys were hilarious. After being soooo hungry (at least a few of our favorite ice creams made us relax) you have to eat more. Indonesian Tapas in one of the hidden Warungs, delicious! 2 Bintangs and Karin was already tipsy, lol. Ubud was hot and steamy, Ubud rules!

Monday the 18th of October THE HIDDEN BEAUTY OF SHITHOLE AMED

A shuttle from Ubud to Amed, through Padang Bai. Efficiency is far beyond in Indonesia, people in and out the car, putting them on other cars, bad time management and we all seem to go to the same directions. A 2.5 hour drive to Amed, some Gooi Dutchies in the car. It was fun to see Padang Bai again, good memories. But wow, how busy it became in just 2 weeks. Amed was exactly what I expected...dry, hot and notghing to do. A small fishermens' town with heaps of Warungs and unfinished Homestays, including people that try to sell you salt. Uhm, this is what we taste when we jump in the sea?! Beach is black and full with stones and many many boats. It getting hot hot hot in Amed :-) Booked our dives for tomorrow, had a few drinks and ice creams, where are the Sweethart Brownies?! And getting a 40.000Rp massage on a bed on the beach with a great sunset with the volcano in the back.Take your pants off for a dip in the black sea, this timd I was attacked by a small Triggerfish. A 'romantic' dinner with our table on the beach with some candles. Having a barracude on my plate. Delicious! Besides the anoying Indo-tunes in the background, this place (Amed) was not bad at all!

Tuesday the 19th October DIVING LIBERTY WRECK, ARAK ATTACK!

Indonesia is all about diving, especially when you're travelling with someone like Karin hehe. Well, I love to do this wreckdive. The Liberty Wrech is an old US Navy vessel that's laying 10 - 30 metres below the surface. You enter the dive site by the beach after a 20 minute drive from Amed. The dive is easy and with many cool fish. Lot's of them I've seen before, but some things are different; big school of thousands of trevallies (including a Giant Trevally) and hati hati! A fuckin massive barracuda!!! More than 1,5 meter long. It was chilling out inside the wreck. Luckily there are always divers with complete filmsets under water and lights. When it opened it's mouth you can see how big the teeth were and it was looking really aggressive. Further on there was more, manta shrimps and scorpion fish. Back to the surface after 52 minutes, reaching a maximum depth of 25 metres. The 2nd dive we went inside the wreck. Finally I was doing better with my amount of air and Karin and me started playing under water. Making loops and drop offs inside the wreck. Such a cool dive. Huge groupers, Surgeon fish attacking Madi (the dive master) and blue spotted stingrays. Loads of cool stuff here. Back on shore it was even more chaotic than under water, dive groups everywhere (at least 14 different busses from different dive companies). And it was like being in Holland, Dutch was the main languiage today. Lunch was provided in Amed. The rest of the day we took a motorbike to Tirga Gangga for an illegal dip in the watertemple :-) Well, there is actually a pool where you can swim here. The rice fields before the water temple were so damn nice, one of the best I've seen (mostly wet rice fields). Continue the road to Amlapura to get some unknown sort of meat. Madi told us that Tirga Gannga and Ujung were waterfalls, actually is wasn't...is was just someting with water. Ujung was a floating temple. Not really worth a visit. Is was getting dark and the map that Madi draw was not that easy. Even using the roadmap was not helpfull. We got lost in the mountains, but smart enough to get some extra petrol. It was the start of a long 30km drive through the mountains. Crossing dozens of small villages, steep roads with big holes (very bad conditioned) and trying to excape all the damn jumping frogs on the road. All the time 'Permisi, Amed?' Amed is easy to pronounce. We arrived after hours and hours, taking a completely wrong route. Be aware of burning pigs on the road that people drop there for a ceremony! This trip is sick hahaaa. Time for Kibbeling at Warung Mama, Karin was not that lucky with her food. Back to homestay for sleeping...no way! We were picked up by a bus with 2 funny locals and a Swiss girl to enjoy some live music at Pacha Cafe. 5 persons, 6 bottles of Arak was the damage. I'm not sure if the locals were that sober when they dropped us off for free though :-)

Wednesday the 20th of October FEELING HOT HOT HOT AND KUTA MADNESS

'Karin, wake up!' Still smelling like Arak and she had to watch out for tiny 1cm sea horses whahaaa. Good luck with diving ;-) I'm over my budget so I have to do something else today. Chicken nuggets for breakfast and start to run. 1.5 hour in extreme heat, steep hills up and down, 16km. Pfff... Jumping in the so called shuttle bus (just a private car that never reaches 100km an hour on these Balinese roads). Almost 3 hours, getting bored in busy traffic, road works everywhere. And still getting surprised about traffic rules here...do they have any? You can decide if you wanna be on the wrong side of the road or not and try to squeeze your car between 2 big trucks all the time. Late arrival in Kuta and hell yeah, this is Spain for young drunken Ozzies :-) The beach sunset was relaxed with many locals and no Ozzies on the beach, together with the sounds of the waves...I can live on the beach. Shopping is funny here, so much crap and everything is fake ofcourse. Bargaining is not that difficult here, even without saying too much you will get it for 15% of the starting price. 20.000Rp for some Eau de Toilette from Armani, but it smelled fake so don't buy! Warungs are here between all the McDonalds, McDonalds, KFC and a Pizza Hut. A funny 1 hour massage before I leave Bali :-( A short night, saying goodbye to Karin? Yes, I can't change the ticket at the airport. Otherwise I should stay a few extra days. A last heavy rain shower before jumping on the motorbike with my heavy stuff. Selamat Tinggal Bali!

The days after Indonesia was hit by a massive Tsunami around the Mentawai Island (surfers paradise) of Sumatra, volcano Merapi on Java burst...it was a good choice not to extend the Indonesian Visa and skip Java and Sumatra this time. Disasters of nature are getting close. Philippines is also of my list because of typhoon Megi. It's the right time to leave South-East Asia.

CRUISING LOMBOK - FLORES; STORMS, MORE UNEXPECTED NICE MEETINGS AND KOMODO ADVENTURES ON THE MANY BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS

Thursday the 7th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 1; CHEAP TOUR BEST CHOICE FOR STORMY WEATHER :-)

Pick up at 10:00 hurry hurry they say...pfff, next time just tell me that I can walk to their office (which is 5 minutes away) 2 hours later for a briefing. Yes, a 5 day cruise. Well, actually you start sailing at 15:00 after a long busdrive from Sengigi to Labuhan Lombok. 2 groups (boats) with 10 people each. Normally 20 people are allowed on the boats from Kencana, but with the conditions of the next couple of days, 10 is more then enough :-) A nice enclave of single Dutchies (Erwin, Karin and me), a few locals from Sumatra, a Swedish/Icelandish couple and a Polish couple...good mix. Get you Bintangs before you jump in the bus! After leaving Labuhan harbor the sky turned dark and grey. Just be positive :-) The wind catches up and the waves became higher. Lighting and thunder started and a boat that was not that stabile. You choose the cheapest, You get the cheapest. The 1st day we didn't see a thing and it was more one big test for your body getting sea sick yes or no. I must say, not exactly what we expected, but it was an experience! Most of the time I was chatting with Erwin or Karin (couldn't stop talking). The 1st night we stopped in front of an island calledGili BolaAt 2.30 the loud roaring engin started for an early sail. We survived the first stormy day and night and it went on with raining and a rough sail. Karin and I found a good way to kill the time on the upper deck.

Friday the 8th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 2; A STORMY 16 HOUR SAIL THAT FINALLY GOT ME DOWN

After the early start it took 16 hours to get to the next destination. Beautiful surroundings you might guess? Nope, rain, rain and more rain. Floating in and between the water. A visit atMoyoIsland for a 'special' trekking to a waterfall? It was more a photo shoot, and the island was not so special. The funny parts were seeing the locals floating in the only 2 life jakcets on board and the silent Polish girl that try to escape the water in the home made canoe. A calm sea for a while but in the evening it started again. So bad that I decided to lay down on the upper deck. Wrong choice, I was sea sick. Erwin was so cool to give me those lovely yellow pills so I feel better now. And a night without a roaring engine.

Saturday the 9th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 3; THINGS ARE CHANGING

Another early start, this time at 05:30. Grey but some bleu dots in the sky. A snorkling trip around Gili Laba Island with cool Pufferfish, many turtles, tuna, barracuda's, unicorn fish, huge triggerfish and much more. A steep hike to the top of the island with amazing 30 degree views on the surrounding island and the turquoise reefs. This is what I expected! The reefs are everywhere. The day became better and better. Sunshine! Get the Bintangs and enjoy. Today we also stop at Komopdo Island, the orignal habitat of the famopus Komodo Dragons. They still live here. The guides try to rip you off to charge 70.000Rp for making pictures, well forget it; another chance at Rinca tomorrow. We saw 4 dragons on a 1,5 hour hike, most of them around the guesthouse and restaurant. It was not that impressive. Deer on the beach, but no Komodo's.The flying salamanders were more interesting to me. Back to our boat and funny captain for a night with thousands of flying foxes flying over from one of the islands. This is wicked shit dude, like being in an old crappy horror movie. We got some fish line from the crew and som chicken, time for some fishing competition. I was the first one to get a fish, followed by 3 other ones. A lot more and bigger fish than boat 2. But be careful when you have that crazy Polish couple on board. That guy thinks that the fishing line (including weight, hook and bait) is a lasso. The clumsy dude didn't listen and it didn't talke long before everyone left the front deck instead of getting hooked! A day full of different and amazing things, this makes me forget the boring stormy parts of the first 2 days :-) Sorry sorry sorry Jack, what a hilarious song/dance with the polish, the locals and El Capitano LOL.

Sunday the 10th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 4; DRAGONS RULE, JUST AS THE CRAZY CURRENTS, WHIRLPOOLS, DREAM ISLANDS AND MORE SNORKELING

Another day for me in paradise. Sunshine to burn your skin, especially Karin's skin ;-) 'Damn, can you stop peeling you r skin off? Well, I will help you with the sunscreen'. The islands are getting more beatiful every time, one surprise after another. Snorkling at Red Beach in some currents to spot some Manta Rays? Nope,just loads of barracuda's, tuna and triggerfish. This is the best snorkling spot according to the crew. The stop at the other National Park Island called Rinca was much much better than Komodo. Loads of dragons here (from small baby's till 3 meter giants). Those babies live in the trees for the 1st 3 years of their life and can jump out of the trees is nice to know when you walk there... But, don't look up all the time, before you know there's buffalo shit between your toes! Miss Poland was the lucky one to make a bigb slide :-) The island is so beautifull with all those high palm trees, rocks and mud pools for the buffalo's (where the Komodo Dragons attack them mostly). It's fuckin' hot so no shirts for me. And today offically I had to pay money for making pictures...just say you already paid the day before at Komodo, no one checks your ticket. A 2 hour sweaty hike over the hills is the best way to prepare a refreshing dip on one of the white sandy islands. Last chance to snorkel, last change to step into those annoying Golden Crowns. Miss Poland was again to scared to jump in the water, the Candians from the other boat where definately gay with their behaviour and their pink flowers in their hair, many photo shoots in the colorful water and with the burning sun on our bodies. But no matter how much it looks like a dream, be careful...the water between those picturesque island is very dangerous. Tides coming in and out between the oceans causes strong currents, washing machines, big whirlpools etc. One place the sea looks calm and just 1 meter further you will be sucked away. All good things come to an end, also this cruise that started rough and ended perfect. The rest of the day we can spend in Labuan Bajo, is shit hole with noisy mosques and no nightlife. Everyone that joined the Kencana-boats the last couple of days went to The Lounge. Calzone and cocktails! Just for a change...noodles, rice and Bintangs every day. WHat brings tomorrow? I will try to dive again, last couple of days I didn't loose blood anymore. I will stay here with Karin, although I almost fucked up with my stupid reactions...

Monday the 11th of October DIVINE DIVING KOMODO ISLANDS, THE ADVENTURE NEVER ENDS

We spend our last night still on the boat and had to leave before 7 (this is Kencana's explanation of 5 days, 4 nights...). Well it was worth the 1.500.000 Rp. Basic, funny captain (what a character stealing my flip-flops), the condition of the boat was not too bad, good mattrasses on deck and enough tasty food. Bring sea sickness pills and good ear plugs to be sure :-) Woken up by those annoying loud singing sessions (they call it praying) of the mosques at 4am!!! You don't need an alarm clock here. Yesterday we've chosen our dive shop; Divine Divers (a Dutch owned company). Shopping around along the many dive shops has no use, they all have exact the same prices. Our instructor Maarten showed us how to cross the pier to the boat that looked more like the waves the 1st 2 days of our cruise...Welcome to Indonesia! Cruising for another 3 days between all the Komodo Islands. Sunshine, sunscreen, 2 Coke-addicts and cookies. Dive 1 was at ..... and my buddy Karin was ready for some incidents after telling her my dive history :-) Going down and my mask breakes, whohoo. I wanted to change under water with Maarten but he wanted me to go back to the surface again. This was a waste of air. The dive sites here are sooooo much better. Good temperature and visibility. Groups of big humphead fish, loads of sharks and Manta Rays all over the place! Getting used to dive in difficult conditions, because diving in Komodo is not for Open Water Divers (although they let me do everything). The 2nd dive was more sandy but stunning with thoise huge Manta Rays. Another incident; my depth gauche was not correct, at 35 Bar I couldn't breath anymore, so I had to find my guide under water to share air. Stupid that the equiptment failed, I was still relaxed (this was ofcourse not the first time something happens under water). Around 3pm back in Labuan Shithole, another day at the Lounge with our Swedish, Icelandish and Danish friends.

Tuesday the 12th of October KOMODO, CAN I STAY HERE FOREVER?

7am at the boat, another rumouresque night next to the mosque (inclduing drunken roosters and goats that completely ost their sense of time!). Discusting breakfast at the hotel, so another Nasi Campur at the boat. 2 dive sites with strong currents today. But damn, the amount of fish at these dive spots is unreal! Never seen anything like this. More sharks, enormous wrasses, Napoleon wrasses, big school of barracuda's, huge triggerfish, porcupine fish, giant groupers under the tables of coral, lion fish in all sorts and sizes, sea snakes, lobsters, turtles, a long bamboo shark...too much to mention. The drift diving is not scary at all. But sorry guys, some places it was more like escaping big fat divers in bandana's and t-shirts. Getting themselve hooked on the coral...too many divers at the same time. Funny concersations on the both with all these nurses/doctors talking about sex changes whahaa...Maarten and I sometimes couldn't believe what we heard. The locations today were a lot further so we came back with sunset. This evening it no more Lounge, let's go to the organic food of The Corner. The service is 10+++ and the food is a lot better.

Wednesday the 13th of October CELEBRATING MY 30TH DIVE...WILL I SURVIVE?

Almost too late for the boat, our Halal-neighbours were not singing loud enough this morning. Enjoy the sailing one more time, (baby) dolphins jumping and doing their stunts next to our boat.The craziest dives are today; Castle Rock, a negative entry going straight down to the bottom (because of all the strong currents and whirlpools). What a dive! Hook yourself to a dead piece of coral and enjoy wandering around. Reef sharks everywhere and again the sealife... I couldn't stay calm under water, because Karin and Maarten sandwiched me letterary with their hooks. A long surface interval on deck 'Met heeeeel veeeel bommetjes!' from the upper deck. Getting headaches while diving of the roof. And who warned me about not getting to close to Triggerfish?! :-) Karin was attacked and that big fish bit her in her ankle and ass. I can imagine :-) Crystal Rock was the last dive site, No. 31 for me and I already survived No. 30 whohoo! Crystal Rock has also many strong (upstream/downstream) currents. A large amount of Nudi Branches. Sea snakes, Groupers and even Octopus. A long long day, woken up at the deck finding out there were some mechanical problems with the boat. We arrived at LB just at sunset. Try to find out what to do tomorrow; cruising in a private car, local busses around Flores that take ages or book a flight somewhere else? Too late, most things closed or way over budget. The Corner with the English teachers. And Maarten, getting a cheap Dive Master Course here and dive fro free for 6 months is not a bad idea ;-)