Yes I can imagine it’d be tough going. The only cycling I’ve done in Java was within Yogya in the 1980s on hired classic Dutch style sit-up-and-beg bikes. It was marvellous fun. Smooth, unsealed, tree lined boulevards with hardly a motor vehicle in sight. Long time ago.

On more recent work visits, I found that any area below about 300 metres elevation was stifling for someone used to Canberra and Orange weather. And of course the population of motorcycles and trucks has grown logarithmically since 1983.

I have the impression that the northern coastal margins of Java are busier and more populated than the southern coasts. Surabaya of course is a vast city.

Higher places, like Malang City, are said to be much more pleasant.

Graham, hard day today. I tried to get out of the noise, exhausts and chaos of the main road, but all I get are slower roads, challenging navigation, a little less noise and a bunch of other hassles. It cost me 20 km getting to Jombang and it's not as though I saw anything worth seeing. I think that's Java for you. If you're not up a volcano then you're probably in traffic. I'm trying to hurry it up so I have plenty of time for Yogya. Ian

Ian you are making quick work of crossing Java. At this pace you’ll be in Sumatra before we can say ‘nasi goreng’.

Well ridden, and sensible choice not to ride at night like the darkly clad local cycle tourer.

I assume the use a spotter on the garbage bin.

I always wonder how they see...

glad you got your visa sorted Ian, Keep travelling safely

Yes, there's a lot of fine detail. In fact, these temples are so ornate that they are very hard to photograph other than the little details.

Love the flower eyes!

I checked my photos and it wasn’t like that in 2010!

My recollection from a mid 1980s tobacco industry assistance report (we recommended phasing it out) was the cigarette companies argued that the health costs were mostly just a bring forward.

You look like your gazing at litter.

Presumably no ants inside to harm.

Joel, hard to believe that there is anywhere cool in the world. Pleased to know that there is such a place. The traffic is fine. I hope I covered that in my blog entry from Lombok where I talk about being amongst it. I'm very used now to taking off without looking behind. Of course, sometimes I do but only if I hear something heavy. The key thing is to be consistent. I've just got off the ferry and am now in Java. I speared across a busy road in a diagonal to get to the LHS. Otherwise, I'd wait until the next public holiday. The food is getting easier - more variety. It's very easy to eat the same thing at the little warungs. Through Timor, Flores, Sumbawa and Lombok, they all have the same thing. This is typically food that sits around, albeit with quick turnover. Eat the tofu and tempeh and not the chicken! The fruit is terrific; it has flavour that we often don't get in Australia. People here would laugh at our pineapples and papaya. They'd probably dump sugar on them. Ian

Indeed Ian. -4 C at morning coffee the other day. No sweat glistening on anyones forearms here.
How goes the traffic? I gather the drivers are considerate of small motorbikes and people.
The food sounds amazing.

Ian my limited experience of non-work travel in Java has left me with the impression that it’s a long series of volcanoes surrounded by an extensive coastal fringe which is packed with people, motorcycles and transport infrastructure.

My recollection is that the cooler high country sloping down from the many volcanoes is very pleasant.

One of my favourite areas, not far from Yogya, is the Dieng Plateau, which like Bali and far eastern Java, was still mostly Hindu/Animist culture when I trekked there in the early 1980s.