As the lightning began to pulsate above our heads, I wondered if we’d make it to the peak. We were huddled around a fire on the ‘plateau’, shivering. The view across the valley was stunning. Mount Merbabu sat silently, with smaller hills dotting the landscape, and lights from tiny villages brightening up the area. Lightning was constantly filling the clouds with pinks, greens, and yellows. I’d just put my camera away after what I’d considered to be an unsuccessful attempt at capturing the scene.

You can just about make out the lightning in the orange colour to the left

Climbing Merapi at 1:00am to catch the sunrise sounded great in principal, but when you’re there, freezing and tired, it’s difficult to remember why you did it in the first place. And when your guide is telling you there’s a chance the weather won’t let us reach the peak, you’re left feeling somewhat dejected.

Some of the others in our group said they’d climb it anyway, despite the weather. After all, this would be their only chance to do so. They had no idea how wrong they’d be.

The sky began to brighten a bit. That was our guides’ signal that it was time to move on. We’d know in 10 minutes if we’d be allowed to reach the peak.

Torch in hand, we marched on. We reached a second plateau – the weather was good. The guides were happy to continue. It’s at this point where 2/3 of the group typically stop.  Usually only 1/3 of a group make it to the peak. All but two of our 10 man group chose to continue.

I was feeling confident. I’d warmed up, eaten a snickers, and had no idea how steep our climb would be.

10 minutes later my bravery was nowhere to be seen. We were hauling ourselves up sand and loose stone. I slipped with every step. My muscles were screaming in pain. The guide said it would be another hour. 20 minutes would have sounded like too much – I didn’t even want to consider another hour of this.

20 minutes went by, and I began to feel a new sort of urgency, one fuelled by my initial reason for climbing Merapi – taking a picture of the sunrise. The sky had brightened significantly, which meant we were cutting it fine for catching the sunrise. It also meant I could see just how steep our climb was…I didn’t like it.

Refusing to look up or down, I stared at the rocks in front of me and took each step as it came. At one point I grabbed the sand and rock above my head to haul myself up, not realising steam was rising from that spot. Moments later I could smell sulphur. I knew I was close.

With seemingly every muscle in my body burning, I dragged myself onto the volcano’s peak and sat on a ledge. Filled with a mixture of exhaustion, relief and joy, I looked back and realised I was on the ledge of the crater, staring down into the volcano’s belly. Terror took over as I slowly backed away.

Adding insult to injury, a local climber came running up the mountain with no shoes on – show-off!

I set up my tripod as Rachel made her way to the top. The view was beyond expectation. We sat together and gazed across the pink/orange horizon. The weather had been kind. Rarely was it that clear.

The aches and pains faded away, and instead, we were left with a sight that will leave a lasting impression, a sight that made the climb seem incidental.

The hike down was almost as difficult.

It’s a bit difficult to compose yourself after such an expedition, and when you’re on top of an active volcano, but I hope you enjoy the photos I managed to get. For one of my favourite shots of Merapi’s peak, please see my HDR Photography blog.

Inside the volcano

Local Climbers

Rachel on the mountain

The long walk back down

Jimmy McIntyre is a travel writer, photographer & language learner. He’s currently living in and exploring Indonesia. For the next 2 years he’ll be trawling the world for the next breath-taking shot, the unexpected adventure around the corner, & the next linguistic challenge. Join him on his extremely active facebook community or subscribe to his blog feed.

One of the most talked about things this year has to be the Olympics. We all know that the Olympics has come to London town this year, which acts as a great opportunity for businesses and residents of London. A fantastic city to hold the Olympics, due to it being extremely cosmopolitan and international – making it a great place for other nationalities to meet each other. The Olympic stadium is located at Marshgate Lane in London’s Stratford, which can be accessed easily with the London public transportation network. It will be the 3rd largest stadium in the whole of Great Britain, as it will be able to hold 80,000 people. Be sure to try and get a ticket for this wonderful event! Once the Olympics has started, the place will be filled with excitement and a brilliant atmosphere! It is definitely worth finding an affordable apartment in London with Wimdu, as you will be close to all the exciting attractions in this city during the Olympics.

If you are planning a trip to London, make sure you definitely go and see a Musical. Shows such as “Billy Elliot”, “Wicked” and “Les Miserables”, are all favourites that are enjoyed by all age groups. Grab your ticket for a show either online, or by going to the musical venue itself. Sometimes you might see some great deals going on around city, so keep your eyes open not to miss them! Lots of musicals and performances happen around Leicester Square. This is where many premiers happen, however don’t be surprised if you are confronted with high cinema prices. Have dinner at the Rainforest café, and go for dessert at the Häagen-Dazs restaurant!

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, London -Source: http://ipkitten.blogspot.de

There are many fantastic museums in London, including the “Imperial War Museum” – situated at Elephant and Castle – and the “Aquarium”, which is situated right by the London Eye. You have to go on a trip on the London Eye, as from the top you can see the whole of the city. After getting off the London Eye, a boat trip up the Thames might be of interest to you, which is a great way to see the famous sights of London – including the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. There are plenty of comfortable bed and breakfasts in this amazing city to choose from, which will make your stay one to remember.

This is a guest post

What a great week on the facebook page: not only did we receive some fantastic shots, we’re also only 100 ‘Likes’ away from 5,000!

I’ve also created an HDR Photography Blog, where I’ll add a new photo every day.

The ‘most enjoyed’ photo this week, by Ben Fewtrell, received 66 ‘Likes’ and 8 shares – a great achievement, and well deserved.

The 5 photos with the most likes this week came from Noppera Bosri, Luís Dias, Matt Selby, Indonesia Travel, & Ben Fewtrell.

If you’d like to participate in our travel photography community, you just need to ‘Like’ our page and post your favourite shots to our wall, and don’t forget to include your facebook page URL or website if you have one.

At the end of the post you’ll also see my choice for the best picture on the internet this week.

The top five pictures this week (in no particular order).

1. “Here’s one from Turimetta Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Sometimes getting up at 445am is worth it!” by Ben Fewtrell.

2. Dream horse by Noppera Bosri.

3. Untitled by Luís Dias

4. ALI ISLAND, INDONESIA – by Indonesia Travel

5. Admiral Von Tromp shipwreck — at Saltwick Bay by Matt Selby

My favourite photo of the week

I’ve actually deleted the original photo I’d chosen for this, as a commenter below, Jon, rightly pointed out that I could be breaching copyright. I found the original picture on pinterest, but couldn’t for the life of me find the original photographer. So, instead, I’ve rather unashamedly used one of my own photos

Jimmy McIntyre is a travel writer, photographer & language learner. He’s currently living in and exploring Indonesia. For the next 2 years he’ll be trawling the world for the next breath-taking shot, the unexpected adventure around the corner, & the next linguistic challenge. Join him on his extremely active facebook community or subscribe to his blog feed.

Being chronically unwell and afflicted with the travel bug can be – okay; is often – immensely frustrating. Even when you’re psychologically confident, the physical symptoms of your illness may limit how, where, and for how long you travel. Financial issues – not earning as much as a healthy person, for example, twinned with higher costs like medical travel insurance and comfy beds, which most ill folk need throughout their trip – also draw a big fat boundary on the map, usually much closer to your home than you’d really like.

There are ways and means, though, as a close friend of mine is finding out for herself, after five years of learning to live with her own chronic illness. She’s taught herself to think differently; to find satisfaction in a more circumspect travel style than the free-wheeling jungle-tramping fantasy that used to infuriate her during those 2am post-diagnosis insomnia sessions. Luckily, she lives on an excellent rail network, and lately she’s become a veritable train spotter, spending far too much time – her words – fantasising over the European rail map, and seat61.com.

It’s doing the trick, though – rail travel in Europe is much more achievable than jetting off to a hot tropical country, where her symptoms will probably flare up and, however patient she’s become, she’ll struggle not to feel frustrated whenever she spends a day unable to enjoy her surroundings. Her faith in her travel-ability has been renewed, and it’s lovely to see her happily making travel plans – and then achieving them.

Her latest Europe trip was Belgium. Not top of everyone’s travel wish list, perhaps, but Brussels is only 2 hours – 2 hours! – from London St Pancras by Eurostar. St Pancras is only 30 minutes by tube from her house. Score! Brussels metro and the country’s train network are also easy to get around, and the weather is close to what her body is used to. She set off with little more than some spare pants, rudimentary French and Dutch, and barely any preconceptions. Apart from reading up on safety issues, this is always my favourite way to travel. Perhaps it helped that she hasn’t fantasised about visiting Belgium for years already; sometimes a preoccupation with a specific country can get in the way of experiencing the real thing.

Very convenient lift down from Palais de Justice to Marolles district

The verdict? The air in Brussels was much cleaner than London – perhaps something to do with all the solar panels and wind turbines she saw scattered in the countryside around the city, as she travelled out to little Bruges (an hour from Brussels by train), which, apparently, was gorgeous, once she left the high street and its pricey restaurants. The food throughout was amazing – even the quiche at the train-station cafe was excellent – as was the coffee (she is a massive coffee snob).

Well, you can't visit this region without encountering at least one of these!

She particularly enjoyed the architecture, too, from the restored mediaeval Dutch styles in Bruges, to Brussels’ elaborate Art Nouveau balconies, the peeling paint and flea markets in Brussels’ old Marolles district, and the funny 1958-sci-fi style Atomium poking up from the Brussels skyline. She was going to eat in the restaurant atop the Atomium, but she didn’t book soon enough to get a table with a view, which – according to Brussels reviewers – is at least half the reason to eat there.

Ancient & modern: looking out at Atomium past Eglise Notre Dame de la Chapelle, & some of Brussels' ubiquitous graffiti

So, if you’re in England and your health isn’t great, Belgium can be added to your list, as recommended by my lovely, chronically ill but unquenchable friend.

This post was written by Tristan, who is the face of the World First travel blog. He writes about global goings-on and helps keep travel-lovers up to date with breaking news and travel tips. https://plus.google.com/u/0/100013687611442258419/about

New Addition to the site: You can now visit our new HDR photo a day page, which includes a very short story each day.

The bat didn’t look like it was going to move out of the way, and since I was going 60kmh on my scooter on a narrow road, it looked like we would be meeting sooner rather than later.

There’s really only one way to describe driving in Indonesia – adventurous.

When you’re not trying to dodge wildlife, other drivers, becaks, cyclists, & horses-and-carts, you’re generally jostling for position at traffic lights or trying to figure out what lane you’re supposed to be in.

This is a summary of Indonesian drivers by Keithlane.com:

At traffic lights, surround by dozens of other scooter drivers, everyone is staring at the bules (Whites). This adds extra pressure on the bule driver who wants to give the impression of being an experienced biker. My body language, I hope, says ‘Yup, I’ve ridden many a road on two wheels’, but the loss of balance and obvious wobble as I begin to move tells everyone I’m a horrible little newbie.

Riding through the country hills one day, Rachel shouts over my shoulder, ‘Do we have enough petrol?’

I shout ‘Yeah, plenty!’

10 minutes later she asks the same question and I reply, ‘Look, it’s full,’ while pointing to the gage.

She shouts ‘No, that means empty.’ She was right. This was our second scooter. The ‘F’ and ‘E’ signs were reversed on this one. In fairness, I should have realised this when I looked at the petrol gage and noticed it had become a little fuller since last time – a self-replenishing petrol tank, genius!

The first time we went to a petrol station I had no idea what to ask for. I rolled up to the guy with the pump and said ’50,000′ (£3.50 or $5). I’d hoped they deal in cash rather than litres since I had no idea what size the tank was.

The worker looked confused, so I said ‘full’. He understood this and filled up the tank. The price for a full tank was 10,000 rupiah ( 70p or $1). I understood why he was initially confused. How on earth was I expecting to put 50,000 rupiah worth of petrol in a tank that holds only a fifth of that?

My Scooter

I’ve always resisted having a bike in Asia. But if the truth be told, public transport is so incredibly limiting that even going to the beach would be a journey of epic proportions.

The price to rent a scooter is stupidly cheap. We pay £3.50 ($5) per day, or £42 ($60) a month, and on a tank a petrol I can drive constantly for about 3.5 hours.

Despite the mayhem and constant confusion of driving on Indonesian roads, I find myself enjoying it more and more. After a while you notice a kind of method to the mayhem, and the roads within Yogyakarta are generally quite slow – unless on the ring-road, I rarely top 30mph.

I won’t become careless, mind you. I may have avoided the bat, but there’s too much happening on these roads for a foreigner to become complacent. We’ve already seen one serious accident, we’ll be sure not to experience one first hand…touch wood.

More information

A guide to driving in Indonesia

Getting a Driving Licence

Unwritten Rules

Jimmy McIntyre is a travel writer, photographer & language learner. He’s currently living in and exploring Indonesia. For the next 2 years he’ll be trawling the world for the next breath-taking shot, the unexpected adventure around the corner, & the next linguistic challenge. Join him on his extremely active facebook community or subscribe to his blog feed.

Families and individual holidaymakers coming to stay at apartments in Budapest will find that they have to go through the Budapest Ferihegy Airport, also known as the Ferenc Liszt Airport. Named after the famous musician, the airport is located to the southeast of the city, 16 kilometers away from the gorgeous city located on the Danube. Those visiting the amazing architecture, the stunning views, and the bustling city of Budapest will find that the Ferenc Liszt Airport provides them with easy access to all the sights and sounds of the city around them.

There are three terminals in the airport, Terminal 1, Terminal 2A, and Terminal 2B. The second two terminals are connected to each other, while Terminal 1 lies a scant 3 kilometers away from the other two. March 2011 saw a unique extension to Terminals 2A and 2B being opened, and the SkyCourt made it possible for many more people to easily reach their destination thanks to the upgraded facilities and increased capacities offered by this extension.

If you have rented a car and are planning to come from the airport into the city to reach your Budapest apartment, you will find that the E60 will take you exactly where you need to go, and the signs make it easy for even a first time visitor to the city to easily find their way around. Buses depart from both terminals, and there are two buses – 93 and 200E – that will get you directly to the Kobanya-Kipest rail station. The Blue Line metro station will get you to Deak Ferranc Square in just around 20 minutes. Trains depart from Terminal 1, heading to Budapest’s West Railway Station. For only 300HUF and less than 30 minutes later, you will arrive at the rail station. Taxis are also available immediately outside the doors of both terminals.

There are a number of VIP lounges in Terminals 2A and 2B, making it possible for you to wait for your flight in comfort. Those looking to connect to the Internet will find that there are connections in all three terminals, with free hotspots for all devices. . You will find that there are many accommodation options, including some gorgeous holiday Budapest apartments within a short distance of the airport, so you will be able to easily find a wonderful place to stay while visiting the city.

If you feel hungry and would like to have a quick bite while waiting for your plane, you will find some cafes, restaurants and bars, both in the land and airside of the airport. ATMs and Cash Machines are also distributed liberally around the airport, and there is a luggage locker storage section available where you can store your luggage, should you need to leave the airport for any reason. Car Rental stations are numerous, with international companies like Hertz, Avis, Budget, and Europcar all making it easy for you to travel around the city in style.

Enjoy the beautiful capital of Hungary at its best, let yourself go free and Budapest will guide your adventure.

Hans Beltran is a world traveler, who enjoys writing everything regarding holidays and vacations. Passionate about SEO and world history, found in writing the perfect way to share his experiences with his fellow travelers.

It’s taken 2 months, but finally we feel at home in Yogyakarta. Armed with our little scooter, the city and its surrounding areas are becoming more and more familiar.

Our conversation partners are now more like friends. We meet for coffee or beers and chit-chat about anything and everything.

The other people we’ve encountered have also been lovely – apart from the kid who called me Pinocchio, or the fella who called me Mr Bean.

In the absence of an authority figure, we’ve established an unusual sleeping pattern of going to bed at 3:00am and getting up at 10:00am.  We still don’t have a great work pattern established, but we’re hitting the targets we initially set ourselves so we’re not panicking.

One thing I really must do is re-start my French studies. I picked up a French novel the other day and found I understood the majority of it. I think my speaking is what I really need to concentrate on.

I remember talking to a Belgian girl in Thailand a couple of years back. She told me I sounded like a cute child when I spoke. Hopfefully I can avoid that before our move to France.

Currently we live in what could probably be described as a small villa. We have a handful of unwanted pets, including two geckos and a cat that I said hello to once. We also have a family of roosters that live in the house next door. If I ever see them walking on the road I’m going to splatter them with my bike.

I’m yet to find a butler monkey.

My coffee addiction is stronger than ever. In fact, we seem to have explored more coffee shops than anything else in Indonesia.

Here’s a cool little ornament I found in a coffee shop recently

I’ve also taken to drinking iced tea apple juice – it’s a delight for the taste buds, but more importantly it has wonderful caffiene in it.

Our list of places to visit gets longer by the day, but before that we’ll be spending some time in Vietnam.

In the next week or two we’ll be making a few changes to the blog, most noticably a photo-a-day section will be added. There are too many incrdible things to see in this lovely country, I find myself with a backlog of photos that I have no place for on the blog.

Our flights for our brief return to the UK are booked for the 21st of August. That leaves us with 3.5 months to sharpen our Indonesian and French, improve upon our working habits, drink more coffee, and explore the country.

Information on living in Yogyakarta

Rent apartment

Yogya Weather

Yogya Information

Jimmy McIntyre is a travel writer, photographer & language learner. He’s currently living in and exploring Indonesia. For the next 2 years he’ll be trawling the world for the next breath-taking shot, the unexpected adventure around the corner, & the next linguistic challenge. Join him on his extremely active facebook community or subscribe to his blog feed.

Another week of photos, and yet again we have another wonderful selection. This time we had shots from South Africa, England, Scotland, Nepal, and an Indonesian super-moon.

In fact, Ryan Cragg, the photographer who captured the super-moon, not only received 54 likes on his picture on our page, it was also shared 21 times!

The 5 photos with the most likes this week came from Stephen Pattison, Jay Gurung, Oupa Coetzee, Lisa Simpson & Ryan Cragg.

If you’d like to participate in our travel photography community, you just need to ‘Like’ our page and post your favourite shots to our wall, and don’t forget to include your facebook page URL or website if you have one.

At the end of the post you’ll also see my choice for the best picture on the internet this week.

The top five pictures this week (in no particular order).

1. “this field at the moment is flooded with water and sheep !” by Stephen Pattison

2. Pokhara, NEPAL by Jay Gurung

3. Clarens – Eastern Free State Province- South Africa by Oupa Coetzee

4. “From the top of Fyrish Hill, Easter Ross, Scotland” by Lisa Simpson

5. Super Moon , Indonesia by Ryan Cragg.

My favourite photo on the internet this week is of San Fransisco by mimikate

Jimmy McIntyre is a travel writer, photographer & language learner. He’s currently living in and exploring Indonesia. For the next 2 years he’ll be trawling the world for the next breath-taking shot, the unexpected adventure around the corner, & the next linguistic challenge. Join him on his extremely active facebook community or subscribe to his blog feed.

Family holidays are one of the little luxuries in life that sometimes fall by the wayside when times are tight. When school’s out and you both bag some time off work, Gatwick airport hotels from Travelodge can be just to the trick to get away without any glitches.

Although going on holiday is an exciting time for everyone, the stress of sorting your finances, organising your home while you’re away and getting packed can sometimes get on top of you. Staying at one of the Gatwick hotels near to the airport can ease the usual pre-travel stresses.

Plan not only your week away, but the week before too. Get the suitcases out days before you leave and pack as many items as you can as soon as you can. Avoid the rush and panic of last minute packing which leads to late nights and stressful mornings before your trip.

Invest in a travel documents wallet and keep all important information regarding your time away together. Your passports, tickets, hotel information and any legal or health related documentation. Create a check list of everything you need to travel and go through the wallet before you leave. A missing bikini is replaceable but a missing passport is a little more problematic.

Organising yourself and your family means you can invest in a budget night away at one the Gatwick airport hotels from Travelodge. These cost-effective stays mean that you are on the doorstep of the airport on the morning of your flight.

WiFi is available at Gatwick airport hotels from Travelodge, chargeable in varying time slots.  Kids who can’t stay away from their App stores won’t be disappointed with the connection services and parents can give their emails one last check before they disconnect from their working week.

Gatwick airport hotels from Travelodge also have eateries and bars, with a shuttle service running to various airport terminals; a genius way to get away without glitches.

This is a guest post written on behalf of Travelodge

I hauled myself onto a fragile, wooden platform on the roof of our hostel in Jakarta, Dr Frankenstine-esque, to get closer to the ensuing storm. Lightning burst through the sky in different directions. I wasn’t sure where to point the camera. I set up the equipment, composed the shot, and considered how long it would be before the lightning would be over me and I’d have to start running.

I had the wrong lens and a shaky tripod – neither of which were going to make the task of capturing lightning an easy one. I set the shutter speed to 30 seconds, braced the camera, and waited. No lightning. I did it again. Nothing happened. 10 minutes later without success, I was considering calling it a day.

Then the lightning struck. I got it. Disappointingly, the tripod must have moved – the shot was blurry. I tried for another 5 minutes, and again, lightning struck, and in the same place, no less. This time the shot was fairly sharp.

I became greedy and waited to see what else would come my way. It turns out the storm was closer than expected. Lightning flashed across the sky above me. Milliseconds later, my wooden platform (and me) was shaken by the thunder. Needless to say, I didn’t hang around for long.

Considering the poor choice of lens, I’m not too disappointed with the results.

This is the first shot, that was too blurry, after a bit of editing

The final shot

More shots of lighting here

And here

Jimmy McIntyre is a travel writer, photographer & language learner. He’s currently living in and exploring Indonesia. For the next 2 years he’ll be trawling the world for the next breath-taking shot, the unexpected adventure around the corner, & the next linguistic challenge. Join him on his extremely active facebook community or subscribe to his blog feed.