INDONESIA
Java
Java was a place like no other. It felt completely different to the western world.
My original motive for coming here was to teach English but it soon became a place full of adventure and joy.
I stayed with the surf camp Moji Surf in their Red Island location. Here they taught me how to surf which I have to admit I wasn't the greatest at!
Whilst in Java, I took a long-tail boat ride to the 'secret beach' a location shared with us by the locals. They wanted to keep it a secret from tourists and I could see why.
The beach was stunning, white sands and crystal clear water, so I don't blame them!
On the Island, I took two long trips out to two active volcanos; Mt Ijen and Mt Bromo.
To experience the sunrise at Mt Ijen, I started the trek to the volcano summit at 1am which was tiring to say the least. Once at the top of the volcano, a guide navigated us down a precarious path into the crater to see the Blue Fire/Lava.
Thinking back it was quite an idiotic and dangerous thing Ito do, but it was so memorable and quite incredible to actually visit the center of the earth!! ' The sunrise didn't disappoint either.
Mt Bromo, was a little more relaxing as we took a vintage 4x4 to the top of the volcano to watch the sunrise. What surprised me was that there was actually ice on the ground at the top!!.
Whilst traveling around the Island, I had the opportunity to visit coffee plantations to discover how coffee is made, and also visited rice fields.
Sukamde Turtle Sanctuary was an experience I will never forget. I witnessed in the early hours of the morning, a mother turtle lay 148 eggs.
When the sun rose, I even helped to release a few baby turtles into the ocean.
This was one incredible experience,!!
During my stay a 5.8 earthquake hit Java.
It was scary as I was in the middle of the jungle with no cell service, but luckily no one was hurt.
This was normal thing to the locals who were quite blasé about the whole thing
Java was beyond incredible, and a place that holds memories I'll never forget.
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