Then we headed on up towards the local village and our guide turned to us to suggest that we travel along the water viaduct as it would be faster than making our way through the rice fields. Everyone was fine with that and then he asked who was scared of heights! I stuck up my hand and asked how high? He indicated that it would be very high with a sheer drop on one side and the water on the other.
I gulped down my fear, I was in the minority, I was even surprised that TC didn't protest! (And I was hoping she would cause I was too embarrassed to) but sadly she was feeling braver than me that day and so as the blood drained from my face, I trundled reluctantly down the road with the others and prayed that at least it wouldn't rain and that if I were to fall, could it be on the side of the water!
We reached the waters edge and to my delight, our guide had exaggerated! To the right at a drop of only a couple of feet, was the water flowing through and over rocks and other 'obstacles' one would hope not to fall onto and crack ones head open on. Then on the other side was beautiful green land covered in trees, grass and various other tropical flora and fauna rolling down a graduated incline over various rocks and 'obstacles' one would hope not to crack ones head open on. But for the most part the ledge we were walking on was about a foot wide and I worked out that if I walked along with my arms held out on either side, as though walking a tight rope, not only did it make me look like a Pratt but, it would also balance me. Besides, I was too embarrassed to let anyone know that I was scared and that propelled me to stride ahead faster than I anticipated and inadvertently gave the impression that I knew what I was doing!
After about a mile of walking along the ledge (with maybe a couple of wobbly bits along the way) and passing stunning scenery, with a sigh of relief from most of us, we stepped off and headed up the path to the local village.
The humidity was unbelievable that day, I swear I sweated off half my body weight in half an hour and as we struggled through the heat, glugging back our bottles of water, various locals (men and women) would nod and say hello as they walked by, carrying sacks of produce or tree branches weighing literally tonnes! Without even a slight drip of sweat rolling down their smiling faces.
We reached the village and were guided into the local coffee shop. This was a tiny one room 'shack' - a bamboo home which was at present being renovated by the government who were 'kindly' replacing all the bamboo walls and flooring with cement.
In the corner of the room was a little stove on which a kettle of water for the prepared coffee was being boiled by the village 'Barista'; a 96 year old lady with severe arthritis in her knee.
Her coffee was well known throughout the village and locals would start turning up from the very early hours of the morning to buy a cuppa.
Now as you know, I don't like coffee, so I sat and sweated some more while the rest of my group enjoyed their hot beverage! (I mean who in their right mind would want a piping hot drink in that temperature anyway!!) My only respite from the heat was to lean back against the cold newly cemented wall and pray that the others had asbestos mouths and therefore able to knock back the coffees toute suite!
Approximately half an hour later we were on our way back to the centre where a fresh lunch was served before we were invited downstairs by our guide where he showed us how to make Jamu for us to try - aaaarrrgghhhh!
It would have been rude to decline the piping hot herbal drink and to be honest, this particular Jamu was not so bad, in fact it looked like Ribena and tasted like a very gingery tea. But one cup was enough for me as the strong spivey ginger seemed to rip out the back of my throat and goodness knows what else on its way down my alimentary canal!
Soon after we set off on our four and a half bus ride to Mount Bromo, (with no bloody episodes of The Killing to watch and pass the time!!)
Well, that Jamu was certainly working fast, within minutes my stomach was gurgling and groaning and the four of us Brits sat in the back of our private mini bus, smiling mischievously and commenting on how effective the drink was. All I can say is that I for one was quite pleased that the noise from the engine was extremely loud!
Finally we arrived at Yoschi's Hotel, situated about an hours drive from The Tengger Mountains in East Java.
The hotel was actually quite 'quaint and ethnic', the staff, as ever, extremely friendly and welcoming and we were shown into our rooms.
The room seemed quite nice at first, even though Sally had warned us all that the bamboo walls were very thin and everything could be heard! Oh well, by now we had all spent nearly two weeks travelling together so what were a few 'Jamu noises' between friends?!
Indonesia is tropical and therefore very humid, which can result in a slight dampness in doors and so I was hoping that the acrid smell in our room was down to that and nothing more. TC and I chose our respective beds, tried to ignore the smell and the dim lighting, then hurried out to join the others for an early dinner, followed by an early night as we were to be up and out by 3am!!
By 9pm, we had eaten and TC and I were back in our room stood between our two beds discussing the best attire to wear when watching the sunrise at the top of a mountain, during the rainy season, when all of a sudden there was an extremely loud buzzing sound and something flew across the room and bounced of TC's forehead before landing on her bed.
She screamed as we both looked down to see a massive cockroach sat on the mattress staring back up at us. I quickly picked up the pillow and dropped it on the offensive looking insect so that it couldn't escape and ushered TC out of the room to immediately go and get help!
She returned soon after, practically a blubbering mess, with Sally in tow, who casually lifted the pillow and said: "It's only a beetle" as she picked it up. I looked at TC and could see she was thinking the same as me: "ONLY!?!?" "Oh and by the way way", Sally continued as she exited our room with the enormous Coleoptera in her hand, "You've killed it". (sorry, but I can't say I felt guilty).
By this point Jo and Jo (and most of the other guests) were in our doorway asking what had happened. I told them TC had been dive bombed by an oversized cockroach like beetle as I held my hands apart by about a foot, just for effect (and compassion) and that apparently I'd accidentally murdered it.
With a shrug, everyone returned to their rooms and I got ready for bed whilst TC complained that she was going to be sleeping with beetle juice over her pillow! Believe me that was not the case, for I'd not even cracked the poor blighters exoskeleton.
Finally the lights were out and we settled down to sleep - well I was trying to but every few minutes my sleep would be broken with my room mate crying out with every sound she heard or complaining a bit more about Beetle Juice on her pillow!
I had had enough; we were going to have to get up in a few hours and I was getting extremely irritated with the constant shrieking and claims that there was something else in the room - and she accuses me of exaggerating! I was about to threaten to put the beetle juiced pillow to good use again when I heard it!
It was subtle at first, but quite distinctive, so I casually sat up and put the light on. Then I saw the curtain above my bed moving and heard the sound of buzzing. (I must apologise at this point to TC for having cast aspersions on her character). I felt sick! I could practically make out the inprints of six tiny feet from the other side of the curtain and I didn't want TC to see that I was about to lose it and/or throw up, when suddenly another massive beetle flew out from behind the curtain and headed straight at my screaming travel companion - again!
Luckily this time it missed her head and went directly for the mattress, then crawled down the side by the wall and out of sight.
TC ran out and returned a minute later with the biggest can of insect repellent I have ever seen.
I sprayed all over and around her bed, the Beetle didn't emerge but TC was still not happy, so I offered to share my mattress so that we could sleep head to toe. And yet, even though the swelling in my feet had finally gone down so that I could actually make out the bones under the skin of each foot, TC still preferred to share her bed with a dead cockroach/beetle!
I climbed back into bed, relieved that we would only have a few hours left in the nightmare room and drifted off to sleep whilst poor TC laid awake all night listening to every sound ...
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