07.50 We have woken up in the room at Citi Residence in Jakarta. Now it's just a month left before our return to Sweden. Today we're going to leave Jakarta by train. There's more to see of Java than the capital. This is the day when our and Patricia paths will be separated for a while.

08.42 We have been thinking about whether we should change plans regarding today's transport. Sure, trains are cool but it is foolish to tear on the bodies. Christer has a beginning cold and the trains here on Java can get extremely crowded. It may be standing and waiting for us. We’ll figure out whether we can afford to take a taxi all the way.

09.01 It's time for the last breakfast at the restaurant Waroeng Entjiem Lauw’Tan. This will be the third breakfast at the same place. Now as the staff here is beginning to have a clue on what we want to eat, we are going to leave the city. It’s a hot day today. This is yet another argument for us to take a taxi.

09.49 It went smoothly with the breakfast. A lot happened on the way home. First we saw a cycling old man with a helmet and football jersey. On his bike hung four cowbells. After this, I made a number of attempts to withdraw money. The first ATM machine just gave out 50,000 notes and that had become a number of notes. The second spat out the card after the code and amount had been typed in. The third spat out the card directly but the fourth gave me money. Now we have paid 882 000 rupiah to Rudy, and also ordered a Blue Bird taxi at 11.00. Our three nights cost US$87 or US$29/night for the room.

10.46 The taxi has arrived at Citi Residence. Now the driver Robert Kusumah in car KE 3056 takes us to our next place of residence. It feels good to go from door to door. You should indulge in luxury when you can afford it.

11.20 Of our trip south to Bogor remains about one Marathon or simply 42 kilometers. Right now the taximeter is at 64 200 rupiah.

11.56 During the trip we paid once each at road tolls, 7 000 rupiah each time. Now that we are in the immediate vicinity of Bogor the meter is at 185 400.

Peter has just arrived to our nice green room.

Amaris Hotel Padjajaran.

12.10 Robert drove us to the Amaris Hotel Padjajaran (http://amarishotel.com/amaris-bogor). We paid 100 000 rupiah each to our excellent driver and went to check in. Upon check-in I guessed that we would stay in room 212 and Christer believed in 318. Now we are in room 212 (!). We are satisfied with our transportation choice and also with our room. Our room door has a small peephole and a door knocker.

13.08 We will relax in the room and watch Mr Bean on the room's TV. It is not the version of Mr Bean we've seen before. Here he is animated but the humor is the same.

13.43 We have studied and learned a bit about what our new hometown has to offer. Now we're going out and share some of it. The city of Bogor is famous for its cool rainy climate and has the nickname "Rain City”. However it is sunny right now. The city has about 1 million inhabitants.

A large tree blocked our path.

Lots of these green small vehicles (angkot) transport Bogor´s population every day.

14.08 A new shopping center (mall) has been visited. This time we are at Botani Square Mall (http://www.botanisquare.com). We went here after a brisk walk. Here we have put ourselves at the restaurant Dillenia Kitchen for lunch. It will be Beef Teriyaki to eat and lemon ice tea to drink.

14.22 The dishes were served on sizzling iron plates. They were tasty and cheap, but it was quite small portions.

15.07 After the delicious lunch we strolled around the mall while waiting for a free table at Starbucks Coffee. Towards the end of the walk, I managed to go down one floor to much with one of the escalators. In the end we got a spot at Starbucks. The table is low and the chairs simple but now it's coffee!

16.46 I went shopping after the afternoon coffee. I did my shopping at the supermarket Giant while Christer guarded the small backpacks. I managed, after some problems finding it, to buy all the things I wanted. While I was shopping Christer saw how a young girl who was at a bakery counter happened to grab an elderly lady's wallet instead of her own. This caused great joy among the young lady's friends but dismay for her.

Peter is having lunch, Beef Teriyaki.

The guests here will meet a reading cow.

Christer in a cool environment at Starbucks.

Botani Square Mall

17.03 We're back in our room at Amaris Hotel. CNN reports that the army in Egypt have opened fire and killed 42 people. In Canada, the fire brigade has managed to extinguish the fire that broke out after the train derailed on Saturday. Now we will just take it easy for a while.

19.59 The laziness in the room has actually made us hungry. We have gone out to find somewhere to eat. It is, according to the phone book, a Pizza Hut restaurant right near us but we haven’t found it. Everything we found is a shopping mall that was closed forever, only the walls remained.

20.07 We ended up at the restaurant Obonk next door to our hotel. A taxi driver has almost desperately shouted at us. We preferred to eat instead of going by taxi and sat down at a table in the central premises. At a long table next to us a mixed company of Asians and a Dutchman are having a conversation.

20.45 Variety in the diet is good. It was delicious with a classic, decent steak, rare here in Asia. Now that we are back in our room cool so let's write some postcards.

22.08 The hotel has adapted to the coming of Ramadan, the fasting month. It serves the breaking sweets between 17.30 and 19.00. In addition, sahur buffet is served between 02.30 and 05.00. Sahur is the meal that Muslims, during Ramadan, eat before dawn and the fajr, the day's first prayer. If you’re not a Muslim you can still eat breakfast between 06.00 and 10.00. CNN continues to report on the unrest in Egypt.

Obonk served us meat this evening.

Tuesday 9th of July

08.18 Good morning! Today is the ninth day of the seventh month. We are preparing for our final hours here in Bogor.

08.59 One thing is for sure, Ramadan has not begun. Here we are, two teachers of religion and have not a clue when it starts. If it's any consolation we got some vague answers to this question even from Indonesians. A newspaper waited for us on the outside the door of our room. This has only happened a couple of times in all our years of travelling. In the dining room sat several people including Muslims and ate. Hence, we know that they have not started their fasting. We have heard that it might begin today. Wait, isn’t it so that it starts at 18.00?

09.48 After about twenty minutes walk past vendors selling among others; vegetables, birds and rabbits, we have come to Bogor Botanical Gardens (Kebun Raya). It is a large green area that was laid out by Thomas Stamford Raffles, the British statesman who later founded the British colony of Singapore. There should be about 15 000 different species of plants/trees here.

09.53 Patricia has phoned Christer and announced that we should be back at the hotel at 13.00. Why it is so and what will happen then, you might wonder. Well, that's the way it is arranged onward transport for us today and they have notified that time to Patricia.

The Tugu Kujang monument with Bogor´s city crest adorns this intersection.

Welcome to Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Gardens).

An extensive natural area in the middle of a large city.

10.09 It's nice to leave the Metropolitan rush, congestion and the traffic behind and walk into this green oasis. Far away you can sense the big city noise but here it is calm. Unfortunately, together with an increasingly oppressive heat also.

10.17 We've walked along a river, crossed a suspension bridge and then strolled along a paved walkway that has the grand name Java Almond Boulevard.

10.28 I am sitting on a root of a Ceiba Pentandra or kapok tree. We have just taken pictures of the beautiful parkland Taman Astrid. I do not know who this Astrid was. Perhaps she was Raffles wife, maybe some royalty or whatever. It is beautiful here in the park. It is so peaceful with birdsong and trickling water from the small river here. However, it is a pity with all the mopeds running around in the park and even with the ants on my legs. The ants live here so it is I who disturb and should move.

10.37 It wasn’t lady Raffles that gave name to the green. Lady Raffles name was Olivia Marianne and we have just seen her memorial.

10.45 We've walked on in this sunny morning and now we are looking at various dead and stuffed animals on the park's zoological museum. Beside me children are playing and a large whale skeleton is suspended here.

10.57 Christer has found various fish that he recognizes as aquarium fishes. There is however some difference in size between the fishes here and the specimens of Gurami that can be seen in the aquarium world.

A peaceful forest in the middle of the city.

Good walking paths through the gardens.

Peter blends into the greenery.

Roots hanging over Java Almond Boulevard.

Taman Astrid (Astrid Park) and Café De Daunan in the background.

In memory of Mrs. Raffles.

The Zoological Museum in Bogor Botanical Gardens.

Gourami, known fish for aquarium keepers.

We did not break a single rule.

11.26 Unfortunately the visit to the botanical gardens was short. We covered everything we planned but it felt all the time like a race against time. It was a quick return to the hotel when we walked on the opposite side of the street However it took time to cross the traffic in the street. An elderly gentleman stepped out into traffic and we followed him using an old trick that always works. Cross the street together with a local elderly person. Now we purge ourselves before we check out and then have lunch. Our transport is here at 13.00.

12.02 The backpacks were left behind the reception desk and Christer got a deposit receipt. Now the backpacks are left at the hotel and we are back on Obonk, the restaurant we visited yesterday. Here we will have lunch, Spaghetti Bolognese.

12.36 It was filling and very good with pasta. When paying at the counter, I saw a box of matches with Swedish text. It said ”Jönköping safety matches. Enlighten only against the box striking surface." I told the staff about the origin of the box. Now we are at the hotel again, the backpacks are picked up and we are waiting in the hotel lobby.

13.17 Our transport has not appeared. There is no rush at all. We sit in peace and quiet here in the lobby. The hotel is very fresh, feels brand new and the service has been excellent.

13.42 Patricia called and stated that she received a call that the vehicle we booked is only ten minutes from the hotel. It feels a little unnecessary to have stressed before today and now have to sit here and wait for almost an hour.

13.48 Christer is currently sending a text message to Patricia. We are on the way to her in a minibus from Happy Travels. We have just been picked up and are now cruising through Bogor to pick up more passengers. We sit comfortably. This will probably be fine. We have, after the travels in Sumatra, some concern and skepticism as it come to these vehicles. We did have to sit really crowded there sometimes.

14.24 During the last half hour, we have been touring in Bogor on our way to various destinations where passengers embark. These vehicles come to each person’s house and are an excellent service, totally worth the price, which may be considerably higher than ordinary buses.

The leafy street Jalan Jalak Harupat.

Peter eats pasta lunch at the restaurant Obonk.

We have started the journey from Bogor to Bandung.

Rain, rain, rain in huge quantities in Cipanas.

15.26 Royal Safari Garden and an elephant can be seen on a sign. We are in Cisarua where the park Taman Safari is located (http://www.tamansafari.com). It looks like a nice destination but now we want to travel on. We've been in a traffic jam under the last hour and almost crawled in the narrow road. Pafesta it says in white letters on a hill and beside the road. Now the traffic seems to be moving.

16.05 We are moving on and water is falling from above. It rains considerably now. We are in Cipanas.

16.20 Everything flows out there. We stand still and our roadway is more like a river bed. People seines in water up to between ankles and knees. It's just like when we waded our way home on the street in Saigon in 2008. The traffic is once again standing still and we start think that our bus soon becomes a boat. The water spurts up in cascades from the trenches and manholes.

18.28 Christer got to borrow the driver's phone. It was Patricia the other end. She wanted to check out what's up and what we wanted to eat when we get there. Our arrival is estimated at around 20.00, clearly much later than planned. Tonight's plans may be changed.

19.14 We have passed the town of Cianjur and some of the passengers got off. The rain has calmed down and here it just drizzles.

19.33 We have come to Bandung and released a passenger somewhere in the darkness of the city's outskirts. Now we go on to more central areas.

19.45 The last fifteen minutes the driver cruised around and asked people along the extremely narrow streets. He's looking for Patricia's address here in Bandung.

19.51 Now we're alone in the car. The driver has wandered off to ask his way to where we're going.

19.57 We went ahead and the vehicle stopped beside a mosque which was full with people. Now what?

20.19 A little motorcycle appeared beside the car. It was Patricia who had been driven here and came to pick us up. It was a short walk to the house where she and her daughter Marcel lives. Now dinner waits.

23.05 We have eaten pizzas of different varieties to dinner and had fresh dragon fruit as dessert. After that, we talked about various things fun in language and wonderful memories of travels and studies. Now it’s time to sleep. Christer and I sleep on a mattress each in a room upstairs.

Now we are in Bandung. Here we´ll sleep two nights.

Patricia and Marcel invites us to a dinner with pizza and fruit.

Dragon fruit for dessert.

Wednesday 10th of July

07.59 I have slept well during the night. Christer has woken up a number of times. Sometimes due to the call to prayer and sometimes by people who banged on buckets down the street. They did this to encourage people to take part in Ramadan which has begun. Today waits a full day here in Bandung, a day when Patricia is going to show us her hometown.

08.54 Now the breakfast is complete. Christer, who has come down with a nasty cold, had a fever during the night, weak appetite and is resting. We'll see how we plan the day.

09.11 Christer and I have tested a typical Indonesian bathroom. Instead of a shower and flushing the toilet you use a plastic bucket and tapped water. The toilet works fine but it feels strange to pour cold water over yourself when you’re used to hot water showers.

09.34 We have decided that Christer shall stay home to rest and cure. Patricia and I'll go out to see a bit of the town and do some errands.

Narrow and steep stairs, nothing for morning tired legs.

Narrow streets in Patricia's neighborhood.

10.27 We are now leaving Christer. Patricia and I are going out and going by car. It is arranged with vehicle and driver. With us we have brought 20 postcards to be stamped and mailed.

10.54 To lick 40 stamps for the 20 postcards have made that my tongue feel like sandpaper. It's time to drink of the beverage we brought with us. The postcards were stamped with an ink pad and a hammer like stamp, a long handle with stamp head.

11.25 We stopped at a small bakery. Patricia has bought ten steamed buns. Everything was cooked on location. It was a cramped little room with four or five people involved. It smelled so good in there. Now we will continue our city tour.

12.23 We have seen more of Bandung from the car. Recently, we have been out of it and bought a little something for the evening and tomorrow at the supermarket Yogya.

Our postcards start their journey.

Steamed buns, filling and delicious.

12.48 Once again, we are indoors. Christer is up and moving around, but he is not well. He has probably suffered some form of infection. He has a fever and the stomach is out of order.

13.14 We just had lunch. Christer's stomach was not able to receive any food. A decision has been taken that Christer should pay a visit to Patricia's family doctor in the afternoon. This is to find out what he suffers from and arrange with some medicine. It's good to check up such now before we continue the journey tomorrow.

15.24 The time has come to move towards medical consultation.

15.49 Now it will be a new form of visits. We are at Dr. Eddy Mihardja´s office. There will be visit to the physician for Christer. He and Patricia went inside while Patricia's daughter and I are waiting outside.

16.15 Christer were thoroughly examined and got a sentence, it is a nasty virus infection, probably due to recent extreme weather according to the doctor. It has actually only been a little over 20º for some days. Christer has been prescribed rest and fluids. He will also purchase two types of medicine to strengthen the immune system and dampen the aches and fever.

17.46 We returned to the Yogya store. We have among other things bought some for the sick man. Now we made a stop at Apotik Santi. It is time to buy the medicine that the doctor prescribed.

17.56 Christer has got some big red pill for the immune system and some others against the fever. We had just returned home to Patricia’s and Marcel’s place then it was a call from the minaret. It was OK to start eating. The sun has set.

On the way to Dr. Eddy.

Time to buy medicine.

19.07 It's a quiet evening. Christer is resting and wait for the medicine to start working. Patricia will visit her grandmother. Patricia's daughter Marcel, her friend Imelda and I'll go out and have dinner.

19.26 The three dinner goers are seated on a stool each. Now we will order food here at Mangkok Ayam.

20.13 It was delicious once again. I had some duck. Imelda paid for the meals. Big thanks to her for this. Christer is still bedridden with fever.

21.52 Another friend of Patricia, Maya, with her husband and sons have visited Patricia. It might so be that Maya and I were both in Amsterdam at the same time in the summer of 1997. Another matter of coincident is the fact that today is it exactly ten years since Christer suffered from symptoms similar to those he experienced today. Then it began with a horrible stomach ailment in Tarnów, Poland. I was heavily sick on that trip as well. Now it's almost time to sleep. It will be an early morning tomorrow.

Peter is having dinner with Imelda and Marcel.

Thursday 11th of July

07.03 During the hour we’ve been up, we showered, packed and had breakfast. Our breakfast consisted of hot drink, tea or coffee and steamed buns stuffed with meat. Under the bun I ate was a small piece of paper. This I discovered only when I ate half the bun and half the paper. Christer is less bad today but the appetite is not back. He can at least travel but must take it easy. Now we're soon off to the railway station.

07.28 We are seated in the ordered taxi and are heading for the railway station. Patricia says she's so excited for the journey, a journey that even Christer and I are looking forward to. Marcel is not in our taxi. She takes her motorcycle to the station.

07.58 The three travellers are now ready to travel. Patricia's daughter Marcel, Aunt Monica and aunt's husband Han has been inside the car and wished us a happy journey. Various photos have been taken and the atmosphere is good. Soon begins a train ride in our third Asian country. I don’t know the total amount of countries which we have been going by train in. One of the staff has turned my seat around so that I can watch and talk to the travel company.

08.12 We’re going. My backpack and Christer’s backpack has been tied up for safety reasons. Patricia's aunt's husband helped us with this.

At the train station in Bandung.

Happy mood before departure.

We had time for a group photo before the train departed.

08.51 A steep slope can be seen on the right side of the train. The slope has green bushes and yellow and pink flowers. Sometimes we have seen an occasional palm tree. On the left side is a small valley and at the bottom of it is a village.

09.44 The train is now making its first stop. We are in Cipeundeuy. A man with yellow helmet on his head and a hammer in his left hand passed right outside the train. On a small rug out there you can read MEΓCOWE. Is it strange letters or a word whose meaning I do not know? No, the mat is reversed. It should say WELCOME.

10.15 The journey continues. There is rain in the air and we travel through extremely fertile areas with lush greenery. Java is an extremely densely populated island but you do not get that impression from the train window. It is quiet and peaceful countryside and a lot of nature that we are travelling through.

10.40 We have now arrived at the station in Tasikmalaya. Outside it is raining; in here we'll eat some of our packed lunch. The travelling is going well and we are feeling pretty fine. There is plenty of space in the cart; not nearly as crowded as it is easy to believe that it is on an Asian train.

11.28 The train and the environment are stationary again. We have arrived at Banjar. The trip has made me lethargic and tired. It's overcast weather outside. We've seen a lot of beautiful rice fields during the trip.

12.51 A couple of minutes ago, we went over a river. There was a hive of activity on the river. There were several long narrow boats.

Strange carpet at the station Cipeundeuy.

A long train journey feels shorter when there are beautiful views to enjoy.

The train passes paddy fields, a typical view from Java.

Christer regains lost energy by eating rice porridge.

13.59 A little more than an hour remains of our trip. Sometimes we study the agrarian landscape of rice paddies, but also a beautiful landscape can become monotonous. I continue to read in my book by Stieg Larsson and Christer rest.

14.56 We are approaching the end of this long but comfortable train journey. We are heading for Yogyakarta, a center of Javanese culture and one of Indonesia’s major tourist destinations.

15.23 Upon arrival in Yogyakarta, we noticed that Patricia's uncle did a good work as he tied together Christer's and my backpacks. He also had tied my backpack to my seat. However, we got our backpacks before the train moved on. After some waiting outside the station got a taxi. It was welcome because it is raining. We share the taxi with a Dutch girl, Esther. Once again, a person from the Netherlands has crossed our route.

15.34 It was a quick and short taxi ride to the Summer Season Boutique Hotel on the tourist street Jalan Sosrowijayan. Christer and I live in rooms 306 and Patricia in 311. They are making her bed right now. Our newfound friend from the Netherlands has left for other accommodations. She did, however, get some help from us by lending our guidebook (Lonely Planet) for a while.

16.16 We have decided to rest after the long journey. We need time for us to pack up, move into our room and gather energy for the evening. Christer feel a little better but needs to eat more food to regain lost energy.

18.55 The call to prayer can be heard once more. We have revived after some afternoon rest.

Our beautiful hotel corridor.

It was a simple dinner tonight.

Malioboro Mall, Yogyakarta.

19.22 The three have been reunited. We’ll probably go out to see what the neighborhood near us has to offer.

19.28 Pretty soon we had nagging salesmen around us but it was easy to disappear into the crowd and become anonymous. We went on to the nearby main street Jalan Malioboro and a shopping mall, Malioboro Mall.

19.39 We'll have a light dinner here in the mall; the choice fell on Mie Nusantara.

21.08 The dinners ended and we went to the food store Hero and bought some stuff. It was among other some detergents. Now we're back at the hotel and on its patio. Christer is surfing the Patricia’s Ipad and frogs croak loudly from the darkness. Christer tried to capture the sound on film, but it became too difficult. The frogs were shy and got silent as he approached.

22.28 We have been talked in general and on Patricia Ipad read in our old diaries. On the way to the rooms we passed an elderly couple with Asian features. They looked at us and said ”Guten Abend" I first tried to open room 304 instead of 306. It is always good to take the right room. It will be easier to get into then.

23.01 Tomorrow we will remain here in Yogyakarta (also known as " Yogya”). We'll see what we fill the day with.

Conversation and internet use outside the hotel lobby.