A few days in Jakarta is always enough...

The few days leading up to my departure for the next trip to Borneo were filled with nerves, sad goodbyes, excitement, a sprinkle of fear. 11 days ago, I stepped off English land and into a plane heading for Indonesia.

"Beep Beep Beep" - I left my keys in my pocket at airport security.

"Would you like a drink Sir?" - asks the air hostess.

"Khoooooaaar" - snores the dribbling man in the seat next to me.

"Flomp" - the heat and smell of tropical Jakarta presses onto my shoulders as I step off the plane, and I know I'm back.

I had to wait in Jakarta for a few days before I caught a flight to Pontianak, Borneo. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the big J - it was great to have some time to wander round, take some photos, and acclimatise to the culture shock. On the other hand, the smell of sweet, rotting fruit, sweat and burning plastic stings the nostrils, and after 2 days I was ready to leave for the fresh rainforest air.

Arriving on the first day in Jakarta, these guys were sat outside my hotel all day. Life is at such a different pace.


Even the trees lining the pavements remind me of how far I've come in 24 hours.
A car park; you get the feeling in Indonesia that no-one really maintains anything. They build it and leave it till it crumbles. As we found out in the last trip, this is certainly true for bridges.