Day 224-225: This is when we were interviewed for Indonesian National television infront of an erupting volcano

Oh! It's all in a days work for your intrepid Team 365... :)

Let me start at the beginning - which is in the dark and distant past before a 12-hour day in a number of minibuses from Yogyakarta to Ceromo Lewang, a small and sleepy village positioned in the Javanese mountains with a picture-perfect view of Mount Bromo. We had heard of lots of scams (faux break-downs conveniently next to high-charging hotels that were mates with the driver etc.) on this particular route but - apart from sever numb-bum experienced by all - our trip went without a hitch. We even managed to negotiate ourselves a discount for the drive to Mount Bromo in the morning.

And it was an early start; we left our wonderful guest house, Yoschis, at the un-godly hour of 4am and made the short and winding drive up to the view-point in the dark. From the viewpoint we got our first glimpse of Bromo; surrounded by soft white mist like an island in a cloudy ocean, the sight was spectacular. From the view-point we walked about 2km further up the mountain (4x4s can't go there but horses and feet can) for an even more panoramic view. By now the sun was rising and the golden and pinks in the sky were turning to blues.

Ash was billowing out of Mount Bromo at a fairly constant rate, with occasional bigger bursts and even a few puffs from the volcano behind it (apologies, I'm not sure of the name) - it was incredible. Now I've never seen a volcano before so I can't really compare but surely this is one of the most breath-taking views of tectonic activity that it is safe to see in person?

Which leads me on nicely to the interview. Was it our good looks and charm? Our obvious on-screen chemistry? Was it that they recognised us from those Bollywood roles that bagged us this slot on Indonesian TV? Who knows...though I would hazard a guess that just being English was what swung it. We shared our awe at Bromo and confirmed that we felt perfectly safe in its presence.

Little did we know that the safety-line of questioning was probably because Bromo has only done the ash-billowing thing 3 times in the last 10 years (last in 2006) and what we were watching and happily smiling-for-the-camera in front of was considered an eruption. A real eruption. A very unusual, real, volcano erupting - and us. Finally it seemed our luck with volcanoes was in!

Some people arrive in the evening, like we did, see Bromo in the morning, like we did, and jump straight onto a bus to Bali; we did not do this. Instead we decided to spend the day wandering around Ceromo Lewang - there's not much going on, but the locals are friendly and the cool climate was a welcome relief, I'd definitely recommend it. It's certainly better than back-to-back days on a minibus.

This was one of our shortest stays but it was certainly one of the most memorable.

Day 222: Hurrah! 365 hearts Indonesia again

Team 365 is happy to report that since escaping Jakarta on a very cold train, Indonesia has been kind enough to gift us a beautiful town to call temporary-home.

I'm writing from Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta) that boasts a daily market that goes on and on. And on. Even better, at around the stroke of 10pm it transforms into a food market that goes well, not so far, but further than any other straw-mat-and-low-table-street-stalls-serving-nasi I've ever seen before. It really is a fun place, you can't go far - and you certainly can't eat a meal - without a guy and his guitar serenading you with what I imagine is Indonesian hits or cheesy ballads from the 90's.

The town is also home to the Palace of the Sultan of Java; the grounds are a sprawling mini-city and the Sultan himself still employs around 25,000 people who live in the grounds and work for him, tax free. We met a few of the traditional puppet-makers and enjoyed a wander round the streets, which were indecipherable from the main town really, but beautiful in a small, meandering graffiti-splattered kind of way.

Now, Team 365 has not always had the greatest of track-records with volcanic eruptions and little did we know that as we made our way on a selection of buses to a particular beautiful temple, that we were within days of the whole thing being closed to us thanks to the another volcano. I'll explain, when Merapi erupted in November it caked the whole monument in volcanic ash and a specialist team in protective clothing (not monks praying, as I excitedly observed from a distance) were there to clear it up.
Unfortunately this meant that we couldn't climb up the structure but we had more access than those who'd come before us, and it was still stunning. Often compared to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, it was , for me, a much smaller more intimate experience. The stone carvings are similar but Borobudur, built around a hill in beautiful lush green lands is spectacular in its own way.

We spent a gloriously sunny afternoon exploring the temple and the strange selection of Museums the Indonesians deemed worthy of inclusion (a magic museum with walls of photos of bizarre world record holders such as lady with the longest tongue/a 2-headed horse/child that could bounce balls...why??)

It has been great here and tomorrow we embark upon a long journey to the edge of an active volcano. Brave or stupid? You decide...and I'll confirm back with you in a day or so :)