Yogakarta

So... I'm now in Indonesia on a large island called Java. After a horrible 4 days in Sumatra (the island above Java) which consisted of a 30hour bus journey filled with chain smoking locals who refused to let us open the windows, ankots with drivers who'd drop us in the middle off nowhere and charge us highly for the privilege, a massive language barrier and a very sick friend... quite frankly arriving in Java was god send.

At the moment we're in Yogakarta, a pedestrian friendly city (a real novelty here) which is considered the cultural capital. The city is famous for puppets and batik- our first day here we saw plenty evidence of this whilst strolling down the bustling market on Jl Malioboro where stall after stall was selling beautiful batik handbags and purses, puppets along with many other beautiful crafts. We also stopping by the batik art centre where we were given a demonstration of the batik process which involves lots of hot wax as well as a very steady hand. Before the hectic market however, my friend and I decided we couldn't delay an asian massage any longer so stopped into a massage parlour for a 90 minute full body massage with hot oil and free tea. The massage was amazing, at one point they held onto my feet for support and walked over me! I'd never felt so relaxed as after that massage and all it cost me was 6 pounds 50.

The next day was spent doing slightly more cultural things than massages and shopping, as we wnt to the sultans palace and water castle. The water castle was my favourite, carved with a mix of hindu and muslem symbols it was truley beautiful and on the way out we stoped in a puppet shop where the artist explained the puppet making process to us. In the evening we went to see the Ramayana Ballet show which incredible. It's a very traditional indonesian tale, the actors where dressed in incredible costumes, jewellery, face paint and masks. The dancing was unlike anything I've ever seen, the way they can make their body move is nothing like the dancers we have back home.

Today is our last day in my favourite city (in Asia) so far and we've just got back from Borobuddur, a huge buddist monument that attracts travellers from miles. It's a magnificent place with breath taking mountain views. There was a buddist ceremony whilst we visited so we caught some of the procession and got to see the big buddist shrine they'd built filled with insense, candles and golden statues.